Ep 16. Double The Misery

The Misery Index is a television game show that features two teams competing against one another. Each team is made up of two contestants paired with a member of the Tenderloins comedy troupe, who serve as judges. The teams are presented with a series of comedic and outrageous scenarios, each with a rating on the "Misery Index" - a scale that ranges from 1 to 100 based on how miserable each situation is. The teams must then decide which scenarios are more miserable and try to score as many points as possible. In season 2, episode 16, titled "Double the Misery," the teams are faced with an additional challenge - they must work in pairs and attempt to come up with a better answer than their competitors.

The first challenge in the episode involves a man who has spent 17 hours stuck in a storm drain. The teams are shown a clip of the man being rescued and are asked to guess the number on the Misery Index associated with the situation. The members of each team then work together to come up with an answer, which they write down on individual whiteboards. After some hilarious commentary from the Tenderloins judges, the answers are revealed and the winning team scores points.

In the second challenge, the teams are shown a clip of a man attempting to surf on an ironing board in a swimming pool. However, the man quickly falls off the ironing board and smacks his head on the side of the pool. The teams must again come up with an answer for the Misery Index ranking associated with the situation. However, this time the teams are paired up and must work together. The members of each pair are given a minute to come up with an answer, after which they compare their answers with their partner. The pairs are scored based on how close their answers are and the winning pair scores points for their team.

The third challenge is a bit more involved and requires the teams to work together in a scavenger hunt. Each team is given a clue which leads them to a specific location within the studio set. At each location, they must find an object which corresponds to the clue and then use that object to solve a puzzle. The puzzles are all related to the theme of "double" - such as a crossword puzzle where each clue has a matching pair. The teams must work together to solve the puzzles and find the final location. The winning team gets to choose their celebrity teammate for the next round.

The final challenge of the episode is one of the show's signature games - where the teams are presented with two scenarios and must decide which one is more miserable. However, in this episode, each team is allowed to bring back a celebrity teammate from a previous challenge, doubling the number of participants. The celebrities include former NFL player Terrell Owens and comedian Brian Quinn. The teams must work together to come up with a consensus answer and score points accordingly.

Overall, "Double the Misery" is a hilarious and entertaining episode of The Misery Index. The added twist of having the pairs work together adds an extra layer of strategy and humor to the show, and the final double-sized challenge is a fitting conclusion to the episode. Fans of the show won't want to miss this episode, and newcomers may find themselves hooked on the absurd and hilarious antics of the contestants and judges alike.