S03.E01: Two Janes Are Better Than One

[yeswedo]

Season 3 kicks off with celebrity players John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Giada De Laurentiis, Zachary Quinto and Jane Krakowski.

 

It's back!

[MMLEsq]

Looks like a good cast for the first episode of the new season.  Chrissy T. used to really bother me, but she's grown on me a little (thanks, Lip Sync Battle).  

[joanne3482]

OMG! Finally! I am ridiculously excited about this. I'm sorry, but I do love when Crissy Teigen and John Legend play off each other.

[DkNNy79]

So excited that this show is back on!!  Sounds like a good crew.

[clarkbar]

I love this show, and I hate it so much when the celebs fail the "civilians".  I have to say, though, Rachel's lack of pitch sealed her fate.  Loved the new games tonight.  

I will continue to watch.  So much fun when you can feel smarter than a celebrity.

Edited July 8, 2015 by clarkbar

[Tara Ariano]

I'll be doing my usual Rankled post tomorrow, but Joe and I also recorded an aftershow podcast. Check it out!

[biakbiak]

I love this show, and I hate it so much when the celebs fail the "civilians".  I have to say, though, Rachel's lack of pitch sealed her fate.  Loved the new games tonight.  

I will continue to watch.  So much fun when you can feel smarter than a celebrity.

Rachel was getting her ass kicked before that game. A game I would be as bad as her at to the point I wouldn't guess.

[tom87]

Not sure having two celebs give clues at the end is going to work.

 

Plus this show is pretty cheap to produce so at least let them win $2k for each right answer and the extra 5 if they get all 10 for $25k.

Edited July 8, 2015 by tom87

[gpgurl50]

I am so happy this show is back.  I am enjoying the new games.

 

The two celebs in the final round is definitely going to cause problems.  First of all, why do they have to be one from each team?  Can't it just be two celebs?  I feel like it would take a little pressure off the celebs since it's not all on just them to give a regular person money they could really use (though seeing the tension in the last round is part of the fun).  Plus, if the celeb gets stumped and doesn't know someone, the other one can take over.  However, there are also the problems which were shown tonight which are they could talk over each other, have conflicting clues or just burn through time because they both want to talk.  I feel like with just Zachary Quinto the guy could've won because they eventually got into a rhythm.

 

Was anyone else kind of shocked that John Legend and Jesse Tyler Ferguson both passed on so many songs on How Do You Do?  Of all the people who can make it work in that game, it should be them.

 

With the woman civilian tonight, she talked about how busy she was, I wondered when she had time to get caught up on pop culture.

Edited July 8, 2015 by gpgurl50

[Kromm]

Anyone else as tired of the "Doo Doo" game as I am?

[joanne3482]

The Doo Doo game seems really hard... Harder than many of the other games to me.  I agree with those above... I don't think the 2 celebs thing worked well. Jessie kept screwing it up for the guy. I was surprised he chose both of them. I think I would have gone with Chrissy Teigen becuase I THINK she seems more up on pop culture stuff than Quinto would have been. (But he did well). I'm not sure who on the other team I would've gone with. None of the 3 of them really convinced me they know pop culture. 

 

But I was totes happy the show was back and spent all evening looking at the clock waiting for 9:00 PM (CT). 

[HappyDancex2]

I think knowledge of pop culture has less to do with this than a natural ability for word association, which is rapidly becoming a lost art. Remember the old show Password? Those people honed their skills to make the word pop into your head....when they resurrected the game the celebs spent most of the time trying to describe the word.

Example would be when Chrissy got "elm street" and she wanted to describe rows of pretty trees or whatever instead of saying "Freddy Kruger." JTF was having a heckuva time in the last round as well. I will say that the last round seemed like a list of actors...which if 2 actors can't remember what movies or TV shows they have starred in, that's pretty bad! How can you not get Denzel Washington??????

I liked that for most of the games, the answer did not appear on the screen. It made me realize how difficult DooDoo is!

