Tuesday Night Game Show Review: Take The Money and Run

Not endorsed by the Steve Miller Band.

This is the first of two reviews of two new game / reality shows that have Tuesday night time slots. In today's article, I will be reviewing ABC's Take The Money and Run.

I don't usually watch a lot of television, but when I do it's usually something that interests me in some way. One of my favourite television genres is game shows. And when mixed with reality elements, it makes them more fun to watch.

One such show that demonstrates this amalgamation is ABC's new reality series Take The Money and Run. Created by Jerry Bruckheimer, who produces almost everything on televison these days - including CBS' hit show The Amazing Race, one of my favourites - the show sees two contestants being given a briefcase by a mystery man. Said briefcase contains $100,000 in cash, which they are then given an hour to hide within the confines of the city they're based in. Previous episodes have taken place in San Franciso, Miami, and Chicago.

 

After the hour expires, the contestants are taken into custody by local police detectives for questioning. They are literally placed in jail, and that's where the real fun begins.

The police detectives have 48 hours to find the briefcase. They have access to the contestants' cell phone records, purchase receipts, and other relevant info. Helping them are professional interrogators Paul Bishop and Mary Hanlon Stone, whose job it is to break the "suspects" down and get the exact location of the briefcase out of them.

If the detectives find the briefcase within the 48-hour time frame, then the money is theirs. If they fail to do so, the contestants win the money. The show's official website on ABC.com calls Take The Money and Run "the ultimate game of cat and mouse," which is no misnomer.

I often watch crime dramas like Law and Order or CSI, so watching this show is kind of like watching those shows. It's interesting to watch how the two contestants deal with the investigators, and whether or not they'll crack under the pressures of solitary confinement and being interrogated. In last night's show, one of the two contestants did, in fact, crack, which caused him to sing like a canary and reveal the location of the briefcase (they had hidden it at a friend's house).

Some of the contestants are better liars than others, and deal well with pressure. Others start out that way, but eventually fall apart. The interrogaters to a terrific job, as do the police detectives. Although everyone is merely playing the game, the show exudes a grteat sense of realism.

I'm not sure if I'd wanted to be arrested, placed in solitary confinement, and then interrogated for 48 hours, but watching how these ordinary people react to it is fun. Overall, this show is very entertaining, and I will certainly be watching it again. It's fun to play along with, and it really makes you think. So far, the reaction to Take The Money and Run has been positing, and here's hoping that ABC will renew it for another season.

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars.

Tomorrow, I'll be reviewing NBC's new game show, It's Worth What?, where contestants have to determine how much things are worth. 

Take The Money and Run airs Tuesdays at 9 PM (8 central) on ABC.