This is quite interesting, and I'm eager to hear what you all think of it. It seems that an organization called TVTrips is recruiting people to attend game show tapings, potentially become contestants, and even try out for reality television shows. That in itself is a little odd, but there appears to be a motive behind all of this that is not sitting quite right with me.

I first heard about TVTrips when I was doing a search on Craigslist for new game show casting calls, last week. I saw this one, and here's part of the ad:

CBS TV and TVtrips seek godly, attractive, single women for game show:
I am looking for godly, single women for a unique CBS TV game show opportunity to be a contestant. If you are personable, attractive, competitive and want to win $20,000 or more, then please respond with a picture and paragraph about yourself.

If you look up TVTrips.org, there's not much there at all. The shell of a website says that it's under construction, and links to their YouTube page. Now, here's where it gets interesting.

Apparently, according to the description on that YouTube channel page, TVTrips exists to both "preach the gospel" and to "raise awareness and funds on reality TV and game shows - specifically CBS' The Price is Right." The videos show clips of founder Mark Anthony DiBello on The Price is Right, as well as a couple of people that he has "coached" to be on the show.

One of these people, a contestant named Lisa, won a new car worth almost $20,000 - and in the clip, you can clearly see DiBello in the audience telling her where to stop in the That's Too Much game. In another video, you see DiBello giving a pep talk to a group of people he has ready to be in the audience, telling them that they aren't there to have fun, and should act as Jesus would.

Now, I'm not going to say anything about the religion factor here. My own personal belief is that everyone is free to worship (or not worship) as they see fit, and it's none of my business. This whole thing, however, raises some questions. Is DiBello a ringer who sits in the audience and feeds people the prices? How is he making money off of this "business?" And why, when all of these clips are from Barker-era TPIR, is he suddenly posting ads on Craigslist to get more people to be on the show with him? There's a second, more recent ad here. And why is he asking for "single, attractive women" to be on TPIR?

I've only begun to scratch the surface of this, but I suggest you watch the video titled A Day of Victory to get a sense of what this group is all about. I'd really like to know how these folks are convinced to donate their winnings, where their donations go, and why Price is targeted. DiBello himself has been on TPIR, Wheel of Fortune, 1 vs. 100, Blind Date, and a few others. Google him, and you'll get some really interesting links.

So readers, what's your take on this whole thing? I'd love to hear your input!

I was holding off a bit on this post because I was hoping to have some additional photos for you, but let's go ahead with it anyway because this is fun news!

As we mentioned last week, the Let's Make a Deal pilot filmed this past Monday and Wednesday. The host was former Don't Forget the Lyrics host Wayne Brady, who apparently brought a lot of energy to the proceedings. The game itself is almost a carbon copy of the original, which is good news for those of us who grew up with the Monty Hall version.

Hollywood Junket has a full report from Wednesday's taping, complete with set photos.

Let's Make a Deal is being considered as a daily daytime game on CBS, combined with the new Pyramid, and of course, The Price is Right. If all goes well, we could be seeing this new block as early as September. I'll be watching for news of both new shows being picked up, and the subsequent casting calls.

There's also another game show revival pilot in the works - The Dating Game is still going ahead with its initial taping. I'm not sure where (or even if) that one would fit into the schedule should it be green-lit. Personally I'd much rather see Pyramid and LMAD, especially considering both shows are going back to their roots. How about you? Would you make time for two full hours of daytime game shows on CBS, and if so, which ones would you like to see?

Photo courtesy FOX

As Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? continues to burn off its remaining prime time episodes, FOX has released the lineup of celebrities who are playing the game for charity this summer. Here's the schedule:

• Larry the Cable Guy, (pictured) July 10th, playing for the Arnold Palmer Medical Center Foundation


• Jack Hanna, July 17th, playing for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium Partners in Conservation


• Star Jones, also on July 17th, playing for East Harlem School at Exodus House


• Bill Goldberg, July 24th, playing for The Progeria Research Foundation


• Sugar Ray Leonard, also on July 24th, charity to be announced


• Dean Cain, July 31st, playing for the Lollipop Theater Network, Inc.

All shows begin at 8pm Eastern, on FOX.

Photo courtesy FOX

When GSN introduced their new Big Saturday Night programming, it was meant to be a summer thing, experimenting with live interstitial bits and two new game shows. There were nine weeks planned out, with an end date of August 22nd.

Our friend Chad Mosher, who is very active in the game show community, came across a post on the GSN message board about BSN and the official end date. One of the administrators has posted that she was "asked to let people know that BSN will continue in some fashion beyond August, just not in the current format."

This raises a few questions of course. The schedules released by GSN for late August indicate that The Money List and 20Q, the two new BSN games, will continue on Saturday nights, with the third hour in the block occupied by Deal or No Deal reruns. Will Big Saturday Night encompass these three shows, without the live games or skits, or will they continue to repackage the time slot to make it different?

What would you do to improve the Big Saturday Night experience? I'm convinced that GSN is onto something here, and we know that they're good at packaging live shows - just take a look at GSN Live. So how would you go about combining the BSN spirit into something that's more, well, watchable?

Logo courtesy GSN