[ari333]

They were calling Giada "Gee-ah-dah" Im sure that burned her butt. (Jah-dah)  At least she was wearing a full outfit that covered her lady bits which is a switch from FNS show. Love JTF even if he sucks at a game. Love Jane too. What as up with that model-chick's cheek bones? OH dear GOD! [/frasier voice]

Glad the show is back! WOOT! I'm totes in!

Edited July 8, 2015 by ari333

[Primetimer]

And his wife is no better. Let's break it down!

Read the story

[swimmyfish]

I appreciate the point that Tara & Joe made in the mini about Casting Couch having some good movement in it for the celebs, and I did like that Jane Krakowski was into it enough to take her shoes off. But I felt like the ability to win a round of that is just too random - it comes down too much to whatever pillow you're closest too, rather than knowing that Mila Kunis is Russian (which, for example, I did not know.)

 

Apart from that, I thought this was a really fun episode! I felt super bad for the Female Civilian during the singing game - she was sooo bad, and she knew it. It was awkward to watch, but good for her for making an effort.

[iMonrey]

 

Anyone else as tired of the "Doo Doo" game as I am?

 

I am. That's probably my least favorite game. But I was happy to see some new games introduced this season. I thought all the celebs did a pretty good job but Team Bench Press was vastly outmatched by Team French Press.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about having two celebs feed the player clues in the final round. I understand why they did it: whoever wins always chooses someone from their own team so the other celeb team is left sitting there. And I think it has potential to help the player since one of the two might not know who the celeb is and the other might. But on the other hand I agree it's going to be harder to develop a rhythm or rapport with two people shouting over each other.

[Mountainair]

I think I remember an episode last season where the civilian in the final round picked a team member from the opposing team to read the clues and I thought it was kind of weird. 

 

The Doo Doo game was fun last season but it can really be too hard sometimes. 

 

I am glad this show is back. It's the only game show I watch (besides Jeopardy occasionally). I really liked the driving game last night. Team French Press totally rocked that one and the celebrity driver was hilarious, "WHERE YOU GOING?!!!" I knew his name but have no idea why. I did like Chrissy and John Legend, thought it might get annoying having a couple on opposing teams but I thought they were fun!

[A Boston Gal]

I have a feeling that the "Two Celeb" final game is to double the celebs able to play for their charities. This increase in odds will attract more celebs for the show.

[Mountainair]

I have a feeling that the "Two Celeb" final game is to double the celebs able to play for their charities. This increase in odds will attract more celebs for the show.

That's a good point and I missed the introduction to final game where they announced the change to two celebs at the end. Did they also change the amount of money the civilian won?

 

That's one thing I never quite paid attention to in the show. The money. It always seemed like no body really walked away with any substantial amount of cash. $8,000 tops? I could also be completely mis remembering but it seemed such a small amount of money with the level of celebrity involved. 

[A Boston Gal]

I believe the amount of money is the same: 25,000 as the top prize, but if they don't identify all 10 celebs, they get 1000 per identified celeb. Each of the two celebs playing also win an equal amount for their charities.

[peeayebee]

They were calling Giada "Gee-ah-dah" Im sure that burned her butt. (Jah-dah)

 

I didn't know that. She'll always be Gee-AH-duh to me.

 

Oh, and did you see the WTF look on her face when the team captain picked JTF instead of John Legend for How Do You Do? Frankly, I was surprised as well, but I've found that being a great singer does not necessarily translate into being good at this game. 

 

I still like How Do You Do. I'm not sure how good I'd do at it, but it's one I'd love to try, as long as I knew the songs. 

 

I felt so bad for the contestant when all of her songs sounded identical. 

 

I really like that new game Where Ya Goin? Zachary Quinto was so funny saying "Where ya going'?" each time. Gee-ah-duh bugged me when she kept insisting that John Legend say that before she started giving her clues.

