[Steve_Seattle]

"Fox is helping to winnow the field and toughen the candidates."

The only thing that Fox is winnowing with this fiasco is its own viewership. Screwed the pooch.

Too much babbling by the moderators, too many candidates on stage (should be no more than four or five per debate), no opening statements allowed, very little statesmanship on display by the candidates, too much show-biz and too many zingers, and a sense that the whole thing is just meandering aimlessly.

[Iron Munro]

too much show-biz and too many zingers, and a sense that the whole thing is just meandering aimlessly

I agree.

Also, it seems to gimmicky and too many not-so-sly efforts at "gotcha" questions.

The impression I get is that producers were more concerned about showmanship and highlighting the moderators than the substance of the questions.