Watched the premiere, and I thought it was a mixed bag.
WHAT I LIKED ...
-- Liked a majority of the questions. Difficult, but not impossible (felt like an hour of DJ! and FJ! questions to me). A few of the questions seemed designed to genuinely stump or trick the players and audience (the John Hughes "battle" and the first U.S. Landmarks question come to mind).
-- An impressive set, particularly the game board listing the categories.
-- Contestants were made to feel special and the reason to watch the game. To Richard Quest's credit, he did what he could to make them the stars of the show.
-- Loved the mini-games. "Battle" was a fast-paced version of a TTD Red category or "The Rich/Money List" that worked due to the fact that it seemed to go quickly. The "Top 10 Challenge" was a fun "quick recall" game that had the feeling of old-school quiz bowl bonus questions.
ON THE FENCE ...
-- Richard Quest has a commanding presence as host. When he talks with that booming voice of his, you're bound to stop and listen to what he has to say. But there were times he simply talked too much -- there's no need to ask the contestants why they went to a certain category, why they ignored a category, etc. He also had a bit of a quirk whenever contestant took too much time searching for an answer. Quest seemed to move his hands and limbs so much that I thought he needed to use the bathroom. There's no need to be overexcited as the clock counts down.
Having dealt with Quest before, what you see on TV is what you get in real life. He doesn't have an "off" button, so to say. What makes Quest unique has won him his fair share of fans, but I can also see him alienating some viewers (the quirks I mentioned above).
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE ...
-- To be honest, I liked the concept of only rewarding money if the contestant answered correctly on the first try. It's unique and challenges the contestants to prove they are geniuses. But I can also see viewers being turned off by the concept. Why are they not being rewarded for correct answers?
-- ABC should have put an explainer on how the game works on the show's website before it aired. Mini-games popped up without explanation beforehand. As mentioned above, some viewers would be confused as to why some right answers meant cash and others didn't. At Question 25, Quest mentions to contestant Dan that if he gets it right, he takes home $5000 "no matter what." How about explaining the milestone system online? Are milestones awarded for every 25 questions?
-- Any potential grand prize was not mentioned during the premiere telecast. Based on the early questions, you could win at least $500,000 (not including milestone bonuses) by answering all 500 questions on the first try. But does the money change the further you go up the question stack? Can you quit after certain milestones? Again, an online explainer would have been extremely helpful.
-- As mentioned previously, the game's pace needs to be quickened by, at the very least, cutting down on the banter. J! can get through 61 questions in 30 minutes. "Downfall" was able to get through 90-100 questions per show during its short run. "The Chase" has at least 100 questions per episode. Why can't "500 Questions" do the same?
Overall grade: C+
There is a lot of potential with this show. It's a hard quiz that kept me entertained. But it's bogged down by throwing too much at the viewer and expecting them to follow up.
JD
