It takes a lot to make an original game show in this day and age. Even shows with seemingly novel premises like The Cube are in some ways derivative of old parlor games. The idea of competition is a classic formula that is difficult to be tampered with. The only thing that can really be done is attempting to make existing variables into something exciting to watch. For most, it has moved onto physical stunts resulting in slapstick humor like in Holey Moley or Floor Is Lava. The need for something requiring intellectual stimulation is difficult to pull up in a time of high sensationalism. What can even compete?
In its own small way, The Hustler has been a refreshing entry into the game show canon. Rarely has a series warranted an hour-long running time, allowing the viewer to play at multiple tiers at the same time. Sure, it pulls from similar parlor games – it even takes place in a figurative one – but it’s about the granular moments, the way that there is a need for strangers to work together answering increasingly difficult questions while understanding that someone among their hive is likely to sabotage.
“The Hustler” is a character lying before our very eyes, doing their best to weed out potential targets that seek to find them out. With every episode featuring a new cast, it’s often difficult to find a true formula with some of these secretive figures making up whole backstories while others exaggerate their false innocence. If you have good deduction skills, this may be easier to figure out. Even then, as watching multiple episodes will reveal, it’s not always that obvious. Sometimes clues will be so diverse that they cannot be singled down to how somebody looks or acts. Sometimes it takes genuine effort or educated guesses.
So how does The Hustler work? For those familiar with older game shows, it feels reminiscent of The Mole in premise. The major difference is that where the 2001 series would weed out contestants over a season, The Hustler does so over the course of an hour. There are also zero physical components, save for host Craig Ferguson pantomiming gags in the background as the contestants try to answer questions. With 10 clues total, the five selected people must determine who “The Hustler” is. It’s a chance to play around with trivia and see just what these people know.
To Ferguson’s credit, he’s a fantastic host. With plenty of experience on TV ranging from The Drew Carey Show to The Late Late Show, he knows how to hold his own. He claims to not know the answers either, which feels genuine given how he reacts half the time to major twists in the episode. He wants to be in the moment like everybody else, making a connection with his peers. Luckily he knows how to toe the line as host, cracking jokes and prodding certain contestants to reveal more about themselves in hopes of stoking suspicion. At endless points he’ll recall previous conversations as new information is made available, turning to someone and asking “Are you The Hustler?” in ways that test the confidence of the players.
Part of the appeal is watching Ferguson try to make the most of the premise. It is as much in his interview skills, where he misdirects the contestants in hopes of pulling out big details, as it is the general demeanor. He’s so laidback, capable of turning the two voting rounds into comical set pieces as he sends a voting tube up a chute with an irregular amount of enthusiasm, at times even playing off losers with one last hurrah. Even then, his genuine disappointment at players leaving makes it feel like the greatest conflict in the world. Not unlike The Weakest Link, this final highlight of players leaving allows them to make their parting thought, even suggesting who they think voted them out.
This makes things interesting when you transition over to the contestants who are all in there for the same goal: to win money. Like all game shows, there is an ultimate prize (this time $100,000) that is accumulated through various rounds. With two elimination segments, the five contestants are given 10 pieces of information about “The Hustler.” The usual reaction starts off mild but slowly becomes more baffled when each detail reveals a diverse lifestyle. Maybe they’ll have experience with The F.B.I., or met Katy Perry, or even has a very specific diet. While some episodes have more cohesion than others, trying to guess people off of clues alone is very difficult because, quite honestly, “The Hustler” is often very good at hiding the truth in a fake identity and restrictive body language. They don’t show their cards that often.
So the question becomes about how the game will be played. “The Hustler” technically knows all of the answers and could arguably lead everyone to an easy win. However, that’s not exactly a strategy that will work in the end. “The Hustler” is basically playing against the room for the money, and their ultimate goal is to leave with it. If not, the contestants will call them out and split the pot. Trying to make it all appear naturally hasn’t been flawlessly executed over the available 15 episodes yet. There’s one or two wrong answers and the underlying sense that somebody is holding out. The paranoia and intimidation are palpable.
