“Late Night Liars” Brings Old School Panel Shows to the 21st Century

GSN’s Late Night Liars is coming soon. It’s an old style panel comedy game show, but instead of celebrity panelists they go for puppets from Jim Henson Company instead and with Larry Miller hosting.  It debuts June 10th at 11:00PM ET.  This is going to be the most selfish review I’ve ever done, just to warn you.  I had fears about if GSN’s audience of old cat ladies would go for a show of puppets saying incredibly filthy things.  I still have those fears.  However, the selfish part comes in play as I say I really don’t care that much.  Late Night Liars is simply the best production GSN has put on in an unbelievably long time and another indicator, much like Baggage was, of GSN’s potential if they focus.

The game is as simple as it gets.  Having said that the show really isn’t about the game, despite it working well.  The show is all about the comedy.  Two contestants face off each episode.  In each round a category is given and the panelists give an answer for the category.  Some are telling the truth and some are lying (in round one two are lying and in round two only one is).  Figure out who’s lying and you get seemingly random money.  The third round lets a contestant choose a panelist and decide if the fact is true or false to get a “random” amount of money.  The most money at the end of the round wins the game (the loser gets $500 no matter what).  The champion faces the end game, where two panelists each have a different category and go back and forth rapidly saying facts.  The contestant has to correctly decide if the fact is true or false.  Getting 8 right in 43 seconds (those numbers are correct) wins $10,000.  If the goal is not met, the contestant gets $500 for each right answer.

The quick review is that it’s often laugh-out-loud funny, Larry Miller hosts it wonderfully, it looks nice, it plays nice, and it’s just an all-around entertaining and fun show.  But again, most importantly, it’s very funny.  And that’s the really nice yet strange part.  Even without humans, it’s hysterical.

You truly, in some trippy sense, forget you are watching puppets.  I’d love to know how much is improvised and how much is scripted because it sounds natural, like everyone has their own personality.  It’s the biggest throwback to the old school panel shows like Match Game I’ve ever seen.  It’s funny that the show that has recreated the old feel the most doesn’t involve a human other than Larry Miller.  It’s inappropriate, off-beat, and produced as well as they could have done.  Most importantly: it’s actually funny!  It’s because they’ve got the best in the business, Jim Henson Company, doing this one.  With anyone else it would have been remotely as good.  It’s also because Larry Miller, the host, does a phenomenal job and under anyone else’s watch the show wouldn’t have worked.

But the semi-crude part is what worries me.  Late Night Liars makes The Newlywed Game‘s innuendo look pathetic.  There’s no bleep worthy moments, but it’s as innuendo-filled as Match Game was, but just pump it up (without being vulgar) to 2010 standards.  It’s clear why the show won’t be airing, ever, before 11:00PM ET.  I just don’t know if GSN’s older, very conservative usual viewers will watch.  This show needs some younger people to watch the show to survive, and they will if they can market this correctly.  They won me over completely after just the screener.  GSN needs to, urgently, start spreading viral videos on places like YouTube or Facebook or somewhere to really show people this is not a stale old game show which will frighten away what probably needs to be their biggest audience for this show: the 20 to 40 year olds who are watching the current Muppet videos on YouTube.

So again, it’s the most selfish review I’ve done.  I don’t know if it will click because GSN has never done anything this out-there and strange before, but to be selfish in this rare moment I enjoyed it a lot and that’s all I care about right now.  I’ll enjoy it while it’s on.  I think a vast majority of the readers here will like it also so I implore you to watch it starting June 10th at 11:00PM ET and ask your friends to also.  Even if it doesn’t work I’m glad GSN is taking some chances and doing something very original.  I flat out thought it wasn’t going to work when I first heard about it.  They changed my opinion.  There’s no game show around right now as funny, sharp, and entertaining as Late Night Liars on American television.  This should be GSN’s newest big hit that can get their name out there a bit more…they just have to market this correctly.

Late Night Liars debuts June 10th at 11:00PM ET on GSN.