Game Shows for Dummies

I am not a big fan of the new breed of “deliberation” game shows—you know, the ones like "Deal or No Deal" where the contestant is encouraged to “talk it out” and make a public spectacle of herself while deciding whether to advance or not and risk all their money before making some brainless decision. I’m not a big fan at all. Matter of fact, you might even say I hate them. I watch game shows for entertainment and maybe to test my own wits, and seeing someone go all drama queen and crawl on a stage for 10 minutes while agonizing over which numbered box to pick satisfies neither requirement.

However, I have watched two of these deliberation-oriented deals recently, and one of them, Drew Carey’s “The Power of Ten,” really is entertaining, with a nice mix of play-alongability, humor, and fun. The other, Jimmy Kimmel’s “Set for Life,” is one of the worst game shows I have seen.

Let’s dispense with “Set for Life” first—and quickly. It took me about 10 minutes to dispense it from my DVR. ABC, or whoever is responsible for this, apparently figured the complex strategies involved in Deal or No Deal were too much for today's stressed-out Joe Viewer. After all, those boxes contestants choose were numbered, and you know what numbers mean, right? Math.

So "Set for Life" asks its participants merely to pick red or white lights. I'm simplifying the concept, of course, but--hey, no, I'm not. The participants pick red or white lights! It is even duller than it sounds, and watching players fret like they're performing calculus is not fun. This show has lowered the bar for game shows, and it even somehow lowered the bar for Jimmy Kimmel.

"The Power of Ten" is quite watchable, though. The players don't really have to know anything here, either, but they guess what percentage of surveyed Americans said about something or other. To the critics who scoffed that this basically updates "Card Sharks," I say, so what? "Card Sharks" was kind of cool. It's easy to guess along with the contestants, but at least it forces some basic brain function.

The contestants do go through that public deliberation that makes these game shows painful to sit through, but the host here actually brings something to the show. Drew Carey is an adequate enough emcee and conductor of game play, but he really shines in bringing humor to the show, both in his reactions to the surveys and to his interactions with the players. He comes across as a nice guy who really wants to see the contestants win, and seeing him chat with them about their decisions to risk money by going on is less contrived than on other shows.

I won't be watching "The Power of Ten" regularly, but it's a decent way to pass the hour. Perhaps more importantly for CBS is the skill Carey shows as a game show host outside of the "Whose Line" format. If he's this good now on this summer replacement show, he could really develop into a keeper on "The Price is Right."