The new season of That’s The Question was going to be interesting to say the least. If you saw the first twenty episodes you may know there were a few, uh, issues. The set was odd, music and sound effects were god awful, the writing was poor, too many factual errors, the show felt like it was missing something, and the show was horribly cheap. I was a fan of season one, but there was some fear for season two. Nothing against GSN, but recently they haven’t exactly had the greatest track record for originals. A huge sigh of relief came when I found that they fixed 75% of the issues.

We already saw pictures of the set, and it is extremely nice; one of the best ones GSN has put together. It’s not a Millionaire clone like Chain Reaction and it doesn’t feel like the set is five feet wide like Camouflage. Luckily they fixed the spelling and factual errors. It’s also nice to see that the show has more than pop culture questions which has become a trend recently. Host Bob Goen (Who we will have an interview with next week, stay tuned) is as good as ever, which is very good. He’s honestly the channel’s best host currently. The music is a bit better this season if not a bit too upbeat to a level of almost the first two seasons of Lingo. The main reason I enjoy it is because it’s something we have very few of anymore: a fast paced buzzer quiz show with two people competing against each other.

Now for a few issues. I think I’ve said it about 50 times, but every time I still hope I can give some hint to a production company or to GSN: do we always need easy to win bonus rounds for $5,000? Can’t we have a tiny bit of originality? The Dutch version has interesting rules. When you win the bonus you have the option to gamble your money and come back next show or stop. If you come back and lose the game, you lose all your money. However, if you come back and win, you double your money and you can be on three shows max. What is it with GSN and refusing to do returning champs? They air episodes in order, so come on. The only other issue I have is that the game can be a bit repetitive after a bit. Some sort of change mid-show, like a bonus puzzle or something, would be nice.

Beyond that, it’s easily one of the best shows they’ve done in a while. It’s amazing that they’ve been on an amazing track record recently with shows like Grand Slam, Without Prejudice?, and That’s The Question. It blows Camouflage (Insider FYI: I wouldn’t count on it coming back, as least as of today) out of the water for sure. However, all I ever feel when I’m watching the show is that there is something missing. It’s mainly in the bonus area, but something is missing. Other than that, they improved the show from season one exponentially. Fantastic host, fantastic set, fun game, good contestants (at least for now); other than a few tiny issues which were mentioned above, the show is more enjoyable than most game shows that have come out anywhere recently, and that includes both syndication offerings.