‘What’s in the Box?’ Review: Netflix’s Unwieldy New Game Show
Neil Patrick Harris hosts a competition program that mashes together elements of other similar shows, from ‘Jeopardy!’ to ‘Family Feud.’
Throughout the history of popular culture, there have been many answers to the question “What’s in the Box?”—the title of the new Netflix game show hosted by a barely straight-faced Neil Patrick Harris. On the old “Let’s Make a Deal,” it might have meant a case of canned squid. On “Saturday Night Live” in 2006 it was the payoff to a scandalous skit starring Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake. And at the conclusion of “Se7en,” it was (spoiler alert!) Gwyneth Paltrow’s head.
It is a refrain, one might say, with echoes. One might also say the show honors its predecessors in the game-show pantheon, or just picks their pockets.
Whether such a program can or should be reviewed is debatable, unless it does something different, or at least curious, and this one is a game-show-as-biblical-epic. With 16 contestants working in pairs, “What’s in the Box?” is at best an unwieldy format. There aren’t as many rules as in contract bridge, but it does offer the horizon-less vista of a brand-new game of Monopoly. Is there an end in sight? Or not? Mr. Harris is always effortlessly charming, whether he’s hosting the Tonys or hawking mushroom coffee. And he keeps a tight leash on a group of contestants who operate at various degrees of charming. Or not.
Mostly not. One of the few au courant innovations on “What’s in the Box?” involves surveillance: As one couple answers questions, the camera eavesdrops on the conversations among their competition, which can range from catty to worse.
Otherwise, “What’s in the Box?” will interest game-show fans by being an amalgamation of all they’ve ever known and loved. Getting into the game requires a pair of players to come closest to the correct answer—like guessing the cost of an item on “The Price Is Right.” Then, there’s a “Jeopardy!”-like general-knowledge quiz, although it seems to be based on dumb luck. (Could you place the actors Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans in order of age? I certainly couldn’t.) Some of the questions that involve ranking people or items by age—or popularity, or cost—are pure “Family Feud.” The picking of numbers off the pyramid in order to complete the last stage of the preliminary prize-winning round is a little like “Concentration.” Or even “Match Game.” That contestants can steal each others’ prizes is a bit like a Yankee swap. It is, after all, the season for Secret Santa.
Did we mention the alliances? As on “Survivor,” one of the strategies available on “What’s in the Box?” involves contestants aligning themselves with their opponents, in this case couples with couples, so when the “Who’s Next?” option pops up on the pyramid, they can hand the competition—like a gold-plated, LED-blinking baton—to their new-found friends. Some people might never get to play, which, frankly, left me a bit stressed. Not as stressed as Brad Pitt in “Se7en.” But he had only one box to worry about.
What’s in the Box?
Wednesday, Netflix
Mr. Anderson is the Journal’s TV critic.
Throughout the history of popular culture, there have been many answers to the question “What’s in the Box?”—the title of the new Netflix game show hosted by a barely straight-faced Neil Patrick Harris. On the old “Let’s Make a Deal,” it might have meant a case of canned squid. On “Saturday Night Live” in 2006 it was the payoff to a scandalous skit starring Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake. And at the conclusion of “Se7en,” it was (spoiler alert!) Gwyneth Paltrow’s head.
It is a refrain, one might say, with echoes. One might also say the show honors its predecessors in the game-show pantheon, or just picks their pockets.
Whether such a program can or should be reviewed is debatable, unless it does something different, or at least curious, and this one is a game-show-as-biblical-epic. With 16 contestants working in pairs, “What’s in the Box?” is at best an unwieldy format. There aren’t as many rules as in contract bridge, but it does offer the horizon-less vista of a brand-new game of Monopoly. Is there an end in sight? Or not? Mr. Harris is always effortlessly charming, whether he’s hosting the Tonys or hawking mushroom coffee. And he keeps a tight leash on a group of contestants who operate at various degrees of charming. Or not.
Mostly not. One of the few au courant innovations on “What’s in the Box?” involves surveillance: As one couple answers questions, the camera eavesdrops on the conversations among their competition, which can range from catty to worse.
Otherwise, “What’s in the Box?” will interest game-show fans by being an amalgamation of all they’ve ever known and loved. Getting into the game requires a pair of players to come closest to the correct answer—like guessing the cost of an item on “The Price Is Right.” Then, there’s a “Jeopardy!”-like general-knowledge quiz, although it seems to be based on dumb luck. (Could you place the actors Chris Pratt, Chris Pine, Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans in order of age? I certainly couldn’t.) Some of the questions that involve ranking people or items by age—or popularity, or cost—are pure “Family Feud.” The picking of numbers off the pyramid in order to complete the last stage of the preliminary prize-winning round is a little like “Concentration.” Or even “Match Game.” That contestants can steal each others’ prizes is a bit like a Yankee swap. It is, after all, the season for Secret Santa.
Did we mention the alliances? As on “Survivor,” one of the strategies available on “What’s in the Box?” involves contestants aligning themselves with their opponents, in this case couples with couples, so when the “Who’s Next?” option pops up on the pyramid, they can hand the competition—like a gold-plated, LED-blinking baton—to their new-found friends. Some people might never get to play, which, frankly, left me a bit stressed. Not as stressed as Brad Pitt in “Se7en.” But he had only one box to worry about.
What’s in the Box?
Wednesday, Netflix
Mr. Anderson is the Journal’s TV critic.
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