Watson and Beth

This entry's title sounds like a sitcom. Watson is a computer and Beth is a cab driver and they're in love. Okay, scratch that last part. They're not even on the same show, yet.

By now everybody who's interested in game shows at all has probably seen the first episode of super gadget Watson vs. Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. My first reaction to the show wasn't gloom over the coming of our cybernetic masters. I just thought, wow, this episode is padded. The show labored through one (1) round of clues and endless filler about the computer system, not to mention ninety-seven product placement plugs for IBM.

When they did get around to playing the game, it first looked like a runaway for Watson. But Brad eventually learned how to beat the machine on the buzzer, and ended up tying the gadget at five grand. Ken had a surprisingly bad day and only racked up a couple thousand. Watson's most embarrassing moment saw it give exactly the same wrong response that Jennings had just given. Otherwise, the computer would have won the round.

Jeopardy is clearly stretching the suspense over three episodes for the ratings. Understandable, of course, but it makes for a funereal pace.

Meanwhile, Cash Cab debuted new episodes from Ben Bailey and new Chicago host Beth Melewski. Ben was as jolly as ever and Beth was, well, as loud as ever. At least she avoided obvious imitations of her New York counterpart. She didn't mug at the camera or sing out red light challennnnnnnge.

But she did dial up the volume pretty high. I don't want to turn nasty towards Beth. She showed a lot of enthusiasm and related to the contestants well. But she might want to go just a tad softer on the voice.