500 Questions (2015– ) User Reviews

Categorical Success

[atlasmb · 7/10 · 22 May 2015]

500 Questions is a 7-day contest event. During that week, contestants--one at a time--try to answer questions in various categories. The questions are not multiple choice and there are no clues given. The variety of questions is good and they are not too obscure. If the player misses three questions in a row, he is gone.

The mechanics of the game are somewhat obscure. The host explains the fine points as the show progresses, like what it means when "Battle" comes on the big screen. Did I mention that there is a second contestant? Yes, another "genius", as they are described, waits in the shadows for the main contestant to fail. On "Battle" questions, they compete head to head. Honestly, I cannot criticize the show for explaining the fine points during gameplay. It would be too boring to explain them all upfront.

Some have complained that the pace of the game is too slow. By the second episode, I thought the pace was accelerating.

This show is probably not for anyone other than trivia/quiz show fans.

I have one criticism. I am not sure what happens if someone--unexpectedly--reaches 500 questions.

Addictive Show - Dreadful Host & Set

[abtanzer · 6/10 · 25 May 2015]

The game itself is actually quite addictive. What makes the game far better than "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" is the open ended nature of the questions rather instead of being multiple choice. I like the twists along the way such as the Battle round and the Top Ten(?) question where you have to get 5 out of 10 possible choices. The satisfaction of the game play is at the level of Jeopardy, the gold standard.

The problem with this game is everything else.

The show wants to use as its themes the idea of a gladiatorial battle between 2 players, creating a false friction that never develops. The challenger largely sits around and only occasionally gets involved, which is not that interesting to watch. It also rips off Millionaire's atmosphere of a dark, cold set with what the producers think of as tension-inducing music. All this is nonsense, and boring. It just makes me want to yell at my flat screen.

The host, Richard Quest, is the worst game show host ever. Hi is entirely dislike-able, with an unctuous tone, dismissive manner, arrogance, and non- relatability. He likes to emphasize the genius nature of the contestants, which is also off-putting (these game shows like to cast smart people already). And he keeps hoping to create a new catchphrase by having contestants say they will be "Gone" if they miss a critical question. I get that the coldness and the snobby British accent are part of the tone the producers want to induce, but it is all nonsense that has to go.

I would watch this show if it somehow ended up in syndication. I would get away from anything resembling "Millionaire" using warm, brightly-lit sets and I would hire a personable host (Aisha Tyler, I'm talking to you!). It would still need to be an hour long (takes a long time to get to 500 questions if anyone ever does it). The one change I would make in game play would be to have contestants get their winnings and a new challenger after 25 questions. (As it stands now, we meet a new challenger about every hour.)

A trial run game show

[terryshilo · 7/10 · 29 May 2015]

While it's limited run to perhaps see if there's an audience; it's been a good filler before the summer returns and new series begin for their season. It beats a reality show IMO; the questions are difficult compared to most. I have to admit I've realized I know more than I think I do, I just have to hear many of the answers to knock my forehead and say.. oh yeah! It's a lot of trivia stored in the back of our minds. Though, there's quite a few where you learn something you actually haven't heard anything about. Fun for trivia and to pass an hour. Two shows were two hours long, that was a bit much. I would watch it again if it came back on. After 1-2 shows, the pace is faster than it seems when you start out and I personally think Richard Quest did a decent job hosting the show. It seems most have bits and pieces from the many game/trivia shows we've watched in our time. Best I can drum up for a game show.

Huh?!?

[mjdk2 · 2/10 · 22 May 2015]

Who is the dimwit that came up with this show? This has got to be the most boring game show in history. While the questions are OK, the general concept is just confusing and more importantly horribly boring. Granted I missed the first 25 questions, so perhaps I missed the 2 hour explanation on the inner mechanics of the show.

I suppose, that this is what the real life version of the game show "Bamboozled" on the Friends episode would look like. I would be very surprised if it makes it to the halfway mark before it gets pulled. Nothing against Richard Quest, but why on earth would he pick something so ridiculous to host.

High IQ's not needed

[USN-Retired · 1/10 · 28 May 2015]

My wife, who was once invited to join Mensa, loves this show. But I don't get it. What quiz show allows a winner to only get about 70% of the questions correct and still wins? Ridiculous. Example: "What is the 4th largest city in the USA?" Answer? Rattle off all the large cities you can think of, as fast as you can in 10-seconds, and you are good to go. What kind of interesting game is this, where you can shotgun answers to get a hit? As for the challenger, he/she is completely powerless in most cases. It's not a matter of the challenger beating the reigning contestant. It's more about the reigning contestant undoing him/herself. The only power the challenger has is to choose a weak category in the XX situation. So, instead of stronger contestants surviving the contest with each round getting better and better, it's all about nothing.

And, if I hear the host, Richard Quest, ask what happens if you get three X'es one more time…well, even my wife rolls her eyes on that.

In closings, for me this show is about keeping the peace. I'd much rather go outside and scrub dirt off the driveway. In the end, I have to settle for a bitten lip.

An Exercise in Futility

[Glenn_B · 3/10 · 27 May 2015]

The premise of this game show is pretty simple, answer as many questions as you can up to the grand prize at 500 questions. There are some variations but answering a question correctly on your first attempt is worth $1000. The player banks the money and it's collected after each block of 50 questions. A second player is marginally involved and if the main contestant answers three consecutive incorrectly he is eliminated and the secondary player takes over. The question count and pot is reset to $O. The host is dry and a little goofy and the process drags out with his inane prattling. This is a limited run (at least for now) series scheduled for a total of 9 hours. It is currently running at a pace of 41 questions per hour episode. In the last two episodes they would have to answer 106 questions in each one to reach 500 questions total. With the current contestant having answered 62 questions there is no practical way for him to reach 500 (that's 219 per episode). If there were only one contestant all the way through he would have to average 56 questions hourly. Thus my summery title: An Exercise in Futility

Wastes too much time

[ruskryger · 3/10 · 30 May 2016]

The second season of 500 Questions does provide some interesting strategy from the contestants and the cinematic quality of the design is intense.

However, the game is incredibly slow-paced, mainly due to ridiculous number of time-wasters. Aside from the annoying number of "quick breaks," is it necessary for the host to blather between every question and to rattle off all of the correct answers in a battle question? We can SEE what question the contestant is on and how many wrongs there are the board, so it's useless to tell us what they are.

Another problem is that the prize earnings are extremely low. Having each correct answer be only worth $1,000 doesn't provide a lot of tension; maybe if contestants earned a bonus for getting questions correct in a row, it would feel more exciting.

Moreover, it takes a contestant to answer all 30 questions to bank money, which leads to rather extremely low payouts and takes way too much time. Many times, the contestant walks away with nothing. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire took less time to reach the $32,000 mark. Heck, Jeopardy is a better game show and it finished in 30 minutes.

Worse, the likelihood of anyone reaching 500 questions, let alone half that, is improbable enough that the whole premise of the show is moot.

Nothing new

[akim-74975 · 2/10 · 24 May 2015]

Just a different version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire!!! What is the deal with ABC??? Is ABC owned by the UK now? Why does this show have a English moderator??? Couldn't they find an American who could be the host??? ABC had now SO many shows with British lead characters - haven't they realized the English HATE Americans? Notice that I said English and not British for the UK is so much more than just England. Luckily the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh don't have any issues with the Americans. Trust me, I lived in North Yorkshire for 8 years and you have no idea how much English people hate Americans. You will not see it in shows such as the Abbey, but if you watch the local TV or attend any local shows, you would see how Americans are constantly under attack.