500 Questions

While it's limited run to perhaps see if there's an audience; it's been a good filler before the summer returns and new series begin for their season. It beats a reality show IMO; the questions are difficult compared to most. I have to admit I've realized I know more than I think I do, I just have to hear many of the answers to knock my forehead and say.. oh yeah! It's a lot of trivia stored in the back of our minds. Though, there's quite a few where you learn something you actually haven't heard anything about. Fun for trivia and to pass an hour. Two shows were two hours long, that was a bit much. I would watch it again if it came back on. After 1-2 shows, the pace is faster than it seems when you start out and I personally think Richard Quest did a decent job hosting the show. It seems most have bits and pieces from the many game/trivia shows we've watched in our time. Best I can drum up for a game show.

Who is the dimwit that came up with this show? This has got to be the most boring game show in history. While the questions are OK, the general concept is just confusing and more importantly horribly boring. Granted I missed the first 25 questions, so perhaps I missed the 2 hour explanation on the inner mechanics of the show.

I suppose, that this is what the real life version of the game show "Bamboozled" on the Friends episode would look like. I would be very surprised if it makes it to the halfway mark before it gets pulled. Nothing against Richard Quest, but why on earth would he pick something so ridiculous to host.

500 Questions is a 7-day contest event. During that week, contestants--one at a time--try to answer questions in various categories. The questions are not multiple choice and there are no clues given. The variety of questions is good and they are not too obscure. If the player misses three questions in a row, he is gone.

The mechanics of the game are somewhat obscure. The host explains the fine points as the show progresses, like what it means when "Battle" comes on the big screen. Did I mention that there is a second contestant? Yes, another "genius", as they are described, waits in the shadows for the main contestant to fail. On "Battle" questions, they compete head to head. Honestly, I cannot criticize the show for explaining the fine points during gameplay. It would be too boring to explain them all upfront.

Some have complained that the pace of the game is too slow. By the second episode, I thought the pace was accelerating.

This show is probably not for anyone other than trivia/quiz show fans.

I have one criticism. I am not sure what happens if someone--unexpectedly--reaches 500 questions.

The premise of this game show is pretty simple, answer as many questions as you can up to the grand prize at 500 questions. There are some variations but answering a question correctly on your first attempt is worth $1000. The player banks the money and it's collected after each block of 50 questions. A second player is marginally involved and if the main contestant answers three consecutive incorrectly he is eliminated and the secondary player takes over. The question count and pot is reset to $O. The host is dry and a little goofy and the process drags out with his inane prattling. This is a limited run (at least for now) series scheduled for a total of 9 hours. It is currently running at a pace of 41 questions per hour episode. In the last two episodes they would have to answer 106 questions in each one to reach 500 questions total. With the current contestant having answered 62 questions there is no practical way for him to reach 500 (that's 219 per episode). If there were only one contestant all the way through he would have to average 56 questions hourly. Thus my summery title: An Exercise in Futility

Just a different version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire!!! What is the deal with ABC??? Is ABC owned by the UK now? Why does this show have a English moderator??? Couldn't they find an American who could be the host??? ABC had now SO many shows with British lead characters - haven't they realized the English HATE Americans? Notice that I said English and not British for the UK is so much more than just England. Luckily the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh don't have any issues with the Americans. Trust me, I lived in North Yorkshire for 8 years and you have no idea how much English people hate Americans. You will not see it in shows such as the Abbey, but if you watch the local TV or attend any local shows, you would see how Americans are constantly under attack.