Weekend Replay: “Push the Button”

I took the weekend off so I can, you know, relax for a change.  Thanks for indulging me, but time to get back to it.  This is a remotely delayed Weekend Replay because of the hectic week it was.  Probably more than anything around here, I love showcasing new UK game shows to American crowds who may not know it.  A new one just debuted on ITV, which seems to roll them out semi-often like an assembly line.  It’s called Push the Button, hosted by the Ant and Dec, also the hosts of ABC’s short-lived Wanna Bet? series.

Push the Button is yet another stunt show that can best be summed up as Beat the Clock on crack.  After The World’s Longest Introduction Ever, the both teams of five are given a £100,000 bank.  They have to perform tasks which are arranged to knock money off their score for the longer they take to complete.  When a team is finished, they have to “Push the Button” and stop the clock.  By the end of the show the team who has the most money left attempts to win it.  The end game is sort of like a giant game of that old childhood favorite Simon.  Each player stands behind a different colored button.  Repeat the sequence to earn more and more of the bank, and beating the end game gives them the entire thing.

It’s not a bad show, it’s just nothing that stands out.  These types of shows seems to be incredibly popular these days and are getting a bit dragged out.  So again, with many other show descriptions today, the show isn’t that bad it’s just nothing to write home about.  It’s not something I’d continually look for weekly, but I wouldn’t turn it off if it accidentally popped on, either.  Here’s a clip of one of the games, and then the end game.