By now you've probably checked out NBC's latest offering, Who's Still Standing. The show kicked off on December 19th with a total of five holiday-themed episodes. I read quite a few rants from people who simply hated the show, but I have a confession to make: I actually enjoy it.Let's get the negative stuff out of the way first. The game itself is ridiculously easy. The letters in the answers give the answers away 90% of the time, and the other 10% leave enough wiggle room that you can eventually blurt out the right response. (Of course this is easy to say from the comfort of our living room couches - as a contestant or challenger, I would imagine some of the questions might be a little tougher.) The animated reminders after each round indicating how much money the contestant has won and how many more challengers he or she has to drop are repetitive and annoying - and the added "Ho ho ho!" Santa stuff just made them worse. Also, after the drops, we don't need to see an action replay of every. single. contestant.
Normally the above would be enough to turn me off a game show, but there's something about Who's Still Standing that has grown on me. It's impossible not to play along from the couch. Host Ben Bailey started off rather stiff, but he's become much more enjoyable as the episodes progress. The real gem for me is the Speed Round, and I wish there was more of this rapid-style play throughout the game. Combine 1 vs. 100 with Who's Still Standing and make it a giant speed round, and you've got a much better game overall - at least from where I'm sitting.
Photo courtesy NBC
Comments
I feel the same way about the speed round being the most compelling aspect of the show. I would rather see an “all speed round” format with escalating prize values in each round. Maybe $100 in first round w/ 10 contestants,$ 500 in second round w/ nine contestants, $1,000 in round three w/ eight contestants, etc. Make it a winner-take-all scenario for the last player standing (Please note, these dollar amounts are for illustrative purposes only. I haven’t done the math to figure out if these are feasible or need to be adjusted.)
Overall the show has gotten better with each airing though. I also enjoy the random nature of when the contestants are dropped. Some get to talk a bit and some don’t even get to answer Ben’s question.
Overall, I like the show, but it has problems. In no particular order:
1. drop the contestants when the clock hits zero, they can find out the answer to what they missed later, and they would have much better reactions
2. can the writing be any more obviously fixed for the player in the middle to drop the five-contestant minimum—yeah, that’s a problem
3. learn to edit a show properly, stop cutting to commercial in the middle of a question, and make sure there’s time for us to actually see the speed round
4. need time for that speed round, well cut the time to 15 seconds per question, the questions are easy enough that if someone doesn’t get it in 15 seconds, only a lucky guess will save them anyway
5. get some real contestants, actor wannabes are never enjoyable to watch (Kirstie Alley on Match Game and Password Plus being the exception because she actually had the ability to play the games)
6. whoever wins the speed round should be in the middle the next game
7. once that writing is fixed, if someone can make the contestant in the middle drop, they should then move to the middle
Even though I tend to complain about using people off the where-are-they-now pile or comedians as game show hosts, Ben Bailey proves he is a great host for any game.
I don’t really need to add to what’s already been said, but want to say that the problem with this show is the same problem that plagues a great many shows of the modern era. The editing/padding. The game itself has merit, and indeed this particular game could be an exciting fast-paced nail-biter, but the editing sucks any enjoyment right out of it.