 

I also liked Casting Couch, though there wasn't really anything special about it. However, it was certainly better than that bang-the-buzzer game they used to play.

 

Cracked me up when Jane said "Hey Boo Boo!" Oh and did anyone notice JTF said Bart Simpson went to drink at Moe's Tavern? Obviously he meant Homer, but I wonder if that threw off Legend for a bit.

 

I didn't like the two celebs giving clues at the end. That just wasn't working.

 

Fun show!

Edited July 8, 2015 by peeayebee

[Kromm]

rather than knowing that Mila Kunis is Russian (which, for example, I did not know.)

Ah, don't diss the poor Ukrainian girl. These days they don't like to be referred to as "Russian".  Although since her family is Jewish, and they lived there while it was still the USSR (her family seems to have left in 1991--literally the last year the USSR existed) I think that means they speak Russian instead of Ukrainian. 

Oh and did anyone notice JTF said Bart Simpson went to drink at Moe's Tavern? Obviously he meant Homer, but I wonder if that threw off Legend for a bit.

Since it took forever to get that answer, I'd assume it did.

 

Frankly, if we're being honest, as likable as Mr. Ferguson is, he was kind of terrible at these games.

[biakbiak]

JTF has done a ton of musical theater, so it wasn't that weird to start with him.

I think one of the problem with the two celebs in this case was that JTF and Zachary are good friends in real life so they seemed to be on the same page with each other but not the contestant. ZAchary and John probably would have been more successful.

[sinkwriter]

How did they not know more to say for Denzel Washington? "Philadelphia" and "he's a black guy"? Seriously?? That is so wrong.

[Kromm]

How did they not know more to say for Denzel Washington? "Philadelphia" and "he's a black guy"? Seriously?? That is so wrong.

I think the gist was "he's THE black guy" even if it came out as "he's a black guy".  It was a response to the contestant saying "Tom Hanks"--the WHITE star of "Philadelphia".

 

"Flight" sounds like an action more than a movie name, so perhaps the right followup should have been "Training Day".  Or even "St. Elsewhere" if the contestant was super-old.

[sinkwriter]

 

I think the gist was "he's THE black guy" even if it came out as "he's a black guy".  It was a response to the contestant saying "Tom Hanks"--the WHITE star of "Philadelphia".

 

That's true. But it still feels so wrong. Denzel's done a ton of movies! Philadelphia, Malcolm X, Training Day, St. Elsewhere (TV), The Pelican Brief, The Hurricane... and didn't he win a Supporting Actor Oscar for Glory? He killed me with that movie. Killed me. Sobbing crying killed me.

[Rinaldo]

I think I remember an episode last season where the civilian in the final round picked a team member from the opposing team to read the clues and I thought it was kind of weird. 

It's happened two or three times -- sometimes disastrously (Al Roker) but sometimes brilliantly (Zachary Levi).

 

I enjoyed the new games for the most part. I'll give it a few episodes to see how the final round shakes out with 2 clue givers.

 

And I'm nowhere near tired of "How Do You Doo?" I enjoy it just as much as ever.

[Irlandesa]

Was anyone else kind of shocked that John Legend and Jesse Tyler Ferguson both passed on so many songs on How Do You Do?  Of all the people who can make it work in that game, it should be them.

I was surprised at first but then I realized that they were so far behind that I think their strategy was to find an easy song so they can score easy, quick points.  For instance, anything that has famous movements associated with it (Walk Like An Egyption) usually is much faster.

 

I was surprised he chose both of them. I think I would have gone with Chrissy Teigen becuase I THINK she seems more up on pop culture stuff than Quinto would have been. (But he did well). I'm not sure who on the other team I would've gone with.

