Danger! Kill his reputation

By Drew Dietsch
| Published 7 seconds ago

Danger! exists in a very unique place in the game show ecosphere. It's one of the few remaining old school game shows from the old guard of the genre. And thanks to its unique configuration based on quizzes and tournaments, it is the only game show that best extols the ideas of intelligence, education and facts.

But, in a cultural landscape where these same ideas are less and less celebrated (or even openly denigrated), Danger! has had to evolve with the times and adapt to accommodate a wider audience. And the latest attempt to do so has endangered the very reputation of a show that seems less and less faithful to the spirit it intended.

Pop culture peril!

Pop culture peril! is a new series broadcast on Amazon Prime Video which acts as a spin-off of the classic Danger! format. But, in reality, the show is simply the lowest denominator of bar anecdotes with the Danger! the skin draped over it. Hosted by Colin Jost, the series is clearly aimed at a much wider and younger audience than the usual game show viewer.

And it is here that Pop culture peril! reveals the crack in its foundation. By limiting the scope of potential anecdotes to “pop culture,” the series realizes that many current cultural moments are not worthy of being interesting anecdotes. See candidates unable to answer questions on YouTube TikTok controversies and celebrities don't make me feel bad for the candidates. I wonder why anyone should know these things, let alone the audience watching Danger! both develop their own knowledge while learning interesting topics.

Pop culture peril! demonstrates what makes reality Danger! series so engaging after all these years: viewers love the show's advocacy for legitimate intelligence on a large number of varied subjects. By limiting things to “pop culture”, the format and presentation seem out of sync.

And it feels like that's the direction the franchise wants to go, and it makes me want to stop watching anything. Danger! to show.

The end of an era

Listen, I love movies. If there's one subject I feel confident taking quizzes on, it's cinema. I wouldn't want there to be a Danger! At the cinema series. For what? Because Danger! is unformatted and designed to be the best game show about movies. Instead, you should create a new game show around this key concept and create a game format that best enhances the idea of ​​a movie-centric game show.

The same goes for pop culture, but because Danger! is a brand that people will recognize as opposed to a new game show, this new series must be trying to cram itself into an ill-fitting framework. Danger! jacket. And I can see Danger! keep producing spinoffs in this vein until you find something that sticks.

There were other problems with the regular show over the years, but it still managed to stay true to the spirit of Danger!. This derivative mindset feels like a dilution that will only continue as the regular show begins to seemingly lose its cultural relevance.

I grew up with Danger! and I've always tried to watch it when I can. But lately, it's starting to seem like the end of a particular era of game shows. With Ryan Seacrest taking over Wheel of Fortune And Danger! begins to mutate into new forms, maybe I'd better find some old episodes and remember the best years of one of my favorite game shows.