QUIZ SHOWS

What is it with people’s obsession with watching random strangers they’ll never meet win money? I really don’t understand this. I mean, shows with questions, sure. A bit of family time around the television screaming the answers until they turn out to be wrong. But still, when the player loses we feel sorry for them. In England there’s a show called Deal or no Deal, in which a group of 23 people with boxes gather round and the player selects the boxes which each contain a cash amount. Then after a few boxes a banker phones and offers them a deal for the box THEY carry, trying to work out which cash sum they have. It’s all completely random, so there’s no strategy involved at all. Yet the players seem to think there is. And it’s hosted by Noel Edmonds. Anyway, there’s no questions, just pure luck. And yet millions of people watch it. Just to see some person in a chair that they’ve never seen before and will never see again win money. And they feel sorry for them if they get a bad amount and cheer and clap if they get a good amount. It’s stupid. And yet big TV honchos sitting in leather chairs smoking cigars think this is a good idea, and are constantly seeking other shows like it. And the public lap this up. Great.