Quinto, to me, seemed like the obvious choice.  He did really well with the word association of the "Where are You Going" game, although he was receiving instead of giving in that game.  But I think he also acquitted himself well in the game where each celeb says one word until their person guesses right or wrong.  I suppose Chrissy might arguably be better at pop culture (I don't know her well enough to know) but she always panicked.  Almost every time it was up to her to give a clue, she'd start with an "Aaaaaah."  Some of her clues were good and some not so great but the lack of composure would've been a setback. 

 

Although JTF's lack of knowledge was probably worse because his wrong clues ended up confusing the civilian.

 

I think knowledge of pop culture has less to do with this than a natural ability for word association, which is rapidly becoming a lost art. Remember the old show Password?

I love Password.  Jimmy Fallon plays it on his show sometimes and I get excited every time I see it...except for when they don't adhere to the rules.  But I think pop culture knowledge and ability to word associate are likely equally as important in this game. Connecting a famous person with the work they did is always going to be the fastest way at getting at the answer.

 

That's true. But it still feels so wrong. Denzel's done a ton of movies! Philadelphia, Malcolm X, Training Day, St. Elsewhere (TV), The Pelican Brief, The Hurricane... and didn't he win a Supporting Actor Oscar for Glory? He killed me with that movie. Killed me. Sobbing crying killed me.

Denzel is a terrific actor but like someone said above, word association is equally as important, if not moreso, than a resume.  Heck, my next clue might have been "shares a last name with the first president of the United States' just to get the juices flowing to "Washington" because, for all I know, the person receiving the clues might be able to picture Denzel but freeze when it comes to thinking of his name.

[sinkwriter]

 

Heck, my next clue might have been "shares a last name with the first president of the United States' just to get the juices flowing to "Washington" because, for all I know, the person receiving the clues might be able to picture Denzel but freeze when it comes to thinking of his name.

 

See, now that's a better clue!   :)

[Irlandesa]

See, now that's a better clue!   :)

Thank you.  But to be clear, I still would've done the "black one" after the other person said Tom Hanks.  But if the person still didn't get it, then I would've moved to focus on "Washington."

[opus]

Did the "you won a new car" fake out seem mean , or was it just that most of the celebs seemed to fall for it?

[peeayebee]

JTF has done a ton of musical theater, so it wasn't that weird to start with him.

 

It's true that he's done musical theater, but John Legend is more known as a singer than JTF. I believe Jane said something to the other team captain like, "Who do you think is your best singer?" but she didn't do the same with the woman contestant. Not that that would have made a difference in who the woman picked. Anyway, the thing I thought was funny was how Giada reacted.

 

How did they not know more to say for Denzel Washington? "Philadelphia" and "he's a black guy"? Seriously?? That is so wrong.

I know JTF said "He's a black guy" in response to the guy saying Tom Hanks, but it was also important to get him thinking of black actors. Unfortunately it's common for the clue-givers to avoid saying the person's race.

 

Wasn't Denzel Washington used in the final round in a previous season? I seem to remember the female clue-giver saying something like, "Oh, this is a gorgeous actor." Thanks. That narrows it down.

[Rinaldo]

Wasn't Denzel Washington used in the final round in a previous season? I seem to remember the female clue-giver saying something like, "Oh, this is a gorgeous actor." Thanks. That narrows it down.

That sounds like Minnie Driver. When she did this final round, she prefaced every remark with how great or gorgeous or amazing the person was. Which A, is no help as you say, but more importantly B, wastes time. Do it half a dozen times and there's 20 seconds you'll never get back. I remember Zachary Levi being wonderful in this round: no introductory shilly-shallying, and he immediately thought of the 2 or 3 words that made the target unmistakeable. (Instant reaction with no spluttering is essential, Chrissy.)

[Racj82]

I am. That's probably my least favorite game. But I was happy to see some new games introduced this season. I thought all the celebs did a pretty good job but Team Bench Press was vastly outmatched by Team French Press.

 

I'm not sure how I feel about having two celebs feed the player clues in the final round. I understand why they did it: whoever wins always chooses someone from their own team so the other celeb team is left sitting there. And I think it has potential to help the player since one of the two might not know who the celeb is and the other might. But on the other hand I agree it's going to be harder to develop a rhythm or rapport with two people shouting over each other.

