{"id":1122,"date":"2015-09-16T06:50:33","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T06:50:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2015-09-16T06:50:33","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T06:50:33","slug":"was-it-the-best-time-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/peanutsandpopcorn\/2015\/09\/was-it-the-best-time-ever.html","title":{"rendered":"Was it the \u2018Best Time Ever\u2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Neil<\/a>
Neil Patrick and crew during the finale of the first episode of Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris. (NBC)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NBC finally unveiled its new variety show, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris<\/em>, which is based on a popular British TV show, Ant & Dec\u2019s Saturday Night Takeaway<\/em>. If you missed the spectacle, the show is presented live with bits, (like hidden camera stunts), recorded earlier. It\u2019s sort of a mix of talk show, comedy, game show and more.<\/p>\n

So, what it the \u201cbest time ever?\u201d Surprisingly, it wasn\u2019t bad. It was uneven at times with some moments that didn\u2019t really go over. Fortunately, for the most part, the show was quickly paced, so if you weren\u2019t crazy about one segment, another came rushing by quickly.<\/p>\n

First gimmick for the new show: a celebrity announcer. For the opening show, it was actress Reese Witherspoon, who was a cute as ever. There was a segment where people from home could sing a karaoke song for a change to win some money along with special guest Gloria Gaynor. Harris interviewed a couple who had just gotten married and as it turns out, he was right there with them and they didn\u2019t even know it. There was pretty good prank that Harris pulled on the judges of the TV show, The Voice<\/em>. Harris and Witherspoon both climbed a tall tower and then then rode a zip cord down back to the bottom. And Harris did a mini trivia gameshow with a member in the audience who won a great prize. How they crammed all that in one hour was quite a feat.<\/p>\n

\"Reese<\/a>
Reese Witherspoon was the guest announcer.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But not every element worked. Harris interacted occasionally with a \u201cmini me\u201d version of himself, Carrot Top the comedian showed up for no apparent reason and Nicole Scherzinger showed up to lip sync in the audience and to take over some of the announcing duties. While she is likable, her appearance was just kind of clunky and seemed a little too impressed with herself. Finally, the \u201cfinale\u201d of the night was just odd with some weak magic tricks, men jumping around on pogo sticks and some bartenders shaking up fake drinks.<\/p>\n

\"Harris<\/a>
Harris shared with this couple how involved he was with their wedding plans.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the flaws can be forgiven as this was the first show and they may be trying to figure what worked and what didn\u2019t. In some ways, the show reminded me of the old Dick Clark\u2019s old Bloopers and Practical Jokes<\/em> show where everyone was trying a little too hard. Surprisingly, the show was very clean and could have aired at an earlier time rather than the 10:00 p.m. timeslot NBC booked for it.<\/p>\n

While it may not be have been the \u201cBest\u201d time ever, it was a pretty fun hour and the format was so different, that it was a nice change from regular television programming. Best Time Ever<\/em> airs on Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. on NBC.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NBC finally unveiled its new variety show, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, which is based on a popular British TV show, Ant & Dec\u2019s Saturday Night Takeaway. If you missed the spectacle, the show is presented live with bits, (like hidden camera stunts), recorded earlier. It\u2019s sort of a mix of talk show,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":558,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[272],"tags":[996,999,998,210,997,93,1000],"class_list":["post-1122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tv-shows","tag-best-time-ever-with-neil-patrick-harris","tag-carrot-top","tag-gloria-gaynor","tag-nbc","tag-reese-witherspoon","tag-tv-show-review","tag-variety-show"],"yoast_head":"\nWas it the \u2018Best Time Ever\u2019? - Peanuts and Popcorn<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"NBC finally unveiled its new variety show, Best Time Ever with Neil Patrick Harris, which is based on a popular British TV show, Ant & Dec\u2019s Saturday Night Takeaway.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Was it the \u2018Best Time Ever\u2019? - 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