Primetime TV Review of “Trivial Pursuit”

TV Review!

 

"Trivial Pursuit" key art

“Trivial Pursuit” on The CW Review by Suzanne 10/7/24

If you love game shows (especially those like “Jeopardy”), you should enjoy this. Actor LeVar Burton (Best known for “Reading Rainbow,” “Roots” and “Star Trek: Next Generation”) is the host, as well as producer, of this new series. He competed on Celebrity Jeopardy! in Season 12, and served as interim host on Jeopardy! from July 26 to July 30, 2021.  He wasn’t chosen as the permanent host of Jeopardy! , but I’m glad he was able to host this show. He does a great job of it. I think he was too nervous, to be honest, when he tried out for Jeopardy!

The show is much like the home game we’ve all played.  Each player has to answer questions from the six categories of Geography (blue), Entertainment (pink), History (yellow), Arts & Literature (purple), Science & Nature (green), and Sports & Leisure (orange). When they answer the question correctly, they get points as well as a wedge in that category. They get points for getting a wedge, as well. After the first round, the player with the lowest score leaves. The two remaining players keep playing for the final round, and the total winning prize of $20,000.

To me, the prize seems very low, compared to shows like “Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?” or “$100,000 Pyramid.” However, I checked, and “Jeopardy” winners also get $20,000, so I guess that’s right.  Contestants on this show don’t lose points or money if they guess incorrectly. They just don’t get to answer the next question. I noticed that all of them answered very quickly, even interrupting Burton, so I didn’t see anyone get the buzzer that they get on other shows if they take too long to answer. Perhaps they were told to be quick about the answers. In the final round, they have a limited time to answer the questions.

I watched the first episode and enjoyed it. The first winner, Nicole Holliday, was very smart and enthusiastic.  She’s a professor at UC Berkeley, so obviously she’s smart.  The other two (both men) didn’t stand a chance. The second round’s winner, Sara Delvillano, was also a woman.  She teaches music to children and also helps run an organization that helps dogs find homes.  Interestingly enough, she also won on Jeopardy! in 2019.

The show is definitely worth watching if you love trivia. I find that I know a lot more of these answers than I ever did watching “Jeopardy!” I believe that makes the show more accessible to the average viewer.  Watch it and find out for yourself.

MORE INFORMATION: Official Site Trailer

“TRIVIAL PURSUIT”

Mondays on The CW

LeVar Burton hosts "Trivial Pursuit" on The CW (Photo by Ellis O’Brien/Entertainment One)The beloved trivia game TRIVIAL PURSUIT is reimagined in a question-packed entertainment format. Gameplay takes place on a giant version of the iconic Trivial Pursuit game board, as contestants battle it out over a range of play-along question categories to win wedges and beat each other to the center. The victor then takes on a dramatic finale against the clock to claim the big money jackpot.

Hosted by EmmyÂź Award-winning actor, director, producer and podcaster LeVar Burton, TRIVIAL PURSUIT is produced by Hasbro Entertainment, The CW, Lionsgate Alternative Television and Talpa Studios. David Garfinkle, Gabriel Marano, John De Mol, Matt Walton and Matt Pritchard serve as executive producers.

LeVar Burton

Host of “Trivial Pursuit”

LeVar Burton is the host of The CW’s upcoming game show series “Trivial Pursuit.”

Burton is an actor, director, producer and podcaster whose decades-long body of work includes “Roots,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and “Reading Rainbow.”  He is the honored recipient of seven NAACP Awards, a Peabody, a Grammy and 15 Emmys, including a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Inaugural Children’s & Family Emmys.

As a lifelong literacy advocate, Burton has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read.  In 2023, Burton premiered his first documentary, “The Right to Read,” a film that positions the literacy crisis in America as a civil rights issue. “The Right to Read” was an official selection at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and SXSW Edu.

Burton continues to exercise his passion for storytelling as the award-winning author of “Aftermath,” “The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm” and “A Kids Book About Imagination.”  He launched his first book club with Fable, a digital book club community, and partnered with Masterclass, to share the power of storytelling.

His production company, LeVar Burton Entertainment (LBE), develops projects in the film, television, podcasting, and publishing space with the mission to share stories that fosters empathy, champions diversity and builds community.

Now in its 12th season, the enormously popular “LeVar Burton Reads” podcast has over 175 episodes in its catalog, boasting 25 million downloads.  LBE’s most recent podcast, “Sound Detectives,” premiered at number 1 on the Kids & Family charts.

As a pop culture icon, Burton has the unique ability to reach across all ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic groups – communicating to a large fan base that is highly engaged and motivated to embrace his message.

 

LeVar Burton hosts "Trivial Pursuit" on The CW (Photo by Ellis O’Brien/Entertainment One)

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Back to the Main Reviews Page

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of The TV MegaSite or its other volunteers.

