GSN Orders 40 Episodes of "Minute To Win It" Revival

Good news for Minute To Win It fans! The former NBC primetime game show, loosely based on Beat The Clock, will be revived by GSN towards the end of 2013. GSN has picked up 40 one hour-long episodes of the revived series produced by Shine America, the same producers who brought you The Biggest Loser. Minute To Win It will begin production next month. This will mark the third season of the show, which was originally hosted by Guy Fieri.

It wasn’t too long ago we heard news that MundoFOX was developing a Spanish version the show called Minuto Par Ganar. Although the hype over Minute To Win It may have died down a little in the U.S., the fast-paced stunt game show’s popularity is continuing to grow worldwide in countries such as the Philippines and China. I believe GSN made the move to pick up new episodes of Minute To Win It due to the show’s reruns’ recent success on the network, ranking as GSN’s top program among viewers 1-17 and 18-34. The acquisition of the NBC series has also raised viewership among demographics in its primary timeslot. This version will follow NBC’s format with the exception of the grand prize reduced down to $100,000. There are three questions to think about upon hearing this news. First: Will each episode emphasize the contestants’ emotional reason(s) for being on the show or will each show focus more on the actual games as NBC had done in the early episodes of the series? Second: Who will host this version? Third (but not least): How long will this version last on GSN, given the network’s recent, sub-par track record of reviving classic game shows? As I have stated in the aforementioned question, GSN has not had much luck with game show revivals lately, as their three most recent revivals (1 vs. 100, Lingo [Engvall version], The Pyramid [probable]) were “one-season wonders”. On the flipside, some of the revivals have become so successful on GSN, they have become staples for the network, such as Lingo (Woolery version; six seasons) and The Newlywed Game (six seasons; currently airing new episodes). I’m glad that GSN is giving this show another chance, although I can’t help but wonder how well the revived series would fare in the U.S. if it had used the U.K.’s format. Well, we’ll find later this year whether the GSN revival of Minute To Win It will be a hit or miss. 

Source: GSN Press