Battle of the network reruns

A faux tweet noted the veritable plethora (R.I.P. Howard Cosell) of game show reruns on the broadcast networks last Thursday night. If you're interested in how the Nielsen Company ruled on the repeat-fest, ABC won with their lineup of Celebrity Family Feud, To Tell the Truth and 100K Pyramid.

It's not like the numbers were sky-high. But the alphabet net (Variety speak!) did take the honors in total viewers and the Sacred Demo. The linked story calls the night "repeat-riddled" and there was hardly any new material to be found on broadcast TV. Still, ABC's game show reboots showed some strength even in reruns, so they've settled in pretty well. Plus they're cheap and quick to make. What's not to like for a network exec looking for summer shows?

The reboot mania continues this week with the debut of Gong Show, hosted by Mike Myers or Tommy Maitland or somebody. I'm tempted to say that ABC's version can only be an improvement on GSN's horrendous remake, but I don't want to prejudge.

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