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Review: Downfall
Originally posted: June 25, 2010
Text by: Cyndi
Seidelman
Normally, when I do reviews, I try to add some
sort of back story, but this time I can't do that. Mainly because I
don't know how this show came about, or why it got on the air. But,
Downfall debuted after Wipeout this past Tuesday. To my surprise, and to
others that watched it, it's actually a pretty decent show. It's not
going to blow you away by any means, but it's a good watch. Have any questions about the site? Submit them to us
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be sure to answer them to the very best of our ability. (c) 2009-2017 - A CQS Production.
The premise is simple, answer questions in a category before your cash
and prizes falls off the conveyor belt. If the cash falls off the
conveyor belt, then the contestant loses the game and they are
ceremoniously dropped off the roof as well. Sounds easy, right? Well,
the contestant is placed right near the edge of the roof, so they see
first hand their prizes falling off the roof, adding to the mental
torture they face being 100 feet off the ground. And yes, like most
primetime game shows out there, we have a money ladder of sorts going on
here in the same vein like Million Dollar Password's Money Ladder. Well,
I should say more like the ladder from Every Second Counts. The first
step is having to get 4 out of 10, then 5 out of 10, 6 out of 10 and so
on and so forth. I don't remember the money ladder off hand, but It went
something like this: $5k/$10k/$25k/$50k/$100k/$250k/$1M. If you reach
$25k, you get that no matter what.
Now, let's talk Chris Jericho. If WWE ever decides to can him, then he
has nothing to worry about when it comes to TV. He's proven himself to
be a good host here, and quite capable of coming up with stuff off the
cuff & is a good question reader at that. He has the energy, without
being pretentious.
Now, while the show itself is good, it does have its flaws. Mainly
having to deal with the Overall presentation of the show. While it is
slick and stylish, the main component of the conveyor belt doesn't
really have that much going for it. Another thing that irks me is the
constant instant replays of stuff crashing down. It's fun to see it
fall, just not in super slow motion. The time that they spent recapping
everything that fell in slow motion, they could have easily snuck in
another round or something like that. What also irks me is the Panic
Button. You're allowed to use that twice, the first one requires you to
put up a personal object, and the other one is an actual friend you'd
put on the conveyor belt. To me, this is just for schlocky cheap
thrills. If I could change the Panic Button, I would have the Panic
Button be used to move the conveyor belt back, but you would forfeit
half the money that is up for this stage.
With that out of the way, the show is still watchable, and it's a good
counterpart to Wipeout. The ratings for the debut drew about 6.5 million
viewers, so hopefully it will keep those viewers for next week. It
deserves to last through the summer and should be given a chance by
people.
Grade: B-