I don't have time to watch many game shows anymore. Sometimes I catch the ever-obnoxious Family Feud on Monday afternoons, or if the Seinfeld rerun at 6:30 p.m. is one I don't want to see I flip over to Wheel of Fortune. When I worked nights, I used to catch a 10 a.m. showing of The Price is Right. Years and years ago, I liked to revel in the randomness of Press Your Luck or the sketch-comedy of Win, Lose or Draw. These shows have offered an altered-reality TV glimpse at what people will do for cash and prizes.
They aren't that much different than shows like The Amazing Race and Survivor, in that they rip contestants out of their elements and put them in wacky, zany, sometimes dangerous situations. If anything, "reality" TV shows of the modern variety offer more raw emotion than their studio-enclosed predecessors. But there's not that much difference when you come down to it.
That dude who won more than $2.5 million since June 2 as the reigning champion on Jeopardy! lost yesterday. Like a shoe salesman during a clearance event, the guy faced the agony of de feet. It was bound to happen. Nobody's perfect, nor can they win forever. Many of us prefer to root for the underdogs in a contest just to see the mighty fall. Kur-plump!! See ya, Ken Jennings!
Game shows offer life lessons (sure they do!). For example ...
• Are you willing to take a huge risk for a chance at a big payoff? Do you go for the gold or are you playing for the parting gifts (a lifetime supply of Chapstick® can only go so far, you know)?
• Are you afraid of what other people will think? Are you secure enough in who you are to dress up, act up or mess up?
• Will money buy you happiness? Will you sell your dignity for it?
• Would that plush Barcalounger® look good in your den?
• Is being on a game or reality show akin to selling your soul? What's your eternal soul worth? Would you sell it in 60 easy payments of $4.95 each?
• Are you having fun yet?
So these are actually life questions, and only a few of them at that. The answers depend on you.
Andy Warhol would have to amend his declaration that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. Nowadays, with the access Everyman and Everywoman has to fame, fortune and televised failures, we are only allotted about 15 seconds apiece. Some (including professional celebrities) have long worn out their welcomes. I guess the moral to the story is to spend your time wisely – whether 15 seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, years, decades.
agony of de feet? I LOVE that.
My father wouldn't watch any game shows, he said they were all fixed. And back in those days, that proved to be true on a couple of occassions.
Yo, "agony of de feet" is so old, it still owes Jesus a dollar.
Anyway, I digress...methinks Jennings must've suffered a stroke (Ken, not Peter, although the latter could stand to have one of those). How could he miss 2 double-jeopardies, AND the final: H & R Block! Damitol man, I EVEN GOT THAT RIGHT. I'm thinking there was some kind of payola--Ken Jennings doesn't miss H&R Block, people. He answered 2700 correct questions--you lose it on H&R Feckin' Block? They're not even reputable tax accountants. EVERYONE knows that. You have your taxes done by them, you risk an audit. And so, we come to find out that H&R actually offered to do Ken's taxes free, for a lifetime. Aha!