Fightin' lights

My game show viewing today has only included a few eps of Cash Cab on GSN. But there's some odd news from Buzzr.

Folks say that the oldies diginet has uncorked promos for a Thanksgiving weekend marathon of Great Christmas Light Fight. Fremantle produces this holiday reality show, so it looks like they're trying to get a little more mileage from reruns on Buzzr.

Unlike another offbeat Buzzr experiment, Richard Simmons' Dream Maker which was a flop from the first ep, Light Fight has performed quite well for ABC. The show has usually drawn audiences of four to six million, peaking at close to seven million. Not bad at all for super-cheap reality fare. That's why the show has survived for five seasons and will kick off a sixth skein on November 26.

The Buzzr reruns are probably just a long promo for that new season on ABC. But maybe somebody at Fremantle has finally decided that Buzzr should at least try to appeal beyond its current audience: a microscopic knot of oldies nuts...basically, the combined membership of Game Show Forum and Game Show Paradise. You know, the fanatics who track Iran-Contra preemptions of Classic Concentration, and who get exercised when Buzzr cuts fee plugs or What's My Line panel intros.

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