Review: No Amount of Charity Can Save “You Deserve It”
ABC’s been on a roll with game shows recently. We’ve had 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show, Take The Money and Run, and Million Dollar Mind Game which have all ranged from not bad to incredibly good (in that order). They can’t all be winners. ABC is debuting their new charity based game show You Deserve It tonight at 9:00PM. The thought behind the show is OK. The actual game should be good. Even the host Chris Harrison is good. However, it just comes off as another lazy quiz show straight from the recent Deal or No Deal playbook.
The contestants play for someone else they know who deserves the cash. They play five puzzles for increasing amounts of cash. They are given a category such as “Who is” or “What is” or so on, and spotted one incredibly vague and obscure clue for free. The amount of cash the round will be played for is split into nine unequal mounts; from small to large. The contestant will choose a number 1-9 and the amount of cash behind the number is taken away from the round’s bank. Then the next clue is revealed. No matter what amount of money is selected clues go obscure at first to obvious at last. Either you know it and buzz in to answer or you pick another number. If you’re right you bank the amount the round is worth, but if you’re wrong you get no money for that round. After five rounds whatever you have in your bank is what the person you’re playing for takes home.
However, let’s be honest. ABC couldn’t care less about the game in this show. They solely care about the emotional reveal and constantly-crying-contestants. I’ll be repeating this often, but this show is not made for us. It’s a game show made for people that don’t like game shows. The charity element is shoved in your face so much that it loses any sort of emotion it may carry and becomes very, very annoying after a little bit. I know it sounds heartless, but that’s just how it’s going to be. I’m a competition person. I don’t watch hockey because I care about the player’s lives. I watch hockey because I love the sport. I don’t watch game shows because I care about the wretched lives of the people involved. I watch because I want to see a good game. You Deserve It shoves it to the side. But, again, this show is not made for us.
And even if they didn’t shove it down your throat, the typical Deal or No Deal production doesn’t help. We’ve got the companion seat with people doing nothing more than hugging and crying. We’ve got a game of pure luck masked around a quiz show. Having clues revealed from obscure to obvious regardless of what amount of money is taken away or regardless of what number you selected is flat out lazy. The contestants are oblivious to even the most obvious clue which makes you switch from, “I hope you do well, you’re doing a good thing,” to, “How could someone be this stupid?” at lightning speed. That’s not good for a show like this.
None of that matters, though, because, again, no one cares about the quiz show in You Deserve It. Only we do. They’re clearly going for the post-Dancing With the Stars crowd who really doesn’t want to watch a quiz show and just wants to cry. It’s for the Oprah crowd. The bad thing is it has a lot of elements which should be good but they make so many small poor decisions that it piles up and becomes rough. The game should be fine but it’s getting saddled with laziness. Chris Harrison is a fine host. The show just feels off. But, again, this show is not made for you and I. We can stick to Sundays at 4:00PM ET/2:00PM PT.
It’s funny… your statement that this was “a game show for people who don’t like game shows” got me to thinking about how so much of today’s TV market is predicated on that premise: “It’s a _____ for people who hate _____s.” The thought, I suppose, is to try and snare people who wouldn’t normally watch something in that particular genre, in the hopes of getting more casual eyeballs on the product.
This philosophy would have worked 20-30 years ago, when the TV universe was a lot smaller and less compartmentalized. These days, not so much. The people who normally wouldn’t watch, say, a game show aren’t going to be especially inclined to give You Deserve It a chance because it is a game show when all’s said and done, and the people that do like game shows will be grumbling that it’s trying to be something it quote-unquote “shouldn’t” be. By trying to serve different masters, an upstart series like this ultimately ends up serving neither of them particularly well.
Just out of curiousity, do you think 101 Ways and Take the Money and Run will return this summer for a second season???
101 Ways to Leave a Game Show should return next summer. They still have at least 18 or so more episodes they can produce for it, before having to come up with another 101 Ways to eliminate contestants.
