Sex Wars

Sex Wars
The most unoriginal battle of the sexes in game show history.
Genre: Game show Running Time: 30 minutes Country: United States Release Date: October 2, 2000 – February 27, 2001 Network(s): Syndication Created by: Howard Schultz Starring: JD Roth Jennifer Cole Seasons: 1

Sex Wars is an American game show that aired in syndication from October 2, 2000 to February 27, 2001. It was hosted by JD Roth (known for hosting the game shows Fun House and Masters Of The Maze during its first season) and Jennifer Cole (who was the dealer on the game show Strip Poker, which got cancelled shortly before this show premiered), produced by Lighthearted Entertainment, and distributed by MGM Television.

Gameplay

Two teams of three (one of three men, the other of women) compete in four rounds of answering questions for points in order to win cash and bragging rights.

Round one is called “Land Mine”. In this round, the teams take turns answering questions (two questions per team), each having four answers to choose from, three of which are correct. The wrong answer is referred to as the “land mine”. Members of a team choose answers, one at a time, with each correct answer scoring that team 5 points, and choosing all three correct answers scoring that team a 5-point bonus. If the team chooses the “land mine”, their turn ends immediately, and the other team scores 5 points for each remaining correct answer.

Round two is called “The List”. In this round, two categories are played, each having a list of answers (usually up to ten) submitted by people who logged in to the show’s website. On each category, the teams take turns making bids on how many answers they can give in that category without failing, until one team either makes the maximum bid or challenges the other team. Then, members of the team playing that category take turns giving answers, with each correct answer adding 10 points to a bank and each wrong answer or failure to give an answer in time locking a member of that team out for the remainder of that category. If the team successfully fulfills their bid, they score all the points in the bank; but if all three members of the team get locked out, the other team gets a chance to steal all the points in the bank by correctly guessing one of the remaining answers. A successful steal scores the opposing team all the points in the bank, while failure to steal awards the points to the team that originally had control of the category.

Round three is called “Men or Women”. In this round, the teams are equipped with gender-coded buzzers, and they are asked questions about which gender is most likely to do certain things based on statistics and popular opinion polls. The answers to the questions are always either “men” or “women”. Each time a contestant buzzes in with the correct answer, they score points for their team. Each time a contestant buzzes in with the wrong answer, the other team scores the points. Each question is worth 10 points, except for the final question, which is worth 25 points.

Round Four is called “Final Two Questions”. In this round, each team is given three categories, and they choose one of them for the other team to answer a question in. During the final commercial break, each team makes a wager, with a minimum of half their score. If a team gets their question right, their wager is added to their score; but if they get their question wrong, their wager is deducted from their score.

After the four rounds, the team with the most points wins the game and $10 times their winning score.

Why It’s Not A War Worth Fighting In

1. This is one of the game shows where teams play in a battle of the sexes, and while that’s not the worst idea for a game show, it’s still bad here because of how much it can shove gender stereotypes down people’s throats with the set, the graphics, the sound effects, and the contents of the questions.
2. While JD Roth and Jennifer Cole are capable and competent hosts, the former is a bad fit for a game show like this, as he is known for hosting children’s game shows like Fun House and Masters Of The Maze during its first season, as stated above, and this game show is an adult game show.
3. The monitor on the centerpiece of the set doesn’t show any of the questions, answers, or categories in the game. It only displays the name of the show.
4. The gameplay is completely unoriginal, as it consists of elements from other game shows that came before this one and did them better.
   • “Land Mine” is just a rehash of the first round of Trivia Trap during that show’s first format, except instead of cutting out three wrong answers and avoiding the correct answer, teams in this game must pick three correct answers and avoid the wrong answer.
   • “The List” uses a bidding mechanic, just like the one used in the Bid-A-Note round in Name That Tune, the Challenge round in Wipeout (the ‘80s game show hosted by Press Your Luck host Peter Tomarken), and the Gambling Debt round in Debt. This round is also a shameless ripoff of Family Feud, with members of the team in control of a category taking turns guessing answers to add points in the bank, a member of the team getting locked out being the equivalent of getting a strike, and the opposing team getting a chance to steal all the points in the bank with just one correct answer if the team that had control struck out.
   • “Men or Women” is a generic either/or toss-up round with the same two answer choices on every question.
   • “Final Two Questions” uses a wagering mechanic as a way to decide who wins the game, à la the Final Jeopardy! round in Jeopardy! and the Wager of Death round in Street Smarts.
5. The buzzers in “Men or Women” look ridiculous, as the buzzers for the women’s team look like pink hair dryers, and the buzzers for the men’s team look like blue power drills.
   • The sounds that the buzzers make are also ridiculous, with the sounds of the buzzers for the women’s team ranging from a cat screeching to a girl squealing to a ray gun firing, and the sounds of the buzzers for the men’s team ranging from a dog barking to a man yelling to a swoosh.
6. The cash won by the teams are too low. The most money a team has won on this show is just over $4,000, which is less than how much other game shows were giving away at the time, especially in syndication. It should be kept in mind that members of a team don’t get the amount of money won apiece; they split the money three ways.
   • Even worse, many teams on this show won $50 or $100, which are very low winning totals on a game show in the early 2000s and can be achieved by both teams answering incorrectly in “Final Two Questions” and one of the teams winning the game with only 5 or 10 points.

Redeeming Qualities

1. The set, despite its gender-stereotyping theme and the monitor on the centerpiece displaying nothing but the name of the show, looks good.
2. JD Roth and Jennifer Cole are capable and competent hosts, despite the former being a bad fit for a show like this, as mentioned in WINAWWFI#2.
3. The show isn’t as bad as Strip Poker, another game show that Jennifer Cole worked on shortly before working on this one.

Comments

Loading comments...