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New Fox game show designed to go ‘Boom!’

The Columbian
Published: June 26, 2015, 12:00am

Tom Papa could hear the producers talking through the earpiece he was wearing while taping an episode of the new Fox game show “Boom!.” They wanted the explosions bigger so that Papa would get caught in the blast.

That wasn’t a ploy to get rid of the comedian turned game show host. “Boom!” features teams who face explosive consequences if they fail to answer a question correctly. If they get it wrong — or run out of time — an explosion showers them with anything from guacamole to maple syrup.

The plan to ramp up the spray of liquids worked.

“I went through 20 suits,” Papa says.

The game show is part action movie and part traditional quiz show. The action part comes when players race against the clock to diffuse replica bombs by answering trivia questions. Then they must pick a colored wire that matches their answer. One snip means either big money or a big boom.

The growing dry cleaning bill didn’t stop Papa from getting emotionally caught up in the game, and with the people.

“As a comedian, I just want to know that the show is going to be fun and can I be funny on it? Is it something I would think people would like? But then in the middle of it, these people are so close to winning like $500,000,” Papa says. “I really found myself like protecting these people, and rooting for them, and trying to make sure that they didn’t end up with a big Wile E. Coyote slime bomb exploding in their face, and that they would possibly go home with some actual money.

“I became very, very protective of the contestants.”

Papa joins a growing list of comedians who are game show hosts. For decades, it was professional game show hosts — Monty Hall, Wink Martindale, Bob Barker, etc. — who guided contestants through their efforts to win money or prizes. Now, it is stand-up comedians — Jane Lynch, Steve Harvey, Cedric the Entertainer and Papa — hosting the shows.

When he’s not helping contestants try to win big bucks, Papa hosts “Come to Papa” on SiriusXM. The weekly, one-hour program features extended interviews with comedians.

Papa believes comedians are a good fit for game shows because they are on during prime-time hours and the games and contestants are a little edgier. How much the audience likes a contestant will depend a lot on that edginess.

“Certain people come on and I wouldn’t say you don’t like them, but if a slime bomb were to hit them you wouldn’t be that upset. But the real fun part is when you have certain teams that come on who you really like and they really want the money because they’re going to do something really great with it,” Papa says.

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