or


[06/05/06 - 12:00 AM]
GSN Orders 'Chain Reaction' from Michael Davies and Sony Pictures Television

[via press release from GSN]

GSN Orders 'CHAIN REACTION' From Michael Davies and Sony Pictures Television

Revival of the Popular Word Game to Air Third Quarter '06

SANTA MONICA, Calif., June 5 -- The leading network in prime time game shows, GSN, the network for games, announced today that it has ordered 65 episodes of the new series, CHAIN REACTION, executive produced by Michael Davies ("Who Wants To Be A Millionaire") for Sony Pictures Television (SPT). CHAIN REACTION is the first program produced for the 60-million home network by SPT and Davies under GSN's previously announced three-series commitment. GSN plans to air the half-hour game series as part of its prime time lineup beginning mid-summer.

In making the announcement, Rich Cronin, GSN's president and CEO said, "At this time when networks are rediscovering the power of game shows in prime, GSN is pleased to offer an exciting interactive word game that is totally addictive. We think that viewers will love the challenge of CHAIN REACTION, and we're thrilled to have Michael Davies bring his unique talent to GSN."

"When GSN sent me the tapes of the original Chain Reaction I was blown away by how good the game was -- I couldn't stop myself from shouting out the answers," said Michael Davies, executive producer of CHAIN REACTION and CEO of Embassy Row. "'Playalongability' is a vitally important element of any strip game show -- but our remake of this little known Sony format has so much more -- it's funny, fast-moving, clever and drips with class. I couldn't think of a better program with which to kick off my relationship with GSN."

Taped in New York City, CHAIN REACTION is a revival of the 1980 game show which aired on NBC. In the show, teams compete against one another to complete chains of words after the first and last words of the chain are revealed. Each word in the chain is related in some way to the word directly above and/or below it. The new twist in GSN's version is that, Davies will be pitting teams of men against women.

The show's interactivity will allow viewers to play along at home at GSN.com to solve puzzles and have the chance to win prizes or get discounts on merchandise. Players on the show and at home are presented with a verbal grid with seven spaces for words. The first and last words are revealed and the two teams compete to find the five words in between by determining the relationships between contiguous words. One letter of each missing word is offered as teams take turns trying to guess the word pairs to complete the chain.

An example of a chain that will played on the series is as follows:

FLOWER

P _ _ _ _

L _ _ _

D _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Q _ _ _ _

MOTHER

The correct word pairs are: flower power, power line, line dancing, dancing queen and queen mother. The final chain is FLOWER -> POWER -> LINE -> DANCING -> QUEEN -> MOTHER.

Davies remains executive producer of prime time network hit "Wife Swap" and "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire," now in its fourth year of first run syndication. Over the last 12 months, Davies' New York-based company, Embassy Row, continues to grow and has significantly increased its production of game shows, comedy, documentary films, sports and web content for partners ABC, Sony, GSN, VH1, ESPN, Comedy Central and Yahoo!.

About SPT

Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading content providers. SPT produces and distributes top-rated, award-winning programming in every genre, including series, movies and family entertainment for network and cable television; first-run syndicated series; off-network syndicated programs; and theatrical releases. SPT (http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com) is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

About GSN

GSN, the Network for Games, is the only U.S. television network dedicated to game-related programming. The network features game shows, reality series, documentaries and casino games. As the industry leader in interactivity, GSN has allowed viewers to play-along with on-air programming via their computers and GSN.com since 2000. Now reaching more than 60 million Nielsen homes, GSN is distributed in the U.S. through all major cable systems and satellite providers. The network is jointly owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Liberty Media Corporation. For further media information, visit GSN's press website at corp.gsn.com.

-GSN-

SOURCE GSN
http://www.sonypicturestelevision.com http://www.gsn.com http://www.corp.gsn.com





  [june 2006]  
S
M
T
W
T
F
S
    


· WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE (ABC)
· WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE (SYNDICATION)
· WIFE SWAP (PARAMOUNT)





[06/03/25 - 03:04 PM]
ABC News' "Nightline" Ranks No. 1 in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49 vs. CBS' "After Midnight" and NBC's "Late Night with Seth Meyers"
For the 2nd week in a row, "Nightline" posted increases in Total Viewers, Adults 25-54 and Adults 18-49, turning in its strongest numbers across the board in more than 4 months.

