20Q: Showing Potential

While I was browsing around checking out what was on TV, I stumbled upon GSN, the Game Show network. I've always been a fan of GSN but don't always have the time to watch what is on. But this time, I saw a game show that I had never heard of before called 20Q. So far, in watching the show, I can see it's at least an intriguing show to someone who enjoys the occasional game show.

The premise is derived from the classic game of 20 Questions. It starts with contestants being chosen from a random section of the audience by figuring out an answer from a series of clues. Then three contestants move onto figuring out a particular category by answering questions that are answered yes by the computer on the show, Mr. Q. Mr. Q is an interesting part of the show, a supercomputer with a voice actor laying out quirks about the contestants and the host, Kat. So far, I'm a little confused about where the show is from, is it American or international or both. The host is obviously British and so far we've had Jean-Paul and Sergio as guests. Not the most American of names so far.

A problem that I am seeing with the show is that is sandwiched around GSN's Big Saturday night so there are long amounts of time between segments of the show. My guess is this is probably something like a 30-minute show or slightly longer wrapped around a 90-minute block of programming so if you're exclusively looking at watching the show and aren't worried or participating in people making money, then you might want to DVR it or tape it and watch it later so you can skip the long amount of commercials that there are.

The second round was similar to the qualifying round where both contestants get the same clues and whoever gets the answer in the fewest clues wins. Then the final is for $20,000, a decent prize, but not great in game show land. Of course, in today's recession I do not expect to see the million dollar prizes we saw at the beginning of the decade.

Overall, though, I would say that is not a bad show and a decent source for entertainment if you are looking for something to do or watch during the boredom that is summer, then go check it out.