Hollywood Squares

Contrived jokes, poor acting, and some of the biggest morons as game contestants, this show is a perfect example of how NOT to make a game show. It is not so much a game show as a thinly disguised PR machine for both celebrity has-beens that are desperately trying to revive their career and minor celebrities that are still willing to debase themselves and lose whatever remaining shreds of human dignity they have.

My favorite star of the show is Whoopi Goldberg. The way the game is played is they have various actors or actresses. Then at the end the winner teams up with a star and plays a sudden death round. Then when time is up the contestant is asked whether he/she wants to keep the money or whether they want to play for more money of course if they got there bonus question wrong they don't win anything.

Henry Winkler and Michael Levitt made some nice changes to the Hollywood Squares. It's hard to compare it with the popular Peter Marshall version, but this version is more entertaining than the version's run by Whoopi Goldberg or Orion (1986-89).

Thumbs up:

Tom Bergeron as host. Whoopi Goldberg made the perfect call for Bergeron to take the reigns. His amicable and occasionally sarcastic style blends well with the straight man that one needs to be as a Squares host. He should be around for more shows to come.

The new end game. Facts about stars climaxing with a one-in-x chance to win a car/trip/cash jackpot. It moves well and stays entertaining to the end.

The question writing. It's a nice mix of pop culture, truly ridiculous facts (that might be false), and historical references. In the end, it's all about the questions.

Audience input. The producers actually ask for it. Granted, some of the recorded calls are used as amusement more than advice, but at least these are producers that listen.

Nice array of celebrities. The center square has had a decent mix of leading entertainers, such as Alec Baldwin, Ted Danson, Reba McIntyre and even Gloria Estefan. The remaining eight squares are filled with entertainers from all different facets and age groups. It's an eclectic mix where contemporary actors mixed in with comedy legends such as Rich Little, David Brenner, and Buddy Hackett. This edition is not afraid to honor squares of the past, and even granted Peter Marshall a December week as center square (hosting one show).

Thumbs down:

Audience direction. Does the audience need to applaud EVERY SINGLE TIME a contestant calls upon a star? This is over the top, and slows down the game.

Teena Marie (yes, the 1980's one-hit wonder) on theme song vocals. The music itself is quite good, but her vocals are a little screechy and annoying.

Ellen DeGeneres as center square. Mixing up the center square from week to week is a decent idea, but Ellen chooses to slow down the game by trying too hard to be funny. H2 would be wise to edit out her comments (quips?) and go straight to her answer.

H2 is guaranteed to run though 2003-04, but it's uncertain if the show will be shelved after that.

The most recent incarnation of the legendary game show was brought to life by Whoopi Goldberg,who served not only as the center square for four seasons but as executive producer. Previously obscure--but HUGELY capable--TV host Tom Bergeron got the nod to pick up the mantle of MC and was able to supply a good give-and-take with Whoopi,regulars Bruce Vilanch and Caroline Rhea among others.

The show's game format was probably the weakest part,and in fact they changed the configs constantly of both the main game(mostly the money prize amounts)and the end game,which went from a simple win front-game,pick celeb,get prize(toward the beginning)through a series of end game bonus questions/money rounds and,eventually,back to the classic Hollywood Squares "pick a key" win try at a car/vacation/large jackpot/etc.

The last two seasons of the show's run saw the show change hands,with Henry Winkler taking over as producer when Whoopi either quit or was forced out(I forget the details exactly as to how that all played out). While the game element of the show may've smoothed out by then,the show had simply undergone too much change(in my opinion)and was not perceived as "with it" or "sexy" compared to reality television.I suspect that it also couldn't roll a steadier viewer-ship the way more established stand-bys like "The Price is Right","Wheel of Fortune" or "Jeopardy!" could.

As of the past March GSN's been re-running the show from the beginning. Plenty of good chances to either re-acquaint with or discover this very spirited and fun addition to the Squares legacy.

This show has many of sorts of ways to make you laugh like the wonderfully comic Whoopi Goldberg (Center squuare), Caroline Rhea (Sabrina TTW, actual regular), Bruce Vilanchi (Comic, writer of this show & a certain award show 1 time ago, also an actual regular), Bobcat Goldwaiht (Bobcat's Big@^& show on FX), Gilbert Gottfried (from the Disney Aladdin movie series), George Wallace (known comic), and many many more. Even if you think some of the celebs bluffs (actual name of the jokes on this show) aren't all that funny more than likely some of the other celeb.s might humor up the show for you. (oh & for those who never saw the show before know comics aren't the only ones who try to humorize the show. Just about anyone who's in the squares tries to (except for those like Kerri Strug), oh & perhaps I'll go ahead and clear some common misconceptions about the show. 1st you don't nescessarily have to live in California to be a contestant on the show, film stars(movie,T.V or both) aren't the only ones - sports to magazine people were on the squares too. Now that I cleared those up, the film has a highly quality amount of hilarious humor & funny game show antics for the new "Hollywood Squares".