In case you didn't know, it's Ellen's show

Just watched the "sneak peek" of Ellen's Game of Games. Which is different from the official premiere. Because the peek is sneaky.

To sum up, Game of Games is a combination stunt show and quizzer, with the accent on the stunts. So there's a strong whiff of Beat the Clock along with the gentler parts of Wipeout. (There were gentler parts of that show, right?) The sneak peek also ripped off Russian Roulette's drop through the floor, right down to the slow motion replays.

The gameplay is silly enough, which I always like in my stunt shows. What's the use of serious stunts? You might as well watch sports for them. Now and then Ellen asks the contestants some questions, which are either ridiculously easy or impossibly hard, apparently depending on Ellen's mood.

You don't have to watch much of the show to understand that everything depends on Ellen. The show doesn't allow fifteen consecutive Ellen-off-screen seconds at any time. If a stunt is ongoing we get forty-two (slight exaggeration) reaction shots from Ms. DeGeneres. Sometimes we even get a cartoon Ellen during the few moments when the real Ellen isn't on camera.

NBC is pitching Game of Games at Ellen DeGeneres' built-in daytime audience, so it's not surprising that the goddess, er, host of the show dominates the proceedings. Your opinion of the show will inevitably depend on your opinion of Ellen. And on that ambiguous note, this review will conclude.

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: