Wednesday, January 13, 2021

On The Air: The Hustler (2021)

 Amidst the usual collection of reboots of classic game shows (i.e. To Tell The Truth, which begins a new season later this month), ABC finally has come up with an original game show for primetime.

The Hustler, anchoring the Thursday lineup for the duration, has nothing to do with billiards or the movie of the same name, which starred Paul Newman & Jackie Gleason way back in the day. No, this is more of a detective game, in which the players try to deduce the identity of the titular player, hidden among them.

Craig Ferguson (ex-Celebrity Name Game, The Drew Carey Show) returns to ABC to serve as host. You have five players per week. Each week's game is self-contained. The players build a bank based on the number of questions they answer. Two players are eliminated along the way via contrivances. Ratings will determine whether or not this series will advance past its initial season. If you're into mysteries, this is for you.

Following is a sample clip of a recent episode, courtesy of ABC's YouTube channel:


 You do know that inevitably, they'll try a celebrity version of this game......!

Rating: A.

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