Interview with Patton Oswalt

TV Interview!

 

Patton Oswalt, host of "The 1% Club" on Amazon Prime Video and FOX

Interview with Patton Oswalt, host of “The 1% Club” on Amazon Prime Video and FOX by Suzanne 4/30/24

This was a wonderful interview! I’ve enjoyed Patton’s work ever since I saw him in “Justified” (one of the best shows on TV), where he played Constable Bob. He’s done so many wonderful shows and movies, as well as his great standup act.   I don’t watch many game shows, but this new one is smart and funny. It’s very challenging. If you love “Jeopardy,” you should love this one, too. It airs tomorrow, May 23, on Prime Video, and then airs again on FOX, starting Monday, June 3.

They only gave me 6 minutes with him, so I was talking pretty fast. I hope you can understand me!  Enjoy!

MORE INFO: Official Site  Trailer

Patton Oswalt, host of "The 1% Club" on Amazon Prime Video and FOX

The 1% Club

Coming to Prime Video On May 23, 2024* *All new episodes of The 1% Club will be available for Prime Video customers weekly starting May 23, and will also air on FOX, on Mondays beginning June 3. *US, CAN ONLY

‘The 1% Club’, where the questions have nothing to do with remembering little known facts, endless reams of dates or obscure quiz trivia, as instead they are all about applying logic, reasoning skills and common sense. The show begins with 100 contestants, who are then whittled down as they compete to make it to the end and answer a question only 1% of the country can get right, in hopes of winning up to 100,000 dollars.

 

Patton Oswalt, host of "The 1% Club" on Amazon Prime Video and FOXPatton Oswalt continues to leave his distinctive imprint across all areas of entertainment, from his award-winning comedy specials to his many guest roles on television. His most recent comedy special We All Scream (which also marked his directorial debut) launched on Netflix in late 2022 and Oswalt was nominated for a Grammy for his comedy album. Last year, he also starred in the Magnolia Pictures comedy I Love My Dad, winner of the Grand Jury and Audience awards at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival.  
 
Oswalt was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his performance in Jason Reitman’s film Young Adult, starring opposite Charlize Theron. In 2009, he also received critical acclaim for his performance in Robert Siegel’s Big Fan; the film was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and Oswalt earned a Gotham Award nomination for his performance. 
 
Oswalt has appeared in many films, including The Circle, alongside Tom Hanks, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and Zoolander, both directed by Ben Stiller, Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant with Matt Damon, and alongside Seth Rogen in Jody Hill’s Observe and Report, as well as Paul Thomas Anderson’s Magnolia and Todd Phillips’ Starsky and Hutch.
 
Oswalt’s past television work includes memorable roles on Parks and Recreation, which brought him a TV Critics Choice Award, A.P. Bio, Veep, United States of Tara, Seinfeld (his TV acting debut), and many more. He is also very well known for playing ‘Spence’ on The King of Queens for nine seasons.  Oswalt is also the narrator on ABC’s hit comedy The Goldbergs.  He provided the voice for ‘Remy’ the rat in Pixar’s Oscar¼ winner Ratatouille, and his other voice credits include ‘Max’ in The Secret Life of Pets 2, Sorry To Bother You, the SYFY series Happy!, Rick and Morty, Archer, and BoJack Horseman. 
 
In 2020, Oswalt’s Emmy nominated Netflix special I Love Everything was widely applauded upon release, and he received a Grammy nomination for his comedy album of the same name. In 2017, he received Grammy and Emmy nominations for his album and Netflix special Annihilation, which addresses his own devastating loss and dealing with the unexplainable, while making it all painfully funny.  In 2016, he won the Emmy for ‘Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special’ for his sixth comedy special Talking for Clapping and a Grammy Award in 2017 for his comedy album. He has been nominated for a total of six Grammys and four Emmys.  Oswalt has shot eight TV specials and released seven critically acclaimed albums — in 2009, Patton received his first Grammy nomination for his album My Weakness Is Strong. 

Credits

Executive Producers
Wes Kauble
Ryan O’Dowd
Krystal Whitney
Dean Nabarro
Andy Auerbach
Patton Oswalt
Craig Brooks
Ronnie Hysten

Directors
Carrie Havel

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Back to the Primetime Articles and Interviews Page

Primetime TV: We Are Family

TV Review!

“We Are Family” Review by Eva 1/6/2024

Anthony Anderson and his mama Doris host this game show.

The premise of the show is simple. People who have famous relatives come on the show to sing while they sing clues about their famous relative and are placed on the screen behind them. The entire studio audience are the contestants in the show and make their guesses about the celebrity relative using keypads. The singers also sing with their celebrity relative, who is hidden inside a dome. Once the celebrity comes out of the dome the audience members who guess the celebrity correctly split money. In the final round of the game, the audience member who has guessed correctly throughout the game gets the chance to guess one more time for a chance to win up to $ 150,000.

