"Disappointment" (11:00pm Thursdays, Marshal/Dublanski Productions for GSN) is the latest original production from GSN. Billing itself as "The show that doesn't get your hopes up," it lives up to that promise, and even exceeds in some aspects. A throwback to the old audience-participation formats of the fifties and sixties, host Mo Rocca pulled contestants from an audience of hipsters who were told this was going to be a live taping of NPR's "This American Life."
Highlights included:
- At the start of the show a member of the audience, who admitted he was a fan of Linda Carter, was given a tray with a stack of blocks on it and told he had to carry it through an obstacle course. He would be given the opportunity to practice it backstage, and brought back out at the end of the show. If he could get through the course within sixty seconds, and without knocking over the stack of blocks, he would win the opportunity to meet her.
- Ripping off Truth or Consequences, Mo started off another segment by asking a riddle to a member of the audience ("How is a raven like a writing desk?"). The audience member answered "Because Poe wrote on both?"
Mo then congratulated the contestant on the correct answer, thanked them for playing, and then promptly moved on to the next segment.- A "Swap the Box" game where three of the four boxes held a consolation prize of five bucks, with the ability to remove the consolation prizes if the contestant could answer questions about the times he made poor decisions in life.
He was successful in removing the three consolation boxes from play, leaving him the grand prize box of...Five bucks. ("But this one is in a glittery envelope," said Rocca, "That means it's the grand prize.")- A stunt where a woman was reunited with her long-lost... ex-husband. ("He was long-lost for a reason, you know.")
- And for the grand finale, the Linda Carter fan was brought back out for his stunt...
In a squeaker, he manages to slide under the limbo bar, stack intact, with 1.3 seconds left. Cue confetti. Linda Carter swiftly walks out, hands the contestant a restraining order, and just as swiftly walks off stage. "Welp," said Mo Rocca. Cue credits.[/list]
I have to hand it to Marshal/Dublanski Productions -- when they come up with idea, they marry themselves to it. Borrowing from Ralph Edwards' old catchphrase from Truth or Consequences, executive producer Edwin Dublanski takes the phrase "Aren't we devils?" to a new, and rather quite jerky direction. For a game show, it is uncomfortable to watch and yet I am totally drawn in. I'd be safe in saying the contestant pool for this one may be hard to keep filled up, frankly, so enjoy this one while you can. For Public Radio's Fresh Things Considered American, I'm Josh Eldridge.
