Identity

In case you don’t know, Identity is a game show on NBC which basically implores the contestant to “Judge a book by its cover”, so to speak. They have to guess the “identity” of 12 strangers: (who is a cop?, who is a plumber?, who fucks on the first date? etc.) based mostly on their appearance.
I like, nay, LOVE gameshows. But after watching only 2 episodes of this I declare it retarded. The premise is like that of a game played by grade schoolers. Intersting for 5 minutes, then boring as all hell.

Most of all, though, I find it a complete waste of Penn Jillettes talents and personality.

‘Identity’ is certainly no mental exercise, but it makes a good family-time show. My six-year-old loves it.
I think we’ll have fun watching it this week and then be done with it.

Oh joy, a game that celebrates judging people on their looks. Like America needs more of that.

This seems like a promising show but they need some changes.

Get rid of that lame pregnant pause when they reveal an identity. It’s supposed to build tension but it just looks ridiculous when the strangers are just standing still. Let them do something while they do their little tension builder, like walk up to a center podium or something. The stillness with the pause looks so forced that it’s laughable.

Let the strangers move around and fidget. It would be a lot more compelling to read body language if the people would actually move and not assume positions that were chosen by the producers.

Give the contestant the option to ask one stranger a yes or no question. This would give the experts some use. What good is a body language expert and a psychologist?

It’s pretty bad if the second contestant ever aces the game. It was also lame that they took away his mistaken identity on a whim.

I hate Penn, but that’s just me. I wanted to see him punt that tiny jumping idiot across the stage. Now that would make cool TV.

Too many ads. I can’t take an ad every 5 minutes.

I noticed there were far more ads Tuesday’s show than Monday’s. I realized they were going heavy on the ads about 15 minutes in (once they’d probably already had three breaks or so), and figured one of two things was going to happen.

  1. They needed to fill an entire hour with the little guy because the game only takes 20 minutes (even with pregnant pauses) to win.
  2. The little guy was going to go out in very short order, and they needed to reach the half-hour mark with him to leave a half-hour for a second contestant (which is roughly how Monday worked).

I so hoped it would be the second. The dude looked like Chris Kattan’s mentally deficient half-brother, and was annoying as sin.

I hated the silly poses that the “strangers” had to stand in when they were first introduced.

I don’t think the “judging people by their looks” criticism is valid. The contestants are not making morals or value judgements of the “strangers”.

But the formula is pretty apparent from just a couple of viewings. Four or 5 obvious ones (Sumo wrestler, Ozzie Osburn impersonator, bull rider with a cowboy hat) and the rest are generic looking people you have to make your best guess at.

I doubt this one will catch on like “Millionaire” or “Deal”, but I’ve been wrong before over-estimating the American viewer.

Huh, I’ve been getting a kick out of it. I guess I’m just easily amused after a day at work. On the other hand, I’m the kind of guy who likes to make guesses about what people are like based on minimal information. I agree, though, that the overly-extended pauses are getting a bit lame.

I, too, thought it smelled of “making up the rules as you go along” when they took away his mistaken identity option towards the end. If I were him, and had lost, I would have asked to see that rule written down somewhere.

Exactly!

They put out a series that appeals to the likes of 6 year olds on prime time network television!

But as an adult I find the rules and play of the game stupid. Why don’t they just have a show called “what number am I thinking of?” and have people guess what number Penn is thinking of.

That would be Deal or No Deal.

I like the show so far. The premise is fine, but stretching 20 minutes of material into an hour is a bad idea. (Same thing happens with the better 1 vs 100.) They have to speed it up or make it a half hour or something. If they really wanted to be bold, they could really play on stereotypes, like having all the strangers appear to be one ethnic group with WASPs guessing, or having the belly dancer dress like a school teacher.

They could change the game entirely by having a few more “strangers” and have them all guess each other’s identity.

There is no way of knowing how many contestants have been taped or in what order the taping was done as opposed to the order the contestants’ segments are aired. I expect NBC wanted to show a big winner near the top of the run to ratchet up whatever excitement they could.

This is an interesting show, but the thing that strikes me funny is the play-at-home game. “Which of these people uses the Pfizer® product?” Unusual sponsorship, but the thing that’s even stranger is that they give the answer away during the first commercial break. Isn’t that illegal or something?

Why would it be illegal?

I just wish they’d bring back Kitty Carlarlar.

I was figuring it might be illegal to give away the answer to a contest while the contest is still being held. But then again, seeing as the winner is picked at random, it may not be.

They’re giving away the answer so that people will watch the commercials. Unless, like me, they couldn’t care less which kid uses Listerine.

I guessed dead right – and rather easily – with every stranger with the exception of the Vegas card dealer and the violinist, near the end. I was going back and forth between them. I didn’t think the violinist and belly dancer were all that hard to figure out. I doubt if I would have needed the experts.

Do they wear their own work clothes? Because there’s no way that preschool teacher changes diapers, burps babies and runs after little kids in that kind of dress and those low heels.

Another boring, stupid show. But at least it’s not a waste of the talents & personaility of the host, as Howie Mandel has neither.

I don’t think that it’s that stupid–although Penn could get on my nerves in short order. Then again, I watched all of half an hour or so while surfing the Dope in a motel room while traveling.

But I agree with the complaint about it being too slow. It might be a good show to watch with family, if I taped it and could skip the commercials.

I thought it might have depth in the form of simple questions not directly related to a potential identity. But no, it’s pretty much just based off looks. Not much depth to it, although it has more of a play-along factor than something like Deal or No Deal.

Which, by the way, I find bizarre. There’s nothing there, but suspense. There’s very little viewer participation, no skills used, no tasks accomplished. Weird.

I wasn’t completely bored in the half hour I watched of it, but I could see it wearing out fast. Being able to tivo through slow moments helps.

I like Penn’s take on his signature line “Is that your card?”

Will Teller ever show up?