Raid the Cage

At least the gameplay accurately reflects what this show is.

Synopsis: Two teams answer trivia questions based around a given topic to "raid" a cage sparsely populated with prizes. After both teams have had three attempts, the team with the higher accumulated prize value moves on to a final round with more expensive items.

Production (1/10): The visual design may be the most generic I've ever seen for a game show. We've seen the blue and gold graphics, we've seen the set go red when time goes out, and we've definitely seen the font an underperforming high-school student uses in his presentations to give the illusion of professionalism. The camera during the raids themselves is pretty much useless as it hardly ever gets close to the contestants, making it a chore to determine what items they actually picked up. But what really seals the deal in terms of awfulness is the pacing: 1 minute for the trivia round, 1 minute for the raid, another minute to determine what it's worth and then cut to 5 minutes worth of commercials. I know Paramount's been in some deep financial trouble recently, but c'mon.

Hosting (3/10): Marlon is utterly forgettable as the main host. Aside from the painful trivia spiels, his duties come down to introducing each segment of the show in the most straightforward way imaginable. At least Jeannie gets some solid moments in from her communication with the contestants.

Entertainment Value (2/10): You know the ticket blaster at Chuck-E-Cheese that the birthday kid gets in? Imagine that you are watching a kid in the blaster but the tickets are way understocked, the music track is not working, and the machine stops after 5 seconds. That's what watching this show feels like.

It's a cool game seems very fun but Jennie Mai cheated contestants out of a chance of winning on the episode that aired. Wednesday, January 22nd. The contestants didn't make out the cage in time her arm got caught in the door and she said the contestants made when they clearly didn't. The contestants before them made it out in time but she cheated them out of a chance to win. If it's a timed game show shouldn't you be completely out the cage before the doors shut? The door closed on the contestants arm while she was still in the cage. Everybody should have the same rules on this game show.....

I'm so surprised that when the cameras point to the audience members...they're not snoring and fast asleep! This is the most boring game show I have ever watched in the 54 years I have been watching television! The questions are meant for a third grade education and then what a ridiculous concept to go inside a room( the cage) and try and grab as much as you can in whatever time frame the contestant had been given.its not that it doesn't make sense...its just UNDERWHELMING! And everyone on the show including Damon Wayons( who seems like he really doesn't want to be there and acts like his dad...he's not that great of an actor) acts like they just did the most unbelievable thing and they actually didn't do anything that exciting in the first place! And who's the little sidekick of Damon's....shes so friggin annoying!!!! She has this..." Yo you can do it Bro!" artisans character...it's like "calm down sweetie...this isn't a current 1st grade classroom climbing up a rope in gym class!" I keep hoping someone will drag her into The Cage and find a deep howl and drop her in it and then leave The Cage and keep her there with the rest of the crew and producers!!!!

It is a fun concept and Jeannie's enthusiasm is great. But the one thing they are missing is there is no real way for the audience to 'play along' at home.

We can answer the questions along with the contestants but once they head into the cage we really don't have much of an idea of what is in there and what it is worth. We can see the large items but that is it.

If they gave us a bit more of a shot of the layout of the cage, showed us what small items where there, where they were and their price range, we could root for the player to head to that area and do the classic 'I'd go for the....'

As it is we are left wondering what they are grabbing and thinking "was there a more expensive item somewhere?" Is grabbing a go-cart better than a couple laptops? Is an LED facemask expensive? Is a retro-mini-fridge worth it? We don't know so we can't get excited about what they are getting or leaving. Even if it wasn't an exact price just a number of dollar signs indicating a high or lower price shown on our screen would work.

I'm easy to please when it comes to game shows, so if I take the time to actually review one it's probably because it's very good or very bad.

Let's put "Raid the Cage" into the "very bad" category.

First of all, the host is clearly just collecting a paycheck. He says "Raid the Cage" like he's just trying to get the words out as fast as possible, and the "other" host has the attitude of a Disneyland performer. Everything is just wonderful and exciting for her at all times in a very fake delivery.

The gameplay itself and what you can win is where this show really loses steam, however.

The game, answering trivia questions to build time to run into an arena to grab prizes, is very repetitive. Every round is exactly the same with slightly altered elements.

The contestants, flat out, aren't given enough time to grab much of value, and are so paranoid about running out of time that not much truly valuable stuff is ever won. Who wants random iPads and weird jewelry?

I don't enjoy game shows with absolutely no cash prizes. All you can win in this game is "stuff". Never cash. This is a first for me. "Shop Til you Drop", "Saie of the Century", and "The Price is Right" are all also prize gameshows, but at least you can also win money on them.

I think this is the first gameshow I've ever watched where if I was offered a chance to be on it I'd just turn them down. No thanks.