A few years ago, when Survivor-mania was at its peak and eating rats still made shocking television, I felt somewhat alienated... because, well, I just didn't see the appeal of reality television. However, that all changed when a program called The Mole arrived on ABC. It was smart, challenging, and featured a silver-haired host by the name of Anderson Cooper. Finally, a reality show worth watching.The concept of the show was quite smart... A group of individuals went through a series of mental and physical challenges to win a cash prize. The catch was that one of the players was a double agent (the Mole) hired by the show to discreetly sabotage the group (the players were aware that there was an impostor in their midst, though). At the end of each episode, each player would complete a quiz on what they knew about the identity of the Mole, and the person with the lowest score was booted from the show, until there were only three people left (the Mole, the winner, and a loser). There were various clues about the Mole's identity scattered through the show for the viewer to pick up, but I always found those to be totally far-fetched (in one episode, Anderson was eating an apple, the fruit of the Mole's home state... Yeah, like anyone caught that).
The program lasted for only two seasons before jumping into the dreaded realm of "celebrity reality" with a bunch of B-listers as the players. Plus, the two celebrity seasons weren't hosted by Anderson, but Ahmad Rashad. Big downer. The show might as well have not existed those final two seasons because barely anyone saw it.
Although a few reality shows are getting more clever and using more complex methods, I haven't seen anything of the same caliber as The Mole. I'm beginning to lose faith in reality TV again (if Project Runway wasn't still around, I'd switch off the genre permanently), so I'd really like to have this show back again. Anderson hosting once more would be a bonus, but I suppose he's too busy being a proper newsman and all.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-03-2006 @ 10:27AM
Radical Bender said...
YES! When the reality craze started, this was the only one I watched. It was interesting and entertaining and, best of all, wasn't completely idiotic. Then the reality TV producers decided to do everything they could to generate conflict amongst idiotic contestants and I stopped watching all the shows. Bleh. I miss The Mole.
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7-03-2006 @ 10:42AM
Luke said...
Agreed :) The Mole was, and still is, the best "reality" show to date. We love you Anderson! Even if you cry like a little girl :)
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7-03-2006 @ 11:11AM
elf said...
Why is this even being called a "reality" show? "The Mole" was a GAME SHOW, not a "reality" show. Unless your day job is to ferret out double agents for the CIA, the format of "The Mole" has absoluately nothing to do with anybody's "reality."
I think it's time for a refresher:
"Survivor": Game Show.
"The Amazing Race": Game Show.
(Now do you see where I'm going here?)
These are all competition shows that are no more or less "real" than "The Price is Right" or "Wheel of Fortune." If you want some way to distinguish "The Mole" and its contemporaries from the cheesy-suited, blinding-toothed, teflon-haired-hosted game shows of the past, then call them "Extreme Game Shows" or some other bogus name, but please stop calling them "reality."
(Ummm, is it showing that I had to go to work today and there's not much to do?)
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7-03-2006 @ 11:24AM
Jana said...
The Mole was a very engrossing and well thought out show. The games were smart, the locales were lovely and Anderson Cooper was a fun, snarky host. The second season was even better. It's the only "reality" (or whatever you want to call it) show I've watched. I'm sorry season two with Anderson is not on dvd.
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7-03-2006 @ 11:32AM
BGJay said...
Although not very popular in America, it is elsewhere in there world. I finished watching The Mole: Australia and it was very good!
http://www.tv.com/the-mole-australia/show/3545/episode_listings.html?season=4
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7-03-2006 @ 11:35AM
Meesh said...
I LOVED The Mole! Even the bad celebrity versions of it!
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7-03-2006 @ 11:47AM
Kelly said...
I loved The Mole.My Mom and I watched it all the time. Wasn't a huge fan of the celeb ones though sry Ahmad Rashad.I keep hoping that another network will see what a great show it was and pick it up. I love Anderson also. So now to get my Anderson fix I tune into CNN for "Anderson 360".
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7-03-2006 @ 11:53AM
dedman said...
Anderson was the original "Smarmy" host. It was the best reality show.
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7-03-2006 @ 12:57PM
Charles said...
Next to American Idol, this is my favorite reality competition program. Season one was absolutely, without a doubt, the best. In the end, ANY of the three finalist could have been the mole. And the one who I had pegged as the mole, wasn't. It was great, great television.
Plus, the show had awesome scenery, and the music was just plain fun.
The season season was good, but towards the end, it was kind of obvious who was the mole. At least, for me.
Thanks for doing this post on The Mole. I absolutely loved this show.
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7-03-2006 @ 1:38PM
Brent McKee said...
Of all the reality-competition shows this was my second favourite behind my beloved "Amazing Race". Second because in the end there wasn't that sense of urgency that you have in The Race or that sense that your finish today will at least potentially affect tomorrow's events. "The Mole" was an excellent show which suffered more than "The Amazing Race" as a result of 9/11. It debuted on September 28, 2001 and was pulled after three episodes then brought back in January 2002. The concept was good, the game challenging, and the concept has been very successful in a number of countries. I'm no sure whether Americans didn't get it or didn't want it.
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7-03-2006 @ 1:41PM
renee said...
I loved The Mole, I couldn't believe when they just dropped it 3 episodes into the 2nd season!
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7-03-2006 @ 2:24PM
SamMalone said...
This must have been the Arrested Development of "reality" or whatever shows. As much as I heard people rave about it, I couldn't get in on it mid-season.
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7-03-2006 @ 3:53PM
John S. said...
Tiny bubbles.......
I loved The Mole more than any other reality game show. It was by far the most intellectual of them all. Plus nothing beats my buddy Rob yelling, "Bribs is the Mole! Bribs is the Mole!" and then watching Bribs get eliminated.
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7-03-2006 @ 10:13PM
Jen said...
I'm going to stand alone on this one and say that I loved Celebrity Mole. I missed The Mole before it went celeb so I am going to presume that's probably the reason why and not that my television tastes are really off.
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7-04-2006 @ 12:38AM
rocko said...
dude, i was such a mole maniac back then. After the first season ended and they were showing all the clues and such from the previous episodes, that when the next season started i just started pulling out random crap like "omg what was the phone number he put in?!?! its a clue a clue!!!!"
but they did show the rest of season 2, correct?
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7-05-2006 @ 5:05PM
Evan Erwin said...
Yup, I'm a huge fan of this show (well, I WAS...). I wish it would return, personally. I thought the challenges were interesting and trust is the most important mechanic of a reality TV show.
And holy cow did it suck when the celebs were added. Bleh.
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7-05-2006 @ 6:00PM
Bex said...
Funny but I was just having this conversation the other day with a friend of mine who is obsessed with Anderson Cooper. The Mole was above and beyond anything else that was out there in TV land. Think Anderson would mind hosting again if the price was right? Imagine the ratings it would get now if he decided to attach himself!
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7-05-2006 @ 9:59PM
Becky said...
I think it was too "smart" for the general public. And there were no half naked hard bodies walking around for ratings.
I loved The Mole. I wished they hadn't crapped it up with celebrities.
And I thought Bribs was the mole, too.
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7-06-2006 @ 6:08PM
Dries said...
just a reminder,
the mole is a Belgian invention. It ran for two seasons in Belgium, then the producers took a break and returned a few years later with a tirdth season.
The show was always one of the best programm on our television in viewershipnummbers. Though, so less seasons were produced cause the makers wanted it to be fantastic, fresh and great. The broadcasting televison channel (één-VRT) accepted their wishes.
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