ok here's how it works
contestants are selected based on specific criteria:
-contestant is a normie (middle class plus, overton window liberal, not particularly internet or media poisoned, unaware of 90% of news and world events)
-contestant is generally content with life
-crucially, contestant does not have any awareness of the show. the show does not work if they know about the show
ok so we have our contestants. now lets get our audience. yes, this is an audience participation show
audience members are selected based on specific criteria:
-politically aware lefty of any variety with a bare minimum being disgruntled former bernie stan radicalizing left (eurgh ick)
-has firsthand experience of living in capitalist neoliberal dystopia (personal, professional, academic, or otherwise) and has prepared a short monologue evoking said experience. examples: personal stories of bad experiences, professional accounts of events recorded, academic analysis of negative outcomes, etc.
ok ok lets get everybody in the studio
'we live in hell!' is a bob barker high energy crowdwork style game show. the name of the show is not spoken aloud during the recording. it is explained to viewers at home that this game show ends when one of the contestants says A Specific Phrase. they are given no clues as to what the phrase might be. the phrase is (as you might have guessed) the name of the game show, 'we live in hell'
the audience is arrayed in front of the contestants. wacky wardrobe is the aesthetic. each audience member is dressed in a personalized, zany knockoff of their job/profession/lifestyle. contestants, who have been kept in the dark about the whole deal, take turns picking an audience member to come up to the podium to share their story. after the audience member is done, the contestants get a chance to try and guess the phrase. the audience is given free reign to boo, heckle, cheer for, or react to any guess (the family feud X buzzer accompanies all wrong answers). if no contestant says the phrase, they all do a japanese slapstick physical comedy game show event (you know the ones) and then come back for another round. there can be a made up points structure to these games if you want, as long as the points don't mean anything by the end of the show.
if a contestant does speak the phrase 'we live in hell' (any intonation or degree of intensity), the host says 'what was that?' to the contestant. if the contestant repeats the phrase, the game is over. the audience intones "WE. LIVE. IN. HELL!!!!!" and starts celebrating. note: the show is recorded on a 30 minute syndication window, but like wwtbam, contestants that are playing do not leave the show until the phrase has been stated and repeated by one of the contestants.
when the game ends, the audience member whose monologue provoked the correct response in the despairing contestant wins a cash prize.
contestants are returned to the lake of fire (no prize)