Genius Game

This is infinitely closer to the original Korean show than the dull Dutch version was. The weakest element is David Tennant who clearly filmed all his appearances months before any of the rest was shot; giving very "Krusty sending a video tape of himself to Kamp Krusty" energy.

If you're a fan of the classic The Genius this is certainly well worth a watch. It's got big personalities and variations on some great Genius games.

PS I'm not a fan of this trend of 'mind sport' game shows (Chess Masters, this...) giving the players superhero nicknames ("The Student," "The Chemist"...). It's utterly daft.

This is a dumbed-down version of the Devils plan but cheesier and a larger social element.

Big personalities take over and create blocks of allies that gang up on people on the edges.

A lot of the games are designed to accommodate this so often most players don't even play the games they just hang around waiting for the chosen patsy to get booted.

Then there was one death match which wasn't a game at all - it was a literal populality test.

This seemed very unfair and goes against the spirit of the game.

For the most part the games don't matter, as there is no advantage to going against the crowd and it gets quite tedious.

The last few episodes I used a bit of zoom as it was just lame chatter and tactics talk that really didn't matter.

While a lot of viewers seem to think the games are too confusing, I liked that you had to really concentrate and think like one of the players. I didn't find them too difficult though, and especially the death match was a fun game (that I myself have played with friends before). David's persona as The Creator is a mysterious, yet interesting character that gives the show the extra bit it needs. Judging from the first episode, the format is really enjoyable and just the right amount of complicated mixed with reality and getting to know the contestants! It's what I personally seek from a show, so I'm really looking forward to the next episodes!

An interesting and clever game show with ordinary contestants who are all smart in their own rights. Competing in difficult, sometimes convoluted games where anything can happen. What's not to love. A definite good change to the boring and simpleminded shows which unfortunately draw in the majority of views. This shows deserves much more credit than it has been given all because people have to use their brains.

The show does need some refinement. Maybe to prevent so much teaming up of the contestants to all for more betrayals to make it more unpredictable. The host itself is great, Tennant does bring in enthusiasm.

If it was just the games, like a modern day Krypton Factor, the game show would be better. As it is they have shoehorned in backstabbing and it thinks it is the traitors - it isn't. It feels drawn out and doesn't move forward, if they just cut that out what made it about how well they outsmart each other in the challenges, it would be an 8 out of 10 instead of 6.

Perhaps the contestants just aren't very likeable, I couldn't relate to their goals and why they formed cliques and turned on each other except the obvious: to win. Perhaps I'm weird for expecting and wanting more.

The production value of the show is good, it just feels like it's half filler.