Confession time: Every single day at 2 PM, an otherworldly force takes over my body and forces me to turn on Temptation, the Best/Worst Gameshow of Our Time. For those of you who have never seen the show, allow me to describe it. Temptation describes itself as “The New $ale of the Century”, a trivia show where the contestant in the lead after each round is offered a variety of subpar, sort-of-terrible prizes, such as hot-air balloon rides, or (replica) Gucci bags. (To be fair, every now and again they hand out Iphones or Godiva chocolate gift certificates or Jaguars, but for the most part, the prizes stink.) The host of the show is an adorable frat-face named Rossi Morreale, former soccer player and star of the show Temptation Island, (no affliation to the Temptation game show by name, but certainly by production quality.) Rossi is a surprising charmer, despite his hair gel and overeagerness. He’s no John O’Hurley (the best!), but he’s a million times better than Drew Carey, if that means anything.
So why do I love Temptation? It’s certainly not for the hard-hitting celebrity trivia questions — I’ll stick to Cash Cab for those — and it’s definitely not the undesirable prizes. What separates Temptation from the rest of the daytime television pack are the contestants. Ahhhh, the contestants. Some of L.A.’s most desperate aspiring actors/8th grade dropouts. Temptation is the car racing of gameshows, as one tunes in to hear how badly these folks will mangle a seemingly simple question. Here are two actual answers culled from a single episode:
Host: If you’re purse has the initials “D” and “B” written all over it, what brand would it be?
Contestant: (rings in) Dunes and Burghey!
Host: No. Dooney & Bourke.
(A few minutes later)
Host: Name the Peanuts character who was always seen walking in a cloud of dirt.
Contestant: (Enthusiastically) Pepperdine Sally!
Pepperdine. Sally. I’m fairly certain the Temptation casting department has some sort of under-the-table deal happening with A&E’s Intervention, as many of the folks playing along look like desperate methheads, looking for that next $15 prize to hock. Did I mention I’ve watched this show everyday for the past 4 months? Even if it’s a repeat and I know what’s going to happen? Great. AND THE THEME SONG!!! It is handily the most ADDICTIVE theme song ever.
So, why am I telling you this? Frankly, because I’m fairly certain that nobody else in America is watching this show. Why should I be the only person subjected to the most geen-tarded thing on TV? In one 30 minute span, Temptation spells out everything that is wrong with L.A., and I feel we should all bask in its self-tanned glow.
After the jump, a clip from a very special episode of Celebrity Temptation with JUSTIN GUAR-MOTHERF**KING-RINI! Including the theme song that features both an addictive hook and creepy whispering! Feel free to comment if you’ve actually seen and/or appeared on this show. Seriously, if you graduated from high school, you could win a Lexus on it. Just saying.