It's not true at all that someone always picks a celeb from their team. There have been a bunch times where someone went for the right celeb regardless of team.

[Racj82]

I think the gist was "he's THE black guy" even if it came out as "he's a black guy".  It was a response to the contestant saying "Tom Hanks"--the WHITE star of "Philadelphia".

 

"Flight" sounds like an action more than a movie name, so perhaps the right followup should have been "Training Day".  Or even "St. Elsewhere" if the contestant was super-old.

Philadelphia was a dumb movie to use anyway. Out of all the movies he starred in as the lead, they choose one where he is supporting actor.

 

The celeb round just seems so easy to me.

 

Unless it's something real easy like president -

 

Identify the gender and race. Identify what they do (comedian, actor, musician, etc). Then you go to their most recognizable tidbits. If they can't get it after a few hints. Skip.

 

Kim Kardashian - Famous female reality star. Married to Kanye West. Had a sex tape released with Ray J.

 

Denzel Washington - Male, black actor. One a Oscar for Training Day. Just starred in the Equalizer. Played Malcolm X

 

Justin Bieber - White, male singer for Canada. A lot of people hate him. He gets in a lot of trouble. He dated Selena Gomez.

 

In some cases you can do it in a few words.

 

Channing Tatum - Magic Mike

 

Mike Myers - Austin Powers of Waynes World

 

Tom Cruise - Mission Impossible

 

Seriously, let me at the celebrity round. I would straight murder it.

[yeswedo]

I don't like How do you doo but that's mainly because my guess is never correct. My ears don't work that way.

 

Really like the new games - where ya going and the couch one. And in the way off base category my guess for Hangover was Overboard. Anyone else?

[BusyOctober]

Glad this is back and "Where Ya Goin'?" is my new favorite game.  JTF isn't good under pressure is he?  For someone with theater background I was surprised he didn't know the kids from "Grease" went to Rydell High.

 

Chrissy was annoying per usual.  I loved how she would slink down on the couch to avoid being picked. Umm? Newsflash - you aren't that smart.  You'd be my last choice, you twit. I do not like her & I don't think she makes a good guest.  She as zero charm. I think she thinks she's an A-lister.  I like Lip Sync Battle (most of the time), but I mute it when Chrissy T. speaks. 

[peeayebee]

Kim Kardashian - Famous female reality star. Married to Kanye West. Had a sex tape released with Ray J.

Has a big butt.

 

But you're absolutely right. You first have to get the contestant's mind going the right way, then you get more specific. And don't use superfluous words! 

 

Really like the new games - where ya going and the couch one. And in the way off base category my guess for Hangover was Overboard. Anyone else?

 

I did exactly like the contestants did -- I guessed Over the Hedge and then Over the Edge. I really knew both were wrong, but I didn't notice the word was hanging there.

 

For someone with theater background I was surprised he didn't know the kids from "Grease" went to Rydell High.

 

I'm sure he knows, just like he knows Bart Simpson doesn't drink at Moe's. Off the top of my head I couldn't come up with Rydell High, but when 'Ridgemont High' was revealed, I realized he had gotten confused.

[camom]

 

And in the way off base category my guess for Hangover was Overboard. Anyone else?

I thought it was Overboard, too.  

[iMonrey]

Overboard for me too!

 

 

How did they not know more to say for Denzel Washington? "Philadelphia" and "he's a black guy"? Seriously?? That is so wrong.

 

To be honest I'd have blanked on naming a Denzel Washington movie myself. Just not a big fan. But I would have least gone for "Last name is also the capital of the U.S.A."

 

 

Chrissy was annoying per usual.  I loved how she would slink down on the couch to avoid being picked.

 

It was Giada who did that, hiding behind John.

