(Yeah, I couldn't help it. I went into review mode.)
After checking out some of the streaming video, I'm going to praise QuizBusters some more. The three shows I've watched so far were all at least decent, but they each had something irritating that just shouldn't still be there after X episodes or seasons.
KDKA has, at least in the first segment, pretty graphics with overbearing sound cues, and shamelessly easy material, without even the "buzzer beater" factor for a lot of it. They asked each of the three teams six questions, and it was a perfect sweep of 18, without so much as a note of guessing on any of them.
(_ P _ D _ R M _ S) (It's the outer layer of your skin.) (Yeesh.)
WPSU's Scholastic Scrimmage was better, with what seemed to be a mix of medium and hard questions, but there was no tension and little variety. It's tossups and bonuses all the way through, and the game is over when they play the funny sound, with no indication that it's coming. Oh, and they play the same "time's running down" music after *every question*.
The Granite State Challenge was probably closest to being excellent with some changes. They've given the older host a hip young cohost, who interviews the contestants outdoors between rounds (pre-taped). Skip skip skip. Some of the questions were terribly vague. And someone was waaaaay too proud of that lighting effect at the beginning and end.
QuizBusters puts the most excitement (when possible) at the end, has nice yet simple graphics, mixes up the questioning format, and the host ain't bad.
