Just watched the series ...
Question: Just watched the series premiere of
Treasure Hunters, and I enjoyed it (especially the interactive portion, hokey as it was) in spite of myself. Someone should turn the producers on to a little show called
The Amazing Race, if you ask me. But anyway, my question: Is host
Laird Macintosh a robot? Really seems like it. Or is this one for Ask Ausiello? Thanks!
Answer: With Ausiello currently on a well-earned summer break, I guess I'll field this. Laird Macintosh may not be an actual robot, but he plays one on TV. Are those cell-phone instructions not the cheesiest use of a host since, maybe, the disembodied head on the repulsive
Unan1mous? While
Treasure Hunters isn't a bottom-feeder like that Fox atrocity, I found the setup needlessly, even comically, confusing, and the rip-off factor (not just of
The Amazing Race, but of
The Da Vinci Code and
National Treasure) more than a little off-putting. I'm not wild about the teams-of-three setup: too many characters, not enough character distinction. And the opening gimmick of separating the 10 teams into groups of five was beyond pointless. On the plus side, the puzzle aspect involving national (and, I'm hoping, international) monuments is promising, and the location photography is good so far. All in all, I'll give it a C grade, which is pretty good considering how lousy most of this summer reality crud is. (My summer litmus test: Will I record
Treasure Hunters next time I go away? Absolutely not.)
