The Bus Stop Game

I was up late perusing my non-cable television options and came across a new late night game show.  This show is completely cheesy and somehow filters the stupid in people.   

The premise of the game is much like Cash Cab with less of a budget and relatively easier questions.  Imagine a Tic-Tac-Toe board.  There are nine different categories and each category has a dollar amount after you pick it.  The questions range from really easy to kind-of hard. 

Cash Cab is different in the sense that the people get in the cab and they actually get a ride to their destination by answering questions and getting them right.  The monetary value increases and the Cash Cab people have options for lifelines.  Once they get three questions wrong, they are out of the cab and back on the street.

For the Bus Stop Game, from what I can tell, the contestant gets into a Hippy VW Van, otherwise known as a VW bus.  But, they don’t actually move.   I guess this the “stop” part of the Bus Stop Game.  If anything, it is a glorified bus shelter where people can win some money answering questions while enjoying free air conditioning.

In the two episodes I watched, I did not actually see anyone win money.  Sure, some people got questions right, but since they couldn’t get three in a row on the tic-tac-toe board, they didn’t actually win.  A poor man’s Cash Cab. 

The amount of money they could win is significantly less had they been playing Cash Cab.  But then again, Cash Cab is geared toward a different type of clientele compared to the low-budget bus game.  Obviously, the cab is hailed by people prepared to pay a certain price to get somewhere quickly.  The Bus Stop Game uses those waiting for a particular bus that may or may not be taking them directly to their destination.

I could be biased here, the bus service in some cities might be far classier than in other cities.  From what I have seen, the Bus Stop Game has not found these classy bus stops yet.  Without being completely rude, the contestants I saw on the game look like they need to take the bus, if you know what I mean.  Not in an I-am-saving-money-by-using-the-Park-and-Ride way, but more of an I-lost-my-license-and-my-friends-don’t-have-a-car-but-that’s-ok-because-I-am-high way.  For me, I think the scary part of bus traveling is when I have to transfer to a new bus.  The transfer station downtown is a bit seedy and downright scary at night. 

Back to the contestants...  Thank goodness they didn’t promote what city they were in because I would have been embarrassed for the education system.  It’s bad enough to say they were somewhere in America.  Here is an example of the face-palm reactions I had….

Host:  What was the name of Mitt Romney’s running mate during the last election?

Dude:  Um, is that like the vice president?

Host:  [Not really even shocked because he’s seen stupid before] Romney’s running mate.

Dude:  [Still not sure what “running mate” means] Um, I know it isn’t right, but Joe Biden?  Or is that right?

The host of this show has to pretend like he is just as stupid and often agrees with the contestant that the questions are hard…even if they are only worth $50 and easy.

Host:  What two states are not contiguous? 

New Dude:  What does that mean?  Hmm.  What does that mean?

Host:  Two states.

New Dude:  Ok, I guess I’ll go with Hawaii and Alaska but I don’t know what that word means.

Host:  [Completely shocked] Yes that is right.  Alaska and Hawaii, good for you.

Some contestants had good problem solving skills like this new dude, but poor Tic-Tac-Toe playing skills.  When you failed questions on three corners, picking the last corner is not helping you.  You cannot win three in a row with a corner, unless you have another corner.  The goal is to get three in a row and then you win. 

It was funny how some people would ask for a “Shout out.”  This is straight from Cash Cab.  Unfortunately, you couldn’t get help, but you could keep getting questions right/wrong until you exhausted all possibilities or finally get three in a row.  So, this could be a painful game to watch if the person keeps getting questions wrong.

There were actually some questions that were interesting and although they were multiple-choice, I have learned new things.  For example, if you took the blood vessels out of your body and laid them end-to-end they would wrap 2.5 times around the Earth.  Isn’t that amazing?  I loved that one.  Also, "The Jazz Singer" was the first talking film, which is crazy because Neil Diamond was in it (I kid).

If you are up late and have the opportunity, watch this show.  You might learn something or you might feel a tad bit smarter and superior because you knew what happened on July 20, 1969 and the bus stop dude thought it was when the Vietnam War started….