User reviews

I would have given this a higher rating if it wasn't for all the noise. The show keeps close track of time through out the show. And there's 4 minutes and 15 seconds of game play during the show. Plus and un-timed (about two minutes) section toward the end that can go very fast as well if the teams scored well in the first two rounds. So you have maybe 6 to seven minutes of game play out of 30 minutes. Thank God they were smart enough to get Craig Ferguson to fill in the rest of the time on the show. Not only does he have to draw as much as he can out of the contestants. Some of the celebrities need some help being entertaining. Craig really makes the show. I record it so i get by some of yelling, clapping, and other loud noise. Craig is an amazingly talented ad-libber; and I look forward to his part of the show every time. It's well worth watching. Especially if you don't mind clapping and wooohoooing.

Let me say up front: I don't care for game shows. They're just not my thing. But a game show hosted by Craig Ferguson? Now that had promise! His love of rule-bending (or breaking), and the easygoing sense of fun he brings to everything he does -- not to mention the fact he's just hilarious -- had me more than ready to give this show a try.

Craig has said in interviews that it was the flexibility of this show's format and the room for improv that drew him in, and that shows. He's clearly having a great time chatting with guests, and enjoying the general silliness of the game itself. For the round where he gives the clues (rather than a contestant or celebrity doing it), he seems to take special pleasure in toying with the format and going for the unexpected as much as possible. (Example: when the round was "upper lipholstery," - all names of people with mustaches - he started every "clue" by giving a thorough critique on the quality of the mustache, and only THEN actually hinted at the identity of the person!) With only a few episodes broadcast so far, odds are good this show is still finding its feet. Already, though, it's tremendous fun. And with Craig Ferguson as host, I fully expect it to get more gloriously chaotic and un-game-show-like as it goes along. Here's hoping! In the meantime: already quite awesome, and I will certainly continue to watch.

Edit: I've watched quite a few episodes now. The show's main weakness probably is simply the repetition, especially as two episodes are played back to back in my area. One gets pretty tired of hearing those same rules yet again. The general silliness and air of improv, though, are still great.

I've read some negative reviews about this show, and I don't get it. Why are the reviewers expecting Downtown Abbey? it's a game show, it's mindless entertainment, and its fun! Yes, its corny at times, not sure why everyone thinks this is a downturn for the host, he is the corny one. But he is okay. I honestly love how excited most of the celebrities get so excited when the contestants win. And the celebrities are fairly high caliber for a game show, unlike Celebrity Game Night most of the celebrities on this show have actually had a paying job within the last five years. All in all, a fun way to spend 30 minutes.

I miss this show so much. The perfect daytime escape. The celeb guests were fun, great format. This show needs to come back. It needs to be in prime access.

The fastest game show on TV, "Celebrity Name Game" pits two teams of two players against each other in trying (mostly) to name celebrities from clues given, mostly verbal. Along the way, they are assisted by two celebrities and by the host, Craig Ferguson, himself.

The pace is so lively, they manage to squeeze four rounds into a half hour. In round one, teams get $100 for each correct answer. The stakes double in round two. In round three, Craig supplies the clues while the teams compete simultaneously. The team that wins moves on to round four where they can win $20,000 if they guess all ten names (and other things) correctly.

The contestants are obviously chosen for their enthusiasm and aptitude. The celebrities are usually good players themselves. And Craig is his wacky self, though somewhat constrained by the structure of the show.

Where I live, they play two episodes back to back every weekday evening before primetime, where there is little competition.

Fast-paced and fun, at times you find yourself wondering how stupid some people can be, but then it makes us feel all the smarter. And whether contestants are truly connecting with their friend and assigned celebrity and getting the answers right from a word or two, or unable to identify Porky Pig by the clue "That's all, folks!", Craig Ferguson is worth the price of admission. He can make any show a party with his quick wit, shameless shenanigans in silly voices and physical comedy. He brings out the best in every celebrity who shows up, they clearly feel comfortable enough to relax and be silly too. Craig isn't mean but can do some good-natured ribbing when someone does something really lame, and you feel like saying "Thank you!" Watch the clips on the show's website and you'll be hooked.

