Lockup: How I spent my Winter Retreat
Major funding for today's blog is provided by....
(shows slide of coronavirus in Hollywood)
LA in Lockdown again?
(goes to next slide of Alex Trebek in 2020)
Bye bye Alex, Hello......
(goes to slide of Chandra Wilson)
And it's Karma for Chandra.
(turns off projector)
Recorded (nearly) live form Shondaland, It's Game Show.......Live!
SAG-AFTRA leaders told their members tonight that “most entertainment productions will remain on hiatus until the second or third week of January, if not later.”
The update comes the day after the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health urged the film and TV industry to consider pausing production for a few weeks during the ongoing surge in coronavirus cases throughout the county.
Here’s the latest update from SAG-AFTRA president Gabrielle Carteris and national executive director David White:
“We are writing to let you know that we are closely monitoring the recent surge in Covid-19 infections along with the reported lack of intensive care unit beds throughout the state of California and particularly in Los Angeles County. This is deeply concerning to us all and we have taken immediate action to connect with our epidemiologists and public health experts regarding the surge in cities across the nation.
“Most entertainment productions will remain on hiatus until the second or third week of January if not later. This means that the number of our member performers working on sets right now is reduced. Our safety protocols ensure appropriate precautions for the holiday hiatus period including additional time for testing prior to the resumption of production.
“To ensure the utmost safety, we are in close contact with our sister unions and guilds, the industry, our expert epidemiologists, industrial sanitation specialists, public health officials, member leaders and staff. We remain focused on ensuring the safest possible work environment and protocols for SAG-AFTRA members.
“We will continue to monitor this situation and its impact on production and employment in all contract areas and will take appropriate measures as needed to ensure the continued safety of our members and others.
“In the meantime, we urge you all to remain vigilant and adhere to the safety principles to protect yourselves, your families, communities and colleagues. Always, wear your masks, maintain safe physical distancing, wash hands frequently and well, and follow the public health recommendations for preventing the spread of infectious disease.”
But they're not the only ones.
Fremantle is the latest company to extend the holiday production hiatus on a number of its shows to protect against the latest surge in Covid-19 numbers.
Daytime gameshows The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal have extended their breaks coming out of the Christmas holidays.
Both were originally set to return to production in the first two weeks of January but will now not start back until the end of the month.
Following the initial pandemic lockdown, The Price Is Right returned to filming at the start of October. The CBS show went back to its studio at Television City with a redesigned, Covid-friendly set and all of its usual rounds but without an audience.
Similarly, long-running daytime format Let’s Make A Deal, which is also getting its first primetime specials on CBS, returned to production towards the end of October with a mix of virtual and in-person contestants.
The RTL-owned producer joins the likes of CBS Studios, Warner Bros. TV, Universal TV, Sony Pictures TV, Lionsgate TV and Disney TV Studios’ ABC Signature and 20th Television and Netflix with regards to pausing production.
It comes after the LA County Department of Public Health urged the film and TV industry to consider pausing for a few weeks during the surge in Cornavirus cases across the region.
As soon as we get more infomation, we'll pass it along to you.
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The last clue of Alex Trebek. We'll solve it in about.......oh let's say 30 seconds.
Somebody downgrade the audio guy!
(fade to break)
An emotional tribute to Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek dropped on Friday ahead of the airing of his final episode of the game show, where the tribute will play.
To the sound of Peter Allen's "Once Before I Go," the tribute shows archival footage of Trebek's early days on Jeopardy!, in which he is seen reminding viewers and contestants that he "doesn't write the clues" and bringing his loved ones to the studio on "family visiting day." Toward the end of the piece, multiple shots of Trebek waving his hand and extending a "So long" goodbye are cut together and followed by the game show host walking away from the studio.
Trebek, whose career began in broadcasting at CBC Radio while he was still a senior at college, hosted Jeopardy! for nearly four decades and appeared as himself on numerous TV shows including Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Orange is the New Black and How I Met Your Mother.
At age 80, the longtime television host died on Nov. 8, 2020, after battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer since early 2019. He had been working in the studio just days before his death, completing his final day on Oct. 29.
Also on Friday, the Canadian Screen Awards on Friday released Trebek's icon award acceptance speech, in which the late host praised the accomplishments of his home country.
"I guess I'm being honored as a sort of goodwill ambassador, you know that's not a tough gig — you host a popular show for 36 years, you get to be known, you get to be liked," said Trebek. "Maybe people think you're a nice guy, they know you're Canadian, ergo Canadians are nice people, and the country must be a special place. Well, it is, and not just because we're nice. It's a special place because we are a country of accomplishments. In education, in business, science, the arts and entertainment."
