Me and my son have recently discovered
Lingo, Russian Roulette, and Friend or Foe.
We love these shows!
Friend Or Foe wouldn’t be nearly as good as it is if not for the love of my life, Kennedy.
sigh…
caught friend or foe the other day. Not even the long-lost Kennedy was enough to make me keep watching. bleah…
Game Show Network has rolled out several new, original shows recently. Here are my takes on them:
Whammy! This show is based on the “Press Your Luck” show from the early/mid 80s. I thought it was so-so at first, but the “Double Whammies” got old really fast (they dump stuff on the contestants, such as popcorn, ping-pong balls, coffee beans, etc.) The Whammies also seem to come out too often to give most contestants a fair chance to win big. On the original PYL a typical contestant’s winnings per show were $15K to $20K. On Whammy! a contestant is lucky to break $5K (which is even less when adjusting for inflation). Also, there are a lot more prizes in the new Whammy!, whereas in PYL there was more cash awarded (which I would rather have).
Friend of Foe I liked this at first, but anymore it has gotten to be a real downer for me to see the two players give a bullshit-laden speech about how great they played together and how it is only fair for them to split the money. Then they end up foe-ing each other out of the money and they leave empty-handed (serves them right).
Russian Roulette I like this one. I’d like it better if the contestants didn’t insult each other (“I’ll have Charlie answer this one since he’s probably too old to know anything about computers.”)
Lingo I also like this one, especially since the two teams don’t insult each other. I like most word games anyway.
WinTuition. This one debuted this week. So far I like it. The premise is good, progressing through the game by asking questions appropriate for each grade level from first grade through senior high school. The contestants win money to pay for either their own college tuition or that of another person.
Cram This one is due to debut in January. I haven’t yet seen any promos that show what the actual show is like (just “teaser” promos so far).
I haven’t much liked Russian Roulette or Friend Or Foe when I’ve seen them.
Lingo is really cool. Wish there was a way I could play online, but Game Show Network’s site evidently doesn’t like Macs.
WinTuition, I’ve only caught part of, once. Pretty cool, although I thought it was odd that I got more right in the final round than the contestant, since he said he got a perfect score on his SAT. Come on, Mr. Perfect! “Lachrymal glands”! What else could they be!