Grid Effect

Penn Jillette and NBC kicked off their crusade to end profiling in America last night with the new game show, Identity. It is essentially Deal or No Deal with unflinching humans replacing the briefcases. And since the contestants are trying too match random people with a particular title, instead of arbitrarily opening cases with unknown numerical totals in them, everyone is much more prone to quit prematurely instead of pressing their luck, leaving the suspense and dramatic quotient at a stand still. When playing the game, it got too a certain point when it was obvious to quit.

The rules go as such: One person stands in front of twelve people on individual podiums. The one person is given a list of twelve labels such as “Scientologist”, “Shark Attack Victim”, “Nuclear Physicist”, etc. They have too match each label with the correct person. They are given one mulligan and two “lifelines”, similar to those from Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, that offer them the chance to ask a panel of three “experts” for advice and narrow their options for a specific label. If they identify all twelve contestants properly, they are rewarded with $500,000. But if they press on and misidentify two people, then the conestant loses whatever money he or she earns.

Like I said earlier, the starting and stopping point is fairly self-explanatory. The titles that have implied physical characteristics are obvious: horse jockey, sumo wrestler, pro volleyball player, etc. But when the contestants are given no clues nor are they allowed to interact with the people they are trying to identify, it makes it difficult to guess which contestant is the sky-diver or the neurologist. Last night the second contestant did not hesitate to walk away with $50,000, leaving $450,000 on the table. And it was the right move. That is entirely too much money too gamble on a 1/7 shot of pinpointing an accountant through random selection.

Also, I don’t think premiering this show immediately after Deal or No Deal is a great idea. I mean, I understand the logic, but two hours of guessing games with rudimentary mathematics and dime-store psychology might burn out the market for mindless entertainment. I am giving this show six weeks before it is off the air.