Supermarket Sweep Season 2: Unapologetic
ABC's made some small changes to Supermarket Sweep for its second season, but amped up its signature elements.
Supermarket Sweep’s second season as an ABC Fun and Games game premiered yesterday, and the small list of things I wanted to see improved upon were taken care of. In its second season, Supermarket Sweep has cemented its identity: loud, bold, unapologetically authentic. With the exception of the actors playing security guards, javamongers, and cashiers, everyone who steps foot inside host Leslie Jones’ supermarket is unapologetically them. It’s refreshing, and I think it’s a fantastic decision.
The biggest change I wanted to see was to the presentation of the Big Sweep. Last season, the Big Sweep was punctuated with exclamations and outbursts from Leslie Jones—while they often mirrored the stuff I would shout at my TV watching, the play-by-play I was used to hearing from other iterations of the game was gone. This made watching the Big Sweep more chaotic than it needed to be. In this season, announcer Tahir Moore is doing play-by-play, which helps the Big Sweep feel easier to follow. The bonuses during the sweep are now more clearly defined, which helps as well.
The second biggest change is definitely a good change to streamline the presentation and the production. In the first season, during the $100,000 Super Sweep, teams would have to solve 3 rhyming riddles to bank money; they would then get the option to put their winnings on the line to bank a little extra time for a larger jackpot. This go round, the teams have their allotted time to try to solve up to 5 riddles—they earn cash for every riddle solved in the time limit. It keeps the game flowing and builds the excitement up more and more; however, it always feels like a little bit of a letdown between the teams walking back to Leslie and Leslie letting them know of their winnings. I would love if Leslie shouted their prize winnings at the buzzer for additional excitement.
I want to give a special commendation to the casting department of Supermarket Sweep. I am SO happy to see so many people of color, queer couples, and just ridiculously fun happy people playing Supermarket Sweep. I love that the teams are able to customize their Supermarket Sweep sweatshirts to fit themselves. And I love Leslie Jones’ is authentically her: loud, brash, but keeps the game moving and is just having a whole lot of fun with the contestants. The biggest complaint I see online is how Leslie Jones is loud and obnoxious—but isn’t the whole show supposed to be loud and obnoxious? The tagline of the show is literally “Go wild in the aisles.” It’s evident that despite this vocal minority, the show is finding its audience and those naysayers aren’t it, and that’s fine. The show has found its voice, its people, its vibe, and it’s cruising right on.
If you liked Supermarket Sweep season 1, I think you’ll love the changes they made to the season. Tune in Sundays on ABC.
