Reboot Of ‘The Weakest Link’ Is The Wrong Show At The Wrong Time

At this point, 2020 seems like the awful Thanksgiving dinner-turned-shouting-match that just won’t stop. On top of a COVID lockdown-induced recession, our culture has become coarser and more vitriolic than ever. Riots and protests have broken out in dozens of cities as both political parties hurl invective at each other.

So, what did NBC decide to return to the airwaves in the middle of this blazing-hot zeitgeist? A remake of an insult-filled show.

It seems sadly ironic that the relaunch of “The Weakest Link” premiered an hour before the first presidential debate. Just as that “contest” featured so many insults, interruptions, and bickering asides as to render it meaningless, so did the show that preceded it exhibit the worst tendencies of our current culture.

In the remake, actress Jane Lynch has assumed the quizmaster role, but the tone Robinson used while hosting remains. Among some of the putdowns used in the remake’s second episode:

“Who thinks Vin Diesel is a fossil fuel?”

“Arielle, you were a mess in that round….Your strategy is to be wrong as fast as possible!”

“Our accounting friend, there is no accounting for your weak answers or your lack of skills.”

“What is that I smell? That’s the smell of rotting brain cells.”

“I’ve got a half dozen halfwits half-heartedly trying to win a million dollars.”

“Who just laid a silent, but deadly, brain fart?”

Whatever prompted NBC to revive the show at the moment — lower budgets or restrictions on scripted programming due to the pandemic, perhaps — the timing seems particularly discordant. If Americans want to see people trying to look smart while arguing, they don’t need to watch “The Weakest Link”; cable news and C-SPAN already provide myriad examples of Smart People Behaving Badly.

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