Take The Money And Run, on the other hand, was one of the most boring shows I’ve ever seen on television. I don’t even think it can be classified as a game show, per se. It’s more of a CSI-type show if anything else. I don’t want to see it return, unless they can think of a way to improve it and make it seem more realistic, and not staged.
Alex’s review is reminding me of “Minute to Win It” – a game show made for people who don’t like game shows. Sure, Minute to Win It started off promising, but after the 10th Episode, the awesome theme music was removed, 75% of contestants became women in bikinis, and host Guy Fieri started constantly reminding everyone that “…this is not a game show, it’s a life-changing show.” And that is when the demise of the show came about. Alex is describing You Deserve It in a similar light. The only difference is that ABC is actually promoting You Deserve It by using the words “game show” in their commercials, whereas NBC never promoted “Minute to Win It” as a game show when the promotions started before the Super Bowl.
You Deserve It, like all other brand new ABC game shows, is scheduled to run for 6 episodes. Meanwhile, the Season Finale of Million Dollar Mind Game premieres this coming Sunday.
Boy this show sucks.. this won’t get past its six ep. order.
Besides, I’m kinda sick of these shows where people whine about their financial hardship and want to win so much money.. didn’t we see enough of this on Deal or No Deal?
Not to mention the game is BORING…
When I watched the premiere tonight, it felt as if something was missing from the show. I think “excitement” is the word that sums it up. In other words, it felt a bit dry. It was the same feeling as when I watched It’s Worth What? on NBC a few months ago. Dry.
1. The music was all low-key, as well as the sound effects (a common problem among today’s new game shows, though the music and sound effects for Million Dollar Mind Game were perfect).
2. There’s no element of risk to the show, since the money earned from each round is banked and guaranteed to be given to the contestant.
3. The game is all based on luck. Pick a number from 1 to 9, hope that it doesn’t have a large amount of money behind it.
4. The first 6 minutes of the show focused on the backstory of the contestant in need of the money and the crying. Not necessarily a good lead-in to start the game.
I’m not sure how the ratings will pan out, but I agree. Don’t expect You Deserve It to be deserving of more than the initial 6 episodes.
I’d like to add a number 5 to your list: What’s with the companion area? They did and said nothing the whole show (or at least the majority that I watched, I got to work a bit late and apparently must have missed this sob story I keep hearing about, maybe they talked during their introductions). But what were they for? Why were they there? The show’s called “You Deserve It”, and by its nature, the fact they were there meant they knew they weren’t the ones being played for, so what, were they the ones that didn’t really deserve it that much??
This is maybe where MDMG should’ve gone (or where a second season COULD go), but maybe it’s a bit too highbrow for Monday night. The charity aspect is the hook, but the overall game reminds me of a house version of “Sell Me The Answer”. Maybe a US version of “The Chase” would work here on excitement alone…
The overall top prize someone can win on this show is $435,000. I highly doubt that anybody is going to guess all five subjects on their first clues. Rather cheap for a gameshow in primetime.
They gave away $100,000 last night, and any contestant with a clue would’ve won more; hardly what I’d call cheap.
At least they don’t dangle the impossible $1m carrot in front of us, they don’t even pretend anyone will win the top dollar. I find the prize very acceptable.
There was a game show on tonight? I’m sorry. I was watching Monday Night Football instead :-P
hmm…11 minutes of action in over three hours or 20-30 minutes of action in one hour…I’ll take the network game show any day!
And yes, on average, there is only about 11 minutes of actual action in a NFL game.
I really tried to give this show a chance and watched it today. Immediately I was put off by a sob story presented in a way too over-the-top manner, but I thought “OK, at least they’re getting the sob story out of the way early on instead of shoehorning it in at the most inappropriate moment like Minute to Win It” and continued to watch, figuring I shouldn’t judge it by the first 5 minutes. Problem is, it didn’t really get much better after that. The game was way too slowly paced and took too much luck, not unlike the typical NBC fare.
All in all, it’s a game show done half right and a charity show done half right. (And the “half” is only after some very generous rounding.) But the lesson that a lot of American TV producers need to learn is that doing two things half right does not add up to doing one thing right. It’s like giving someone half a kitten and half a puppy. It’s not half as cute as a kitten and a puppy, it’s an awful bloody mess.
