Just watched the first episode of Identity, the new NBC game show hosted by Penn Jillette. It's a cute idea — match ten strangers to ten occupations — but not one I can see myself or America sticking with for very long. I'm also getting weary of the repetitive theatrics of these shows…similar sets, similar music, pointless "suspense" pauses before revealing each answer, etc. Penn made his reputation turning the clichés of magic on their derrieres and bringing a modern, sometimes daring approach to a performing art that was getting stale…and here he is, hosting a program that stays firmly on safe, well-trodden ground. Yeah, I know he's just a hired hand — but his presence there only accentuates the problem. Even Penn couldn't bring a fresh approach to this kind of show.
Four more shows air this week, one per night. A teaser during tonight's telecast showed a quick shot of Stan Lee, who is apparently one of the guessable strangers on one episode, his "identity" being "Creator of Spider-Man." Sunday night/Monday morning, GSN reran an episode of To Tell the Truth from 1970 in which much of the panel failed to guess which of three men was Stan Lee. I've known Stan since around that time and it still took me until my third guess.