The Mole

"The Mole" is my favourite 'reality' television show, along with "The Amazing Race".

The show's format consists of around ten contestants who compete in a series of challenges, both physically and mentally straining. If the group succeed they win money. But there is one catch, among the group is a player deliberately sabotaging the challenges so that the group get less money. That person is the mole.

Unlike other 'reality' television shows such as Big Brother and Survivor, where people are voted off, this show rewards good thinking. At the end of the show each of the contestants must answer a series of questions relating to who they think is the mole. The person that is least right is eliminated. In the end there are only three people left: the mole, the winner and a loser. The final episode is always very tense and exciting.

This show is so captivating. Once you've seen one episode you're hooked. One hour a week isn't enough!

The show's host, Grant Bowler, is wonderful. He is sympathetic to the losing contestants and he has a devilishly fun side to him. But he always remains smooth, calm and relaxed.

"The Mole" is one of the best shows on television. I love it!

The Australian edition of "The Mole"" (I watched seasons 1,2,3 and 4, wish I could find the other two) is highly entertaining - the equal of the American version. All the strengths of the concept are present here, with maybe one crucial difference: the Australians are more laid-back people, and thus there is none of the extra drama and pettiness of, say, the 5th American season. They are likable yet competitive. If there is one flaw, it is the sometimes redundant narration explaining the same things over and over again; with that said, the Aussie host is still way cooler than his UK counterpart. 8/10 as a total.

The Mole leaves other "reality shows" like Survivor or Big Brother for dead.With its highly addictive combination of mystery, excitement, and viewer involvement in trying to figure out who is trying to sabotage all the missions, it's not to be missed.The missions are elaborate and very clever, and it's almost too long to have to wait between each weekly episode!The second last episode, in which the mole was finally revealed, and so was the winner and loser, and the final episode, where all of the mole's sabotage techniques were revealed, were simply brilliant.This really shows what monotonous viewing Survivor and Big Brother are.

"The Mole" is an original concept that came from the Dutch speaking side of Belgium! Premiered in 1999, the Belgian show called "De Mol" was an instant hit, won a prestige "Golden Rose" in Montreaux and was sold to a lot of countries including the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and of course the US.

Some guy mentioned that this was a total ripoff of "Survivor". But perhaps this guy should get his facts straight. Survivor premiered in 2000, the Belgian "De Mol" premiered in 1999! Almost every reallife show is not originally from the States! Like Big Brother and the new show The Phone are originally Dutch TV-shows.

Anyway, "The Mole" is a terrific show, where audiences and viewers worldwide are challenged to think along with the show, to anticipate with what is coming next and therefore The Mole is a fantastic TV-show. In The Netherlands we've had 4 seasons with unknown competitors and 4 seasons with famous Dutch people. It is my opinion that the best "The Mole" seasons are always with famous persons.

Yet another reality show that tries to capitalize on the CBS giant "Survivor". ABC's "The Mole" is a would-be high-tech James Bond-styled program that puts a group of morons together. What the group tries to figure out is which of their contemporaries is really a sabotage artist who is hired by the producers. The last civilian standing is of course the winner. Amazingly, "The Mole" had a minimum bit of success in the early 2000s in the ratings game. Of course critically it has always been a disgusting rodent. Celebrity editions and innovative scheduling kept the idea running longer than experts expected. Mercifully, "The Mole" was put to sleep in 2004 by the network. Let us hope there is no resurrection. 2 stars out of 5.