Also, if any producers are watching this: If you’re going to present a documentary-like short on your contestants, don’t do it in such an overblown, cheesy, and exploitative way that it comes close to the infamous “N’arm” scene from Six Feet Under, only with eye-rolling instead of laughter. If you really must do this, take a lesson from a Japanese game show titled “Shiawase Kazoku Keikaku” (“Happy Family Plan”) which actually did this well. They would give the contestant a challenge and a week to practice, during which they followed the contestant and their family around. But the resulting story wasn’t soap-opera a sob story about how they desperately need money. Instead, Shiawase Kazoku Keikaku would show us how they were nice, friendly, run-of-the-mill people who could easily be your next-door neighbors. Their way of showing that the contestant deserved the opportunity was usually to simply follow the contestant to their job and show how they work conscientiously, or otherwise show them contributing to society. They weren’t picked for having sensational stories to tell, and they weren’t any more likely to be destitute than random people you see walking down the street. Usually, they just wanted to upgrade their furniture and/or take a family vacation if they won. And these things made them relatable.
It’s hard to relate to someone who’s sobbing because they desperately need several grand to pay for someone’s brain transplant, because most of us probably have no idea what that’s like. But plenty of us can relate to wanting to replace that car that takes several tries to start when it’s cold or that old mattress with half the springs broken, or wanting to spend some time on vacation with the whole family.
I believe the television networks are under the impression that we want to see people with sad stories and who deserve money, to actually win it. In other words, give the impression that good things do happen to good people. There’s nothing wrong with that premise. The problem is that the contestants with the sad stories are being used by the network as a way to draw in audiences, ratings, and ultimately, money. That’s what I find offensive.
They actually did “Happy Family Plan” in the U.S. under the title “The Big Moment” with Brad Sherwood. I personally liked the show, but it bombed, I think due to the time slots ABC put it in.
Alex, I didn’t see tonight’s show, but I loved what you wrote about it and the industry trend that favors emotional reveals over of actual competition. I’m sorry to say that WWTBAM has been gradually sliding down that slope for the many years, but it’s still better than most other current game shows, besides Jeopardy! That’s one of the best things about Million Dollar Mind Game – it actually tests people under pressure and has rewards and penalties that are proportional to how well they perform.
I don’t understand how they put this soap-opera in prime time over Million Dollar Mind Game, especially with the way MDMG has been received. Hopefully someone at ABC figures out what a game show is supposed to be.
I actually really enjoyed the show. To be honest, I felt that the game worked pretty well, though it would make more sense to just number the actual clues and hide the money with them, rather than the current system.
To be honest, I forwarded past the sob story video and skipped the ending, but other than that I thought it was fine.
I hope everyone enjoyed it while they can, because the ratings are in, and You Deserve It! came third in its time slot with a poor 1.7 18-49 rating and 8.6 million viewers.
Overall, there is a great game show wanting to get out here. If only they didn’t have to require the sob story to go with it.
Just saw the replay online. What I wondered is if this was taken as an actual maingame, say with three contestants for lower amounts. And then play it as is for a $100,000 bonus round. At least that what struck me.
In a way, it looks like a cross between “Double Dare” and “Wheel of Fortune”. I could see four or five main game puzzles, like Wheel in a half hour show if they didn’t do all the dramatic stuff.
To clarify, you mean Alex Trebek’s 1970′s “Double Dare”, I’m sure…
It’s not a bad game show, it’s part Deal or No Deal, part Password( Plus or Super), and part Break the Bank (80′s version). With the five $$ amounts can total up $435,000 is the max if they can win, if they guees right on the first clue each time. The show did drag a little bit.
As soon as I saw the sob package at the beginning of the show, I knew immediately what I was watching: “Queen For A Day”. At least that show just trotted out a few sad sack “contestants” and let the audience vote on the most pathetic one who was then awarded with a refrigerator. This awful, awful, awful monstrosity makes us sit through 40 minutes of an elementary knowledge quiz before awarding said refrigerator. If this were an actual game show, it would be the CLUES that are revealed randomly behind the numbers, not the deficit dollar amounts. There is no way to win the big money when the first five clues are totally obscure. The easy clues should be available to pop up by random choice.
