Nobody pointed out the coolest thing on the show -- the way the cards pop out of the host's desk to tell her the category and question.
My overall opinion is "Ehh..." Nothing offensive (offensive in the "crappy game show" sense), but nothing to hook me, either. Watching comedians try to steal the spotlight while reading pre-written paragraphs of answers isn't all that appealing (I got distracted watching them constantly looking down to see what their answer was). I've never played the home game, but I would assume that part of the fun of that is that you have to make up your own lies on the spot. Obviously, nothing has been made up on the spot for this show. Thinking out loud: All three celebrities are shown the correct answer, two are secretly told to say balderdash, those two think on their feet to come up with a plausible answer, the contestants have to predict who's telling the truth. I think it'd be more fun to watch that way.
I like that the contestants can choose whether they predict who's telling the truth or who's lying, along with the different payouts. Giving a category seems nearly pointless, though -- the stories are always so weird, even somebody who knows a good deal about a subject probably won't know the correct answer.
I like that points are added in each round to keep things interesting, but could still result in a runaway game if one player really dominates. Are contestants given pencil and paper to figure out their final wagers? With the whole 2:1 payoff in the final round, it takes a little more mental math than I suspect the average contestant can perform.
I like the bonus round, even if it has nothing to do with the main game. Just think of it as a trivia challenge.
I don't mind a public service announcement at the end, but maybe the person who decided to include that should have picked a cause that wasn't already being championed by a famous game show host on a network show.
Overall: The game itself offers playalong, but the fact that the celebrities are only there to read statements prepared by the show's writers (tell me that's not how it works) takes away most of the fun. Heck, anybody could be reading those choices, and I'd find the show equally engaging. I'll won't be watching regularly, but I'll still watch more episodes of this than I watched of Pyramid.
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Scott Robinson