Sleep deprived

Now that Roku is running Game Show Central, I've been sampling the GSN originals on offer at the Roku Channel web site. One of them is Cram, the network's goofy sleep-deprivation epic.

For those who have forgotten - and there are probably quite a lot of you - Cram was one of the "Boden originals." When Sony called in Rich Cronin as GSN president in 2001 to save the network from its near-death experience, he brought along Bob Boden as his programming veep. Bob whipped up a slate of originals that included Lingo and Russian Roulette at the top end and Friend or Foe at the, well, non-top end (in my opinion).

Cram fell somewhere in-between. Contestants had to study ridiculous trivia and practice silly stunts for 24 sleepless hours. Then GSN brought them to the studio and the exhausted players had to show what they had learned. The show ran though crazy quizzes and crazier stunts at a breakneck pace.

Graham Elwood hosted with snarky charm, and Icelandic model Icey (Berglind Olafsdottir) displayed a well chiseled body. I thought the show offered a certain goofball charm in its first season but ran the concept into the ground in the overdone second season. Cram still managed to last for 105 episodes on GSN.

On the ep I just watched at the Roku web site, the contestants somehow endured the stunts and quizzes and took home the top prize of ten grand. Good for them, and I hope they got some sleep afterwards.

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