CBS purchased a pilot from Ryan Seacrest's production company for a live-action Draw Something game show. Based on the Zynga game, the proposed game show would feature celebrities and regular folk squaring off over the latest version of PIctionary. Deadline ran the notice last Friday, but it seemed more like an early Monday type of story.
Why, you ask?
First off, no one plays Draw Something on the weekends, let alone in general. Since Zynga's gradual slide down the signifcance of Facebook and social gaming, they've needed a desperate kick in the positive publicity department. How would a Ryan Seacrest backed show help that? A few ways.
It's Ryan Seacrest
Aside from Seacrest being the literal king of media on the West Coast, him hyping the Zynga brand could be the shot in the arm that they need. Seacrest can volly the company from his own social media presence to the various shows that he's got in production from the Kardashians to his daily radio show. Gamasutra spoke to an analyst claiming the pessimism for Zynga is misplaced, and Seacrest could be the boost out of the dreary days.
If Famous People Like It...
If someone who's remotely famous endorses a product, there's a brief spike in popularity. It's silly and pointless, but it happens when there's the brief moment that there's a chance you could be playing a Deathmatch with Ice-T in Call of Duty. The downside in playing Words with Friends with Kim Kardashian, though, could be her personal assistant finally gets to use that English degree that never gets to shine.
Cross App-lication
Zynga acquired Draw Something and OMGPOP to bring in new ideas. Because aside from Farmville, the Zynga gaming franchise consisted of cutesy characters playing chess, checkers, hangman, word scramble and what's essentially Scrabble. Draw Something is basically Pictionary, but it can work at promoting some of Zynga's other games. It could even inspire Zynga to let OMGPOP take on other original games with a new flare, aside from drawing Batman.
The Price Is Right! Because...
There are literally no other new game shows on TV. The dominant shows are holdovers from the 70s and 80s, which have outlasted other programs like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and The Weakest Link. We need a new game show. And why not let it be Pictionary for the iPhone generation?
These are all things we could choose to worry about, but just like Draw Something, we really don't need to care about it. The show's still in a pilot phase, meaning it hasn't even likely been shot yet. Still, if it meant a Seacrest-themed Draw Something, it would likely become the best social game the E! network played since that time they mistakenly put on G4 material.
