>>PREVIEW
YOU BET YOUR ASS
Fridays at 8:30 p.m.
The Comedy Network
Let’s compare a pair of new game shows. One is Deal or No Deal, a big-jackpot offering from the U.S. that debuted on NBC on December 19. Hosted by Canadian funnyman Howie Mandel, Deal or No Deal is a high-pressure, how-much-are-you-willing-to-risk opportunity to win up to $1 million.
The other show is You Bet Your Ass, an irreverent, made-in-Canada offering that premièred on The Comedy Network on January 13. Hosted by Canadian funnyman Stewart Francis, You Bet Your Ass offers a how-much-are you-willing-to-risk scenario that gives contestants the chance to win as much as… wait for it… $1,000.
OK, so there’s more than a bit of a discrepancy in the stakes involved, but You Bet Your Ass’s $1,000 purse is tax-free and let’s give kudos to the show for being a truly Canadian creation. Deal or No Deal, like previous U.S. network hits Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and The Weakest Link, is a game show concept borrowed from the U.K.
Francis comes to his hosting duties after many years as a standup comedy headliner. His TV resumé includes a past role on the short-lived, Gemini Award-winning CBC comedy series An American in Canada. He admits to a childhood affection for quiz and contest programs.
"The Price is Right was always one of my favourites," he recalls. "When I was a kid there were a lot of game shows on television, so skipping school was always a delight."
Francis gleefully enjoyed all those prize-filled TV spectacles many years ago, "Not knowing that one day I would be hosting one, let alone one with the word ‘ass’ in it."
The title You Bet Your Ass refers to the many wagering components of the program. Contestants earn points by correctly answering tongue-in-cheek pop culture trivia questions like, "What Platoon actor liked to get his ‘Young Gun’ off courtesy of Heidi Fleiss’s ‘Major League’ hookers?" The answer, of course, is Charlie Sheen.
The players then risk those points by wagering as much as they are willing to dare on three questions in the final round. The winner gets $500 and then can choose to go double or nothing on one final question, giving him a shot at that $1,000 in cool Canadian currency.
With nothing close to a king’s ransom on the line, the entertainment value of You Bet Your Ass is dependent on the witty antics of Francis and his token game-show babe of a co-host, Sitara Hewitt. Besides explaining the rules of the game, Hewitt’s other role on the show is to adopt a suggestive look of naughtiness on her face whenever she brazenly utters the word "ass."
You Bet Your Ass will never attain the high level of drama achieved by those American shows with million-dollar jackpots riding on a single question or decision. It succeeds, however, in the irreverent atmosphere of The Comedy Network, where potty-mouthed, often juvenile hilarity can always be found on shows like South Park and Puppets Who Kill.
Francis contends his new TV gig is different from other game shows and that was what the network brass were looking for. "They wanted the content to be different, they wanted the look to be different, and I think we’ve succeeded at that." |
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