![]() Most of all, they’re simple, quick, and often intentionally dumb. They often add a layer of physicality to a typical quiz show, or have games that are just pure physical challenges. ![]() Instead of giving us a front-row seat to a high-stakes battle between contestants with superior intellects or physiques, the goal of these shows seems to be delivering a lighthearted, comedic romp. Contestants sometimes have to do considerably less than they used to: Fear Factor only offered its winner $50,000 for competing in three hellacious stunts, while Don’t’s prize is $100,000 for a series of definitively less-dangerous, much-easier activities. They do offer prizes and cash, though that seems to be beside the point. The games and props are simple the questions are not even up to the standard of Teen Jeopardy. They include everything from Nickelodeon’s reboot of The Crystal Maze, which had an elaborate set but utterly simple games, to CBS’s Game On!, which has Venus Williams and Gronk captaining teams of celebrities as they answer trivia questions and compete in ridiculous challenges. These shows exist somewhere between traditional game and quiz shows (such as Jeopardy! or Celebrity Family Feud) and the reality competitions that take place in soundstage arenas (like Fox’s Ultimate Tag) or on sprawling outdoor sets (like Wipeout or the wonderful Holey Moley). That’s what we’re really seeing now in the rise of low-stakes, high-comedy game shows. Game shows are all variations on a theme, of course, and Hollywood loves to take a successful concept and copy and paste it as many times as possible. Don’t is essentially NBC’s Ellen’s Game of Games, and is such a shameless knock-off that it even uses animated illustrations of the actual games, just like Ellen’s show does. It’s still fun to watch, incredibly simple and silly - and also incredibly familiar. A game titled “Don’t Get Tired” means “don’t answer incorrectly or you’ll get hit by a large padded fake tire.” ![]() Instead of the contestants receiving instructions as to what they cannot do, they’re just asked trivia questions and punished for getting them wrong. But the show abandons its own premise with the very first game in its very first episode. ABC’s new game show Don’t has a simple premise: don’t do something, win money. ![]()
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