The Hustler - General Discussion

[Kiss my mutt]

I was bummed they didn’t have a new episode this week!

I wish they’d change the rules so that the non hustlers would have to answer the questions truthfully. If everyone is lying then what’s the point? 

Edited February 6, 2021 by Kiss my mutt

[rr2911]

On 2/6/2021 at 11:47 AM, Kiss my mutt said:

I was bummed they didn’t have a new episode this week!

I wish they’d change the rules so that the non hustlers would have to answer the questions truthfully. If everyone is lying then what’s the point? 

My guess is they aren't trying to lie, but not draw attention to themselves. They are trying to get the most answers correctly, but if they are answering all the time, the other contestants will certainly take notice.  

[Kiss my mutt]

49 minutes ago, rr2911 said:

My guess is they aren't trying to lie, but not draw attention to themselves. They are trying to get the most answers correctly, but if they are answering all the time, the other contestants will certainly take notice.  

I was thinking more along the lines of not lying about their jobs, I can see why you’d want to act like you didn’t know the answer, I just don’t know why the non hustlers make up their backgrounds. 

[alexa]

I never watch very closely anymore, but I knew it was one of the girls the moment the football clue came out.  They aren't going to make it obvious it is a guy with a clue like that--it is there to confuse people.  I was surprised she didn't keep the other girl as she seemed very suspicious and could have thrown a wrench in things.  But in the end the one guy ruined it, and the hustler won anyway...lol

[Door County Cherry]

I was happy she won.  

I actually thought it was the guy in the blue sweater.  But the lawyer guy gave me an idea for a strategy when he admitted he was a lawyer and had a law degree.  Wouldn't that be one way to play it if you were the hustler?  Be very VERY obvious--so much so that people think it's not you? 

[rr2911]

On 2/11/2021 at 2:31 PM, Kiss my mutt said:

I was thinking more along the lines of not lying about their jobs, I can see why you’d want to act like you didn’t know the answer, I just don’t know why the non hustlers make up their backgrounds. 

Well for example, in the most recent episode, the Hustler was hired by the CIA. I don't think I would admit I was hired by the CIA. That would surely make the others suspicious of me. So I wouldn't admit to it either. I do know what your issue with the show is. My sister has the same questions and decided not to watch it again. It's all about fooling, lying, and reading your opponents. I like it! 

11 hours ago, alexa said:

I never watch very closely anymore, but I knew it was one of the girls the moment the football clue came out.  They aren't going to make it obvious it is a guy with a clue like that--it is there to confuse people.  I was surprised she didn't keep the other girl as she seemed very suspicious and could have thrown a wrench in things.  But in the end the one guy ruined it, and the hustler won anyway...lol

Yeah, the football clue gave it away. I was thinking that maybe she played soccer, which is called football to the rest of the world, and the show was trying to throw us off. There are some states that girls play flag football in high school, so I was looking at that.  

[Kiss my mutt]

10 hours ago, rr2911 said:

Well for example, in the most recent episode, the Hustler was hired by the CIA. I don't think I would admit I was hired by the CIA. That would surely make the others suspicious of me. So I wouldn't admit to it either. I do know what your issue with the show is. My sister has the same questions and decided not to watch it again. It's all about fooling, lying, and reading your opponents. I like it! 

Yeah, the football clue gave it away. I was thinking that maybe she played soccer, which is called football to the rest of the world, and the show was trying to throw us off. There are some states that girls play flag football in high school, so I was looking at that.  

I don’t have “issues” with the show. Just trying to understand it. I watch it every week so obviously I’m a fan. Your comment came off a bit abrasive for an earnest question. 

[30 Helens]

On 2/12/2021 at 2:25 PM, Door County Cherry said:

the lawyer guy gave me an idea for a strategy when he admitted he was a lawyer and had a law degree.  Wouldn't that be one way to play it if you were the hustler?  Be very VERY obvious--so much so that people think it's not you? 

The law student raised my suspicions from the start because he was very shifty-eyed and seemed uncomfortable. But this ^^ solidified my vote. Why admit to going to NYU unless you were trying to deflect suspicion by seeming too suspicious?? 

This is the first time I was totally wrong in my guesses, which paradoxically made me enjoy it all the more.  This show is really growing on me. 

