This is the new game show that debuted this week in syndication across the country. Here in the NYC media market, we’re getting it at 4:00 and 4:30 on NBC weekdays. Check your local listings.
I want to like it a lot more than I do. The show is a smart crossword puzzle game. They didn’t cheat too much to make it “accessible” to a general audience. There are clues in the show that only devout crossword puzzle fanatics would get, and some that are filler material the New York Times likes to use as often as possible. (Any clue that leads to “TSAR” is a good one, right?) There’s also the occasional head-scratcher that nobody could possibly ever get. Wide open clues with 13 letter answers and no letters already on the board are not worth attempting. Any crossword solver worth his or her salt would first try to fill letters in from the clues that cut across. But I digress. . .
The game play is rapid fire. There’s no let up. It’s clue after clue after clue. And unlike the time you spend in your local paper’s puzzle, this one comes with the pressure of attempting to beat four other people to the punch with a correct answer — and spelled correctly, too! I like that.
I don’t like the level of anal retentiveness the show has. JEOPARDY! can get very testy about mispronunciations or incorrect pluralizations or incorrect articles in an answer. I understand that. But this show doesn’t let you correct yourself as your spelling. Every show I’ve watched, someone’s lost money by stuttering while spelling or uttering the wrong letter and instantly attempting a respell. It’s a bit much, honestly, though I guess it keeps people honest.
Like I said before, there’s a bit of a loss in the innate nature of crossword puzzles, in that you can use the intersecting clues from a puzzle to figure out if your answer is right before writing it down. Do letter pairs make sense? Does the across answer jibe with what you think the down answer should be? You don’t really get that on this show, and the speed element likely would make it useless, anyway.
The game starts mano a mano with two contestants side by side at podiums answering clues of varyings difficulty. Each clue has a dollar amount assigned to it. If you answer incorrectly, that money is subtracted from your score. If nobody answers, we move on to the next clue quickly.
Three odd things happen: At random times, vacation prizes are added to the prize package of the person who answers the clue correctly. If they go on to win the game, they get the prize. But it comes out of nowhere. It’s almost laughable the way they shove it in.
Second, random clues also become like Double Jeopardy!s. You can wager part of your money on one clue, sight unseen.
But the oddest part comes after the first commercial break: The Spoilers enter. These are three additional players who can answer clues that the first two contestants get wrong or fail to answer. They then move down to the main podium, and the person being replaced becomes the new Spoiler. Why don’t they include this as part of the gameplay from the start? I have no idea.
It’s another shortcoming of the game. There’s not much of a chance for personalities to show through. The game moves too fast. In fact, we’re NEVER introduced to the Spoilers aside from their “mean-looking” dramatic walk onto the set. The first two contestants get 10 seconds of obligatory host chatter, and even that seems useless.
You can’t develop a rooting interest for a contestant in this show. The only reaction you’re ever likely to have is, “Oh, that sucks. She built up $4500 in prize moneys, answered one clue wrong, and is now out of the game.” If they’re going to be that cutthroat about it, at least center the game more on it. Start it from the beginning of the show. Let the hostility and competitiveness develope over the half hour.
But the biggest problem the show has is the host, Ty Treadway. He’s not a Ken doll. He’s a wind-up Game Show Hosting Machine 2000. He acts and sounds like the biggest tooliest tool ever to pop up on a TV show set. He’s a parody of game show hosts, with a voice that might work as a radio ad announcer plugging a monster truck show, but is instead hosting a game show that makes the viewers feel slimey. Look at Pat Sajak or Alex Trebek or Chuck Woolery. They have personalities. They can move the games along. They can hold a conversation with the contestants. They can speak straight without making it sound like a horribly contrived act their agents put them up to. They’re HUMAN.
This guy just sucks. He undermines the whole show.
On the other hand, the show comes in high def, I think. It took watching three episodes before I noticed that the show is natively widescreen. I plan on recording this afternoon’s episodes off the high def feed to see if they look better. I’ll report back.
MERV GRIFFIN’S CROSSWORDS is a worthy attempt at a game show with a great idea. Like most new game shows, its gameplay needs a little more tweaking. More importantly, its host needs outright replacing. If you can get past those hurdles, though, it’s a fun brain game to play.
And let’s all wish Tom Collins luck at his show taping (we hope) on Tuesday! Tune in to his blog for updates. . .
The accompanying pic of Dr. Will Kirby is in honor of the greatest player in Big Brother history. Evel Dick nearly lives up to Evil Dr. Will’s evilness, but without the charm and smile.
It’s probably too late to jump into the show now, but General Hospital is getting good now that it’s moving away from the summer stories of college-aged lust and onto the business of mob wars and petty vindictive interpersonal conflict.
AFP: Michael Jackson plagarized hit tune, Belgian court rules
