Game shows have become part of our family TV viewing time here at the Fortress of Ineptitude with the four of us gathered on the couch, me, my wife Andrea, our daughter Randie and our dog Rosie.
Celebrity Family Feud kicks off Sunday night. ABC has this show in an hour long slot but typically like its syndicated non-celebrity cousin, the games are half hour installments. But not this lately. Celebrity Family Feud features two groups of contestants for the full hour. There is a serious amount of padding going on.
This past Sunday's installment feature Ru-Paul's Drag Race against the cast of The Bold Type which is some show I've never heard of that runs on Freeform which is a cable channel owned by Disney which owns ABC.
Corporate synergy!
Corporate synergy!
Corporate synergy!
Corporate synergy!
Clearly the producers want to milk the outrageous characters on the Ru-Paul side as much as possible with host Steve Harvey spending an inordinate amount of time interacting drag queens and super gay people. The show is on for ten minutes before we get to the first question.
I have a theory. I read somewhere that Steve's banter with the guests usually pushes a typical half hour show past a half hour. A lot of judicious editing is needed to weed that material down to a half hour. My theory is that these new editions of Celebrity Family Feud are foregoing that editing to keep up a supply of new episodes, especially in the wake of pandemic lockdowns limiting the production of new material.
While Steve Harvey's humorous interactions with the guests provides spice to the regular Family Feud game, the game takes a back seat in Celebrity Family Feud when Steve's stuff is allowed to run amuck.
Press Your Luck comes on next after Celebrity Family Feud. This is a seriously stressful game. The premise is that a big board flashes various boxes. The contestant presses a big red button and the board lights up one box to win cash. Or prizes. Or you can wind up with a big ol' Whammy.
A poorly animated red character skitters across the screen, chattering away while all of the contestants winnings are erased.
Elizabeth Banks is smart, funny and (I've gotta say this!) sexy as hell as the host. The light blue dress she wore Sunday night with it's tight skirt and low scooping neck would not look nearly as good on Pat Sajak or Alex Trebek.
While watching Celebrity Family Feud and Press Your Luck, we saw promos for a new game show airing on ABC called Don't. The promos were funny with host Adam Scott talking about some earnest new drama that he was starring in but then realizes, it's not an earnest new drama but a game show where contestants do stupid stuff to win prizes.
Or rather DON'T do stupid stuff to win prizes?
Confused?
OK, here's the deal: a group of 4 contestants take turns with a variety of challenges where they need to DON'T do something to win money. For example, DON'T get hit by monster truck tires. Or DON'T blink.
Or in the premiere episode, DON'T drink a nice cool beverage.
Here's how that works. One of the contestants has to walk on a treadmill. Under heat lamps. While eating increasingly spicy hot foods. While Adam Scott entices the hapless contestant with a variety of cool beverages. All the contestant has to do to win money for his team while walking under heat lamps and eating hot peppers is DON'T drink.
All the while these shenanigans are going on, Ryan Reynolds is providing off screen narration about the contests, the contestants, Adam Scott and even the commercial breaks. ("Let's see how many of the following commercials will use the phrase 'in these trying times'.")
The various challenges are absurd and sometimes a bit scattershot but the driver for Don't is the absurdist humor of the host and the omniscient narrator. Adam Scott is making fun of the tropes of game show hosts even while being an engaging game show host. And if your favorite part of Deadpool movies is Ryan Reynolds' voice overs, well, you will love this show.
Speaking of game shows, Jeopardy finally ran out of new episodes last Friday. All the new games recorded back in "the before times" have been used up.
I'm not sure how the whole family has turned watching these game shows into a family thing. But the humans seem to be enjoying these game shows a lot.
Rosie the dog just lays on Randie's lap, quietly tolerating all of this.
Or quietly plotting her revenge.
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