Bring Back My Channels!

Late night TV is not the same without Regis Philbin. With the switch this year to the cable service provider MetroCast, there has been a change in our channel lineup. The change has resulted in the removal of some beloved stations. For me, the removal of the Game Show Network (GSN) is a tragedy. I love Who Wants to be a Millionaire, specifically the old-school Regis Philbin-filled episodes. Last semester I tuned into GSN promptly at midnight to de-stress after a day laden with classes, meetings, homework and everything else that fills up my time.

GSN was my safe haven, my guilty pleasure. Watching Regis pretend to know all the answers while intelligent contestants became millionaires was a way to relax and think about something besides the stress in my own life. I would play along with the show, testing if I knew the answers when the contestants did not. There have been several occasions on which I stopped what I was doing to seriously consider whom I would use as phone-a-friend lifelines if I ever made it on the show.

Coming back to Conn this year, with the removal of GSN, I have lost my default channel, my television getaway. I miss Reeg. I miss late night episodes of Pyramid from the ’70s with Dick Clark. Where else can you watch a much younger Betty White guest star to help a contestant win $10,000, or see what Dick Clark was like in his prime (a time before Dick Clark’s New Years Rockin’ Eve was hosted by Ryan Seacrest).

Then there are the even-later-night episodes of Password that air in black and white and come on when you know you should already be asleep. Another favorite of mine was original episodes of Family Feud hosted by the hilariously creepy Richard Dawson. In every episode, Dawson kissed all the female contestants on the lips, and believe me, these women eagerly awaited their kisses.

Let us not forget Alfonso Ribeiro’s Catch-21, which you have to watch to simply stare and wonder “what is Carlton* doing hosting a game show!?”

Brenner Green ’12 had his own GSN ritual: “Every night at 9:30 my friends and I bonded over watching Jerry Springer’s show Baggage.” The removal of GSN from our lineup has taken away his tradition. “I thought they were trying to make the channels more educational, but GSN is educational. Disney is not educational.”

The Disney Channel is one of the new additions accompanying the cable service provider switch. Other new channels include Lifetime Movie Network, Turner Classic Movies, Great American Country, Country Music Television, Trinity Broadcasting Network, QVC and the Home Shopping Network. While some may be jumping for joy to watch Hannah Montana or order jewelry “as shown on TV,” I would give all of these away for GSN any day of the week.
Women’s Entertainment (WE) is another upsetting loss. “I miss WE TV’s wedding show marathons, like Whose Wedding Is It Anyway,” reported one junior. Without WE she can no longer find the inspiration she craves for planning her friends’ future weddings.

Other channels missing from the new network provider include G4, home of Ninja Warrior (a fantastic Japanese obstacle and endurance show) and IFC, which plays repeats of great shows that were prematurely canceled like Arrested Development and Freaks and Geeks.

Again, for me, the loss of GSN hurts the most. As my friends could attest to, my TV could be turned on at anytime to find GSN as the default channel. Last year I would clean my room and do my homework to Howie Mandel on Deal or No Deal or Bob Saget’s 1 vs. 100. This year, it feels like the loss of a friend. GSN was my religion, and the late night game show hosts were my gods. **

*Carlton refers to the Tom Jones-loving character on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
**I do not actually nor have I ever considered GSN a religion or prayed to game show hosts. This was solely for emphasis. •

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