BUY IT AT AMAZON: CLICK HERE
STUDIO: A&E Home Video
MSRP: $21.99
RATED: Not rated
RUNNING TIME: 430 minutes
SPECIAL FEATURES:
– Contestant bios
– Elimination interviews
– An hour of extra footage from the entire competition
The Pitch
It’s Survivor for the NRA crowd.
The Humans
Colby Donaldson, 15 dudes and a chick who love shooting shit.
The Nutshell
This reality TV competition show assembles 16 top marksmen (and woman) and pits them against each other in a series of challenges to test their accuracy with various weapons, including rifles, handguns, a bow and arrow and throwing knives. One contestant is eliminated each week in various challenges against another contestant. The winner goes home with a $100,000 prize.
Caption A: "You all might know the so-called 'Elimination Challenge' better by it's more popular name: The Firing Squad..." Caption B: "We probably should have told you all ahead of time that only one of you will be getting out of this thing alive..."
The Lowdown
Top Shot is a pretty interesting competition show that unfortunately tries to borrow just a wee bit too much from Survivor and Big Brother early on, by splitting the participants into two teams and sticking them in a house when not competing. There’s the usual infighting as people form alliances, although not to the degree of those other two show. One might think that it could get much more interesting considering that everybody has guns, but alas, not so. The first several episodes present team challenges as one person is eliminated the first seven weeks after going head to head win another teammate after a team challenge is lost. Funnily enough, every decision takes place with a gun. Tribal Council is replaced with the Nomination Range, where the participants vote on who will take place in the elimination challenge by shooting a target with their pick’s name on it.
Challenges of every type are settled with a weapon, be it a handgun, rifle, throwing knife or bow and arrow. Donaldson is alright as a host, although the show doesn’t really allow him to be a Jeff Probst. The challenges are interesting as the marksmen come from all walks of life, although many are former or current military. The final episodes really pick up, and I think, should be the model for the entire show, where everyone is on their own and challenges come more frequently. That would distinguish the show from looking like an NRA Survivor wannabe. Better yet, let the contestants settle shit Quick and the Dead style. Now that would be a friggin’ show.
"You got Probst in your sites?" "Yep. Did Colby want a clean kill or does he want to send a message?" "He used the term, 'Kennedy'". "Roger that..."
The Package
No issues with the look or sound, which are both fine. There are three extra features: Contestant Video Bios, Elimination Interviews, and an hour of extra footage from the entire competition. Main gripe concerning the packaging uis that, even though the individual disc sleeves are plastic, the overall presentation is the cold school wide card board, rather than the handy plastic, multiple disc varioation. I’ve recently seasn a season set of a show that had six discs and was half as wide. This has four discs.
Rating: Out of a Possible 5 Stars
