Ca$h Taxi

CASH CAB is one the best TV shows on the air today. Unsuspecting passengers enter a NYC cab that turns out to be a game show, complete with driver/host Ben Bailey, who asks a series of general knowledge questions for money while on the way to their destination. If the passengers get three questions wrong, Bailey kicks them out on the spot, even if it's raining or snowing. But they can also win handsomely, and I have seen a set of very sharp passengers walk off with $3,000, a record for the show to date. The show is not dissimilar in its questions to ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A FIFTH GRADER. Bailey is the perfect host and the show is tightly edited and a load of fun to pay along with. One odd thing: It is apparent that Bailey hands the winners funny money, and they are always shown walking off down the street or into a building, waving their funny money. But in fact, they are mailed checks, minus the tax. Makes sense to me, both from the tax view and safety. This is Noo Yawk, after all. Would you wave three grand in the air while walking down a NYC street? I wouldn't. All hail the Cash Cab!

There is one thing that separates Cash Cab from the countless other game shows a person could watch. There is one singular difference that makes this show, about one man asking a group of contestants general-knowledge trivia questions, better than most others, and that is the premise.

The host drives around in an ordinary-looking cab in New York. The passengers that he picks up become the contestants. They answer general-knowledge questions all the way to their destination. If they miss three questions, though, they're kicked out and win nothing.

Nobody has prior knowledge that they are going to be on the show. Nobody has time to study or prepare for this. You may have one person, or a group, and this depends entirely on what they, as a person, know as part of their every-day knowledge. You can get a group of people who get three strikes right away, or you could get an individual who wins some obscene amount of money and then doubles it on the video-bonus question. Or you could get any mixture of the two. You never know, they never know, and that what makes this show great.

The show is not without it's faults. The host can be annoying at times, trying to be funny. And the melodrama is entirely over-blown. You have to wait an obscene amount of time before he confirms the question. After a while, it really begins to weigh the show down.

Still, Cash Cab is very much like a box of chocolates. You can get a bright bulb as much as you get a complete dud. But, no matter what, that's still good chocolate... I mean viewing.

Good escape and fun series. Love the shots of NYC. Ben is a great host.

Okay, it's official...Ben Bailey has the best job in the world.

What other job could you possibly have where people break out into smiles and raucous, joyous laughter the moment they recognize you? Stand-up comedian? True, that IS the other job...and did I happen to mention that happens to be Ben's "day job", too?

This outgoing every-guy with the classic "Noo-YAWKUH'S" face and a way with snappy patter that would make Bob Eubanks green with envy is the host of what has to be TV's first 'mobile game show'. CASH CAB awards its lucky fares with all the money they can make during their trips, by answering Trivial Pursuit-style questions for different amounts of money, with those amounts growing in size as the difficulty of the questions increases. If the passengers make it successfully to their destination, it culminates in the chance to double their total winnings by answering a "Video Bonus" Question. It's a one-chance-only query with an accompanying visual clue that has to be answered correctly, or the players lose everything and leave with only a free cab ride.

Unlike a lot of fluffy game shows (save a few like JEOPARDY), CASH CAB is one of the few where you can actually learn something from the questions, plus you get what is at times a visually-stunning travelogue of New York. I have actually started making a list of several of the destinations people go to on the show!

The best thing about it, though, is Ben. Without having him as host, it probably wouldn't be the same...or as engaging as it is. Yes, like a lot of hosts, he does have some snappy comebacks and quick quips, and mugs shamelessly for the various cameras in and outside of his rig. But he does all of this while concentrating on driving, rattling off questions for the contestants and managing to be funny all at the same time. Let's see anyone else pull off that kind of 'multi-tasking.'

And though I'm sure quite a bit of selective editing goes on putting the shows together, by no means is this an easy contest. Because CAB'S big twist is "three strikes and you're out!" If the players get three questions wrong before the end of their trip, as Ben explains from the very beginning, he has to pull over and eject them from the ride at that point, no second chances or do-overs. And I've seen just as many people wind up walking (or hailing another cab) as I've seen win.

The point is that the show is everything you want from a great game show...it's informative, entertaining and addictive. And amazingly, rather on the most logical channel where you'd expect to find it, GSN (Game Show Network), it comes to us courtesy of The Discovery Channel.

As long as they can convince Ben to stay on for new episodes, I'm a fan, and my DVR will always be set for a season pass.

There's not much I can add, but I to answer one question and simultaneously rebut another posting.

Part of the reason you have to wait for answer confirmation and why Ben seems so incredibly knowledgeable is that he is being fed the questions and answers via an earphone in his upstage (driver side window) ear. Every now and again, you can catch a glimpse of the cable going down the back of his neck.

However, the fact that he can drive in all kinds of weather and conditions, listen to his prompter, ask the questions and chat with the contestants is amazing.