[pezgirl7]

I picked the hustler correctly this week, and from the very beginning, because I just thought she looked like a quirky college professor! And in the beginning, she gave information to help point to the question, without actually giving the answer, then she changed to flat out giving the answers. Although I did start to waver a little at the end, because the one guy kept asking people direct questions, which I thought might be a good strategy for the hustler to throw suspicion off themselves. But he didn't really know any of the answers to the questions. 

[Door County Cherry]

I thought it was the guy with the round face--Andrew, I think.  Not Sam.  In fact, when he said "I know it's not Tom Selleck" in response to the Indiana Jones question, I thought it was a clever ruse to throw people off since it was absolutely Tom Selleck.  He was doing Magnum PI which is why he couldn't do the movie.  

But I think it was the last question or two that made me switch to thinking it was the woman with the purple hair.  She did look the part and I think she couldn't let money go towards the end. 

I can not believe that they debated the "most watched finale."  It's like people don't remember the 80s. (And no, I'm not much older than this group if I am older so it's not like it's a generational thing).  When MASH's finale aired, there were about three channels and VCRs weren't ubiquitous. If you wanted to watch it, you had to watch it live or hope to catch the rerun later that summer.  When Friends and Seinfeld's finales aired, cable was booming and VCRs existed.  Heck, I think even TiVo was a thing when Friends ended.

And Game of Thrones (or the Sopranos as the one guy thought) not only happened in those same later decades but they aired on HBO which is a premium subscription.  They don't have 100 million subscribers.  There are a lot of people who can't afford HBO or choose not to pay for it. 

Sorry, this is a random rant but this is a TV board and I know TV things.  

[lynxfx]

3 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

I thought it was the guy with the round face--Andrew, I think.  Not Sam.  In fact, when he said "I know it's not Tom Selleck" in response to the Indiana Jones question, I thought it was a clever ruse to throw people off since it was absolutely Tom Selleck. 

I thought the same thing. He lead the previous 2 questions and then went full "I know it isn't Selleck." Figured it was a dive. I stuck with him till the end. 

I've been duped two weeks in a row. 

[30 Helens]

On 2/19/2021 at 7:52 PM, Door County Cherry said:

I can not believe that they debated the "most watched finale."  It's like people don't remember the 80s. (And no, I'm not much older than this group if I am older so it's not like it's a generational thing).  When MASH's finale aired, there were about three channels and VCRs weren't ubiquitous. If you wanted to watch it, you had to watch it live or hope to catch the rerun later that summer.  When Friends and Seinfeld's finales aired, cable was booming and VCRs existed.  Heck, I think even TiVo was a thing when Friends ended.

Yes, and the main argument against high viewership seemed to be that it was So Long Ago. As if nobody watched TV 40 years ago. Hell, that’s the only entertainment most people had at home! Aside from the lack of options you mentioned, there were no podcasts, video games were not as common, and renting a movie was a relative chore. There were no websites to visit, and nobody to text. The reason that episode rated so high was precisely because it was So Long Ago. No TV show will ever see MASH numbers again.

PS- Tivo was definitely around when Friends was on. I know because I used to Tivo it!

[Madding crowd]

I thought last nights episode was kind of boring. You could tell Craig was trying to liven things up by joking around with the contestants. The clues didn’t seem like they would point to anyone in particular and the actual hustler didn’t engage much. Plus there wasn’t much if any final discussion between the last three players.

[bunnyface]

I finally got one right, last night.  The dancing was the clue that gave it away to me.  None of the others had what I thought of as dancer's bodies.   So yay for finally getting one right, but yeah, it was kind of boring.  But I love Craig, so I will be in until the bitter end.

[alexa]

3 hours ago, Madding crowd said:

I thought last nights episode was kind of boring. You could tell Craig was trying to liven things up by joking around with the contestants. The clues didn’t seem like they would point to anyone in particular and the actual hustler didn’t engage much. Plus there wasn’t much if any final discussion between the last three players.

After the first couple episodes I have found I mainly like watching the end.  It is a little long for me for this type of show, and kind of drags after a while.  I feel like a 1/2 hour format would seem better.  I do like the premise and the show itself, I just find I haven't been watching full episodes for a while.  

