‘Red Carpet Run’: Taking Trivia to the Treadmill

It seems that in the last several weeks, I have have been inundated with news tips about web game shows. Just last week I wrote about the racy Italian web game show Quiz and Wax. Perhaps this is a sign that this underrepresented format on the web is starting to get it’s day in the sun. The trick is parsing down this format, which generally consists of several rounds of activity, into the generally quick, attention-grabbing, instantly gratifying nature web entertainment is generally known for.

Red Carpet Run, created by Avignon Bound Media International and hosted on Blip.tv, is one of the brave few attempting to grow out this format. Based on the popular concept of pop culture trivia, this show then adds an interesting gimmic for it’s final round: the contestant must answer questions in awards show attire (tuxes for the guys, dresses for the ladies)…while running on a treadmill.

The difficulty level of the questions is minimal, with categories such as “One Word Titles”, “Hookups and Breakups”, and the slightly more esoteric “Quick Change Artists” (described as “questions about actors who specialize in playing multiple roles”), which may be offputting for hardcore trivia fans. But for me personally, who is definitely not the most informed in pop culture, being able to yell out the answers to questions (which I did, often) gave me a sense of excitement and participation.

The host is energetic and personable though I didn’t really understand why he needed a co-host when he only referred to her at the top of the show and then to explain that she was running the treadmill in the final round (which usually consisted of simply showing a close-up of her hand pushing the speed faster). I hate to say it’s because she was pretty, but the evidence would point to that. Having a live in-studio audience was a very good though, although the show itself is shot entirely on greenscreen, which unnecessarily distracted me into wondering if they were actually there or just spliced in afterwards. At a little over 7 minutes each, the show understandably moves at a quick pace, but it would have been nice if they added about 30 seconds to introduce the week’s contestants (right now you only know their first names listed below each one and the first contestant is eliminated within the first 2 minutes of the show).

There is a fun interactive element to the show in which within each episode, there is an audience question with the opportunity to win fun small prizes like a $30 iTunes gift card or 2 free months of Netflix. For audience members hoping to participate, be sure to become a Facebook Fan of the show first…only Fans are eligible to win. New episodes of Red Carpet Run began airing on the 20th, so there is no better time to try to get in on those prizes than right now. Go ahead and throw on your fancy duds and run in place while watching, if you want to get the full experience. Or don’t.