What’s Worth Watching: It’s Question Time-Again

500 Questions, “106” (Wednesday, May 27, 8/7c, ABC)

I’m a sucker for a good quiz show. (After all these years, Jeopardy! is still a regular and oh-so-satisfying habit, rather like the equivalent of a TV crossword puzzle.) Which helps explain why, despite one significant obstacle, I’m still playing along with this extreme clone of Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, which refreshingly emphasizes brain power over money. (There is cash won along the way, but the real victory here comes from outlasting one’s rival.)

All I ask from this sort of show is to challenge me with questions, the more the merrier, the better to match wits with the players, a very impressive group to date. In that regard, 500 Questions is a winner. Each time a new screen of 50 questions (divided into 10 intriguing categories) goes up, I’m drawn in. If only the host would get out of the way. CNN’s Richard Quest grated from the show’s very first minute, shrieking, “You are about to witness television history!” and continued to overemphasize every rule, twist, and right or wrong answer with a breathless and charmless bellowing better suited to a boxing arena. The biggest question surrounding 500 Questions is who thought he’d be the right guy for this job. I miss Regis Philbin.