Gameshow Marathon
Encyclopedia
Gameshow Marathon is an American television program which aired on CBS
from May 31, 2006 to June 29, 2006. It is based on the UK
series Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon which aired on ITV
in 2005.
The show features contestants competing in some of television's most historically popular game shows, in a single-elimination format
until an ultimate winner is found. Both the UK and US versions featured celebrity
contestants.
The US version was produced by FremantleMedia North America
and Granada America
and was hosted by Ricki Lake
and announced by Rich Fields
. In the US, the series only aired for a single season, while in the UK a second season aired in 2007, this time entitled Gameshow Marathon
and hosted by Vernon Kay
. This program was recorded at Stage 46, CBS Television City
in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
tournament featured celebrity contestants Lance Bass
, Paige Davis
, Tim Meadows, Kathy Najimy
, Leslie Nielsen
, and Brande Roderick
. The six played The Price Is Right
, Let's Make a Deal
(the only show which had not previously aired on CBS at that time), Beat the Clock
, Press Your Luck
, Card Sharks
, Match Game
, and Family Feud
to progress in the tournament. The series used replicas of each show's original set, or in the case of The Price Is Right, actual props from the series currently airing. Each installment began with a narration of the format of the particular show featured on that episode coupled with montages of clips from each program's history.
The four contestants in "Finalists' Row" were then paired in a competition to play the fifth and sixth games (Card Sharks and Match Game). The winners of those two games then proceeded to the "championship game", Family Feud.
For the finals, each celebrity assembled a five-person team of family and friends to play Family Feud, with the charity of the winning "family" receiving US$
100,000.
Brande Roderick was the showcase winner on the episode featuring The Price Is Right Lance Bass became the next semifinalist from Let's Make a Deal, and Paige Davis won the Beat the Clock installment. Kathy Najimy won the last semifinal slot on Press Your Luck, and Tim Meadows and Leslie Nielsen were eliminated at the end of that episode. Roderick defeated Davis in Card Sharks, and Najimy defeated Bass in Match Game. Najimy and her family then beat Roderick and her family on Family Feud to capture the top prize.
The Match Game installment also featured Adam Carolla
, Adrianne Curry, George Foreman
, Kathy Griffin
, Bruce Vilanch
, and Betty White
(in her traditional seat) as the panel. The six also appeared as audience members during the Price is Right episode.
The "Barker's Beauties
" from The Price Is Right also played a role in some of the installments. Gilbert Gottfried
appeared on the Let's Make a Deal
alongside each of the Zonks.
was $100,000 and featured the same layout as seen in prime time episodes with a $20,000 slot in the center. Three games were played on the episode, and the two highest-scoring contestants in the Showcase Showdown advanced to the Showcase. The winning showcase went to a viewer watching at home.
Let's Make a Deal was played exactly as it was during the Monty Hall
era in which the celebrities and some actual audience members taking part in the deals and they were wearing costumes, and it ended with the Big Deal, worth over $87,000. As mentioned, Gilbert Gottfried appeared in the zonks. The celebrity who won the most advanced to Finalists' Row and their prizes were awarded to a home viewer.
Beat the Clock was played in a tournament format. Two of the celebrities played a stunt as a team with a time limit of 60 seconds. The other two celebrities played the same stunt, trying to beat the first team's time. The two celebrities on the winning team then faced off in another stunt. The winner of the second stunt played one final stunt alone and if it was completed successfully within the 60 second time limit, a home viewer wins a car in addition to the other prizes earned by the winning celebrity.
The game board for Press Your Luck had top amounts of $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000 + One Spin in round one, and those values doubled in round two. The winning celebrity's cash and prizes went to a home viewer.
Contestants playing Card Sharks won money for each round: $1,000 for round one, $2,000 for round two. The tiebreaker round featured on the NBC and CBS versions was not used. Instead, a complete round with five cards and four questions was played as round three for $3,000. The first contestant to win two rounds won the game. The Money Cards offered a top prize of $144,000. $1,000 was given at the start of that round, and another $1,000 was given on the second level. Minimum bets were $50 on each card until the Big Bet, where a bet equal to at least half the current score must be wagered. The contestant could change one card per line by choosing one of three spare cards. Like the 1986–1989 version of the show, a car game was added; however, it did not resemble either version used during that period. In this car game, the contestant had to correctly determine whether the number of cheerleaders that answered "yes" to a question was higher or lower than five.
In Match Game, two contestants each tried to match the celebrities as on the original series. The winner after Round 3 moved on to the Super Match for a chance to win up to $50,000 for a home viewer. Two audience matches were played with $500, $250, and $100 as the possible payouts, and the contestant had a chance to multiply the total won from the audience matches by 50 by matching one celebrity in the Head-to-Head match.
