Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Cube’ On TBS, Where Dwyane Wade Hosts People Trying To Accomplish Simple Tasks Under Pressure

The Cube has been a hit game show in the UK since 2009, but it’s taken its time to be adapted into a U.S. version. A 2014 CBS pilot hosted by Neil Patrick Harris was never picked up to series, and that’s been about it… until now. TBS has produced a new U.S. version with an outside-the-box (pun intended) choice for host: Former NBA All-Star Dwyane Wade.

THE CUBE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: As we see a steel and Plexiglass cube on a darkened set, an announcer says “This is The Cube, the world’s toughest game show.”

The Gist: The Cube, hosted by former NBA superstar Dwyane Wade, is a game show where teams of two contestants can win up to $250,000. All they have to do is complete 7 tasks before they lose 9 lives that they are given. The tasks look simple, but under the pressure of being in The Cube, they become much more difficult.

In each round, one of both of the team members go in and accomplish the task. It could be to put ten balls in a ramp-filled apparatus before the first ball reaches bottom, or to count up squares flashed on the floor and come up with the total. If they fail the task, they lose a life and have to try again; they keep trying until they succeed.

The money values for each task increase quickly, starting with $1,000 and going up to $250,000. After the first round, the contestants have to decide whether to attempt the next task or not. If they commit to doing the task, they either have to succeed and move on or they’ll run through their lives and come out with nothing.

After the first round, two assists are added, each of which the contestants can use only once: “Simplify” has The Cube simplify the game they are playing, and “One Shot” has Wade himself take a turn on a single-player game. In “One Shot”, if Wade makes it, the contestants get that round’s money and move on, but if he doesn’t, they lose a life.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The UK version of The Cube, which ran from 2009-2015, and was resurrected in 2020 as The Million Dollar Cube.

Our Take: This is the first time a U.S. version of The Cube has made it to air; a pilot was made by CBS in 2014, with Neil Patrick Harris as host, but it was never picked up. As with most adaptations of British game shows, The Cube has a lot going for it, but for some reason is more in love with its special effects than making a well-paced show with exciting game play.

Let’s start with what we liked: The game play itself, because the pressure these people are under, especially as they fritter lives away with mistakes, makes for a tense watch while the games are being played inside the Cube itself. Despite the Cube’s size and the Plexiglass, it’s still a bit of a claustrophobic environment, and seeing people trying to finish these deceptively simple tasks makes for great TV.

We also liked Dwyane Wade, taking his first stab at hosting after his Hall of Fame basketball career. He’s not trying to be a game show host here, just being himself. And he’s oddly soothing to these amped-up contestants when they’re between rounds. He’s also using his point guard skills to assess and adjust in order to make the contestants as comfortable as possible, and rooting for them when they’re in the cube. Those are all signs of a good game show host.

What we didn’t like is what slowed game play down, like the fake suspense with the contestants’ decision whether to stay or take the money they’ve earned, especially in the lower rounds. There’s camera tricks, like the 360-degree shot or the slo-mo shots, that amp up drama where there is none. The voice of The Cube’s “banter” with Wade and the contestants is wasted time, as well. They’re pacing the show as if just one team is participating per hour, but that’s not the case; contestants carry over from episode to episode if they’re in the middle of their round. So why slow things down with the fake dramatics?

If the producers of The Cube tighten that stuff up, they’ve got an exciting game on their hands, with a host that has the perfect temperament for such a tense show.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: In a game where the contestant has to add up the number of squares flashed on the floor, the episode ends before The Cube lets the audience know whether his answer was right or he lost a life.

Sleeper Star: The contestants. They’re in this brightly-lit contraption, with an intimidating disembodied voice that sounds like HAL from 2001 taunting them, and they come through when it counts.

Most Pilot-y Line: We want to know who tailored Wade’s jacket; it looks like it something Richard Dawson might have worn in The Running Man.

Our Call: STREAM IT. The Cube has a good concept and a fine host. It just needs to tighten up its pacing issues to become a really exciting watch.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.

Stream The Cube On TBS.com