Don't get me wrong: i"m not only glad that they've FINALLY brought back this show(it's most previous run,to the best of my knowledge,was the Bert Convy-hosted "Super Password",which closed shop in May of 1989),but I generally like this version. I suppose that in this era of jacked-up prize amounts and a need to sort of "jazz" the sets,the producers of this show(as with much of the Goodson-Todman game shows,it's Freemantle Media)felt they had to make this show look and feel more like a larger-scale,larger stakes show,particularly for network. I just have my reservations about this.
Namely,this feels like basically a sort of melding "Passowrd" with "Who Wants to be a Millionaire",hence the title. To me,I think it's a shame that something as classic as the forty-plus year old game show standard/classic SHOULDN'T have to have this sort of space age era light-and-sound show mixed with the now seemingly prerequisite $1,000,000 payoff. It feels like the producers--whether they mean to or not--don't trust this show's skill or competitive levels enough to allow it to have a normal competition construct and/or payoff.I dunno.Maybe if this were in syndication or on daytime(good luck trying to get networks to do daytime game shows again! Particularly if it isn't "the Price is Right")maybe they'd consider making this much more about the interplay and skill and somewhat less about merely winning the million,which I would feel MUCH better about.
Regis Philibin,as professional and classy as he can be,does seem to be in a bit of competition with celebs(just watch his morning show1),which seems to be in stark contrast to the affable banter and interplay from the late Allen Ludden or late Convy. overall,it's good to see ANY of the classic Goodman-Todman shows return,but it doesn't make me any less nostalgic for when this was more about the particulars and not the frill and glitz.
