New GSN Promo Rises Some Questions

I have to say that it is really nice seeing GSN continue to promote their classic and traditional game shows more and more lately. And now it looks like they’re spicing them up somewhat. Good to me, because while I appreciated the effort, I was honestly getting tired of the laughing promo on weekends.

There’s a new Twilight Zone-esque promo that talks about overnights on GSN. And there were two things that generally got my attention. One, the fact that there were clips from Winston-sponsored years of I’ve Got A Secret. Now for those who do not know, GSN had decided to no longer air episodes of their black and white series sponsored by cigarette companies, a decision made after some form of viewer complaint. Either someone said something after a Winston-era Secret clip was featured on Game Show Moments Gone Bananas, or someone did it after they aired Two for the Money episodes just over two years ago, where a cigarette company was the secondary sponsor. The FCC had nothing to do with it since this is a cable channel. So it looks like this could possibly be coming to an end. If so, I’m glad to hear it. I’m as anti-smoking as the next person and love most classic TV, but you can’t model your life after what people did on 40 to 50+-year-old television series. You wouldn’t get the idea to see Ichabod & Me on CBS the next day or Walter Cronkite talking about the first ever space shuttle launch the following night, so how can anyone think that people will want to smoke after watching an episode from a series from that time period? I mean, what’s next, ban episodes of Match Game which featured Charles Nelson Reilly or Richard Dawson smoking on-set? Come on! If this ad means the end of this “ban,” then I’m glad. The black and white archive is already limited to some degree, since CBS won’t allow them to air any Cullen episodes of The Price Is Right (even though this version aired on NBC and ABC), so why restrict themselves even further?

The second thing I noticed is that there are also clips of the 1972 era of I’ve Got A Secret. I’m guessing that by the time they reach the final episode of the black and white era, they might choose air the 1972-73 version in its place, then start over with the original. Not a bad idea in my opinion. The show only lasted 39 episodes, so it wouldn’t take that long to cycle back to the original. And while I prefer Garry Moore more as a host than Steve Allen, Allen’s color version to me was still very entertaining and had some great guests.