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Cash Cab
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Cash Cab is a game show, devised by Adam Wood, which originated in the United Kingdom. Passengers in a specially designated taxi cab are offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of trivia questions on the way to their destination. The American version of Cash Cab has comedian Ben Bailey as host, while the Australian version features Charlie Pickering, and the Canadian version features Adam Growe. The show has been licensed to television networks in numerous other countries as well.
Australian version is currently airing its third season with new host Charlie Pickering, was filmed entirely in Perth, Western Australia.
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Encyclopedia
Cash Cab is a game show, devised by Adam Wood, which originated in the United Kingdom. Passengers in a specially designated taxi cab are offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of trivia questions on the way to their destination. The American version of Cash Cab has comedian Ben Bailey as host, while the Australian version features Charlie Pickering, and the Canadian version features Adam Growe. The show has been licensed to television networks in numerous other countries as well.
Cash Cab by country
Australia
The Australian version is currently airing its third season with new host Charlie Pickering, was filmed entirely in Perth, Western Australia. The programme airs on the cable music channel, Channel V.
Contestants are asked several music trivia questions in various verbal, audio and video based questions for the duration of their trip. After being asked 5 questions are asked to choose The Loot or the Boot. Contestants have the opportunity to keep "the loot" they have won so far or give up all of what they have won so far, depending on how many questions they answered correctly, for what is "in the boot". Boot prizes may be worth substantially more than their sacrifice or substantially less that their current winnings and by choosing "the boot" the contestant's winnings are reset to $0 and the prize is theirs to keep, even if they use up their three strikes. On rare occasions the host may give an opportunity to the contestant to win some of their money back by doing a 30 second dare relating to their substantially less valuable "boot" prize.
Contestants are entitled to 2 "Life Lines", one 30 second phone call to a friend in their phone (Mobile Shout-Out) or to ask someone random off the street (Street Shout-Out) that they are travelling on. When contestants reach their destination, they are asked if they want to "Double or Nothing" in which they can choose to walk away with what cash they have won, or to sit and watch a music video clip be asked an observation based question, and if they correctly answer, they walk away with double the winnings of the trip or if they get it wrong, they walk away with nothing.
Canada
The Canadian version is produced by Castlewood Productions and began airing on September 10, 2008 on Discovery Channel Canada and Discovery HD, hosted by comedian Adam Growe. On the season premiere on December 23, 2008, Cash Cab Canada's host Adam Growe hosted a special show which promoted the feature film Frost/Nixon.
With a first season of 26 episodes, the Canadian version closely mirrors the structure of its US counterpart, retaining familiar features like Shout Outs, Red Light Challenges, and the "double or nothing" Video Bonus option at the end of each game. Where the Canadian version differs is in its heavier focus on questions of science, technology, nature and adventure, as opposed to purely general knowledge. Regular questions worth $25, $50, $100; while Red Light Challenge questions are worth $75.
The Canadian Cash Cab uses ten high definition cameras: five different angles within the cab, four mounted in the advertising shell on the roof, and one mobile camera that records on the street or from the follow van. It is also the first Cash Cab format to be filmed and broadcast entirely in High Definition. The first season was filmed in Downtown Toronto.
UK
In the UK the programme is made by Lion TV and was originally shown on ITV beginning in the summer of 2005. Episodes of the show now air on Challenge.
The show's host initially poses as an ordinary taxi driver and drives around the major cities of the United Kingdom in a cab. The show pays its passengers for correctly answering standard general knowledge questions. Contestants are recruited in advance but are not told that the quiz will be taking place in the cab, so although the "pick-ups" are not as random as they appear on screen, the contestants are genuinely surprised when the taxi turns out to be the Cash Cab.
The contestants tell the driver their destination before getting into the taxi and are not allowed to change it. They then have the distance they need to travel to answer questions. The first five questions are relatively easy and worth £10 each, the next five are a little harder and worth £50, the next seven, even harder and worth £100, and any question after that is worth £500. If the contestant gets three questions wrong, they lose the money they have won up to that point and must leave the cab immediately. The host of Cash Cab, John Moody, is a genuine qualified taxi driver, and has an easygoing presenting style.
U.S.
The United States' version of Cash Cab (stylized as CA$H CAB) airs on the Discovery Channel, and is hosted by comedian and licensed New York cab driver Ben Bailey. The cab takes passengers as normal fares, and once they agree to play the driver asks a series of questions of increasing difficulty and cash value. Incorrect answers earn a "strike," and if contestants accumulate three strikes they lose the game, lose any money they have won to that point, and the cab pulls over and drops the contestants on the street. Contestants are given two "shout-outs," in which they can ask for help to answer a question, either by placing a mobile phone call or by asking a passerby on the street. Contestants can earn an addition $250 in a Red Light Challenge if the cab stops at a traffic light when they have earned $200 or more. To win the Red Light Challenge, contestants must provide multiple answers to the question within thirty seconds; incorrect responses in the Red Light Challenge are not penalized in any way. Upon arriving at the contestants' destination with fewer than three strikes, the driver offers contestants a choice: a single question for double or nothing. Money earned in the game appears to be presented in cash as contestants leave the cab, but the cash used is a prop and winnings are later mailed. The license plate of the New York Cash Cab is 1G12c.
The U.S. version also has a spinoff called "Cash Cab: After Dark". The dollar amounts are doubled, $50, $100, and $200, and the questions are generally more difficult than Cash Cab.
"There are 13,000 cabs in New York City, but only one pays you!" - Ben Bailey (Host)
Other countries
The format of the show has been sold to numerous countries around the world, including the Netherlands (BNN), Greece (Mega Channel), Israel (Channel 2), Ukraine (City Channel in Kiev), Pan-Arab (MBC 1) , Russia (TNT), France, Poland, Turkey, Indonesia, Spain, India (Bindass) and Serbia (Fox televizija). The show airs on Kabel 1 in Germany (as "Quiz Taxi"), and has been successful enough to merit a spin-off version of the show in which celebrities play the game. In Norway, it has been commissioned as a prime time show. A second season was recently commissioned in Hungary (Viasat 3), and the show will begin soon in Lithuania (LNK), and in the Czech Republic (Czech TV). Mexico's Televisa recently launched their own version of the show called Taxi Cash on January 28, 2008 on Canal 4 (Channel 4).
Other countries that have the rights to launch their own versions include Japan, New Zealand, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Austria, Italy, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Honduras, Portugal, Malaysia, (called Teksi Tunai shown on the Astro Prima channel. The cab driver is local funny man, Bob Lokman), South Africa, and Chile.
See also
External links
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