"Hole in the Wall" - September 7, 2008 episode - series premiere/preview episode

Just like a ton of other people, I really enjoyed watching the human tetris footage on YouTube about the Japanese game show where contestants had to contort themselves to fit into the shape of a cut-out from a wall or risk being dumped in a pool of water. I was excited when I found out that it would be coming to American TV.

The first show pitted two three-person teams against each other - bodybuilders comprised the Six Packs, who were up against the Beer Bellies. I had been planning to watch the show anyway, but I was further intrigued when I found out that the Beer Bellies were actually three of the guys from the Kevin and Bean morning radio show on KROQ in Los Angeles.

Team Captain Omar from the Beer Bellies went first in a solo round, but he failed to make it through. Team Captain Jake from the Six Packs went for his team and succeeded, earning his team one point.

The second round was a two-person challenge. Anu and Aaron from the Six Packs went first but failed. Then Jonathan and David went for the Beer Bellies, and they not only failed, but in their failure, they actually destroyed the wall they were attempting.

The third round involved all three people from each team. The Six Packs went first and succeeded, earning three points. The Beer Bellies then had their turn, and when they managed to straddle each other enough to all fit through one hole, they also scored three points. Going into the last round, the Six Packs were leading the Beer Bellies by a score of 4 to 3.

The final round also involved all three team members, but the wall would be approaching at twice the normal speed, and each player who made it through would earn two points. The Six Packs went first, and one player made it through, earning two points for their team. That meant that the Beer Bellies would need two of their team members to make it through to win. Unfortunately, none of them made it through, so the Six Packs were declared the winners of $25,000.

Next up was the Blind Wall bonus round. If they succeeded, they would win another $100,000. It was a puzzle for just one person, but that person would be totally blindfolded, and the other two team members would have to shout out instructions so direct the person into making the right shape to get through a hole they could not see. Team Captain Jake was chosen to be the player while Anu and Aaron were to give instructions. Anu and Aaron were miserable at doing so, and Jake was dumped into the pool of water.


As we were watching the show, we were wondering whether both teams would get the same shapes to conquer, which would seem to be more fair. As it turned out, they each got different shapes. I figured that actually made sense because otherwise, the team going second would be at a definite advantage, having already seen the shape once and seeing how the other team handled it. The only way around that would be to sequester the team going second so they couldn't see the other team playing or having both teams play simultaneously. However, I did think that in a lot of the situations, the Six Packs got much easier puzzles than did the Beer Bellies. In particular, in the final round, two of the openings for the Beer Bellies would have involved some kind of being off the ground since the holes didn't go all the way to the bottom of the foam. Since they were obviously not regular contestants, I'm wondering if they did that on purpose, pretty much to make sure the other team won, but they were still able to show what the game was about, since this was billed as a preview show. I get that they can't give both teams the exact same shapes, but the shapes should involve the same kinds of skills and difficulty level. I guess I won't know until I see the first regular episode during its normal Thursday night slot.

And while I found the show to be amusing, it wasn't rip-roaring amusing, and obviously, the premise is really simple. I'm not sure if the repetitive nature of the show will hold my interest, but then conversely, being able to watch a completely mindless show might be a nice break. We'll see how it goes.