‘Cheat’ was a Netflix game show released in 2023. It had everything in common with other game shows except for one major difference: encouragement of cheating.
Game shows have long been a staple of reality television. They have an extremely broad appeal, reaching all different age demographics with all different interests. This genre of reality television also has a long history, dating back to shows like Jeopardy and Family Feud and predating the 2000s wave of innovative and cutthroat reality TV competitions. It has always provided a safe and family-friendly alternative to the edgier content of the early aughts. Cheat was one of the latest iterations of the game show format. Part of its premise was similar to many other game shows: four contestants advanced through three rounds of answering trivia questions. The glaring difference was that while the contestants were answering questions, they had a cheat button concealed under a table that would give them the correct answer if they pressed it.
Things to do:
- Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here.
- Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider
- Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.
Cheat sought to provide the best of both worlds. It was a game show that added a completely new layer to its concept. The layer was self-explanatory and in the title. It was centered around a premise designed to allow and even encourage its participants to cheat their way to winning the ever-growing pot of money. This helped it distinguish itself from every other game show. Cheat mostly succeeded at providing quality entertainment, often leaning into the charisma of its hosts, the bizarre nature of its premise, and contestants with varied life experiences that added depth to the interactions.
The Inversion of a Common Premise
The concept of Cheat was in the title. Instead of suggesting its players use their own wits to problem solve and answer questions, the show actively suggested that they go against the usual rules of a normal game show. The other players had a chance to press a second button located on the side of their table if they thought the player who answered the question had cheated. At the end of every round, it was revealed how many cheated answers there were, who cheated the least, and how the person who cheated the least got to eliminate the person of their choice from participating in the next round.
WATCH THE TRAILER of the Film and the Revolution: ‘Can I Go Home Now?’
The Children Around the World Continue to Ask the question
This premise was executed fairly well. The concept was a clever twist on what audiences had come to collectively expect from this genre of television. Unfortunately, that didn’t always mean that the rules based on the premise made sense all of the time. An example of this inconsistent logic was how the pot of money or earned points from answering the questions shrank or grew every round. A thousand dollars was taken away from the pot for every answer revealed as cheated. However, eliminating each cheater added a thousand dollars to the pot. Embracing both of these in the final product muddied the show’s ultimate point of view on cheating. Was Cheat rewarding it or punishing it? Did it want its participants to ‘break the rules,’ or did it want them to suffer consequences? Nevertheless, it carried out its central theme with enough cohesiveness to hold the audience’s interest.
Related article: Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Video Insight)
Related article: – Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY
Related article: In-Depth Analysis | The Unexpected Queerness of ‘Bob’s Burgers’: Why the Show is an Animated Ally
The People Made the Show
An enormous highlight of the show was the people featured on it. This could be discussed in two parts.
The first part involved the two hosts. Cheat gained much gravitas from Danny Dyer and Ellie Taylor’s various back-and-forths with each other. Dyer brought a very comedic energy to the atmosphere, creating a lightheartedness to the cheating element. His performance made the cheating feel a little more permissible, like the audience was also getting away with something by enjoying it. Ellie Taylor (of Ted Lasso fame) was more often the one repulsed by the cheating going on, often surprised that so many people would lie if encouraged to do so. This yin and yang balanced out the viewpoints of the show and provided a necessary dynamic. If only one host had existed, there would have been too much of one viewpoint being expressed.
Related article: EVOLUTION: Every Ryan Gosling Role From 1995 to 2020, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant
Related article: EVOLUTION: Every Henry Cavill Role From 2001 to 2021, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant
Related article: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | Hollywood Insider
Related article: ‘The Outside Story’ Review: A Unique Perspective on Toxic Relationships, Cheating, and Sexuality – Hollywood Insider
The second part involved the participants. Every single participant had a unique personality that brought something distinctive to the table. Particular stand-outs included the ever-positive Obi, the observant lie-detector Jess, and the deceptive Yasmina. The producers clearly went to great lengths to find people with completely different lifestyles and personalities to clash together on the show. Having this varying array of people created plenty of unexpected twists and turns. It was easily the most exciting and unpredictable part of Cheat.
Unpredictability Was the Show’s Middle Name
The unpredictability was perhaps the greatest aspect of the show. The unique rules and regulations for how players progressed each round, combined with the different playstyles each person brought, created episodes that were truly exciting. It was hard to know which direction the players would take and who would survive each round. The creators of the show made this a huge part of its appeal: audiences very easily got sucked into each participant’s personalities and character traits, making assumptions based on that.
This is what reality television thrives on. A good reality television show humanizes its subjects, portraying them with real neuroses and strengths and weaknesses. All these things are laid out in order to get across the fact that we are watching real people with real psychologies and specific ways of problem-solving. It’s the engine that drives the entire genre. This was on full display in Cheat: when Obi was confident in his answers, other players were quick to call out his brashness. However, he consistently proved to cheat the least during his episode. Jess, the school teacher, had an incredible gut instinct when it came to liars on the show, but this instinct couldn’t stand up to Yasmina’s brilliant poker face when enacting her cheating. Cheat made it fun to get invested in who people were and how this carried them through the competition.
Cheat was absolutely worth the watch. While the rules were a bit unclear in terms of whether or not participants should enjoy cheating, it was bizarre enough by itself, with enough talented people to be interesting.
Hosts: Danny Dyer, Ellie Taylor
Editor: Mark Redfern
By Zachary DePiore
Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, “We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.
I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.”
More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider
– Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY
– A Tribute to Martin Scorsese: A Complete Analysis of the Life and Career of the Man Who Lives and Breathes Cinema
– Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece
– A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond
– In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More
Zachary DePiore graduated from Ohio University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He’s loved writing his entire life, from creating picture books when he was seven to learning how to write copy, scripts, audio stories for radio and more in college. The Hollywood Insider’s dedication to combining deft storytelling and positivity made him realize that this had to be his next step forward. Some of his hobbies include traveling, tv shows, and movies. His favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. As of right now, he’s a charity fundraiser in Cincinnati.
Zachary DePiore graduated from Ohio University in 2021 with a Bachelor of Science in Communications. He’s loved writing his entire life, from creating picture books when he was seven to learning how to write copy, scripts, audio stories for radio and more in college. The Hollywood Insider’s dedication to combining deft storytelling and positivity made him realize that this had to be his next step forward. Some of his hobbies include traveling, tv shows, and movies. His favorite show is Avatar: The Last Airbender. As of right now, he’s a charity fundraiser in Cincinnati.
