That being said, it doesn't aim to be glitzy or rich by any means: the players simply answer four rounds of questions by writing down their answers on paper, and scoring if they get a correct answer. The value of the questions (and the number of possible answers) increases throughout each round, and the lowest-scoring contestant is given the /kick at the conclusion of each round. If there's a tie at the end of any round, it's broken by a "Dash for the Ca$h" (which is essentially Finders Keepers IN YOUR ROOM!) The Bonus Round is simply a wager on one more question, and that's just about it.
But of course, here, the game itself is only just there so they can adequately call it a game show. It's not trying to be like that one show (although the original top prize was a respectable $50,000). In a way, it's a sort of throwback to the way game shows were before they became obsessed with giving away large amounts of money, where they were more about the contestants and host than anything.
Let's Ask America premiered in September 2012, but only airing on stations owned by the E.W. Scripps Company. It was one of two shows that Scripps specifically commissioned to serve as cheap replacements for Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! (which previously aired across most of their stations); they felt Merv Griffin's dynamic duo were too underperforming and expensive to keep on their stations, a move that was thought by many to be suicidenote . Scripps' logic was that because of the arrangement, they could sell local advertising time on their stations and not have to give up ad time to the syndicator, especially during the key hour preceding primetime.
Unexpectedly, even with the limited number of markets it airs in, it quickly became a Sleeper Hit, and even reached #1 on Buzzerblog's "Top 10 Shows of 2012" list. Scripps did reach a deal with Warner Bros. to help syndicate it nationally in 2013, though the only non-Scripps stations it picked up for Season 2 were KNIN (the Fox station in Boise, Idaho) and WTMJ (the NBC station in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), both owned by Journal Communications (whose television stations wound up being bought by Scripps).
For Season 3, MGM handled distribution, Bill Bellamy replaced Kevin as host, and the top prize dropped to $35,000. While the series reverted to the core Scripps stations, GSN also picked up reruns. The series ended in May 2015.
Game Show Tropes in use:
- Bonus Round: Wager part or all of your winnings on one question with four answers. Get the question right to earn double your wager, or go all-in and win five times as much (with a $1,000 Consolation Prize if you lose).
- Beginning in Season 2, there was no consolation prize anymore for going all-in.
- Home Participation Sweepstakes: Played with this idea, as everyone played from home via webcams.
- Personnel:
- Game Show Host: Kevin Pereira for the first two seasons, Bill Bellamy for Season 3.
- Studio Audience: None in the traditional sense for Season 1, although the show's staff did cheer players on and were heard doing so frequently (especially on the final question) - gotta commend that. Seasons 2-3 had a proper audience.
