Rock and a Hard Place is a pop culture game show hosted by Meat Loaf. Each week, two teams made up of members from well-known bands compete to earn money for their chosen charities.
Host: Meat Loaf
Executive Producers: Conor McAnally, Michael Binkow
Series Premiere: January 23rd, 2008
Network: The 101 Network (DIRECTV)
Airs on: Tuesday nights at 9pm Eastern
Top Prize: Varies
Overview:
In each episode of Rock and a Hard Place, two teams made up of three members each compete head to head to win money for charity. The teams are comprised of musical acts from the past and present, featuring band members and occasionally close friends or family.
Teams play a variety of games that involve both popular music and pop culture questions or challenges, and are awarded cash for correct answers. At the end of the game, both teams get to keep all of the money they've banked to be donated to the charities they've chosen.
The 'Rock and a Hard Place' Games:
Each episode packs in seven different games for both teams to play. These games include:
- Rock or Crock – One team is asked true or false questions about the other team. Team members can confer and come up with their answer together, where true answers are "Rock" and false answers are "Crock." Teams are awarded $100 for each correct answer.
- Heavy Mental – Each team member is asked a general knowledge pop culture question. Correct answers score $200.
- Bonus Round – Each team is given the topic of a top ten list, and get $100 for every item on the list that they can identify correctly.
Why You Should Watch:
Rock and a Hard Place is a show that could easily be over the top, considering the host, contestants, and format. There are opportunities here for lots of glitz and glamour, complete with inflated drama and ridiculous over-production. Fortunately, the game has none of this!
As a game show host, Meat Loaf comes across as enthusiastic and involved. He has fun with the format and keeps the games running smoothly, making sure that no one is taking things too seriously. The contestants themselves seem to get into the games and enjoy themselves, and that translates into fun for viewers.
The Complete Season Two Lineup:
Here are the bands and recording artists competing in season two of Rock and a Hard Place, which debuts October 21 2008 at 9pm Eastern and airs every Tuesday night through January 6th 2009.
- A Flock of Seagulls vs. Toto
- Right Said Fred vs. Bananarama
- Leif Garrett vs. Bay City Rollers
- Divas vs. Color Me Badd
- Jeffrey Osborne vs. Tony Orlando
- Quiet Riot vs. Air Supply
- Jimmie Van Zandt vs. Sisqo
- The Skinners vs. The Shredders
- Tommy Tutone vs. Ray Parker Jr.
- Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam vs. Da Brat
- Everclear vs. Starship
- Sha Na Na vs. War