[Door County Cherry]

Yeah, the dancer clue gave it away.  It wasn't just the dancer's body, it was the carriage issue.  It felt like he had body control, if that makes sense. 

[chitowngirl]

The dancer clue gave me a heads up that it was probably a man, just as the football clue a while back clued me in that it was probably a woman.
For the final 3, have they ever had it so they all think it’s someone different? It always seems to be 2:1. 

[saber5055]

I wasn't paying attention until the question about from what language did Poodle originate. That the "other" guy knew it was German and no one else did made me absolutely positive he was the hustler. From then on, I didn't consider either of the other two players.

Heh. Guess I was wrong.

[SHD]

They have to switch something up. I’m super gullible and I’ve figured it out four weeks in a row. Maybe they should have one where the clues actually match how the person looks instead of trying to fake people out.

[eyelash]

My Mom and I watch together and between the 2 of us we have correctly identified the Hustler every time.  In the last episode we thought it was the attorney until the fact about $1500 Gucci shoes.  I don't know if it was a coincidence or not, but the camera shot pulled way out during that discussion for a few seconds, and the Hustler kept shuffling his feet around.  We considered that a "tell" like in poker, and honed in on him for good after that.  He also did a lousy job at the end trying to talk either regular contestant out of changing their vote.  

[chitowngirl]

Since there are 2 episodes of The Chase on tonight and Grey’s/A Million Little Things starts back up next week, is the season over or just on a break?

[pezgirl7]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

Since there are 2 episodes of The Chase on tonight and Grey’s/A Million Little Things starts back up next week, is the season over or just on a break?

According to the official twitter account, the season is over. 😞 Also, someone said the episodes were recorded back in 2019. I hope there's a second season!

[Bliss]

This show is growing on me. It helps that I like Craig Ferguson. He's perfect as the host of this format, and he cracks me up when he dusts while the contestants are discussing their answer.

I don't think the finale was the "best" by any means (quiet contestants... and the Hustler blew it at the end), yet it entertained me with the questions and gave me a new reason to be grateful: I'm glad I didn't live in ancient Roman times!

[Ms Lark]

On 3/4/2021 at 8:41 PM, pezgirl7 said:

According to the official twitter account, the season is over. 😞

Oh, noooo! 😥 I really love Craig Ferguson as the host. This would be boring AF without him, he makes the show! He's also such an instigator. Somehow I doubt there will be a second season, although Covid has pulled off some strange renewals!

[Skyfall]

On 3/4/2021 at 8:41 PM, pezgirl7 said:

According to the official twitter account, the season is over. 😞 Also, someone said the episodes were recorded back in 2019. I hope there's a second season!

It was picked up October 2019 and one of the episodes seemed to hint it was filmed in 2020.

[30 Helens]

On 3/4/2021 at 7:41 PM, pezgirl7 said:

According to the official twitter account, the season is over. 😞 

Damn. This was a show I expected to hate, sampled only because I love Craig F, and quickly grew to love. If ABC can keep bringing back those tired retreads of Match Game/ Press Your Luck/ Pyramid etc. every summer, surely there’s room for this.

[bobby2018]

[lynxfx]

Glad a season 2 is moving forward. 

[30 Helens]

ABC announced its new summer schedule:

Thursday, June 17 10-11 pm... The Hustler!

[pezgirl7]

New episode! And the first time the players got all the questions right! It actually made it harder to guess the hustler since so many of them were good with the trivia type questions. I thought the hustler was pretty obvious near the end, because of the way she was coming up with the correct answers, but then of course I always second guess myself, thinking maybe it's too obvious. At the start of the show, I thought it was the other woman, because she was making shifty faces and knew a lot of the answers. I never really thought it was any of the guys.

[Door County Cherry]

46 minutes ago, pezgirl7 said:

New episode! And the first time the players got all the questions right! It actually made it harder to guess the hustler since so many of them were good with the trivia type questions.

I think she came in too often with the right answer.  Had it been one of the other two, having a woman like that in the panel would have been so lucky if all you had to do is cosign on her choices. 