I really enjoyed this show, it is fun to watch in order to find out who the famous people are behind the dome. Mama Doris is always funny.

I give this show 5 out of 5_stars because it’s also interesting to find out a little bit about the family life of celebrities.

The show airs on Fox on Wednesdays at 9 Eastern 8 Central time.

More Information:

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

Back to the Main Reviews Page

Primetime TV: The Floor

TV Review!

“The Floor” Review by Eva 1/6/2024

I enjoy watching game shows so when I saw a commercial for The Floor I had to watch it. Rob Lowe is the host and he does a good job.

The premise of this show is a little complicated so it might take you a few episodes to understand how the game works. I will give you the basic idea of how the game works so you can watch it. Two contestants participate in trivia duels in which the contestants have to answer questions about a subject such as pop music singers. The contestants see pictures of singers on a TV screen and the contestant who identifies the most singers wins the round and the losing contestant goes home. The duels continue and after four rounds the winning contestant wins 20,000 and returns to play again the following week to try and win more money.

I liked this game, but it is a little complicated and I like games where the audience watching at home roots for the contestants to win and I really wasn’t rooting for any of the contestants to win. The game gets a little boring after a while because all the rounds are the same. The only thing that changes each round is the trivia subject.

The show airs on Fox on Tuesdays at 9 pm Eastern/8 pm Central time.

I give this show 3 out of 5 stars. The Floor needs work. I will only watch it if I get bored.

More Information:

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

The opinions in these articles are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of TVMEG.COM or its other volunteers.

Back to the Main Reviews Page

Interview with Jamie Berard

TV Interview!

 

Jamie Berard of "LEGO Masters" on FOX

Interview with Jamie Berard of “LEGO Masters” on FOX by Suzanne 9/27/23

This was a fun interview. I didn’t know what to expect when I agreed to this because I don’t normally watch any reality or game shows, and I’ve never played with LEGOs before. I watched the season 4 premiere and found that it really drew me in. It was entertaining. I hope you enjoy the new season and this chat with judge Jamie.

 

MORE INFO: Interview

LEGO Masters key art

Hosted by actor and producer Will Arnett, LEGO¼ MASTERS brings imagination, design and creativity to life when teams of LEGO enthusiasts go head-to-head, with infinite possibilities and an unlimited supply of LEGO bricks. Once again, teams of two will compete against each other in even more ambitious brick-building challenges – including an earthquake tower challenge, a demolition derby, a LEGO fashion show and more – to be crowned the country’s most talented amateur LEGO builders. In each episode, Arnett, alongside expert Brickmasters and LEGO employees Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard, will encourage the builders, introduce incredible challenges and put their creativity and skills to the test. The competing pairs who impress the judges the most will progress to the next round, until the finale, during which the top teams will face off for a $100,000 cash prize, the ultimate LEGO trophy and the grand title of LEGO MASTERS.

Endemol Shine North America, Tuesday’s Child and Plan B Entertainment produce LEGO Masters, under license from The LEGO Group. Showrunner Anthony Dominici executive-produces with Arnett; Sharon Levy, DJ Nurre and Michael Heyerman from Endemol Shine North America; Karen Smith and Steph Harris from Tuesday’s Child; Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Christina Oh from Plan B; and Jill Wilfert and Robert May from The LEGO Group.

Meet the contestants!  LEGO Masters Renewed!

Jamie Berard is Senior Design Manager and Creative Lead at The LEGO Company, where he is responsible for working on the LEGO Architecture and LEGO Ideas lines, as well as a variety of products for adults, teens and super fans. He is a life-long LEGO fan and has been an employee of The LEGO Company for more than 14 years.

Before joining LEGO, Berard was part of the local group New England LEGO Users Group (NELUG), where he worked on several larger-than-life projects, including a 100,000-piece LEGO mosaic of the Boston skyline. He served as a foreman on the Millyard Project, which, at its completion, was the largest permanent minifigure scale display in the world.

In 2004, Berard was a finalist to become the next Master Model Builder for LEGOLAND California and served as a Technical Judge for the FIRST LEGO League World Finals in Atlanta, GA. He was hired to work for the company in 2005, after displaying functional amusement park rides at a LEGO fan event in Washington, D.C.

Since joining LEGO, he has been responsible for designing dozens of complex LEGO models, including the 4,000+ piece Big Ben and the 4,000+ piece Assembly Square Modular Building sets, which are available for purchase to fans worldwide.

Proofread and Edited by Brenda

Back to the Primetime Articles and Interviews Page

 

LEGO MASTERS: L-R: Judges Amy Corbett and Jamie Berard with Host Will Arnett on Season Three of LEGO MASTERS, premiering Wednesday, Sept. 21 (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. ©2021 Fox Media LLC Cr: Tom Griscom/FOX