“The Price Is Right” Celebrates April Fools’ Day With Spot-The-Mistake Contest

On Friday, April 1 on CBS Daytime, Let’s Make A Deal and The Price Is Right are celebrating April Fools’ Day by airing special episodes in honor of the prank-filled holiday. This year, The Price Is Right’s producers have intentionally inserted a myriad of mistakes and mishaps on tomorrow’s show that only the most observant TPIR fans would be able to catch. Similar to what Wheel of Fortune did in 2010, viewers will be able to write down and submit the list of mistakes they have seen on Friday’s show with the winner, who spotted the most mistakes and goofs, winning a nine-day trip for two to Costa Rica. You can join in on the fun by submitting your list on PriceIsRight.com. Head to the show’s site and check out this sneak peek clip for more information. Stay tuned for The Price Is Right's April Fools' Day special tomorrow at 11:00am ET/10:00am PT. UPDATE: Check out the answers on The Price Is Right's Facebook page.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #86

Today's article will be highlighting some of the latest game show news from the past week in 200 characters or less. This week's updates include Bob Eubanks giving local Minnesota contestants a chance to win big money this week, Game Show Theory breaking down the logistics to strategically winning a tough end game to a 1970s/1980s game show, what Alex Trebek does to prepare for and during a day of taping Jeopardy! and a lifelong game show fan creating her own game show in her living room.

“Idiotest” Third Season Premieres April 12 With Celebrity Special

In about a month on April 12 at 10:00pm, GSN’s popular, puzzling game show Idiotest returns for its third season on the network. The season debuts with a special celebrity episode featuring the teams of Dr. Drew Pinsky and Mike Catherwood of HLN’s Loveliness and YouTube stars GloZell and Gaby Dunn playing for up to $10,000 for their respective charities Hillside Home For Children, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, First Christian Church of North Hollywood and the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. This episode, filled with plenty of hilarity and antics, is one that you will want to stay tuned for, especially if you are fans of either or all of the featured stars.

Spike TV Greenlights “Tracks” Music Game Show

In addition to Caraoke Showdown, scheduled to premiere later this year, Spike TV has commissioned yet another musically-themed game show called Tracks. Produced by Aguilera, Tracks has two pairs of teams attempt to name song titles solely based on its individual tracks (guitar, bass, vocal, etc.). The show will also feature celebrity musical guests performing tracks that could be their own or others. Tracks will debut as a half-hour special later this year. According to Variety and its sources close to the project, there are plans to push the game show into a full series, following the special. Tracks comes from the production company of Mission Control Media and MX Productions in association with Lionsgate. Aguilera, her fiancé Matthew Rutler of MX Productions, Michael Agbabian and Dwight D. Smith will serve as the show’s executive producers. Neal Tabachnick and Michael Aubry developed the series with Mission Control Media and will serve as co-executive producers. No host has been named yet.

“Jeopardy!” To Film Teachers Tournament Finals, Teen Tournament and Power Players Week in Washington D.C. in April

All this month, Jeopardy! is giving away free tickets for the upcoming tapings of the show’s Teachers Tournament semifinals and finals, Teen Tournament and fourth Power Players Week, which will be filmed in DAR Constitution Hall. The Teachers Tournament will be partly presented by Farmers Insurance in affiliation with the Farmers Insurance Thank America’s Teachers program and will have 15 trivia-savvy teachers compete in a two-week tourney for $100,000 and a spot in the Tournament of Champions. The two-week Teen Tournament has 15 smart students vying for $75,000. Finally, the fourth Power Players Week will feature 15 of the most influential newsmakers, political figures, journalists and other prominent media figures competing against each other for their respective charities. Go to ticketmaster.com for information on how to obtain your free tickets and to WJLA.com for parking information. Listed below are event taping schedules, ticket availability and air dates.

"Separation Anxiety" Review

Set Design- 10

Gameplay- 9

Show Flow- 9

Potential Viewer Ratings- 6

Play-Along Factor- 8

Hosts- 8

Overall Rating- 8.3

GSN’s Upfront 2016 Recap

GSN held its annual upfront presentation yesterday morning in at the Paley Center for Media in New York City to unveil the network’s approach to its 2016 slate of programming. Last year’s upfront was highlighted with the renewals of The Chase, Skin Wars and Idiotest, the announcement of new arrivals including Chain Reaction, Hellevator and Lie Detectors, and the network’s revamped logo. Among the announcements made this year by GSN were the introduction of Donald Faison as the host of the new audience participation game show Winsanity, the return of Idiotest, Skin Wars and Hellevator, and a roster of pilots and upcoming series slated to air later this year.

Back On The Shelf: HLN & Channel 4 Pull “Heads Up” & “The Million Pound Drop”

Two surprising updates surfaced earlier this week regarding HLN’s upcoming game show Heads Up and Channel 4’s popular game show The Million Pound Drop. Both networks have announced they will not be airing any new episodes of their respective programs in the near future. With Heads Up, this is an odd decision considering all 65 episodes of the first season have already been taped with host Loni Love and were ready to air daily from Monday through Friday. Alison Rudnick, a spokeswoman for HLN, confirmed the network’s preemptive cancellation. According to Variety, the last-second yank concerning the show, based on Ellen DeGeneres’ eponymously named mobile game and talk show segment, is the latest signal that CNN is rethinking HLN’s objective and direction.

TBS To Premiere "Separation Anxiety" March 8

In a little less than a week from today, TBS will be premiering a brand new relationship game show called Separation Anxiety. The new series debuts March 8 at 10:00pm ET with hosts comedienne Iliza Shlesinger and comedian Adam Ray. Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk, Charles Wachter, Noah Bennett and Chris Grant will serve as the show's executive producers. Each episode, Separation Anxiety invites a couple to compete on an Internet trivia game show for a $2,500 grand prize. The catch is only one partner will actually play the game while the other is brought onto the main stage where he/she is surprised with the news that they are in reality playing for a massive $250,000 prize, unbeknownst to the other partner.

Nickelodeon To Develop Movie Based on “Legends of The Hidden Temple”

As a part of Nickelodeon’s plan to expand its programming within the next couple of years, the kids' network will roll out a series of new television shows and movies including All In, a reality docu-series featuring Cam Newton; Crashletes, a clip show filled with crazy viral sports videos; a two-part Hey Arnold! movie and a live-action TV movie based on the classic 90’s game show Legends of The Hidden Temple. The movie’s plot line is similar to the original series where three siblings face a series of obstacles to remain alive in the mystifying, mysterious temple. During their daring journey, they will encounter various elements seen on the original show including Olmec to reveal the secrets behind the temple, The Steps of Knowledge and cameos from a green monkey, red jaguar, silver snakes (and probably temple guards and hopefully Kirk Fogg), to name a few. The movie is scheduled to air late 2016. 

Playing Catch Up: News Updates From The Past Week

Because I haven’t had much time to regularly post updates on the TBIR Facebook and main page, today’s article is dedicated to briefly covering some of the more prominent game show news stories from the past week including FremantleMedia’s BUZZR facing a trademark suit, BBC unsurprisingly renewing Pointless, Australia’s Seven Network ordering a new game show from ITV Studios and The Price Is Right heading for Nigeria.