Hey, do you like big rubber balls? And watch them hit people with them? Do you like seeing people hit with those balls falling into a puddle of water fully clothed? Then we have a game show for you!
THE QUIZ WITH BALLS: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
Initial shot: Scenes of host Jay Pharoah and the contestants being thrown into a puddle of water by giant yellow rubber balls.
The essence: Besides the constant “ball” puns, the giant yellow balls are the big “feature” of The quiz with balls. Two families of five face off in this new game show, hosted by Pharoah. Each family chooses one of ten question categories and is presented with a question that has five correct answers and one incorrect answer. Each family member relies on an answer that they believe is correct.
Then the pharaoh shouts “Drop the balls!” and the yellow balls go down a slide. If a person stands on a correct answer, the ball locks at the bottom of the slide. If a person stands still on an incorrect answer, the ball knocks that person into a puddle of water below and that person is out for the rest of the episode. For each correct answer, the family adds a certain amount of money to their banks.
In each round, increase the amount for each correct answer. And for every family member who stumbles upon the drink, an incorrect answer is added to the answer list for the next question. So if there are three family members left, there will be three wrong answers, and so on. The last family standing, whether with the most money, a dry family member, or both, keeps their accumulated pot and moves on to the bonus round.
In the bonus round, the family representative (or, if there is only one person left, the remaining family member) is presented with a question with five correct answers and one incorrect answer. One at a time, they walk toward the answer they think is correct and hope the ball doesn’t throw them into the pool. If they get all five answers correct, the family wins $100,000.
What shows will it remind you of? The quiz with balls it’s something like family dispute crossed with the part of Holey Moley where people fall into puddles of freezing water. It is produced by the company he created. The voice and Eldest brotherand the original version is broadcast in the Netherlands.
Our opinion: Let’s be honest; the big reason anyone would watch The quiz with balls It’s seeing people being thrown into the water by huge rubber balls. There really isn’t much in the way of gameplay besides that, and there’s absolutely no strategy involved besides outliving the other team.
Pharoah is a game as a host, filling the time with some of his patented impressions and other funny lines, but there is too much filler on this show. We have a little friendly conversation between the families, and then we see the family members consulting with each other about what answers they need to overcome. Then Pharaoh repeats the answers they chose, and only so They are the released balls. If anything shows that the show has a 30-minute format expanded to an hour, it is the repetition and extension of dramatic moments.
Another big flaw is the bonus game. Instead of risking the pot the winning family won in the early rounds, they keep that money. It would be more dramatic if they put him at risk, but we assume it’s hazard pay for letting him fall into the water fully clothed. Beyond that, however, you risk nothing in the bonus round, because a bonus pot is not accumulated for every correct answer you get. That’s five answers for $100,000 or nothing. Sure, it increases the chances that the show ends with the contestant drinking, but we’d rather the contestant decide if she wants to keep the money she’s earned up to that point or risk it.
Sex and skin: None.
Parting Shot: The winning family, dressed in overalls, greets the family member performing the bonus game. We won’t say if that family member was wet or not.
Sleeping star: We appreciated the design of the giant slides with huge balls.
Most pilot line: That said, the design of the original version set was much more colorful and whimsical than the scenery of this version, which relies on the same tired Who wants to be a millionaire model that American television has not been able to shake for the last quarter of a century.
Our call: SKIP IT. Sure, it’s fun to watch people get hit by giant balls and fall into a puddle of water. But that’s pretty much all there is to it. The quiz with ballsand the padding is so obvious that it will frustrate even the most casual viewer.
Joel Keller@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and technology, but make no mistake: he’s a couch potato. His writings have appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.comFast Company and other places.
