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Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 5:10 pm
by tlynn78
Caught the first episode last night - I think as a re-run. Holy cow - easy money.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 5:18 pm
by Beebs52
The unicorn thing...

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 5:41 pm
by Billy Bored Thornton
Watch it? I live it every day.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 5:47 pm
by jarnon
The first episode was OK, but I expect it’ll be more if the same every week (like Deal or No Deal was) so I won’t keep watching.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 8:40 pm
by lilclyde54
I watched about half of tonight's episode. It seemed very staged to me.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 10:01 pm
by Brit Canuck
It's almost a direct rip-off of 'Fifth Grader' (even the set, lighting and camera angles are similar), and also swipes a rule or two from 'Millionaire Hot Seat' (the top amount on the money tree is axed each time the contestant misses a question). The only noticable difference is that contestants are forced to redo a level with a new question when wrong instead of automatically advancing a level when saved by the kids. This slows the game down and increases the chances of a contestant leaving empty-handed (after two episodes as of tonight, the record's a barely-passable 2 for 4).

Right now it's coming across as just a cheap 'Fifth Grader' knockoff, with Ricky Gervais taking most of the Jeff Foxworthy role by being around the kids. Of course, they're in another room, leaving Fred Savage to fend for himself if games turn sour. There are times when Fred could use a hostess - preferably Danica McKellar, they've gotten along well together in the past. :)

ABC's had better game shows in the past. In many cases, however, and not just with their game shows, they simply lack either the patience to let them reach their full potential, the programming strategy to make them work (counterprogramming them against much more popular shows doesn't work), or the ability to not tinker with them and mess them up outright (read: 500 Questions, Richard Mason).

It probably deserves better, but I sense a good old fashioned 'Fifth Grader' 'Flunk Out' for this one.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Fri Jan 12, 2018 11:52 pm
by Bob Juch
So they have three teams of kids. What's to keep them from switching to a team that missed the answer after the contestant also missed? I saw the pilot (I'll watch tonight show tomorrow.) and they seem to have done exactly that once. The team of kids who all missed along with the contestant was different from the team they showed for every other question.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Sat Jan 13, 2018 12:21 am
by Estonut
Brit Canuck wrote:It probably deserves better, but I sense a good old fashioned 'Fifth Grader' 'Flunk Out' for this one.
Flunk out? I'd bet most game show producers would KILL for a 385-episode "flunk out" over 6 seasons!

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Mon Jan 15, 2018 10:50 pm
by tlynn78
Ricky's the worst part. He seems to veer between drunk and over-it bored.

Re: Anyone watching "Child Support"?

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2018 9:57 am
by Bob Juch
tlynn78 wrote:Ricky's the worst part. He seems to veer between drunk and over-it bored.
I'd have to be drunk to sit there with those kids. :roll: