‘Labor Games’: New Game Show For Expectant Mothers To Answer Questions From A Hospital Room While Having Contractions
According to the Boston Herald, there is a new game show on TLC called Labor Games. It is a game show that is broadcast from a hospital room, where an expectant mother is in the middle of contractions. The expectant mother or her partner answers questions or play games in an effort to win prizes for their baby. The prizes include car seats, strollers, and a $10,000 college fund. The one catch is that the woman must be in labor. There is a monitor to prove if she is having contractions.
Game shows are popping up all the time on television. When you think producers have run out of ideas, another show comes on that is stranger than the one before it. We have seen people get married at first sight at the altar. There has been a reality show when couples had sex in a box in front of a live audience. There has been a show about people surviving in the wilderness while in the nude.
“There is no shortage of unusual reality shows, but some people say Labor Games has crossed the line.”
Labor Games is filmed on location at Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, California, where couples prove to be ready, willing, and able to pass the time while the pregnant woman is having contractions.
The New York Times calls Labor Games“a brilliantly absurd television game show.” In the premiere, host Lisa Arch surprises a couple in a delivery room and asks them if they want to be on a game show. Jessica and Aaron agree to be on the game show, even though Jessica is in middle of her contractions. The couple answers trivia questions to win prizes for their baby.
Jessica is four days overdue for the birth of their first child, and an alert appears on screen at every contraction, noting how far apart the contractions are, how dilated she is, and the strength of her contractions.
The questions start out easy with Jessica and Aaron being given multiple-choice questions. Then the questions become more challenging. The contestants can receive an umbilical cord if they can’t answer the questions themselves. This is equivalent to the lifeline on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
In the premiere episode, Jessica seems to have an easy labor. In the second episode, Marissa struggles to catch her breath trying to answer questions between contractions.
What kind of hospital would allow this? Why would doctors approve this? Who thought this was a good idea?
“Most women think having a baby is a wonderful miracle that should not be interrupted by a camera crew and a range of questions no matter how great the prizes are.”
Get a sneak peak of Labor Games on Wednesday, May 6 at 10 p.m. The show is part of the channel’s weeklong celebration of Mother’s Day.
[Image via TLC]
