Ben Silverman, the executive producer of Ugly Betty and The Office, has more than sitcoms up his sleeve. Silverman and friends are introducing a game show called Identity to television before the end of the year. Taking the Deal or No Deal approach to scheduling, NBC has decided to fast-track the show and air it every night over an eight night stretch between December 18th and December 22nd. Penn Jillette, one half of magic duo Penn & Teller and co-host of Showtime's Bullshit, will host.Contestants will compete for $500,000 by matching up 12 strangers with identifying characteristics - shoe size, occupation, weight, etc. The show is as much a social experiment as it is a game show. According to Silverman, Identity is a "game of first impressions." Later in the article, he says, "If there are already a lot of shows that deal with luck and chance, this is a show that plays in the psychological space."
Sounds promising, doesn't it? I think of most games as being part luck and part strategy. Types of games are defined by the proportional relationship between those two elements. Personally, I like the high on strategy, low on luck games. My stomach just can't take the anxiety that comes with chance. I hate watching those briefcases open on Deal or No Deal - eye candy or no. It's gut-wrenching. I can, however, get behind any show based partly on social psychology, produced by Ben Silverman and hosted by Penn Jillette. That's family-friendly good times in the making.
Gone Too Soon: Invasion
Scrubs season nine -- An early look
The TV Squad Podcast: Vik Sahay of Chuck, Oprah talk, brutal timeslots, and more!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-20-2006 @ 2:34PM
Porchland said...
Makes sense. I guess this is how NBC is going to shuffle the deck for all the changes that will come when football season is over.
What I don't get is: If NBC is really going to all reality and game programming at 8 p.m., why set up four comedies on Thursday now just to move two of them to a different night in January? Will Thursday be the exception?
Reply
11-20-2006 @ 3:00PM
Nathan said...
sounds great...Penn is very funny...maybe he can bring some of that to the show.
Reply
11-20-2006 @ 5:04PM
Walt said...
Car salesmen can do this like nobody I've ever seen.
Sure, the show will get yahoos off the street, like Shatner's SHOW ME THE TOUPEE! does, but if they were to ever try to get a ringer, then yes, go to the local car dealership and just ASK. There's one in every dealership that can nail people better than any carney side show huckster.
Reply
11-20-2006 @ 5:04PM
David said...
Penn is great!!!
Captain Kirk and Penn doing game shows! I hope next season they do an episode of Bullshit about gameshows. Gameshows are ... BULLSHIT! :)
Reply
11-20-2006 @ 8:12PM
elf said...
I think Penn is a natural for this, as long as he doesn't have to pretend to feel sorry for losing contestants. Penn does not suffer fools gladly, and I think the country is ready for a game show where the host is allowed to point out how stupid a contestant is. Come on, who hasn't wanted to see Pat Sajak just smack a contestant repeatedly over the head? I think the closest to true contestant abuse I've ever seen has been Jimmy Kimmel insulting contestants on "Win Ben Stein's Money."
By the way, for anyone not familiar with Penn's daily radio show, the five most recent episodes can be downloaded here: http://penn.freefm.com/. I particularly recommend lat Thursday's show entitled "Gilbert Gottfried: Ghost Hunter."
Reply
11-21-2006 @ 4:07AM
chris falco said...
"NBC has decided to fast-track the show and air it every night over an eight night stretch between December 18th and December 22nd."
Just curious but what kind of crazy technology has NBC discovered that allows them to program 8 nights in 6 days?
:P
Reply