December 2006 Archives

Last night the premier of one the newer, prime-time game shows aired.

At first glance I my curiosity was aroused. So, I decided to tune in and watch while I organized my bills for this month.

Some time ago ( a faint memory from when I was a kid ) there used to be a game show called, What's My Line. A panel of four contestants ( usually celebrities ) would get to ask questions of an individual. The questions had to be answered with either a "yes" or "no" response. In other words the panelist couldn't ask an open ended question. The ultimate goal was to guess the occupation of the individual.

Identity is different in that a single contestant who is not a celebrity gets to identify 12 different individuals. The contestant is shown a list of the 12 possible identities of the individuals. An identity may be something specific like nuclear physicist, sumo wrestler or as vague as a heart transplant recipient or scientologist. One by one, the contestant "seals the identity" of each of the individuals.

Of course, in the same manner as Deal or no Deal, there is the long, suspenseful pause to see if the contestant is correct or not.

The contestant doesn't get to ask any questions of the individuals. Instead, similar to Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, the contestant can request a "tridentity" or consult with a panel of three experts. Using "tridentity" the contestant can have three of the individuals isolated that may be, for example, a professional bull rider. The other option, referring to the panel of experts, allows the contestant to get input from people like FBI behavior experts or professional psychiatrists as to who might be, for example, the nuclear physicist in the group of individuals.

The contestant is given one, free mistaken identity. The contestant has the opportunity to win up to $500,000 dollars and can walk away at any time. However, 2 incorrect identifications will result in the contestant walking away with nothing whatsoever. Like Deal or No Deal, you are forced to listen to the rules over and over again by Penn Jillette ( as is appropriate since he is the host ). Additionally, you are forced to wait, just as with Deal or No Deal or American Idol to find out "after the break" if the contestant has correctly "sealed the identity." But that wasn't the most difficult part of the show for me.

What I found most unnerving was that the show was difficult to play at home from a viewer's perspective. Unlike Deal or No Deal where you are frequently shown the board with the dollar values the contestant has cleared and the un-opened briefcases, you rarely get to see the revealed ( or yet to be revealed ) identities and a full view of the individuals to be identified. An overall view of the individuals and a heads up display of the identities would be nice for the viewer.

The upside of Identity is that it's a pretty easy game where the average player is probably not going to go home empty handed. The most logical approach to the game is to narrow the field by process of elimination. Obviously the producers don't want the first contestants going home on empty so they've thrown in a few easy ones. For example, in the premier episode, one of the possible identities was sumo wrestler. Curiously enough, one of the 12 individuals was dressed in sumo wrestling gear. So, unless the contestant is entirely without a clue, everyone can go home a winner. However, the show isn't easy enough that the average Joe can identify each of the individuals. As the identities get more vague, the difficulty will definitely separate the talented contestant from the mundane.

But it's true.

After reading about it this morning I can't say that I am surprised how it all turned out. Yul definitely had things running as he saw fit. What's more, I expected Ozzy to give him a run for the money when it came down to the physical challenges. Additionally, I kind of hoped Ozzy would win. At face value, My impression is that Yul already had a lot going for him but Ozzy was working as a waiter trying to get through school. Turns out that it was Yul's command of the game that actually won him the grand prize.

Congrats to him. From what I've been reading, there aren't too many people that were all that impressed with the way the final tribal council was held. Since I didn't watch it, I won't weigh in. But, from what I've read, I would probably agree that I most likely wouldn't have appreciated it all that much.

If there were questions about how far Claire's ( the cheerleader ) dad ( HRG ) would go to protect his daughter last night's episode should have put those to rest once and for all.

HRG ( Jack Coleman ) has Sylar ( Zachary Quinto ) in a special cell. Apparently, and probably due to the Haitian's ( Jimmy Jean-Louis ) proximity, Sylar has no power against HRG. HRG basically tells Sylar that he will stop at nothing to protect his daughter from Sylar.

However, Eden, the Whispering Girl ( Nora Zehetner ), doesn't have the Haitian around when she decides that she should suggest to Sylar he put a bullet in his brain. Sylar gets a hold of her through his cell window and she may very well have ended her life to keep Sylar from getting her ability before he most likely escaped.

Later, Claire and her dad have a brief discussion regarding her ability. He lets her know that he has always known. He just wanted her to have a normal life. Knowing that Claire and her brother ( Randall Bentley ) and her friend ( Thomas Dekker ) are the only other people that know of her talents, dad tells her to get a hold of any tapes recording her abilities. She does. She meets up with her friend and she destroys the tapes. After going home to find her brother she discovers that he has somehow lost his memory . . . and later her best friend has also lost his . . . and when the Haitian mysteriously appears from nowhere with Claire in his clutches he lets her know that he has wiped their memories just as he has several times before in the past.

Picking up from the episode two weeks ago, we now know that Niki/Jessica wasn't successful in her attempt to off DL and get Micah. The three are briefly reunited only until Niki decides it would be best for everyone concerned if she turns herself in to the local law enforcment agency.

Hiro knows he wasn't able to save the love of his life - Charlie, the waitress with the incredible growing memory and matching brain tumor ( Jayma Mays ). But knowing that his quest must change, he and Ando seek out Isaac. Isaac now realizes that he doesn't have to be high to paint.

The telepathic cop and Peter Petrelli run into each other since the cop and the fbi agent ( Clea DuVall ) are investigating the incident at Claire's high school. After the cop discovers that Peter is special too the cop and the fbi agent begin putting more of the pieces of the puzzle together. There is a scene near the end of the episode that suggests Peter is going to blow up. Has he somehow gotten a hold of radioactive guy's ( Matthew John Armstrong ) ability? Is he the bomb? That was the last episode of this season. It appears to be re-starting Jan 1 ( according to the website ). I'll be tuning in. Will you?

I must admit that I was surprised. I honestly felt that Jonathan had worn out his welcome after his behavior at the reward challenge.

While Parvati, Candice and Adam seem to have tried to convince Yul, Becky, Sundra and Ozzy to vote Jonathan off for his seemingly arrogant and cocky behavior, it wouldn't appear that it worked. What do you think? Was this a good strategic move?

Personally, I think keeping Jonathan around will benefit whoever makes it to the end. Imagine going to the final two with Jonathan. It seems there isn't a soul that doesn't despise him for one reason or another. That's why I think Yul ( if it was him that influenced the others to vote out Candice ) made the right decision. He assumed there may be some backlash for not voting out Jonathan. But, perhaps he thought it best to let the jury's feelings for Jonathan fester a little while working his way to the final two.

After all, with the immunity idol in your back pocket the finish line is just a little bit closer.

One other observation . . . How soon do you believe Yul will be targeting Ozzy? Ozzy is the biggest physical challenge that Yul will face should they make it to the final three together. Usually the final three will face an endurance type of competition. Even the immunity idol couldn't save Terry last season at the final three competition. I think Ozzy may be a bit of a sleeper lately. He's keeping a low profile, not getting too wrapped up in the drama, and just going with the flow. Yul is no fool. When do you think he might address the challenge he faces with Ozzy?