Bostonista Loves: Million Dollar Password

Password, the greatest mind-word game of all time is back on TV (it originally hit the airways in 1961 but hasn’t seen prime time since the ’80s). This time it’s got a flashier Million Dollar title and prize to match, and comes with the cuddly Regis Philbin as host. To spice things up more, contestants play with friendly celebs like Rachael Ray, Tony Hawk, and Neil Patrick Harris (my pick for a partner; Doogie knows how to take a hint).

When I first heard the news of the comeback, I was overcome with a favorite high school memories. On Fridays in Coach Richie Younce‘s 10th grade English class, my best friend Morgan Taylor and I domintated the competition without fail. Our most impressive round, now the stuff of legend at Jackson Preparatory School, took only one clue (and one not-so-inside joke). I offered the hint: Banana. Morgan immediately nailed the password: Hammock.

What a welcome addition this sort of team-work centric game is to the current circuit of mind-numbers like Deal or No Deal. While no television show (except maybe Gossip Girl) can duplicate that sort of teenage rush, CBS’s Million Dollar Password comes close. And while this tip might give away too much of Bostonista‘s secret at-home dorkiness, the trick to getting the most out of the Sunday night series, which will also air a special episode tomorrow night at 8 p.m., is not to watch it at prime time at all. Dialing up the 40-minute shows online, instead, makes the show much more interactive. Because while the password is impossible to cover up from the couch, it’s easy to hide it with and get in on the guessing from your MacBook.

Million Dollar Password airs Sundays at 8 p.m. on CBS.