Ex-Las Vegan dives into the game show craze

Kimberley McGee

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2000 | 8:47 a.m.

Since ABC's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" with host Regis Philbin debuted in August, each network has scrambled to cash in on the yet-to-be satiated appetite for prime-time quiz shows.

Now Fox's "Greed" and NBC's "Twenty One" vie for the public's attention and CBS's "Winning Lines" debuted earlier this month. Former Las Vegan John Peper, a 1991 graduate of Chaparral High School, currently writes questions for "Winning Lines" and has also written for the new "Family Feud," among other shows.

"Winning Lines" opens with 49 contestants answering general knowledge questions (dealing with pop culture and well-known references, among other topics) that have a numeric answer (for instance: how much is a baker's dozen? 13). The finalist faces the Wonderwall -- three giant projection screens with 20 questions and answers, which the contestant needs to match within three minutes to win $1 million.

Those playing along at home have a chance to win $50,000 at the end of each half-hour show when anti-aging host Dick Clark reads off seven digits. If your home or cell phone numbers have those seven digits, excluding area code, in any combination, call in for the cash.

Celador Productions, which also brought "Millionaire" to the United States from Britain, carries "Winning Lines" over the Atlantic to hopefully settle into prime time with ratings as meaty as the Philbin-fronted show.

Peper had a brief stint as an actor -- enjoying French fries for a national McDonald's commercial -- and wrote a movie script that got stalled. He was a struggling valet at Bally's when he was befriended by comedian Louie Anderson, who was performing at the hotel. Anderson handpicked Peper to write for the new "Family Feud," which Anderson hosts.

"It's been a crazy ride but I have been very fortunate to continue to work in this business," Peper said.

"I would sit in on auditions (of contestants) and write material for the families and Louie," Peper said, adding that offhand humor was the key. "I'd write, 'Out of 100 people surveyed who make their babies wear toupees ...' It's not true, it was just for laughs."

And the laughs weren't always prearranged, which was part of the fun of the game show format, he said. "We've had some insane answers on 'Family Feud,' " Peper said. "It makes it interesting."

The unpredictable lies in the contestant's reaction to a question -- or their answer. For instance, one question Peper remembers that threw both the host and guest was: Name something a stewardesss gives you that you give back at the end of a flight.

"One guy said trash," Peper said. Anderson ran with it. "Louie said, 'Trash? They give you trash and you give it back? What airlines are you flying?' "

Then there's the innocent questions that contestants turn around and give answers to that can draw the censors' wrath.

"Louie said, 'Name something on adults that grows larger as you grow older," Peper said, pausing for timing. "Yeah, (the contestant) said 'penis.' "

For Peper, it is the perfect time to be in the business. As the gain in popularity, profits for quiz shows are larger than the Megabucks jackpot. Peper is involved with two other game shows that are still in the planning stages.

"The interesting thing about game shows is that the success of a game show, except for 'Jeopardy,' is that it has to be able to cross over -- it's a comedy show first and a game show second," Peper said.

Today's resurgence of prime-time game shows are a throwback to the early days of television, when viewers were entertained by average people in outrageous situations winning household appliances.

Scandals involving rigging of questions on the original "Twenty One" in the '50s tainted the form, and the once-popular shows slipped from their prime-time spots, never to return with same popularity.

Until now.

"Now the big thing is giving away that much money," Peper said, adding that the seemingly simple questions attract a wide audience. "People like to feel they are smart."

While the game show fervor climbs to fever pitch with at least two more shows to air by the end of the year, television critics warn of too much too soon.

Ken Parish Perkins, television critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said that a fortuitous chance taken by a network caused this huge stir.

"ABC took a gamble with 'Millionaire' " Perkins said. "Comedies have been dying over the last few seasons, so they decided to try something new and it worked really well."

When the network rooted around for a summer sweeps stealer, they chose the neglected game show genre. "The audience is always looking for something new," Perkins said. "But TV is a copycat medium, it duplicates whatever is successful."

When viewers wander away from the abundance of game shows to something new, Perkins predicts they will keep a few favorites for the long term. "It will be like it always is," Perkins said. "In another year, there will be more (shows), and then you'll see a drop off. People won't watch anymore. But two or three will remain and one will stay strong, probably 'Millionaire.' "

The early '90s trend of TV news magazines is a good example. "They saturated the market," Perkins said.

Shows hosted by Connie Chung and Bryant Gumbel, along with "Primetime Live," didn't get a foothold among fickle viewers, but "20/20," "Dateline NBC" and "48 Hours" -- as well as mainstay "60 Minutes," which predated them -- have stayed strong with solid ratings over the years.

Perkins easily pinpoints the appeal of "Millionaire."

" 'Millionaire' is interesting because people like the fact that a person like me can win money," Perkins said. "It's like dreaming, you really do become a part of it."

A viewer's ability to answer questions and play along makes watching an interactive experience. "When 'Twenty One' started, the questions were hard in the 1950s," Perkins said. "When they came out with this (new) one, they said they would not make the questions hard. It's the dumbing down of America."

The long-standing hit quiz show "Jeopardy," has held onto a solid core audience because of its difficult questions. But, Perkins said, host Alex Trebek can't draw the numbers that the new prime-time game shows are currently tallying.

"People who watch 'Jeopardy,' are into it for the challenge," Perkins said. "The show will never get as many (viewers) as 'Millionaire' because the hard questions are going to knock most (viewers) out."

Matt Roush, television critic for TV Guide, agrees.

"The only show that is an intellectual show is 'Jeopardy,' " Roush said. "It's sad, you now see them playing for $200 and $400 when you can win on a round of 'Twenty One,' thousands of dollars."

Like nervous children at a smorgasbord, the other networks don't like to try new things. If one flavor works, why try another?

"My jaw hit the floor when I saw how shameless 'Greed' was in its tone, set, music," Roush said. "It's everything that 'Millionaire' is."

CBS planned to revive a game show last summer when 'Millionaire' took off with huge ratings, but the network couldn't get it together in time, Roush said. Now there are writers, producers and actors of canceled comedy shows wandering the streets of Hollywood as networks scramble to create their own million-dollar show.

"It was a bad year for comedy, nobody launched good comedy this year until 'Malcom in the Middle' on (Fox)," Roush said. "The time was just right for 'Millionaire' to come in. If they came up with better shows, they wouldn't need 'Millionaire.' "

"Millionaire" continually bobbed in the Top 10 amid the sea of shows on the four prime-time networks, which Roush said is unbelievable. "It looks bizarre to have a show capture such an audience that is watching night after night no matter what is opposite it," Roush said. "It was a real historical moment in television. It's amazing the staying power of this show."

Game shows will hold their audiences if they make it personal, Roush added. " 'Millionaire' is one-on-one intensity, you care about the person in the seat. Regis gets you to care about the guy's outcome," Roush said. "You never know what the guy on that show is not going to know. It seems easy but then it throws you a curve ball."

The ominous music and Philbin's vexing queries about the contestants' confidence build the excitement for the viewer.

"It's very manipulative but it's kind of fun, too," Roush said. "I wanted to get up and turn the show off when (a) guy lost on his first turn!

"But, it's the stuff of great drama in bite-sized pieces."

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