The finale featured Family Feud, with teams competing to score 300 points first. The points doubled in round four and tripled in round five and beyond. In Fast Money, the first contestant had 20 seconds to answer the questions and the other received 25 seconds. A home viewer won $50,000 if the two contestants in Fast Money were able to reach or exceed 200 points.
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
from May 31, 2006 to June 29, 2006. It is based on the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
series Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon which aired on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
in 2005.
The show features contestants competing in some of television's most historically popular game shows, in a single-elimination format
Single-elimination tournament
A single-elimination tournament, also called a knockout, cup or sudden death tournament, is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match or bracket is immediately eliminated from winning the championship or first prize in the event...
until an ultimate winner is found. Both the UK and US versions featured celebrity
Celebrity
A celebrity, also referred to as a celeb in popular culture, is a person who has a prominent profile and commands a great degree of public fascination and influence in day-to-day media...
contestants.
The US version was produced by FremantleMedia North America
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
and Granada America
Granada Productions
Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....
and was hosted by Ricki Lake
Ricki Lake
Ricki Pamela Lake is an American actress, producer, and television host. She is best known for her starring role as Tracy Turnblad in the original Hairspray, her ground-breaking documentary film The Business of Being Born, and her talk show which was broadcasted internationally from...
and announced by Rich Fields
Rich Fields
Richard Wayne "Rich" Fields is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right from 2004–2010....
. In the US, the series only aired for a single season, while in the UK a second season aired in 2007, this time entitled Gameshow Marathon
Gameshow Marathon (UK game show)
Gameshow Marathon is a British game show, broadcast from 17 September 2005 to 26 May 2007 on ITV .After a quick retrospective look at the history of the particular show, the show itself is recreated. This involved recreating the original set and using original opening programme titles, including...
and hosted by Vernon Kay
Vernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay is a British television presenter, radio DJ, american footballer and former model. He began television presenting on the BBC children's programme FBi, a spin-off of Fully Booked. Since he has presented various programmes, most notably T4, Beat the Star and All Star Family...
. This program was recorded at Stage 46, CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Premise
The seven-part game showGame show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
tournament featured celebrity contestants Lance Bass
Lance Bass
James Lance Bass , best known as Lance Bass, is an American pop singer, dancer, actor, film and television producer, and author. He grew up in Mississippi and rose to fame as the bass singer for the American pop boy band 'N Sync. 'N Sync's success led Bass to work in film and television...
, Paige Davis
Paige Davis
Mindy Paige Davis , billed as Paige Davis, is an American actress best known as a host of the reality television series Trading Spaces.-Early life and career:...
, Tim Meadows, Kathy Najimy
Kathy Najimy
Kathy Ann Najimy is an American actress, most notable as Olive Massery on the television series Veronica's Closet, Sister Mary Patrick in Sister Act and the voice of Peggy Hill on the animated television series King of the Hill. Prior to her film work, she was best known for two Off Broadway shows...
, Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
, and Brande Roderick
Brande Roderick
Brande Nicole Roderick is an American model and actress known for her appearances in Baywatch and Playboy.-Personal life:...
. The six played The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)
The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
, Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
(the only show which had not previously aired on CBS at that time), Beat the Clock
Beat the Clock
Beat the Clock is a Goodson-Todman game show which has aired on American television in several versions since 1950.The original show, hosted by Bud Collyer, ran on CBS from 1950–1958 and ABC from 1958–1961. The show was revived in syndication as The New Beat the Clock from 1969–1974, with Jack Narz...
, Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on September 19, 1983 on CBS and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected "spins" by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game...
, Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
, Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
, and Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
to progress in the tournament. The series used replicas of each show's original set, or in the case of The Price Is Right, actual props from the series currently airing. Each installment began with a narration of the format of the particular show featured on that episode coupled with montages of clips from each program's history.
Tournament format
The format of each individual show was largely unchanged. All six celebrity contestants participated in the first game, The Price Is Right. The Showcase winner from this episode claimed the first of four seats in "Finalists' Row". The remaining contestants after each game was played then participated in the next game (five for Let's Make a Deal, four for Beat the Clock, three for Press Your Luck) to win one of the remaining seats. After the fourth game, the remaining two contestants were eliminated.The four contestants in "Finalists' Row" were then paired in a competition to play the fifth and sixth games (Card Sharks and Match Game). The winners of those two games then proceeded to the "championship game", Family Feud.
For the finals, each celebrity assembled a five-person team of family and friends to play Family Feud, with the charity of the winning "family" receiving US$
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
100,000.
Brande Roderick was the showcase winner on the episode featuring The Price Is Right Lance Bass became the next semifinalist from Let's Make a Deal, and Paige Davis won the Beat the Clock installment. Kathy Najimy won the last semifinal slot on Press Your Luck, and Tim Meadows and Leslie Nielsen were eliminated at the end of that episode. Roderick defeated Davis in Card Sharks, and Najimy defeated Bass in Match Game. Najimy and her family then beat Roderick and her family on Family Feud to capture the top prize.
