Nicholas Tan
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.
terryshilo
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.
mjdk2
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.
atlasmb
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.