No offense to the well-meaning contestants or needy recipients, but the producers of this show have created nothing more than a horrific exploitative circus. At least Chuck Barris laid it right on the table that he was exploiting his contestants. This show seems to expect we viewers are too blind to see the giant elephant. Charity should not be a profit driven industry on prime time television. But then again, ABC also has the “build us a new house” series. I guess it’s just easier to do Charity-for-Profit television in a traditional studio setting. Just like Queen For a Day. There are NO new ideas.
I thought MDMG was awful. You Deserve It was pretty good. I actually like every part of it except they need much better questions. If the questions were smarter or trickier but “gettable,” this would be a pretty good show. I hope it makes it and they yweak the questions.
I watched it despite knowing about the horrible ratings, and I have to say that I didn’t dislike it. I’m always a sucker for Password Plus/Super Password-style puzzles and clues, and just like with them I was playing along trying to solve the puzzle before the contestant. The problem was, as usual with game shows nowadays, it was too emotionally-driven and too slow. It was all about the setup to the game and the reaction to the reveals, not the actual gameplay. Also, I think this game has the same problem that Million Dollar Money Drop had where the audience watches this lady struggle mightily over not-too-terribly tough puzzles and slowly the prize money for her friend dwindles. It’s kind of painful, actually, as she cringes at every high amount being taken away before staring at the puzzle frustrated for 10 or so seconds before giving up, asking for another clue, and starting the cycle again. On and on again for an hour. At one point, I was actually hoping for more sob story. Basically it was a fast forward-fest on my part. This game can not be watched live.
This show should replace The Chew. I haven’t watched an episode of The Chew in i don’t know how long. It’s a waste of time. That kind of money would be good for daytime actually, not so much for prime time.
Personally, I think ABC needs to find a new demographic or use younger people who don’t wear ties to do a talk show. Ties look too goofy.
Chew Deserve It — I like it!
In short….”You Deserve It”, doesn’t.
Why are the contestants so air-headed? Have they been casting from the Deal Or No Deal casting department?
Gave it a second chance tonight, gave up on it. It all just feels half-assed, from the cheap set, to the tacked-on companion couch that’s there just for reaction shots, to the glacial pace of the game. The complete lack of risk kills the show. Either you know it and get the money, or you aren’t completely sure and more money drains away. There’s no compulsion to go for it early when you lose all the money in the round if you’re wrong. And there need to be physical props for the dollar amounts and the clues. While I know Standards & Practices would clobber ABC for doing it, there’s this little gremlin in the back of my mind saying that things could be switched around on the fly just because it’s all on a video screen.
I noticed not one, but two errors on the Starbucks question. First, the Starbucks logo is a siren, not a mermaid. Second, Short is small at Starbucks, not Tall. Tall is medium, Grande is large, Venti is XL.
wow you people are cold. just because it’s not for you doesn’t mean it’s not for everyone
The problem with most game shows coming out today is that they are messing with the ratio of game to show. Most good game shows (Jeopardy!, Wheel, Feud, Price, etc.) are at least 65-70% game. With “You Deserve It,” there is a game that can be a good show without the sob story. I would say that YDI has a 45% game/55% show ratio. Now many people are trying to compare it to Million Dollar Mind Game. I see that as having the same ratio, and here’s why: I’ve seen so many teams on that show have the answers to the questions immediately, but the producers make them stretch it out for the entire minute with some painfully obviously staged banter. It brought the originally high level of the show down for me. So there are many tricks that producers will use to put “more show into the game.” I know that these shows are not being made for us die hard fans. They are being made for the public at large, and therefore, these trends will not change any time soon.
I’m not sure I understand the sheer amount of hatred shown to the show. Yes, MDMG should have been in it’s place, but as a game show it’s by no means the worst we’ve seen. I’d say that if you skip past the sob story bits (as I do), it becomes quite entertaining.