Back in the game show game

Craig Ferguson is trying to get back into game shows.

I know, in a way he's never really left our little genre. You can watch his Celebrity Name Game in reruns every weeknight on Buzzr. But Craig is now working on a new game show pilot for American TV. In something of a twist, he's filming the pilot in his native Scotland, and he wants "Scotland-based Americans" as contestants.

The pilot is called The Time It Takes. It's the usual quizzer with a time limit, except the limit is rather quirky. Contestants have to pick their own limit from a menu of odd choices, like the time it takes "to suck up 5,000 frozen peas using a vacuum cleaner." I'm not sure how long the vacuum cleaner would take, but I assume the pilot will tell us if anybody makes that selection.

The format sounds like it will give Ferguson plenty of opportunities for his strongest suit, improv comedy. I realize that Craig Ferguson is something of an acquired taste. His curmudgeonly persona can be a turnoff, and that may be why Celebrity Name Game never really caught on. At least he picked up a couple of Daytime Emmys for the show.

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