A quiz show squeezed into a NYC cab

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AFTER THE SHOW
Movies, TV, Culture and Society

Number 494, April 11, 2010

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A QUIZ SHOW SQUEEZED INTO
A NEW YORK CITY CAB?
 
Yes, it's Discovery Channel's 'Cash Cab,'
and it's the best-kept secret on TV

By John Greenwald

What's a cash cab? If you don't know the answer, you're missing one of the most spontaneous and joy-filled TV shows I've ever seen on TV. That may sound like excessive praise, but in comparison to the rest of TV, it's true.

How can this modest, little Discover Channel quiz show be so exceptional?

For one, the premise is so simple. Unsuspecting New Yorkers and tourists get into a yellow cab expecting a ride. Instead, once they're seated, panels of colored lights begin flashing above their heads. The driver, who's been doing a bad imitation of Robert De Niro, turns himself around to reveal a genial cabbie and host, Ben Bailey, who welcomes them to "Cash Cab," "a TV game show that takes place in my cab."

(Bailey is a stand-up comedian who had to earn a city hackers license for the show. One of its staffers rides shotgun, just out of camera range, assisting him.) 

As Bailey drives them to their destination, he asks "general knowledge" questions. The longer the cab goes the harder the questions become. If passengers give three wrong answers (three strikes), they out -- literally. At the third strike, Bailey drops them right to the curb, regardless of how near or far they are from their destination.

That's basically it: questions and answers, each worth $25, $50, $100 and $200. Most people win, say, $700 to $1800, though one group won nearly $6000. (For a brief sampling of the show's questions, see box.)

To help passengers answer, there are two "shout outs": a "Mobile Shout Out" cell phone call to a family member or friend, and "Street Shout Out" to someone walking on the street outside the cab.

There are two extra credit questions. If the Cash Cab is stuck at a traffic light, the contestants get a "Red Light Challenge," a single question with multiple answers. If contestants get enough answers right in 30 seconds (usually it's four out of five), they win $250. Wrong answers don't count, only the right ones.

Finally, if the passengers successfully reach their destination, Bailey will offer them the double-or-nothing "Video Bonus Question" -- a brief video clip with a single question. The question is usually harder than the others, which is why many contestants go away with nothing but a free cab ride.

Even with those extras, "Cash Cab's" simplicity makes it stand out among all of TV's other programs -- from host-dominated home and cooking shows (Rachel Ray), to flashy, noisy quiz shows, where contestants tensely face a studio audience, and where correct answers can be worth tens of thousands ("Jeopardy" and "Millionaire").

"Cash Cab's" payoff of a month's rent is small change by comparison.
But the details of "Cash Cab," including the questions, are secondary to the people in the cab. Their shock and surprise at the colored lights flashing above them almost immediately turns to glee and often giggly delight, when they're told they're in a quiz show in a cab. Some have exclaimed, "Oh my god, you've got to be kidding" or "Only in New York."

This sets the tone of the contestants, even when it's just one person. Unlike other quiz shows, "Cash Cab's" contestants usually are friends, couples or families (I love the kids when they answer correctly). The passengers already have a relationship. Since they haven't spent hours of pre-screening, their expressions of surprise and elation continues throughout the entire cab ride, and for the rest of each show. Even when passengers lose, to be left on the street, they're smiling, and so are we.

I remember two young women, obviously good friends, who laughed and danced in place at almost every answer, right or wrong. They had such a good time, even when they earned three strikes and were booted out of the cab, they continued their impulsive dancing on the street.

Some, maybe half, of the contestants are pre-screened, sort of. Producers ask people on the street if they'd like to be on a quiz show. If they say yes, they fill out some forms, answer some trivia questions, and are told to wait for a cab to take them to a TV studio. When the cab shows up, it's the Cash Cab, of course.

But this semi-caveat does not diminish "Cash Cab's" sweet, nearly innocent delight. In the context of TV's overall blandness or violence, no wonder "Cash Cab" is TV's best-kept secret in the U.S., and in cities around the world. 

Readers can e-mail John Greenwald at johnedit@comcast.net.

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Box:

'CASH CAB' QUESTIONS

Below is a brief sampling of "Cash Cab" questions.

For $25: What sport's main piece of equipment is known as a shuttlecock? Answer: Badminton. 

For $50: Artist Henry Moore is best known for what art form? Answer: Sculpture.

For $100: The ancient city of Pompeii was buried under the ash of what volcano?  Answer: Mount Vesuvius.

Red Light Challenge for $250: Name five of the six musicians who were part of the Rolling Stones? The passengers correctly named Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts and Ron Wood. Bill Wyman also would have correct.

Video Bonus, for $1,850 or nothing: The cab's small back-seat TV screen displayed the large, modern glass pyramid that's the entrance to the Louvre art museum in Paris. Question: Who was the Chinese-born architect who designed it? Answer: I.M. Pei.

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Copyright 2010 by John Greenwald. All rights reserved