I would have definitely given this a higher score because I think the game itself is fun. It's a combination of other games and the variety makes it fun. The downfall is the nauseating behaviors from both players and host. It seems that the players have been coached into behaving an an overly exaggerated manner to where nobody seems completely authentic. If I want to watch staged acting I can watch reality TV shows but with game shows, cooking competition shows, fashion competition shows, Etc, it's nice to see some real behavior. Trouble is, it can be so difficult to find on American TV when the focus is more on those things that equate to money - thus, you get a massive amount of programs that aren't worth watching.

I'm a game show fan since way back when and since there are so few left, I'm saddened that yet another one bites the dust.

True they won't win any Nobel Prizes for this show but it's not about that.

It's cheesy, sometimes-raunchy (usually a couple of bleeps in every episode) game show fun that is one of my guilty pleasures which fill up my DVR.

Bon voyage Craig.

Perhaps you and Mr. Arquette can whip up another game show gem for us to enjoy.

Thanks for the TV fun.

What a dismal come-down for Craig Ferguson! This show is boring, predictable, embarrassing and, above all, brutally DUMB - yet another show in which doing well depends on knowing stuff that no intelligent person could possibly care about.

It's hard to describe the horror of watching brainless middle-aged contestants squealing and jumping up and down as they guess at meaningless factoids while being spoon-fed transparent clues by the smirking Ferguson. This show makes The Price is Right look like Grandmaster-level chess by comparison.

The phrase "dump-truck full of money" comes swiftly to mind, when wondering why Ferguson might choose to debase himself in this way. This is a sad, miserable career choice by a once-creative performer. Spare yourself, and avoid witnessing his utter humiliation.

Australian show only.............. Great show, great concept, fun for the whole family, but with Grant DENYER as host, it's brilliant! The show was made for his talents. Well done Grant DENYER and also the fantastic nightly parade of celebrities who get exposure and join in on the laughs. Two thumbs up to you all.

Celebrity Name Game comes across as a rather obvious cash in on Hollywood Game Night, with minor celebrities paired up with contestants in a name guessing game. Craig Ferguson brings a bit of charisma to the proceedings, but not enough to save the show.

One major problem is that the same game is played over and over, with little variation in how the game is played or in the challenge level. The only difference between games is who is giving clues and who is trying to guess the celebrity. There is no real sense of suspense, as the names are often easy to guess for anyone remotely good at this type of game.

Moreover, in terms of its guests, the show uses the term "celebrity" very loosely. In the two shows I watched, one featured two B-list actresses from the late 1990s, while the other featured a television actor I'd never heard of. (Although I was surprised to see they got Sheryl Crow-I think she's friends with Courtney Cox, who's an executive producer of the show.) Craig Ferguson does his best to make the proceedings interesting, bringing the same sense of humor he had on The Late Late Show. However, there is only so much he can do with something as dull as this. At one point, he was reduced to openly feeding a contestant an answer when they got stuck on a name.

This show is vapid and dares you to change the channel. Besides the fact that the game itself is boring and uneventful, the goal of the game is even worse, to name celebrities, as if we aren't exposed to their sorry identities enough as it is. I can think of ways to make the show interesting, but not without a paycheck. Let's just say guessing the names of burnt-out TV celebrities of the last decade isn't engaging.

David Arquette is a parasite on entertainment. He's actually less interesting than Keanu Reeves, though, fine, not as stiff, but is this really the best concept he could come up with? This show is a poor rehash of the 10k Pyramid, set in a cheap cozy studio that makes it seem like a group of pals playing in a cabin. I'm feeling dizzy.

Arquette just will not grow beyond the sixth grade. He's actually stunted BEFORE high school. I suppose he's at least smart enough to cater to the lowest common denominator - the dregs of the US TV audience.

I'm an adoring fan of Craig Ferguson, and I'd like to support this show, but all it screams to me is an utter waste of his considerable talents AND brains. I can't believe he couldn't rework the show given a chance, but David Arquette is somehow a TV producer now, prob because no one's crazier than he is at blowing his ex-wife's Friends money. The entire spectacle is an atrocity.