The Hustler is a Social Deduction Game Show that premiered in 2021 on ABC and ran for two seasons. Five contestants must work together to solve ten trivia questions, with the first nine worth $10k each and the last question being double-or-half, for a possible $180k cash prize.
But there's a twist: One of the contestants is secretly The Hustler, and they already know all of the answers. Not only that, they also vote out contestants during the game, leaving just two others alongside them by the end of the show.
To help the other contestants along the way, clues to the Hustler's identity are revealed before every question, revealing facts such as their hobbies, life experiences, and personal beliefs. When all the questions have been asked, the three remaining contestants vote for who they believe is the Hustler. If the two non-Hustlers correctly guess the Hustler's identity, they split the pot. Otherwise, the Hustler walks away with it all.
Has nothing to do with the film of the same name, or actual hustlers for that matter.
Reveal the tropes in use, magical bookcase:
- The Ace: The Hustler often comes off this way, as they typically have a very diverse list of accomplishments.
- Confession Cam: At the end of the show, The Hustler and the remaining contestants talk about their victory/defeat, with The Hustler explaining some of the things revealed about them to have it make sense in context.
- Funny Background Event: While questions are being debated by the players, Craig Ferguson sometimes plays around with the artifacts on the set, such as playing minigolf or eating pasta in the background.
- Game Show Host: TV's Craig Ferguson.
- Large Ham: Craig Ferguson goes full ham in his role as host.
- The Mole: The Hustler has to lead the others into giving the correct answers without giving too much away in order to build up the pot.
- Red Herring: Some clues may misdirect others into thinking an innocent player is the Hustler.
- Rewatch Bonus: Once you know who the Hustler is, rewatching allows you to observe and analyze how the Hustler plays their game.
- Rules Spiel: Craig explains the format of the game to the contestants at the start of the game; the only rule he does not mention up front is how the final question can double the pot or cut it in half.
- Sadistic Choice: Since getting the final question correct doubles the pot while missing it cuts it in half, there is extra pressure on the group to get the final question correct. This can put the Hustler in a tough spot if the discussion starts taking the team away from the correct answer. Do they try to steer the discussion toward the correct answer and risk giving themselves away, or do they go with the flow and risk losing a huge amount of money?
- Scenery Porn: The entire show takes place in a luxurious-looking study.
- Shocking Elimination: In-Universe. It happens quite frequently that someone who is initially suspected by the rest of the group of being the Hustler ends up being one of the two players eliminated. It is a Running Gag for Craig (who does not know the Hustler's identity) to say to the eliminated contestant, "I thought it was you!"
- Voted Off the Island: Everyone votes on who should be eliminated, but it's only the Hustler's vote that counts.
