Lake Neuron

I just watched a new game show on GSN (new to me — it started a few weeks ago), “How Much Is Enough?”, hosted by Corbin Bernsen, who most people remember as Arnie Becker on “L.A. Law.”

It’s interesting — not a quiz show, but one of those game-theory, sociology-experiment type of contests. A counter representing a cash jackpot counts down (or up, depending on the circumstances) and four players secretly ring in, each one locking in whatever dollar amount is visible at the time they press their button. The goal is to collect as much money as possible without being the greediest person in the round. The player who rings in at the highest dollar amount gets nothing for that round, while the other three get their respective dollar amounts. Once the figures have been locked in, they are revealed in entertaining fashion, with Bernsen teasing and kibbutzing with the players, asking them how they think they fared.

There are two or three normal rounds, then a semifinal round where both the greediest and the most timid player are penalized. After that semifinal round, the final round pits the top two players against each other in a game of chicken. The money won by the two finalists is combined into a single, winner-take-all jackpot, and used as the target amount for this last round. The dollar figure starts at zero and rises steadily, and the first player to ring in gets everything. Obviously, neither player wants to ring in right away and get a puny $25 prize. So, how long do you wait? How much is enough to get you to postpone your shot at easy money? If you wait too long, of course, your opponent will ring in first.

I don’t know whether this premise will stand up to repeated viewing — GSN’s last game-theory type show, “Friend or Foe,” got old after the first week. But it’s definitely worth another look. And Corbin Bernsen is surprisingly effective as host.

Tags : corbin bernsen | gsn | how much is enough