Trebek also noted during the speech that Canada is known for being a "welcoming society." He explained, "It has expanded that welcome to go beyond the level of tolerance to one that I believe is even better. I think the essence of Canada now is acceptance, and long may it continue." Trebek accepted the award with "gratitude, humility, and pride."
Trebek’s final “Jeopardy!” episode was originally supposed to air on Christmas Day, but “due to anticipated preemptions” around the holidays, his final week of episodes was pushed back “in order to give his millions of fans a chance to see his final appearances,” according to Sony.
“Jeopardy!” will continue airing new episodes on Monday, Jan. 11 with interim host Ken Jennings behind the podium. “A long-term replacement host will not be named at this time,” the Sony series said last month. All future guest hosts will come from “within the ‘Jeopardy!’ family,” the quiz show said.
And as of this week.....
GOAT Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings took the guest-hosting reins in Monday’s episode of the iconic game show, filling the gargantuan void left by the late Alex Trebek.
At the top of the broadcast, Jennings addressed the elephant in the room, assuring fans that he is fully aware that Trebek is irreplaceable.
“Sharing this stage with Alex Trebek was one of the greatest honors of my life,” Jennings said. “Not many things in life are perfect, but Alex did this job pretty much perfectly for more than 36 years, and it was even better up close. We were dazzled by his intelligence, charm and grace.
“Like all Jeopardy! fans, I miss Alex very much,” he continued, fighting back tears. “And I thank him for everything he did for all of us. Let’s be totally clear: No one will ever replace the great Alex Trebek. But we can honor him by playing the game he loved.”
The ascension of Jennings to guest host was foreshadowed last September when he joined the show as a consulting producer. In that new role, he presented his own special video categories, developed projects, assisted with contestant outreach, and served as a general ambassador for the show.
Just prior to Monday’s show, Jennings acknowledged the uphill battle he faces winning over viewers.
“Honestly, I’m with the audience, I don’t want me out here — I want to see Alex out here. I know exactly how they feel when they see anybody else behind this lectern. But there are tens of millions of people who love this show. We love this show. Alex loved the show. I’m just happy to fill in and help out.”
In announcing Jennings’ promotion to guest host last November, EP Mike Richards said, “Alex believed in the importance of Jeopardy! and always said that he wanted the show to go on after him. We will honor Alex’s legacy by continuing to produce the game he loved with smart contestants and challenging clues. By bringing in familiar guest hosts for the foreseeable future, our goal is to create a sense of community and continuity for our viewers.”.
We'll have more guest hosts next week.
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Remember Quibi? The streaming service that died quicker than quicksand? well.......
Roku, Inc. (NASDAQ: ROKU) announced today that The Roku Channel will become the exclusive place to stream more than 75 premium shows and documentaries that Quibi created in conjunction with Hollywood's leading studios and production companies.
Roku acquired the exclusive global distribution rights to Quibi's award-winning shows and will make the content available for free on an ad-supported basis in 2021 to all Roku users.
The Quibi content includes Emmy award-winning scripted series, alternative and reality programming and documentaries featuring stars such as Idris Elba, Kevin Hart, Liam Hemsworth, Anna Kendrick, Nicole Richie, Chrissy Teigen, and Lena Waithe.
In addition to the full range of titles that had previously premiered on Quibi, more than a dozen new programs will make their exclusive debut on The Roku Channel.
The Roku Channel is the home for free and premium news and entertainment and in Q4 2020 reached U.S. households with an estimated 61.8 million people. The Roku Channel experienced rapid growth in Q4 2020 doubling household reach year over year and was a top 10 channel in both streaming hours and active accounts.
"The Roku Channel is one of the largest and fastest growing channels on our platform today and we are consistently expanding the breadth and quality of our free, ad-supported content for our users," said Rob Holmes, Vice President of Programming at Roku. "Today's announcement marks a rare opportunity to acquire compelling new original programming that features some of the biggest names in entertainment. We're excited to make this content available for free to our users in The Roku Channel through an ad-supported model. We are also thrilled to welcome the incredible studios and talented individuals who brought these stories to life and showcase them to our tens of millions of viewers."
"The most creative and imaginative minds in Hollywood created groundbreaking content for Quibi that exceeded our expectations," said Quibi Founder Jeffrey Katzenberg. "We are thrilled that these stories, from the surreal to the sublime, have found a new home on The Roku Channel."
"Quibi championed some of the most original ideas and inventive storytelling, and I'm so proud of what I was able to create for the platform," said Veena Sud, creator, writer, director and executive producer of the popular Quibi series The Stranger. "I'm so excited to now be able to share this thriller with millions of streamers on The Roku Channel."
The transaction will deliver a distinctive array of premium content geared towards the highly coveted 18-35 age demographic, further building out The Roku Channel's diverse lineup of more than 40,000 free movies and programs and 150 free live linear television channels.