[alexa]

3 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

New episode! And the first time the players got all the questions right! It actually made it harder to guess the hustler since so many of them were good with the trivia type questions. I thought the hustler was pretty obvious near the end, because of the way she was coming up with the correct answers, but then of course I always second guess myself, thinking maybe it's too obvious. At the start of the show, I thought it was the other woman, because she was making shifty faces and knew a lot of the answers. I never really thought it was any of the guys.

 

2 hours ago, Door County Cherry said:

I think she came in too often with the right answer.  Had it been one of the other two, having a woman like that in the panel would have been so lucky if all you had to do is cosign on her choices. 

I agree with both of you.  It was fun they all helped the Hustler by coming up with answers.  She did have the answer too often though which made me suspect her.  And then she messed up at the end saying the guy came up with Yoda.  He said R2 and was very clear about that.  Either way I wasn’t completely sure at the end, as they played this in a fun way.

[eyelash]

11 hours ago, pezgirl7 said:

I thought the hustler was pretty obvious near the end, because of the way she was coming up with the correct answers, but then of course I always second guess myself, thinking maybe it's too obvious. 

What put me on to her was that at the beginning she said she worked at a gym, and then there were clues along the way that said the Hustler owned a sauna bed, was an industrial vegan, and had modeled for before and after photos.  If she had said a different occupation at the start, I might not have locked on to her early enough.  I suspected the other woman for about the first half of the game.

[lynxfx]

I picked the hustler out by question 2. However I started second guessing myself when the other lady started acting really weird. She really made herself look sus with her constant talking. But the teeth tidbit solidified it.

She really made a mistake at the end by not trying to pin the hustler on the other woman. I feel like she could have convinced the guy easier than the woman.

Glad the show is back. It is pretty fun.

[tinkerbell]

I've never heard of this show until recently.  I'm a fan.  

Syd gave herself away by over-explaining how she knew answers.  "I'm a fan of Tori Spelling!  I follow her!"  That was a red flag for me.  But then the Monkees/Neil Diamond question, first she knew the answer because "I watched the Monkees tv show with my mom!"  but then, it was "this was on the Gilmore girls, I'm obsessed with the Gilmore girls, they're on my tattoo!" Right -   so having a Gilmore Girls  tattoo relates to knowing which Monkees song was written by Neil Diamond? 

Also -  she's the only one who looked like she could have been a before & after model, AND a line-dance teacher.  

[Door County Cherry]

4 hours ago, tinkerbell said:

Syd gave herself away by over-explaining how she knew answers.  "I'm a fan of Tori Spelling!  I follow her!"  That was a red flag for me. 

Ha Yes.  "I'm a fan of Tori Spelling?"  Not everyone knows how they know something.  For instance, I knew the answer for the Neil Diamond song but I don't know how I knew.  It was just a gut feeling. 

 

[seacliffsal]

I, too, thought it was Hanna at first but as the show went on moved my guess to Syd.  She became a bit too adamant about the answers and it just seemed like she had to win all of the money and that desire led her to have too many correct answers.  It seems like in order to win it would be best to make 1 or 2 wrong answers amongst the correct ones.  She went on a bit too much about both Tori Spelling and the Monkees.  Hey, growing up I had the biggest crush on Mickey Dolenz and made sure I watched the show each week (I was in junior high).  I had all of their albums, etc.  However, I was not sure which song Neil Diamond wrote even though I was (kind of) obsessed with the Monkees in their heyday.  

This was the first time I watched an entire episode as I decided (finally) to record it.  I really enjoyed the show-I like the atmosphere of the show as well as the fact that they don't have a zillion lights distraction.  

[NotChristine]

In the beginning, I thought it was one of the other two but Syd's long winded reasonings near the last few questions convinced me that she was the hustler.

I want to know what's up with her brushing her teeth 8 times a day.

[chitowngirl]

Is it always 2 against one for the final? I don’t think I ever remember everyone being chosen by someone else.

[alexa]

I was so surprised they didn’t choose the Hustler.  Her approach became more obvious over time, and the long hair guy was definitely on to her.  I can’t believe he changed to thinking it was the other guy.  I thought the Philadelphia clues gave it away along with a couple other clues that seemed to just be something associated with her.  My only other guess was that it was the long hair guy as his approach seemed to be good as well to hide from being the Hustler.

