Tonight NBC hosts its annual Red Nose Day fundraiser, and kicking off the night of events is Celebrity Escape Room. In this fun special, Jack Black plays an over-the-top, eccentric, pony-tailed billionaire version of himself. Jack has invited celebrity friends Ben Stiller, Courtney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, and Adam Scott to his mansion to partake in an escape room. They will have 60 minutes to solve puzzles and make their way through the various rooms and ultimately escape. For each puzzle they solve, they earn $15K for the Red Nose Day charity, and if they make it through to the end, they earn $150K. Should they get stuck and need help, all four of them must unanimously agree to put on their red noses and ask for a clue, but they must use these requests sparingly as they are limited to three clues over the course of the game.
As the four celebrities step back in time and make their way through the totally tubular 1980s high school themed escape room, the viewer is regularly notified about the puzzles the participants are trying to figure out, and what clues they should be looking for. The puzzles are also personalized for this group of celebrities, including elements from their own high school experiences (as well as their acting careers). Sometimes things seem so obvious, but it’s fun to see these actors struggle and get completely lost, or make really stupid mistakes.
Throughout the game, Jack Black chimes in over the loudspeaker with funny quips and insults, and there are also cutaway interviews with the participants who comment on their own performance during the escape room. There are some really fun cameos from many other celebrities, who also pop up before/after commercial breaks. I’ve been to a few escape rooms, and always have fun trying to solve the difficult puzzles. However, this is less of a puzzle solving task for the viewer and more of just a fun viewing experience. I really enjoyed this special, and hope that we get to see more of these in the future.
Tonight, I’ll also be watching/recording Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Holey Moley, To Tell the Truth, Broke, Celebrity Watch Party, and Vagrant Queen.
