If you've ever read the
Funkhouser's Guide to Podcasts - Nerd Edition, you'll know that I like Chris Hardwick. Hardwick has become the face of nerd and internet culture over the past 2-3 years, hosting the Nerdist Podcast, Talking Bad, Talking Dead, Celebrity All-Star Bowling, and more. However, @nerdist's newest show, @midnight debuted last night/this morning, at Midnight, and it needs a little work.
The format of the show (as I was able to gather) works like this. There are thee comedians as "contestants," vying for the title of funniest person on earth (for the next 23 1/2 hours). Hardwick gives out a category for a round, whether it be to give a funny picture/tweet a hashtag, write a tweet for a funny picture or guess the correct ending to a Facebook post/tweet. There were multiple categories where there were multiple questions. One of these was a Name That Barbie category, where contestants had to give a name to certain Barbies who had been photographed in non-normal barbie situations (really fat barbie, barbie with a black eye, etc.).
Towards the end of the show, there is a rapid fire round where Hardwick gives out a hashtag, and the comedians had to give out funny tweets to match the hashtag. For example, last night's was #FilmPoops, where the tweet had to be a name of a movie that also could be named as a euphemism for going #2 (Doug Benson: "Precious, Based on the Novel "Push"). After this rapid fire round, one comedian is eliminated, then the other two play one last category over the commercial break to decide the winner.
It was a fairly entertaining first episode, but it was not without it's problems. First off, the rules were not properly explained. At the end of the show when Natasha Leggero was eliminated, even the contestants seemed confused. At no point (as far as I remember), was it ever mentioned that it was going to happen. Also, through the opening segments, before the first commercial break, each time a comedian would answer, Hardwick would always give them points. Then during the second segment, if the answer didn't pop with the audience, he wouldn't give points.
Why am I making a stink about rules for a game show that clearly isn't a game show? Well, there are a few reasons. First, comedian panel shows can be entirely entertaining when done correctly. Shows like
Nevermind the Buzzcocks,
Just a Minute and
The Big Fat Quiz of the Year all have this format, but have well laid out rules so that they don't get in the way of the comedy. IFC's Bunk is a great example of a half hour comedy game show that was able to be successful in bringing the comedy without losing the audience on the rules. With
Bunk, you knew there were going to be three categories in a round, with two rounds and a final segment. Because this was all explained up front, you could just enjoy the show for what it was, pure silliness.
The second reason I made a stink about rules is the abomination of a game show that NBC gave us this fall called, "The Million Second Quiz." The Ryan Seacrest vehicle aired over a few weeks on NBC (as well as an app that rarely ever showed the 24 hour portion of the show, but I digress). The most confusing part of the show was, well all of it. Contestants went head to head in your basic pub trivia, but had options to challenge their opponent to answer the question for double the points, but then they could challenge that person back for double the points (none of which was adequately explained). Also contestants could get on winners row, or become a power player, and none of that was explained either. When a game show has a simple concept as the Million Second Quiz, muddying the water with rules no one understands ruins a great thing. This is what I don't want to happen for @midnight. While no money is at stake, on Hardwick's show, rules and order will allow for a more enjoyable watching experience.
One of the things that I think will really bring people back to watch @midnight is the amazing lineup of comedians that are going to be on the show.
The first batch of "contestants":
Tuesday: Andy Daly, Kurt Braunohler & Brendon Walsh
Wednesday:
James Adomian*, June Diane Rapheal & Mike Lawrence
Thursday: Tom Lennon, Kyle Kinane & Deon Cole
Monday: Eugene Mirman, Kirsten Schaal, TBD
Tuesday: Patton Oswalt, Matt Braunger & Nikki Glaser
Wednesday: Scott Aukerman, Matt Besser & Megan Neuringer
Thursday: Steve Agee & two TBD
*Frequently featured of Sklarbro County/Country podcast with Randy and Jason Sklar
In the end, I do certainly recommend "@midnight," but hope that it does start to find its stride this week. If the show maintains the rapid fire pace that it is currently set without explaining the mostly arbitrary rules, it will begin to be a little hard to watch.
What did you think of the debut of @midnight? Let me know on Twitter:
@rbramblet
If you've ever read the Funkhouser's Guide to Podcasts - Nerd Edition, you'll know that I like Chris Hardwick. Hardwick has become the face of nerd and internet culture over the past 2-3 years, hosting the Nerdist Podcast, Talking Bad, Talking Dead, Celebrity All-Star Bowling, and more. However, @nerdist's newest show, @midnight debuted last night/this morning, at Midnight, and it needs a little work.
The format of the show (as I was able to gather) works like this. There are thee comedians as "contestants," vying for the title of funniest person on earth (for the next 23 1/2 hours). Hardwick gives out a category for a round, whether it be to give a funny picture/tweet a hashtag, write a tweet for a funny picture or guess the correct ending to a Facebook post/tweet. There were multiple categories where there were multiple questions. One of these was a Name That Barbie category, where contestants had to give a name to certain Barbies who had been photographed in non-normal barbie situations (really fat barbie, barbie with a black eye, etc.).
Towards the end of the show, there is a rapid fire round where Hardwick gives out a hashtag, and the comedians had to give out funny tweets to match the hashtag. For example, last night's was #FilmPoops, where the tweet had to be a name of a movie that also could be named as a euphemism for going #2 (Doug Benson: "Precious, Based on the Novel "Push"). After this rapid fire round, one comedian is eliminated, then the other two play one last category over the commercial break to decide the winner.
It was a fairly entertaining first episode, but it was not without it's problems. First off, the rules were not properly explained. At the end of the show when Natasha Leggero was eliminated, even the contestants seemed confused. At no point (as far as I remember), was it ever mentioned that it was going to happen. Also, through the opening segments, before the first commercial break, each time a comedian would answer, Hardwick would always give them points. Then during the second segment, if the answer didn't pop with the audience, he wouldn't give points.
Why am I making a stink about rules for a game show that clearly isn't a game show? Well, there are a few reasons. First, comedian panel shows can be entirely entertaining when done correctly. Shows like Nevermind the Buzzcocks, Just a Minute and The Big Fat Quiz of the Year all have this format, but have well laid out rules so that they don't get in the way of the comedy. IFC's Bunk is a great example of a half hour comedy game show that was able to be successful in bringing the comedy without losing the audience on the rules. With Bunk, you knew there were going to be three categories in a round, with two rounds and a final segment. Because this was all explained up front, you could just enjoy the show for what it was, pure silliness.
The second reason I made a stink about rules is the abomination of a game show that NBC gave us this fall called, "The Million Second Quiz." The Ryan Seacrest vehicle aired over a few weeks on NBC (as well as an app that rarely ever showed the 24 hour portion of the show, but I digress). The most confusing part of the show was, well all of it. Contestants went head to head in your basic pub trivia, but had options to challenge their opponent to answer the question for double the points, but then they could challenge that person back for double the points (none of which was adequately explained). Also contestants could get on winners row, or become a power player, and none of that was explained either. When a game show has a simple concept as the Million Second Quiz, muddying the water with rules no one understands ruins a great thing. This is what I don't want to happen for @midnight. While no money is at stake, on Hardwick's show, rules and order will allow for a more enjoyable watching experience.
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