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Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's new game show is unnecessary in every way except one

August 17, 2021 at 1:23PM
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Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell share a smooch on the set of their “Family Game Fight!” show, which airs at 8 p.m. Wednesdays on NBC. (Elizabeth Morris • NBC/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

As more viewers migrate to streaming platforms and fewer are old enough to remember rabbit ears anymore, broadcast networks keep turning to timeworn tactics to survive. Thus, the obsession with putting game shows in prime time continues, the programming equivalent of trying to stop a leak in a giant dam with chewing gum.

There isn't enough Doublemint in the world to prevent Netflix, Hulu, Disney Plus and their corporate cohorts from dominating the TV landscape. So why turn to game shows? They cost less. They've been easier to produce during a pandemic. Plus, the rebooted kind come with built-in name recognition.

It's a strategy ABC has resorted to in recent years with a string of nostalgic revivals, the most recent being "Celebrity Dating Game" with Zooey Deschanel as host. This year, Fox brought back "Name That Tune," hosted by Jane Krakowski.

CBS also dipped a toe into game shows with special prime-time episodes of "The Price Is Right" and "Let's Make A Deal."

As for NBC, this summer the network went deep with a vintage resurrection, "Capital One College Bowl," a reboot of the brainiac challenge that began on radio in the 1950s.

Now Kristen Bell (NBC's "The Good Place") and Dax Shepard (the "Armchair Expert" podcast) are joining forces for "Family Game Fight."

The husband-wife duo told USA Today that the show grew out of a contentious game they played in 2019 on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that required them to wear blindfolds, taste unidentified foods and provide clues to get their spouse to guess what it was.

Seeing the potential for more hilarious conflict, the popular stars became the executive producers of "Family Game Fight," along with DeGeneres. The concept for the series pits two families against each other as they vie for the $100,000 top prize by playing a series of simple games that involve slapstick risks. If a team member guesses wrong, a shower of ice down the back is the penalty.

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The couple described their competitive styles as "intense," according to her, and "like a tornado," according to him. That level of commitment permeates the show, especially in the final challenge for the team with the most points. It's a mash-up of charades and Pictionary involving two spinning platforms, one for Bell and Shepard and one for the contestants, that speeds up like a carousel run amok.

Bell and Shepard get bonus points for their enthusiasm and occasional flashes of irreverence. I particularly liked the moment on a recent episode when Shepard ad-libbed at one point: "This is a terrible game. It should not be allowed on television. It should be illegal."

Too harsh? Maybe. But it is unnecessary entertainment in every way except one. With the delta variant raging and a U.N. climate report declaring a "code red for humanity," network game shows are a mindless alternative for those weary of the plot lines of real life.

If everyone seems excessively happy, well, wouldn't it be nice if your biggest worry was guessing which word Bell is describing with clues like "man's work purse handle"?

Right now, fighting over who'll get an ice bath is, at the very least, a brief break from the real battles taking place 24/7. If you feel like going to Bell and Shepard's game night, I'm not going to argue against the trip.

about the writer

about the writer

Julie Hinds, Detroit Free Press

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