We know, it’s holiday weekend so you’re probably looking for culinary recommendations. But in case you need a break from family or or fireworks, staff writer William Hughes proffers a panel show as convoluted as it is joyful and editor-in-chief Danette Chavez suggests staying inside with Olivia Rodrigo’s sonic recovery.
William Hughes: Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont-Spelling Bee
English is a language of arbitrary and often blatantly unfair rules, which is the sort of thing that makes it hell for students trying to learn it—but turns out to be fertile ground for comedians willing to subject themselves fully to its absurdities. Such are the lessons of Guy Montgomery’s Guy-Mont Spelling Bee, a panel show polite enough to let you know upfront, courtesy of its title, exactly how much convoluted and joyful stupidity it has in store for viewers. Hosted by comedian/Grown Ups 2 survivor Guy Montgomery, the series originally grew out of COVID lockdown frustrations, as Montgomery ran his comedian buddies through Zoom-based spelling bees that were as much about crafting goofy jokes as the precise arrangement of consonants and vowels. It’s since spawned not just one but two TV shows, as the series migrated across the Tasman Sea from Montgomery’s native New Zealand to Australia a few years back, towing its gleefully destructive take on the game show format with it.
It would be inaccurate to suggest that the Guy-Mont Spelling Bee isn’t really about the spelling, because it is: Despite the goofiness surrounding it, the show still clearly has an interest in the blend of palpable tension and “Hey, I could nail that” smugness that powers “real” spelling bee viewing. But even more than that, it’s a meditation on the comedic power of unfairness, as Montgomery—a podcasting and Taskmaster New Zealand favorite who’s found a perfect outlet here for his precise blend of chipper smarm, joy in wordplay, and cheerful cruelty—and his writers invent increasingly elaborate ways to fuck over contestants. I’ll admit to a special fondness for the show’s recurring “Homophones” round, in which players are asked to spell something like “Four beers”—with their only guidance being an elaborately crafted sentence that combines forces with Montgomery’s Kiwi accent to make it impossible to determine if they’re actually being asked to assemble “forebears,” “for bears,” or “four bears.”