[06/03/25 - 01:07 PM]
Tubi Acquires Destry Allyn Spielberg's Feature Directorial Debut Horror Thriller "Please Don't Feed the Children"
The horror thriller will premiere exclusively on the service Friday, June 27.

[06/03/25 - 12:01 PM]
Netflix Top 10 Week of May 26: "Sirens" Enchants Top 10 Again, "Adolescence" Jumps to No. 2 on Most Popular
Also in English TV, "Cold Case: The Tylenol Murders" debuted at No. 2, as the three-part documentary series reexamined a string of unsolved murders tied to the over-the-counter painkiller that triggered a national panic in the '80s (11.9 million views).

[06/03/25 - 12:00 PM]
"Love Island" Season 12 (UK) Date Announcement, Key Art & Cast Reveal
The season premieres in the U.S. on Thursday, June 12, with new episodes dropping daily, only on Hulu.

[06/03/25 - 11:30 AM]
Lifetime Expands "Terry McMillan Presents" Banner with "His, Hers & Ours" Starring and Executive Produced by Taye Diggs and Lesley-Ann Brandt
Aimee Garcia also stars in the film, which is set to debut later this year.

[06/03/25 - 11:01 AM]
Video: "Trainwreck: Poop Cruise" - Official Trailer - Netflix
An engine fire leaves 4,000 passengers stranded at sea without power and plumbing in this wild documentary about the infamous "poop cruise" of 2013.

[06/03/25 - 10:36 AM]
Video: Trailer & Key Art Debut: "Call Her Alex"
Hulu has debuted the official trailer and key art for the two-part docuseries, premiering all at once on June 10.

[06/03/25 - 10:05 AM]
FOX MLB Scores 2.2 Million Viewers for 18-2 Yankees-Dodgers Blowout
The network's "Baseball Night in America" coverage was up 16% versus last year's FOX MLB regular-season average, despite heavy competition.

[06/03/25 - 09:40 AM]
ESPN Delivers Two of the Three Most-Watched Women's College World Series Non-Finals Games on Record
UCLA versus Tennessee delivered the largest softball audience in a decade.

[06/03/25 - 09:28 AM]
ESPN's Most-Watched Season of "Sunday Night Baseball" in Eight Years
The June 1 edition was the most-watched in seven years, since August 2018.

[06/03/25 - 09:01 AM]
Video: "7 Bears" New Series Trailer - Netflix Jr
Seeking to be heroes, a clumsy troupe of bear siblings decide to help fairytale characters in need - but their good deeds often turn into disasters.

[06/03/25 - 09:00 AM]
Banana Ball Heads to The CW Network with the Broadcast Television Debut of the Savannah Bananas on Sunday, July 27
"The Savannah Bananas have taken the sports world by storm through their high-energy blend of baseball and entertainment that connects with viewers of all ages," said Mike Perman, Senior Vice President, CW Sports.

[06/03/25 - 09:00 AM]
Legendary Lineup of Stars Set to Present at "The 78th Annual Tony Awards," Airing Live Sunday, June 8, on CBS and Paramount+
Also, Tony Award winner Brian Stokes Mitchell will be the show announcer.

[06/03/25 - 08:31 AM]
Will Forte, Eliza Coupe, Skyler Gisondo, Natalie Palamides and Jimmi Simpson Lend Their Voices to "Haunted Hotel" Coming to Netflix September 19
A single mother of two struggles to run a haunted hotel with the help of her estranged brother, who is now one of the ghosts haunting the hotel and thinks the other ghosts have some pretty good ideas.

[06/03/25 - 07:32 AM]
Mega-Hit "Rock the Block" Delivers Another Standout Season for HGTV
The seven-episode run averaged a .66 live plus three-day rating among Adults 25-54 and a .84 live plus three-day rating among Women 25-54.