Beat Shazam premieres Thursday, May 25, 8pm on FOX.
By Jack Faivish
Beat Shazam is a modern-day, technology-laden version of Name that Tune, the hit game show that ran for over 30 years, from 1952 until 1985. The comparisons between the two are obvious. Name that Tune featured two players competing to figure out the name of the song being played before their opponent answered. There were multiple rounds for varying amounts of points, and the winner would then go on to the Golden Medley. The Golden Medley was the bonus game, where the contestant attempted to name seven songs in just 30 seconds, for either a cash prize or a trip to the Super Champions tournament. Beat Shazam follows that formula pretty closely, if not exactly. In the new Jamie Foxx hosted show, four teams of two race to name a song before the other, with the winning team going on to the “bonus round” to compete against the Shazam app.
Foxx is an enigmatic host, and he follows the trend of A-list personalities hosting game shows. Alec Baldwin hosts The Match Game, Michael Strahan anchors the $100,000 Pyramid, and Anthony Anderson emcees To Tell the Truth. Now Foxx will have the chance to prove that he’s not just a talented actor, but a natural television presence.
After ABC rebooted three of its classic game shows last fall with the aforementioned Match Game, Pyramid and To Tell the Truth, FOX is attempting to counter that with a slew of their own game shows. On the docket is Beat Shazam, Love Connection with Andy Cohen, and The F Word with Gordon Ramsay. Perhaps FOX will be able to break ABC’s monopoly on primetime game shows.
It is a bit perplexing to see an app receive its own TV show. What’s next, a Tinder-based Bachelor/Bachelorette? Or maybe a game show to see which celebrity instagram can get more viewers on their livestream? CBS actually has a Candy Crush game show ready for July. In all seriousness though, this is a show that music-lovers can get behind.
TV and City 