1 vs. ??

In addition to the very simplistic questions asked, the application for the new game show "Million Dollar Password" requires that applicants include a photo of themselves in order to be considered as a contestant. As a true fan of the game show genre, I find this very troubling. First of all, it is discrimination. Applicants are immediately being judged as to whether they can be a good contestant simply by the way they look. Producers of the game shows of yesteryear (Goodson-Todman, Jack Barry, Bob Stewart, etc.) and some of the game show producers of today (such as Harry Friedman of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy) pretty much let anybody play their games, as long as they could actually play the games! At least I believe they didn't care what the contestants look like. They gave everyone and anyone an equal chance to qualify and play. If applicants had a fun personality, showed enthusiasm, showed some common intelligence, and proved they could answer questions and play the game, then they qualified as a contestant. But this new practice of "better looking people make better contestants" in today's game show world is quite troubling to me, because it's just not true.

Take tonight's episode of 1 vs. 100 on NBC. There was an attractive blonde female playing the game. No problem. Then came her $50,000 question, which essentially was "Which of these is a prime number: 4, 6, or 11?" The $50,000 question!!!! Her answer: 4! She qualifies as a game show contestant? And no, the TV cameras and bright studio lights did not affect her. She knew that Marcia Brady was hit in the nose with a football. (The correct answer to the question is 11.)

What happened to the days of "Tic Tac Dough" and "The Joker's Wild" and other Q&A game shows when a person had to know what a prime number was in order to even have a chance to qualify to be a contestant? More proof that today's game shows just aren't what they used to be, and how the dumbing down of our society is getting worse and worse. Maybe not all past game shows were Q&A shows, but at least they showed people with some class and intelligence.

And what's more amazing is tonight's 1 vs. 100 play at home contest, which was "How many got this question wrong: "What color is the bottom color of a traffic light?" (No joke.) People got that wrong? I have a friend whose 2 year old knows the answer. (The answer is Green.)

Here's an exciting clip of the biggest bonus round win on 1980's Super Password.




Will today's "Million Dollar Password" contestants be able to guess two syllable words? Thank goodness Jeopardy! is still on the air with good ratings.