See me. Feel me. Touch me.

In the spirit of the holidays, I’m talking money here.

Specifically, I’m talking about the amount in the title of the new Fox game show, “Million Dollar Money Drop,” that premieres at 8 tonight on WUTV and runs every night this week except Friday (Christmas Eve) in prime time.

The primary thing that differentiates the bells and whistles game show from “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” is that the contestants can see, feel and touch the money as they place their bets on the four platforms that stand for the multiple choice answers to trivia questions.

Contestants can place bets on three of them in the first round – and the money drops from the platforms that stand for the wrong answers.

The producers think the real money aspect of the show adds to the excitement and the tension. It didn’t do it for me while watching a 25-minute preview reel.

Of course, there are other differences from the old Regis Philbin and Meredith Vieira game show that first played on ABC and remains in syndication.

First of all, the contestants are in teams of two. They are more enthusiastic and playful than the more serious “Millionaire” contestants. They also can know the answers to the seven trivia questions that can lead to a million and still place their bets incorrectly.

But the biggest difference is in the host. Kevin Pollak (see above), an actor and standup comic, is no Regis Philbin. Dressed in a black shirt and black pants, Pollak is pretty colorless as a host.

That said, I found the most exasperating aspect of the game is the fact that you could know the trivia answer is Bono and still lose some money because you don’t know the letters on a standard telephone.

Still, I’m not about to place my bet against “Money Drop.”

After all, I’m still trying to figure out why Howie Mandel’s “Deal or No Deal” was so popular.

As a wise man once said, “nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.” Was it a) W.C. Fields b) Larry King c) H.L. Mencken or d) Damon Runyon?

The answer will be at the end of the column.

* Speaking of reality shows and millions, bloggers and newspapers often write about local contestants and then fail to tell viewers how they did.

My friend Robyn Zimmer’s window origami invention didn’t win during her recent visit to TLC’s “Homemade Millionaire.” She’s a friend so I thought she was robbed — or at the very least wasn’t given a fair chance.

Robyn lost to a woman who became bedridden, which meant her husband had to substitute for her and demonstrate the product. It made for a good reality show sympathy story, though honestly I don’t remember what the product was. Robyn was a good sport and at least got valuable publicity for her invention.     

* The Larry King finale on CNN had a strong 2.5 rating locally last Thursday. That’s about five times his nightly average. The show dominated in its time slot. Sean Hannity, who normally wins here, had a .5 on Fox News and Rachel Maddow a .3 on MSNBC opposite King”s finale here.

* Funny comment of the month: I heard this Sunday on the clever NPR radio program, “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me.”  Michele Bachmann, the buffoonish Minnesota congresswoman who frequently appears on cable TV programs like King’s, sent out a release that said “recently, porking has gotten way out of control.”  She apparently was referring to earmarks in spending bills, often referred to as pork. Apparently, Bachmann didn’t realize her remark had a double meaning — the second one having a sexual connotation.

Answer to the trivia question: C) Mencken

pergament@msn.com  

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