The Match Game installment also featured Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla
Adam Carolla is an American radio personality, television host, comedian, and actor. He currently hosts The Adam Carolla Show, a talk show distributed as a podcast on the ACE Broadcasting Network...
, Adrianne Curry, George Foreman
George Foreman
George Edward Foreman is an American two-time former World Heavyweight Boxing Champion, Olympic gold medalist, ordained Baptist minister, author and successful entrepreneur...
, Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin
Kathleen Mary "Kathy" Griffin is an American actress, stand-up comedienne, television personality, New York Times best-selling author and an LGBT rights advocate. Griffin first gained recognition for appearances on two episodes of Seinfeld, and then for her supporting role on the NBC sitcom...
, Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch
Bruce Vilanch is an American comedy writer, songwriter and actor. He is a six-time Emmy Award-winner Vilanch is best known to the public for his four-year stint on Hollywood Squares, as a celebrity participant; in the entertainment industry he is best known as head writer for the show...
, and Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
(in her traditional seat) as the panel. The six also appeared as audience members during the Price is Right episode.
The "Barker's Beauties
The Price is Right models
The American television game show The Price Is Right has, since its 1972 relaunch, had a stable of models to showcase the prizes and items that are given away on the show. From 1972–2007, the group was referred to as Barker's Beauties, a term coined by producer Mark Goodson.-1956–1965:The original...
" from The Price Is Right also played a role in some of the installments. Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried
Gilbert Gottfried is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian, best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice. He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin , and...
appeared on the Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal
Let's Make a Deal is a television game show which originated in the United States and has since been produced in many countries throughout the world. The show is based around deals offered to members of the audience by the host. The traders usually have to weigh the possibility of an offer being...
alongside each of the Zonks.
Rule changes
For The Price Is Right, the top prize for PlinkoPlinko
Plinko is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. The game involves guessing the prices of prizes to win "Plinko chips," which are later dropped down a large bean machine-style board to determine the contestant's cash prize...
was $100,000 and featured the same layout as seen in prime time episodes with a $20,000 slot in the center. Three games were played on the episode, and the two highest-scoring contestants in the Showcase Showdown advanced to the Showcase. The winning showcase went to a viewer watching at home.
Let's Make a Deal was played exactly as it was during the Monty Hall
Monty Hall
Monte Halperin, OC, OM , better known by the stage name Monty Hall, is a Canadian-born MC, producer, actor, singer and sportscaster, best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.-Early life:...
era in which the celebrities and some actual audience members taking part in the deals and they were wearing costumes, and it ended with the Big Deal, worth over $87,000. As mentioned, Gilbert Gottfried appeared in the zonks. The celebrity who won the most advanced to Finalists' Row and their prizes were awarded to a home viewer.
Beat the Clock was played in a tournament format. Two of the celebrities played a stunt as a team with a time limit of 60 seconds. The other two celebrities played the same stunt, trying to beat the first team's time. The two celebrities on the winning team then faced off in another stunt. The winner of the second stunt played one final stunt alone and if it was completed successfully within the 60 second time limit, a home viewer wins a car in addition to the other prizes earned by the winning celebrity.
The game board for Press Your Luck had top amounts of $3,000, $4,000 and $5,000 + One Spin in round one, and those values doubled in round two. The winning celebrity's cash and prizes went to a home viewer.
Contestants playing Card Sharks won money for each round: $1,000 for round one, $2,000 for round two. The tiebreaker round featured on the NBC and CBS versions was not used. Instead, a complete round with five cards and four questions was played as round three for $3,000. The first contestant to win two rounds won the game. The Money Cards offered a top prize of $144,000. $1,000 was given at the start of that round, and another $1,000 was given on the second level. Minimum bets were $50 on each card until the Big Bet, where a bet equal to at least half the current score must be wagered. The contestant could change one card per line by choosing one of three spare cards. Like the 1986–1989 version of the show, a car game was added; however, it did not resemble either version used during that period. In this car game, the contestant had to correctly determine whether the number of cheerleaders that answered "yes" to a question was higher or lower than five.
In Match Game, two contestants each tried to match the celebrities as on the original series. The winner after Round 3 moved on to the Super Match for a chance to win up to $50,000 for a home viewer. Two audience matches were played with $500, $250, and $100 as the possible payouts, and the contestant had a chance to multiply the total won from the audience matches by 50 by matching one celebrity in the Head-to-Head match.
The finale featured Family Feud, with teams competing to score 300 points first. The points doubled in round four and tripled in round five and beyond. In Fast Money, the first contestant had 20 seconds to answer the questions and the other received 25 seconds. A home viewer won $50,000 if the two contestants in Fast Money were able to reach or exceed 200 points.