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CHICAGO – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Dan Baker on WBGR-FM (Monroe, Wisconsin) on March 21st, 2024, reviewing the new streaming series “Manhunt” – based on the bestseller by James L. Swanson – currently streaming on Apple TV+.
TV Review: The CW Hits Reality TV Bottom with ‘Capture’
Submitted by BrianTT on July 30, 2013 - 11:37am
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Capture
Photo credit: The CW
“Capture” premieres on The CW on Tuesday, July 30, 2013 at 8pm CST.
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CHICAGO – “Get me a TV version of The Hunger Games! This is The CW! If it’s popular with young adults, we need a TV show like it!”
“Sir, have you SEEN The Hunger Games? It’s about killing people.”
 Television Rating: 1.0/5.0 |
“Eh. We can’t do that? Well, what if people just hunted each other like Laser Tag instead of actual arrows through the head? It will cost nothing. Throw people in the woods, have them hunt each other like they’re playing some giant game of Hide and Seek and sell the ad dollars!”
“Does that really qualify as TV?”
“We’ll find out! Now also go get me a reality show based on the game of Tag.”
Capture
Photo credit: The CW
The answer is no. It does not qualify as TV. Buried with almost no promotion at a time of year when almost all of The CW’s audience is not in the house, “Capture” might be the most creatively bankrupt reality program to date, which is nearly an accomplishment but not quite. A few of the contestants cast on “Capture” have a small amount of personality but it’s nowhere near enough to make up for the fact that most of “Capture” consists of watching people walk through the woods. Seriously.
 Capture Photo credit: The CW |
“Capture” presents contestants in pairs a la the vastly superior “The Amazing Race.” Some are couples, some are siblings, some are friends, etc. They all have colored outfits to distinguish like The Lime Team, The Purple Team, etc.
At the start of each episode, a team is randomly chosen as the hunters and the other teams are left as prey. The hunting team has two periods over two days to hunt their prey. In between, the teams will socialize at a camp in the middle of this “compound”. The hunters must capture two teams by slapping devices on their backs. Then the rest of the teams choose which of the two teams have to go home and find their dignity. If the hunters only capture one team, they become the other nominees. If they capture no teams, they automatically go home. The boundaries shrink every week to make it harder to hide and the last team standing wins $250k.
As a game, there’s almost no skill involved in “Capture.” It’s mostly luck if you find someone or if you don’t and the biggest element of sportsmanship seems to be if you can outrun the hunters when they spot you. So pairs of people wander through the woods, get spotted, and get chased. And this qualifies as entertainment. Only in the Summertime. Watch for “Red Robin,” likely debuting on The CW in Summer 2014.
 | By BRIAN TALLERICO |
I thought that Capture was
I thought that Capture was one of the more exciting and creative “reality” shows that I’ve seen. The contestants seem to be (mostly) much more skilled and athletic than the contestants on either Survivor or The Amazing Race and they are subjected to a much more rigorous task… hunting each other! I had a great time watching it!
I loved captured
I agree that there was no real promoting of the show, I started watching it half way through the season and caught up with episodes on their website. But I loved it. As the anonymous commentor mentioned; the cast was far more athletic than amazing race. They had a super fast team (Green), a sneaky team (Teal) who hid very well; there was a Parkour couple early on… An ex-NFL player… Two bodybuilders, etc, etc. The athleticism on this cast was far superior to any other reality show I’ve seen.
I was enamored with the competition side of the show. The advantages in the game were huge, and the strategy on who to use them on mattered a lot as it almost always resulted in the sabatogued team getting caught. What was interesting was that mid-way through, two sets of two teams joined up in an alliance (won’t say who as to not spoil it for others), but if there is a next season I would be surprised to find that alliances aren’t being formed for voting purposes.
What was interesting was that even if you’re the hunt team, you’re not safe. If you fail to catch anyone, you go home (it happened), if you only catch one team, you can be voted out. It makes for a more even playing ground.