LUCKY 13 fans are disappointed with the format of Shaq’s new game show after only two episodes were released.
The ABC series hosted by Shaquille O’Neal and Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez premiered on July 18 after being acquired by the network in May.
The show airs during prime time and tests contestants’ knowledge with 13 true or false trivia questions – with the added bonus of having to predict how successfully they answer them.
Lucky 13 is produced by Studio 1, a company run by Adrian Woolf, who was originally part of the team that developed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Lucky 13 participants have a chance to win a million dollar prize if they can accurately estimate whether their answers are right or wrong.
Despite the high-stakes premise, viewers criticized Lucky 13 as “boring” and “too slow” in comments on X, with several people offering suggestions to “save” the series.
One user noted: “I can’t help but think the show would be immensely improved if they did three games an hour instead of two. It definitely seems like there is time.”
“Half the show being basically a recap definitely messes things up,” another fan responded. “And please, someone at Pepsi, stop making Gina Rodriguez say “thank you Pepsi, thank you Pepsi” twice an episode.”
A third comment said: “I still think it’s a better suited format for daytime and a smaller money scale. It’s not a million dollar game.”
The NBA legend reflected on filming the first season of Lucky 13 and working with Gina in an interview with Good Morning America ahead of the premiere.
“We had a lot of interesting characters [on the show],” Shaq, 52, told host George Stephanopoulous. “The program turned out to be great and I really learned a lot.”
He also praised his “talented” and “funny” co-host Gina, adding: “She’s very fast, very beautiful and amazing.”
Fan criticism of Lucky 13 comes days after viewers noticed a glaring mistake in the premiere episode when Chicago dentist Barrett Chesley faced off against Krista Barbour, a Seattle teacher.
Viewers declared that Barrett was “robbed” for a question about the Mexican holiday Cinco de Mayo.
Barrett’s seventh question read: “Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day.”
The Illinois orthodontist guessed the claim was false, adding, “I work with a lot of Mexican women and they would kill me if I got it wrong.”
Half the show being basically a recap definitely puts a damper on everything.
Lucky Viewer 13
Cinco de Mayo is not Mexico’s Independence Day, which is celebrated on September 16.
After considering how many answers he got right, he chose the 7 to 9 range, with total winnings of $25,000.
Unfortunately, Barrett lost the game after going over the limit and getting 10 answers right.
However, the Cinco de Mayo question left fans confused after it was declared true on Lucky 13.
“It’s not Mexican Independence Day. Thanks for holding me back!” one fan wrote in the comments section an excerpt from the episode that was posted on Instagram.
“Just to clarify, Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence. It’s September 16th. I just want to make sure this is the correct answer,” said another.
“I came to say the same thing. He was robbed,” replied a third person.
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story