In theory, it’s a great TV show.
    By combining elements from some of the most trustworthy TV genres into a one-hour show, the creators of "The Mole" figured they had a can’t-miss formula. The show is part game show, part mystery-spy show, part MTV’s "Road Rules," and part CBS’s "Survivor."
    Unfortunately, the show is also mostly dull.
   In its attempt to create an uber-unscripted show, "The Mole" manages to strip away the most compelling elements of those successful genres, leaving only a neat gimmick behind.
     Most fundamentally, "The Mole" doesn’t create sympathetic characters, a critical element of any reality-based show. 
   In fact, the rules of "The Mole" are so strict and complex that the show denies the players any possibility of developing their characters much past basic game- show contestants. The contestants can neither improvise as in "Survivor" or become friends as in "Road Rules."
   And what’s sad is that "The Mole" created these prohibitive limits in order to guarantee that the successful elements of all of these genres would be translated into one show.
   From "Survivor," "The Mole" lifted the theme of betrayal and built into the show a character that would undermine his or her so-called "teammates."
    But "Survivor" created incredible dramatic tension by informing the audience as to who was trustworthy and who wasn’t, while letting the players continue the game in ignorance.
    In "The Mole," the audience is as oblivious as the cast and therefore can’t sympathize or vilify anyone.
   As a result, "The Mole" distances itself from the audience, an error similar to the one by CBS’s "Big Brother."
    By having one character betray the rest, "The Mole" also destroys the good-time-gang spirit of MTV’s "Road Rules." Like "The Mole," the MTV show sends good-looking youngsters out on a crazy trip to do some crazy things. But "Road Rules" focuses on camaraderie as much as adventure, something the rules of "The Mole" make all but impossible.
   Which makes the mystery show an appealing comparison for "The Mole." But again, without an assigned "detective," the audience has no one to sympathize with. In theory, nine of the players are assigned detectives, but if the audience doesn’t know which nine, why will they care?
     So that leaves the game show, the genre that "The Mole" best emulates. In game shows, the audience doesn’t really care about the players; there is no need to create a sympathetic character like in the other genres.
    But the audience does care about being smarter, or somehow "better," than the actual players. And "The Mole" has such complex and difficult rules that most of the audience is denied the gratification of feeling superior to the contestants. (Hence the more likely success of Fox’s "Temptation Island.")
    One of the critical tests in "The Mole" was a math problem that utilized the memorization skills and French-speaking abilities of certain teammates. Aside from this game being as boring to watch as an extended explanation of the electoral college, the audience never got a chance to see if they could beat the players at it.
    The most remarkable thing about "The Mole" is how it manages to completely eliminate the excitement from four interesting TV genres. Since the show obviously knows the least about how to appeal to a television audience, we can only hope ABC will quickly execute it from its schedule.

-Elizabeth White is a staff writer for Media Life.

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