S04.E01: Hannigan, Hale & Hunt...Oh My!

[yeswedo]

 

Contestants play party games with celebrities, including Kevin Smith, Dave Foley, Tony Hale, Alyson Hannigan, Justin Long and Helen Hunt.

 

ETA: Appears to be a time change to 8pm Eastern.

[Taeolas]

Wow, I'm not sure what they changed, but Scary Poppins was actually interesting, or at least watchable this time around.

 

Odd-o-Tune was fun, and everyone seemed to have a hoot doing it. I'm looking forward to seeing it more often.

 

All in all both teams seemed to do decently, but ultimately Kevin was too slow on Where yah Goin'. Of course the other guys were whipping through the locations at warp speed. Allison seemed heartbroken that she lost there.

 

Helen did a great job as the newbie celeb. In fact, overall I don't think any of the celebs were weak links. No real standout HGN superstars (well maybe Justin or Tony), but no drunk flameouts either. 

 

The final round, they tried their best, but he lingered too long on almost-names. He should've passed faster to get moving along again. Losing the easy "Dr Oz" didn't help either; but that's almost not fair. 

[Actionmage]

I agree; it was an enjoyable  hour and the civilians were nicely nondescript, though good at the games. Was it me, though, or did Cameron- the male civilian- look like Jason Sudeikis?

 

Scary Poppins was interesting in that the person who missed stayed in front of the ballon/sculpture/ air plunger thing until someone else fubbed an answer. Was that in answer to the complaints about guests getting dinged on the way back to the couch? 

 

Odd-O-Tune was fun and I also hope we see it in the regular rotation, at least this season. I always love a good Smash The Buzzer, so tonight's worked for me. I was also happy to see the return of Where Ya Goin'?

 

I enjoyed the heck out of all the celebrities tonight. Helen Hunt being the noob was fun, even when she thought she was lost. Dave and Tony are just fun to watch, as are Justin and Kevin, even if the opinion on Mr. Smith varies.  Alyson Hannigan seemed to be all in, as Taeolas mentioned. I would feel like that, so I like a celeb that pulls for their civilian and enjoys trying to play the games well.

 

The names they passed on were Derek Jeter, Eva Longoria and Wolf Blitzer. I missed which doctor they biffed, but Dr. Oz? Eh.  I'm just glad it wasn't Dr. Phil.

 

I'm just glad the show is back!

[opus]

Kevin Smith does a Batman related podcast. I was disappointed he didn't get the Batman villain in Smash the Buzzer.

[bybrandy]

Seriously, when they said Batman I was all, "Kevin Smith's got this."  

 

I loved Allison Hannigan's clue for Saturn, Kevin should have been able to get that, but the team sometimes took the longer clues to get. I.E no Simpson's reference for the Kwik-E-Mart.   There was another one, too.  That they skipped the obvious pop culture clue.

 

I was really, really impressed by Dave and would have picked him in the final round.   

 

How do you clue Dr. Oz without Doctor?    Mahmet? Opera's old health guy?   Physician to the Wizard of....?

[jhlipton]

Allyson did flub with the ever-so-helpful "She's so pretty" once or twice and it took them a while to clue him that Maya Rudoph was bi-racial (although they used "ethnically..." Alas, he passed before they could complete the awkward phrase.

[peeayebee]

 

no Simpson's reference for the Kwik-E-Mart.

Yeah, I thought she was going for 7-Eleven. She should have said something like, "I want to go to that store where Apu works." Or, to hurry things along, "The store where Apu works."

 

I agree that Scary Poppins was better this time. I was surprised when people remained standing there until the next loser, but I think it helped with the flow of the game. It was weird in the earlier iterations when the person came up, pumped the balloon, then sat back down again. The flow of the game stopped. This was better. I also like that some questions are easy and others are pretty tough, which is necessary so that people will get them wrong and have to pump the balloon.

 

I loved Odd-O-Tune. It was really weird how the voices were distorted. The first one sounded so different. I can't remember what it was right now or what it sounded like. Anyway, I enjoyed it.

 

And all the stars were enjoyable. I was very surprised and disappointed that Justin and Alyson did so poorly in the final round. One big problem was that they were usually talking at the same time. This final game always works best when one star takes the lead and the other just backs him/her up to clarify the clue or redirect the civilian.

 

 

How do you clue Dr. Oz without Doctor?    Mahmet? Opera's old health guy?   Physician to the Wizard of....?

Yeah, basically. "He was the physician on Oprah's show, now has his own." If the civilian says Dr Phil, then you would say, "First name Mahmet."

 

Maya Rudolph is a pretty tough name to get I think. I don't know if adding that she's Minnie Ripperton's daughter would have helped. I guess it depends on the civilian's knowledge.

 

Eva Longoria. Should have said she was the Hispanic or Latina housewife. I can't remember the character's name.

 

Wolf Blitzer. Did they even mention his beard? That's the big thing I think of when his name comes up.

 

Derek Jeter. I would have erroneously said that he was the first baseman on the Yankees. Or maybe I at least would have said "I think." But something like, "I think he was the first baseman on the Yankees, maybe third baseman? A really great player. Good looking. Dated a lot of women. Retired recently."

Edited January 6, 2016 by peeayebee

[DkNNy79]

Derek Jeter. I would have erroneously said that he was the first baseman on the Yankees. Or maybe I at least would have said "I think." But something like, "I think he was the first baseman on the Yankees, maybe third baseman? A really great player. Good looking. Dated a lot of women. Retired recently."

If the civilian was anything into sports, they should've gotten this one.  "Yankee short-stop and captain, recently retired" - that's all you should need to figure this out.  Granted I'm a Yankee fan, but Derek has been the face of baseball for many years.

