Notice: All forms on this website are temporarily down for maintenance. You will not be able to complete a form to request information or a resource. We apologize for any inconvenience and will reactivate the forms as soon as possible.

Episode 269: ‘Beast Games’ and the Games People Play. Plus, Does Anyone Care About the Oscars Anymore?

LISTEN TO THE PLUGGED IN SHOW, EPISODE 269

Beast Games, a new game show featuring YouTube’s MrBeast, has been a hit for Amazon’s Prime Video—but a big miss with critics. Kennedy Unthank, our own YouTube expert and intrepid TV critic, reviewed the show for us, and he unpacks the highs, the lows and, of course, the controversy surrounding Beast Games.

But hey, game shows predate Beast Games by, oh, 80 years or so. Some of the very first television content consisted of game shows. Why have they been so popular over the years? Is that a good thing? And what game show would you love to be on? (You can hear my own answer during our icebreaker.)

And then, with the twice-delayed Oscar nominations just around the corner, we turn our attention to entertainment’s most august awards. But funny thing, fewer people seem to be watching the Oscars these days. Oh sure, it’s a big event—but it’s not as big as it used to be. And we pose two questions: Are awards important? Are awards shows fun?

We bat both of those subjects around—plus engage in plenty more antics—with Kennedy, Adam Holz and Jonathan McKee.

And we’d love to hear from you on all of those questions, as well as anything else you’d like to add. Will you be watching the Oscars this year? Will the nominations be important to you? What’s your favorite game show?

Answer these questions on Facebook and Instagram. Write to us at [email protected]. Leave us a voice message on The Plugged In Show homepage, or just post your thoughts below on the blog.

And then, be sure to join us next week when we talk with Elizabeth Tabish—perhaps best known as Mary Magdalene on The Chosen—and discuss the future of TikTok.

paul-asay
Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Want to stay Plugged In?

Our weekly newsletter will keep you in the loop on the biggest things happening in entertainment and technology. Sign up today, and we’ll send you a chapter from the new Plugged In book, Becoming a Screen-Savvy Family, that focuses on how to implement a “screentime reset” in your family!