Identifying the Next Game Show Hit: Identity Another Winner from NBC

The show was not initially scheduled for a long run on NBC. In what is an obvious "test the viewing waters" move, Identity was set to run for only one week, from December 18 to December 22. After drawing in thirty million viewers, however, fans can expect to see a lot more Identity in the future. Early speculation suggests that it may run in a prime time block with NBC's other smash game show hit, Deal or No Deal. For those who can't catch the prime time version of Identity, it's been re-airing at eleven pm every night on cable's Bravo network.

How does Identity work? The host, who is none other than Penn Jillette (from comedy duo Penn and Teller), introduces a single contestant (and all us viewers) to twelve "strangers." In each episode, however, there was been at least one face that might not be so strange. Eve Plumb, who starred on The Brady Bunch as Jan Brady, appeared in the second episode. Stan Lee, famous comic book creator, appeared in the fourth. Twelve identities (i.e. "Spider-Man Creator") are featured on a game board. The contestant must mach each identity to each stranger.

What results is a great deal of suspense-filled fun. Drawing nerves out to a razor's edge, Penn cries out "Is...that...your...IDENTITY!" with a pointed finger. Everyone scoots to the edge of their seats. Most times, he then throws it quickly to commercial. It's a very clever tactic to keep viewers completely glued to the screen...and it works. Contestants have the opportunity to win half a million dollars - if they correctly identity all twelve strangers on stage.

But they don't have to go it alone. Though Penn can't help contestants, the audience is allowed to share their opinions and contestants' family members also join them just off center stage to offer their views. Contestants may also use a "Mistaken Identity" (meaning they can get one wrong, for free, on every identity selection but the very last one). A "Tri-Dentity" shows contestants which three people might match a single identity, and a panel of experts (consisting of a body language expert, a psychologist, and an FBI agent) may be asked just once for their own opinion on any given identity. How easy is it to get all the way to the half million dollar prize? The second night Identity aired, the third-ever contestant made it all the way to the end.

Interesting strangers, a real-life game of Guess Who, and a host known for his hilarious antics spell out b-i-g-r-a-t-I-n-g-s for NBC execs. Though there is no word (yet) on what the new Identity schedule will be, it is definitely going to come back to the line up very soon.

Though in many ways, funny, dramatic Penn Jillette seems the perfect host for the show, he suffers from an extremely rare condition known as prosopagnosia. What's that? Also known as face blindness, sufferers of prosopagnosia are unable or impaired in recognizing faces. But he's not competing on Identity, he's hosting it. While somewhat ironic, this impairment absolutely won't impair Penn when it comes to his hosting duties. Check NBC (or Bravo) for the new episodes of Identity, and see how well you can spot a hit show.