CHECK IT OUT!: New Shows To Watch For In December 2011

Who needs "The Motivator" when you have an
evil Santa? Courtesy ABC. 

Happy Holidays, Game Show Fans! This week's article is dedicated to the premiere of new game shows and the return and revivals of some of your favorite shows airing this month.  Enjoy!


Winter Wipeout: Deck The Balls

‘Tis the season of big falls and big balls as Winter Wipeout returns for the holiday season on ABC on December 8. Play-by-play announcers John Anderson and John Henson will be joined by new co-host and on-field reporter Vanessa Lachey, a former Miss Teen USA and former co-host for MTV’s TRL. This season of Winter Wipeout will not disappoint as the show will feature new obstacles, including an “evil Santa”. Last season’s edition of Winter Wipeout proved to be a success and I hope this season will be even better. Stay tuned for the season premiere of Winter Wipeout this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. EST on ABC! 

Fear Factor Returns To NBC

The show that puts contestant’s courage, bravery, and boldness to the ultimate test has return for a brand new season. NBC has revived Fear Factor as a part of the network’s winter lineup of primetime shows and has kept Joe Rogan as the host. The network executives have promised a “bigger budget, bigger stunts, and more fear”. for the revived series. Fear Factor initially ran for six seasons from 2001 until 2006. Fear Factor also became the first network reality show to be syndicated. I’m glad to see this show return to television. Fear Factor definitely put a new and better spin to reality shows. I’m slightly surprised that GSN hasn’t picked up reruns to the show yet, given the network’s history of briefly focusing on reality shows. Click here to check out sneak peek previews of the spine-tingling season premiere and tune in to the special two-hour premiere of Fear Factor on December 12 at 8:00 p.m. EST on NBC!

Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street

Fuse Network is set to debut their brand new game show Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street on December 22. In this series, comedian Billy Eichner ambushes unsuspecting pedestrians and tests their knowledge on pop culture trivia for cold, hard cash and cool prizes. Check out the video preview below to see the game in action. Billy Eichner is better known for his funny viral videos and has even written and starred in his own comedic stage shows Creation Nation and Billy Eichner Goes Pop! It’s interesting to see how many ambush-style game shows are suddenly appearing due to Cash Cab’s immense success, such as the new SPEED network game show Pumped! Stay tuned for the series premiere of Funny or Die’s Billy on the Street on December 22 at 11:00 p.m. EST on Fuse. 

Billy On The Street - watch more funny videos     

Who's Still Standing?

It looks like NBC has resumed operations for their new game show Who’s Still Standing? NBC initially put a kibosh to the series due to multiple injuries to the contestants on set and technical difficulties.  Who’s Still Standing? will be premiering as a week-long event beginning on December 19 with Cash Cab’s Ben Bailey as the host of the show. On this show, one contestant, named “the hero”, faces ten other contestants in a series of rapid-fire, intense trivia rounds. The more contestants “the hero” eliminates, the more money “the hero” will win. The catch is: the loser of each round will be dropped through the drop zone they’re standing under. Eliminating all ten contestants wins “the hero” $1,000,000 in cash. However, if the “the hero” loses even one trivia round, they will leave the game will nothing. This show is an interesting combination of 1 vs. 100 and Russian Roulette.  Shown below is an episode of GSN's Russian Roulette, another game show with a similar premise. On a quick side note, NBC debuted Deal or No Deal the same way with a week-long of new episodes, and the show lasted for six seasons. I hope that Who’s Still Standing? will have the same success. Check out the series premiere of Who’s Still Standing? on December 19 at 8:00 p.m. EST on NBC! After the week-long premiere, the show will air in its regular time slot beginning on Monday, December 26 through January 30.