With each new detail, the audience at home gets to mull over their own predictions of who “The Hustler” is. In my personal experience, part of the show’s charm is how hard it is to nail down. There’s often a point mid-episode where something changes. A contestant is voted off that I had pegged, or even the way a person acts will cause them to seem suspicious. For a show that only asks 10 multiple choice questions, it raises a lot of flags. Maybe my judgment is bad. Maybe the person who I believe to be “The Hustler” has been lying to me the whole time. There’s so much that can go wrong, and having Ferguson enthusiastically make fun of it is a delightful twist.
To examine a successful game is to notice that “The Hustler” is giving out the right answers, though not often with predictable immediacy. On average, they’ll fall back and let the remaining contestants mull over the four options, determining which can be eliminated. Sometimes “The Hustler” will get lucky and somebody else will know the answer. There will be a tie to their personal life that makes them jump at the opportunity. In this case, “The Hustler” can nod along with the group, letting them lead themselves to an easy victory.
Other times are a lot more crafty. During the process of elimination, “The Hustler” will chime in after one or two options have been agreed upon. They will slowly try to lead the group to think outside of their way of thinking. In very few cases, “The Hustler” even remains totally submissive, refusing to guide them at all. The riskiest members will wait until the final 20 seconds where they couldn’t be questioned, dropping opinions that work because they aren’t scrutinized. Sometimes they work, others not so much. Given how all over the place this approach is, there’s a good chance that the room will turn on them immediately. Sometimes a series of wrong answers will even raise the tension to passive aggressive arguments that only pull the success rate down.
It is hard to really determine the motive of “The Hustler.” Sometimes there is a clearer path to high earnings, but every now and then they exist solely for chaos. It almost doesn’t matter how much the team earns, as the audience at home is likely to be caught up in determining who “The Hustler” is in every fine detail. Did they answer the questions in a suspicious way? Is there something about body language? Even watching Ferguson try to catch them off guard might suggest something greater about their intent. It’s so much fun to exist in this ambiguity, this idea of figuring out whom you can trust and who is out for their own goals.
The show builds to a final segment. With the five contestants dwindled down to three, there is a final vote to determine who “The Hustler” is. Based on how contestants were eliminated, it may or may not be obvious. The strategy is for “The Hustler” to either misdirect or find others who can carry the weight in answering questions. As they sit before two people who might win money, they each have two minutes to prove to everyone else why so and so is “The Hustler.” The arguments range from persuasive to the ultimate breaking point, where it becomes so clear how faulty the charade ultimately is.
The reveals play out like To Tell the Truth with “The Hustler” ultimately standing up. They will reveal key information, even elaborating on bits that might’ve gotten ridicule throughout. Over the closing credits, the three contestants comment on their own experience playing the game, either celebrating or decrying their loss. For those at home, it’s sometimes an underwhelming reveal while others will be totally shocking. Again, this is totally predictive of how hard “The Hustler” works at hiding their identity. Sometimes they don’t, other times they’re completely different people.
One of the greatest aspects of The Hustler is that it’s one of the few game shows that I’ve covered that warrant a longer running time. Given that most focus on trivia, I feel like they should fit within a half-hour model, tightening up the lagging tension, and produce an incredible piece of entertainment. What makes The Hustler different is arguably that it requires more effort to properly deduce the contestants. It is true that they could fit a similar model into 30 minutes with half the questions, but I personally think that there is something to reaching the 45 minute mark and seeing who has exhausted their defenses, who is likely to finally open up in unsuspecting ways. There is something to this approach that draws you in, constantly reexamining just where things are going.
True, it’s maybe not as accessible and entertaining as the similar questions and deductions nature of To Tell the Truth, but it does have enough going for it. There is something there to watching the host join in and ponder over information. While Ferguson doesn’t actually have a final vote, he does have the skill of directing suspicion and reveling in details with an entertaining demeanor. For those who want a lighthearted trivia show with just enough of a spin, then The Hustler is one of the best new series of 2021. It more than delivers on its basic charm, making everyone into their own detective.
It’s also a relief to see ABC taking more risks with their game show line-up. In an era where everything is being rebooted from classic series of the 80s and 90s, The Hustler is one that feels fresh enough. It may not have the immediacy that the other shows do, but it provides a level of suspense that carries the show to its conclusion. Maybe it’s hokey and full of goofy jokes, but that’s part of the seasoning. This is a show where everyone can compete, feel like they might have the upper hand in the circumstance. One can hope that it’s successful enough to come back around next year with a handful of new episodes because it does feel like one of the few new game shows on any local network with a lasting premise.
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