[BusyOctober]

Yes, Little Big Head (TM, TWOP) was hiding behind John, but Chrissy slid down on her couch a couple of times too so her team captain guy wouldn't pick her.  As if, after her stupid Clovis story.

[Black Knight]

Connecting a famous person with the work they did is always going to be the fastest way at getting at the answer.

Far from always. Naming off someone's real-life love interest works as fast or faster when the love interest is also famous.

 

I felt a little sorry for Rachel during the Doo Doo game, because I would have been equally bad - but, it can't have been a revelation to her that she has pitch issues, just as it's no mystery to me that I do. She should have thought strategically and whispered the answer to a teammate rather than give it herself, so that she would stay off the stage.

[Kromm]

She should have thought strategically and whispered the answer to a teammate rather than give it herself, so that she would stay off the stage.

I doubt they're allowed to do that.  

 

Oh I know the "rules" on a game like this are probably very fast and loose over-all, but that would totally violate the spirit of the game. 

[aradia22]

I completely forgot to check in here but I watched the episode when it aired. I'm glad to see it back. The success depends on the celebrities and the games and I thought the results were mixed with this premiere. John Legend was surprisingly good. I don't like Chrissy Teigen that much. I love Giada's gif-worthy evilness on Food Network Star but she seemed kind of excitable and thirsty here. Quinto was good but kind of boring. I liked some of the new games but a lot of them didn't work. They try too hard to be clever with the props. I'm not sure about having two people for the final game. I thought it'd be easier but they seem to stumble over each other and I can see how getting too much disparate input could confuse the contestants.

[Kel Varnsen]

Cracked me up when Jane said "Hey Boo Boo!" 

The rest of the episode wasn't really super great, but Jane Krakowski's Yogi Bear impression totally made the episode for me.

[DkNNy79]

I don't mind Chrissy Tiegen even though many folks don't care for her.

 

She was a part of my favorite Hollywood Game Night moment with Brooklyn Decker.  The topic was baseball.  Don't remember who, but one of them gave the following clue  "a breakfast platter at Dennys" and the other responded "Grand Slam."  Which was correct.

[Black Knight]

I doubt they're allowed to do that.  

 

Oh I know the "rules" on a game like this are probably very fast and loose over-all, but that would totally violate the spirit of the game. 

Well, then she should simply have kept her mouth shut. The points she got for answering the question was not worth going to the stage for - the team's chances were dead as soon as she was the one up there. (As a workaround, she could have said the song title, only not quite correctly. That would likely have been enough to kickstart the correct title in one of her teammate's minds.)

 

Chrissy Teigen really rocked Doo Doo, both on stage and as a team member. 

Edited July 10, 2015 by Black Knight

[Tara Ariano]

In case you missed it, here's the Previously.TV post on the episode!

 

A Grammy-Winning Player's Performance Is Less Than Legend-ary On Hollywood Game Night / And his wife is no better. Let's break it down!

[peeayebee]

Well, then she should simply have kept her mouth shut. 

I doubt she knew she would be so terrible at "doo-doo'ing." I bet if anyone had guessed one of her songs, she would have tried to keep her mouth shut instead of guessing, but that would probably be hard to do since you'd get excited and hyped up.

 

From the recap/post - 

why is Chrissy Teigen? Straight out the gate here, she's about 3% as adorable as she thinks she is.

 

A thousand Likes to this post.

Edited July 10, 2015 by peeayebee

[BobH]

Glad the show is back.

 

Of the new game, I like the "Where you going" game, it seemed fun. Didn't care for the rebus one (they've got enough video display one-on-one games), I'm not sold on the musical pillows one but wouldn't mind seeing it again.

 

Zachary Quinto is the only one of the celebrities I'd consider for an all-star team (though he kind of took a while to get "Hogwarts" and "Bedrock"). Most of them were entertaining, except of course Chrissy Teigen.

 

I do not like the change in the last round. I hope they re-think that.