 

I DVR'd it so will watch tonight.  So glad this show is back.

[Primetimer]

Think she looks barely tolerant in this posed photograph? Well, Helen Hunt's response to potential fun is, apparently, indistinguishable from her response to a waking colonoscopy.

Read the story

[messyone15]

I think Kevin Smith is always in hockey jerseys, not football. But that only makes it better by half a percentage point.

[joanne3482]

I thought those final names were rather hard. I confess I don't really know who Wolf Blitzer is (I rarely watch the news). I never would have gotten Derek Jeter or Dr. Oz. I do like Maya Rudolph but would have been hard to figure her out. 

 

I did like the new voice game. That was fun and hard. 

[Racj82]

I almost never think any of those last names are hard. I don't know. They couldn't let me on this show, I would tear through it. But, honestly, the civilian was given more than enough clues in order to reach the answers without truly knowing the person. The civilian just wasn't good. Giving even more specific clues like Dr. Oz first name or Jeter's actual position wouldn't have done anything.

[elzin]

This episode was a breath of fresh air after the disaster of the New Year's Eve one.

 

I think Kevin didn't get the Puzzler because it was Batman villains on the Adam West show. He might know comic books, but not the show. I think he did pretty well.  He did end up winning that game and he didn't cost his team any more points than anyone else.  The other team was just on fire in the car game.

 

I would have picked Dave Foley for the final round. You don't want someone who's just knowledgeable but someone who is articulate and good at explaining.  He seems like he'd be able to describe someone better than Allison, who did good enough. Hard clues, civilian who just wasn't quite getting it. Not a celeb meltdown problem.

[iMonrey]

"Oh my" is right. What has Helen Hunt done to her face? No wonder she's not getting any movie roles these days. Looks like she tried to fix the parts of her face that were aging and just made them look worse.

 

Is Alyson Hannigan pregnant? That top she was wearing threw me off.

 

I do enjoy a good round of "Where ya goin'?" but the first team really tanked.

[jhlipton]

From the recap:

Nevertheless, Alyson Hannigan and Justin Long could certainly have made a more cohesive team. Frankly, I blame her.

 
Of course you do.  I would expect nothing less.
 

Wolf Blitzer. Did they even mention his beard? That's the big thing I think of when his name comes up.

 

Lead reporter for Desert Storm (Iraq War Part 1).  Sounds like German word for rapid attack, maybe?  Beard like this [pantomime].

 

For Maya Rudolph: "Biracial actress on SNL.  Last name a rd-nosed reindeer, first name is like the month after April."

Edited January 7, 2016 by jhlipton

[sugarbaker design]

I thought Justin gave really good clues, unfortunately the civilian was a bit of a dim bulb.

[vibeology]

I don't understand why the civilian doesn't spit out more names. "She was in Bridesmaids" should have you guessing two or three names right away. Same with "Desperate Housewives." I could name the 4 main cast of that show in the time it takes the celeb to come up with another clue. (And realistically, I might like Marcia Cross, but I know its not going to be her. She isn't really a current name.) If you don't know the show or movie that's different, but there's no punishment for saying the wrong name, so just start naming people who might fit.

[iMonrey]

 

For Maya Rudolph: "Biracial actress on SNL.  Last name a red-nosed reindeer, first name is like the month after April."

 

I notice a lot of the celebrities seem skittish about using race or skin color in their clues, and I think Maya Rudolph would be especially tricky. Reindeer and April are good clues but those are the types of things that seem obvious from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy at home (or the next day) than on the spur of the moment. I also think it's confusing to the civilian when they go from listing movies or shows to trying to come up with rhymes or clues about the names, because if they've sort of led them down the wrong path with the movies and shows and the civilian is thinking of someone else, changing tactics is only going to make it worse.

[biakbiak]

Justin did mention reindeer from Maya. Also, the reason they didn't get Oz is because Justin immediately and I assume accidentally used the word Doctor.

[jhlipton]

I notice a lot of the celebrities seem skittish about using race or skin color in their clues, and I think Maya Rudolph would be especially tricky. Reindeer and April are good clues but those are the types of things that seem obvious from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy at home (or the next day) than on the spur of the moment.

All true, but since white is still the default for guessing stars, I would swallow whatever hesitation I might have and use race as the first clue for anyone not white. As for changing tactics, it's better than not trying at all.

It's so much easier at home, though! I would do terrible on this show since I don't very much about modern celebrities.

[BobH]

Yeah, the guy got Dr. Oz, but Justin had said "Doctor". It was a whole team failure in the final round, the player missed a few pretty basic ones, sometimes took too long to pass, and both celebs gave a mix of really good and really awful clues.

 

It's good to have the show back, especially with the podcast and recaps here (though I wish Hulu didn't geoblock Canada so I could fully appreciate the recaps). I still don't really like Scary Poppins, but the improvement of having the last person to answer wrong stand there, sort of like a penalty box, was a great idea. And I liked the new Odd-o-Tune game more than I was expecting to (I actually read the recap and heard the podcast before I could watch the episode this time). Only really didn't like Little Picassos, and at least it was a first round, low stakes game.

[dcalley]

Did Helen Hunt say the Grand Canyon is in Colorado?

[Taeolas]

She did. Probably just a brain fart that thankfully didn't affect the proper guess in the end. :)

[Kel Varnsen]

Yeah, the guy got Dr. Oz, but Justin had said "Doctor". It was a whole team failure in the final round, the player missed a few pretty basic ones, sometimes took too long to pass, and both celebs gave a mix of really good and really awful clues.

Like usual passing strategy still sucks. If you are the clue giver and you have to take that long and start talking about martians for Chris Martin or a red nosed reindeer for Maya Rudolph you should have told the person to pass long ago.