Neil Patrick Harris can probably host anything: awards shows, open houses, book clubs, soirees, salons, an icebreaker between world leaders and whatever life form eventually turns up on Mars.
NBC has obligingly given him a spot in prime time for a live vehicle, Best Time Ever , but its Tuesday-night premiere turned out to be an unwieldy and peculiar mix of hidden-camera punking, celebrity challenges and one or three other things, including acrobatic guys on pogo sticks.
The show, adapted from a British series, opened with Harris revealing to a couple in the studio audience that he had been secretly insinuating himself into their lives: The camera cut away to taped footage of him disguised as a doorman welcoming them to New York's Plaza Hotel and even photobombing their wedding.