TVSquad

Back in December, I wrote about my reactions after watching the premiere of ABC's new game show, Duel. Back then, I was entertained by the show but had concerns about the host. When I heard the show was getting a second season, I hoped that ABC read my column and your comments so that Mike Greenberg would stop holding that pen and would say something different than "Screen up!" and "You're watching Duel on ABC!", that the suspense music and pause would be toned down, and that we would actually get more than one question answered before we go to a commercial break!

Because I liked the difficulty of the questions, the one-on-one face offs, the sudden death, the picking of your opponent, etc., and because the ads for this new crop of episodes promised me changes, I decided to give season 2 of Duel a chance. Did it meet my expectations this time around?

Let's see if the wishes on my wish list were granted:

• Mike Greenberg would stop holding that pen: wish granted. Greenberg is holding nothing in his hands this time around. This makes a huge difference in the viewing experience since his "holding of the pen" was quite distracting, especially when he played with it.
• Mike Greenberg would say something different that "Screen up!" and "You're watching Duel on ABC!": wish partially granted. He still says both but not as often as he used to in season 1. He also has a new version of "You're watching Duel on ABC!": "This is Duel on ABC!" Even if this wish didn't fully come true, the catch phrases are less annoying than they were back in December.
  
• The suspense music and pause would be toned down: wish granted. Let's face it, this is a game show. Game shows nowadays all have dramatic and suspenseful music and long pauses before revealing questions. It was a given that ABC wouldn't remove these from the show. However, I was glad that the pauses were shorter this time around.
  
• We would actually get more than one question answered before we go to a commercial break: wish granted. That was probably my biggest issue with the show. The number of commercial breaks in the December edition of the show affected the pace of the show a lot. Rare were the episodes were we got two questions asked, answered, and corrected, without being cut by a commercial. In this new version of the show, we got a lot more questions asked before we got a commercial break featuring a Pepsi ad.

Other changes were made to the game. For example, the pool of opponents a winner can pick from is smaller (3 players). This helps the pace of the show since it's faster to introduce them. They also changed how they distribute the winnings. This new system is more suitable if they want the show to become a weekly happening instead of a one-week event like it was in December. One of the big changes to the game was the addition of the Max Chip. It's a nice addition as not only does it allow the player to double the winnings but the "1 question, 1 chip, 1 chance" twist brings a new, even if short in time, addition to the show.

This updated version of the show is still interesting to watch thanks to its smart questions and the fact that there are two players with different backgrounds facing off (most game shows airing in primetime have only one contestant at a time). However, since it is not in an event format, I don't think I'll watch weekly. It'll become one of the shows I watch from time to time when nothing else is on because I know I'll be entertained a bit for one hour.

What did you think of the show? Do you prefer this version to the one in December? Let your voice be heard by posting in comments below.