Build The Wall

NBC's The Wall is a well-designed game show, with an exciting mix of skill, luck and tons of money.  One of things designed to make it appealing are the couples who play the game have life stories of community service and sacrifice.

I assume this is to make it easier to root for them. But after watching a lot of episodes, I wonder if there wasn't more to this calculation.

That's because, in general, these people are not great game show contestants.  When it comes to trivia, they don't seem to know a lot.  They also don't seem to know how to game multiple choice questions.  Watching the show, I often smite my forehead--they either don't know pretty basic stuff, or rule out the right answer off the bat because it's designed to look like the wrong answer.

So maybe, in a game show that can potentially give away millions, this is insurance.  If the people are going to get most of the questions wrong, and wrong answers mean you lose money, that could be worth quite a bit for the producers in the long run.

Or am I being too cynical?