[seacliffsal]

I think Cara's strategy was to mention the right answer and see if anyone else started supporting it and then would support the other person.  She did mention the eye for the last question, but she did it as "nostril and eye" and since nobody else jumped on it she let it go.  I guess it is better to win $30,000 than be discovered and lose out on $120,000.  It was an interesting episode and I kept changing my opinion of who the hustler was until closer to the end of the episode.

[Madding crowd]

I thought this was a good episode . I guessed Kara at first but kept changing my mind. I like it that the show changes things up; typically they wouldn’t have questions about Philly and then have a contestant admit she was from there . She also doesn’t look like someone who was doing counterterrorism work so it was fun to see that people can do all kinds of things but not have a typical look.

[pezgirl7]

I guessed the hustler in the very beginning but then was so unsure when the superbowl parade question came up. It really threw me off, as I wasn't sure if the show would be so obvious with a question.  But none of the guys seemed like they went horseback riding regularly, and the body in the unicorn costume really fit Cara's body type, which was the main reason I stayed with her. I'm glad the long haired guy didn't win. He turned into a condescending jerk at the end. I kinda wish Craig would have called him out on his behavior. Instead he excused it by saying there was a lot of money at stake.

[LBS]

I saw Kara mouth ‘Chubby’ when the picture of the dragon was shown so I knew she was the hustler at that point.  It was one of those involuntary reactions that people (maybe just me) do when they see a picture of their pets.

And wow did the long hair guy go from ok to jerk super quick. 

[30 Helens]

On 6/27/2021 at 8:13 PM, LBS said:

And wow did the long hair guy go from ok to jerk super quick. 

Yes. By the end, I didn’t really care who the Hustler was, I was too busy actively rooting for the Long Haired Douche to lose. 

Was that the first time the Hustler has not been targeted by anyone in the final round? If so, good for her.

[A.Ham]

Oy.

So I just started getting into this and had seen the first three shows, only to have Hulu yank the first season off yesterday. Now only season 2 is available. That third episode though--of all the contestants I had seen, I would have put my money on that Ben guy. The pool table screamed man cave to me, plus being able to have time to go to amusement park for a month? Had to be in education. Not that you can't get a month off in other careers, but it is very uncommon. Glad Craig called him out on the multiple "chick" references though. I was impressed by the lady as well--she sure fooled me, even if I she did not win and I cannot recall her name at the moment. 

 

[SomeTameGazelle]

On 6/27/2021 at 9:13 PM, LBS said:

I saw Kara mouth ‘Chubby’ when the picture of the dragon was shown so I knew she was the hustler at that point.  It was one of those involuntary reactions that people (maybe just me) do when they see a picture of their pets.

And wow did the long hair guy go from ok to jerk super quick. 

The one thing that threw me off Kara was living on the boat. Everything else seemed either too Philly or at least not completely unlikely. 

At the end I was wondering whether the rules prohibited a player from showing he didn’t have a tiger tattoo on his arm in order to convince Kara how to vote. I was happy with the outcome and thought Kara deserved to win, but I could also have enjoyed the scenario where Ethan rolled up his sleeves and then Anthony rolled up his sleeves and they both switched their vote to Kara. 

 

[saber5055]

For the first time ever, I decided to actually pay attention to this episode and zero'd in on the pink-haired woman as the Hustler. And kept her in focus the entire time, certain it was her.

Guess I was hustled too.

[dargosmydaddy]

I figured the hustler (sorry, I'm horrible with names) was the hustler fairly early on. He kept trying to look stoic but then smiling at really random times (like with the Nic Cage pillow), and after the woman was eliminated it was pretty obvious that the hustler was the one directing the right answers. I felt bad that the other guy wasn't able to convince pink-haired lady to side with him.

[pezgirl7]

On 7/2/2021 at 1:44 PM, dargosmydaddy said:

I felt bad that the other guy wasn't able to convince pink-haired lady to side with him.

I felt bad too. At the end, it’s like she wouldn’t even listen to him, she just kept talking over him. I thought it was the younger woman at first, partly because the hustler totally mispronounced orchid, but later I realized he probably did that on purpose. After the younger woman was eliminated, then I guessed the hustler. I thought the questions this episode were very difficult and random.