Following an internal restructuring by Quibi, Roku acquired Quibi Holdings, LLC, the company that holds all of Quibi's content distribution rights. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
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It’s been said that love’s not a competition, but a new installment to the “90 Day Fiancé” universe will look to prove that, actually, there are winners and losers in the game of romance.
Twenty-four iconic couples from the franchise will be going head-to-head— and heart-to-heart —in “90 Day Fiancé: Love Games,” a new fierce trivia tournament to show off who knows their respective partner best. The first season of the socially distant elimination-style game show, which debuts on Feb. 8 on Discovery Plus, will feature fan-favorite twosomes from the expansive 90 Day universe, including Alan and Kirlyam and Russ and Paola (Season 1), Kyle and Noon (Season 3), David and Annie (Season 5), Kalani and Asuelu (Season 6).
Pairs will be matched-up for three rounds of questions before culminating in a showdown to win the first-ever Love Games championship trophy. The new show’s teaser reveals that questions range from tame and sweet to raunchy and provocative, inciting both witty banter and wounded egos. “90 Day Fiancé: Love Games” was remotely produced by Industrial Media subsidiary Sharp Entertainment.
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Some more trouble across......the pond.
ITV has delayed production on its blockbuster entertainment show Britain’s Got Talent as coronavirus rampages across the UK.
The Simon Cowell-created Syco Entertainment and Fremantle talent show was due to commence filming later this month, but this has now been postponed indefinitely amid a Covid-19 surge that has forced England into a third national lockdown.
“The filming for the 15th series of Britain’s Got Talent has been postponed from its proposed record dates in late January,” an ITV spokesman said. “With the announcement of the latest Government health guidelines and with our priority of safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved in our programmes we, together with the production teams at Thames and Syco, have taken the decision to move the record and broadcast of the forthcoming series.”
Although production is continuing across the UK despite the lockdown, Britain’s Got Talent producers decided it would be impossible to stage the show in the current conditions. They are taking a safety-first approach given that hundreds of people are involved in making the series, and that acts travel from all over the world to take part.
It is not the first time coronavirus has derailed Britain’s Got Talent. Last year’s live finals had to be pushed back from spring to fall because of the pandemic, while the Christmas special was also delayed after members of the team tested positive.
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The distribution arm of Irish public broadcaster RTÉ has launched its first ever kids slate for the international market.
The RTÉ Programme Sales line-up includes four projects by Irish prodco Stop.watch: Wonder What (29×6’), Let’s Find Out (20×15’), Insiders (10×11’) and Body Brothers (30×11.5’). Wonder What and Let’s Find Out try to answer questions about how things work and satisfy the curious young mind, while Insiders explores the science behind things kids enjoy and Body Brothers features dances that educate children about different parts of their bodies.
Also on the slate are Wild Kids (15×15’), from GMarshTV, and Squad Goals (26×24’), from Kite Entertainment.
Wild Kids asks the audience to join ‘Wildlife Warriors’ as they explore different habitats up and down the country, from the coast to the city, while Squad Goals is a sport/challenge-based quizshow.
In addition, kids’ educational programming blocks Home School Hub and After School Hub have today returned to RTÉ2 and on-demand service RTÉ Player.
This totals three hours of content per day, with a blend of new material and previous shows. The blocks are also being sold internationally as formats..
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And finally......
"Temptation Island" returns for season three on Tuesday, February 16 at 10pm ET/PT on USA Network.
Mark L. Walberg returns as host.
Four new couples are packing up their emotional baggage and heading to Maui, Hawaii for the ultimate test of their relationship. Joined by 24 sexy single men and women looking to find everlasting love, these couples must decide whether to commit to a lifetime together - or if they will ultimately give in to the temptation from the singles looking to find "the one."
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and here's Nikke Elena Spies trying it.
We'll have more of the challenge in weeks to come.
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It's time for.......
How Dumb Are You?
It's where we take the worst and stupidest miscastings in all of recent game show history. Today, Chandra Wilson's wheel-y stupid solve.
That's it for this week, today's consolation prize is a copy of Juju Smith Schuster's dance workout tape. Learn from the Steelers WR how to dance on logos every football season. Not available in Cleveland. Idiots.
Don't forget to email me at kellypierre8@gmail.com, coppockonsports@yahoo.com, Pierre Jason Kelly on FB and @Johnny_Arcade on twitter. Also I'm on Snapchat as MisterGSN and Instagram as MrJackbox. We will return next Wednesday, and until we return, Play on playas.
Colbi: Game Show Live! is a presentation of The Vonbuskirk Company, Jackbox Media Services and Pluto TV distribution which may or may not be responible for the damage already done.
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