The clock ticks again

Beat the Clock has been revived more often than the stock market. The latest version brings state-of-the-art cute parent-and-child teams to Universal Kids.

Just watched an episode, which was rated TV-Y7. That means "directed to older children," which sounds like a good description of me. Sure enough, I liked the show. The stunts were silly and fast-paced, and everybody seemed to have a good time. Host Paul Costabile kept things moving with nonstop cheerleading for the appealing moms and kids.

Another thing I liked is that the teams played for real money. Might as well teach kids early that game shows are about the loot. The real star of the show may have been the clock. The circular LED screen went green and yellow and purple and striped and spotted and a dozen other things. It also counted down the time now and then.

Universal Kids is not exactly a leading cable network. It finished 85th in total day among cable nets for the most recent week. So millions won't watch the latest BtC, but this kids version is still a decent addition to the long and ticking history of the format.

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