[quote name=\'goongas\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 11:56 AM\']I enjoy watching Celebrity Poker Showdown. And I consider myself to be a film buff. But when the camera can't stay focused on one scene of action for more than ten seconds at a time without an edit, it doesn't suit my tastes, whatever type of show you want to call it. I didn't watch long enough to give a fair review, but I thought I would get a headache if I continued.[/quote]
I think you and Chris are both bringing up good points. The rapid pace doesn't happen to bother me, but I easily see how it could. I'll say again that we're a long way from F-list celebrities here, though Tuesday's was a step down from Monday's. The "theme" of the puzzles is their one concession to a play-at-home element, though I'm a pretty good movie buff and I've had a very hard time with them. I don't like the giveaway "hints" they show us; either we're playing along at home or we're not.
Still, it's a fun way to watch famous and semi-famous folks kicking back and having a good time, the true test of any celebrity "game show". Balaban has a Ben Stein quality to him, and he seems willing to play the part of the pompous know-it-all. I loved the bit Tuesday where he was elaborately describing to us how he'd do a tricky one like "Indecent Proposal." Meanwhile the player got down on one knee to mime "proposal" and got the charade in about three seconds.
Have you noticed that they make sure to tell us what charity each of the stars are representing, but they make no mention at all of what prize structure there may or may not be?