National Lampoon's Funny Money is a comedy game show

Game 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...

 that aired on GSN

Game Show Network

The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...

 from June 15 to October 24, 2003. The show was hosted by stand-up comedian Jimmy Pardo

Jimmy Pardo

Jimmy Pardo is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and host of the popular comedy podcast Never Not Funny.He is married to fellow comedian Danielle Koenig. They live in Los Angeles with their son Oliver...

, and Budd Friedman

Budd Friedman

Budd Friedman is best known as the founder and original proprietor and MC of the Improvisation Comedy Club, which opened in 1963, on West 44th Street near the SE corner of 9th Avenue, in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan...

 served as the announcer.

Format

Two contestants compete by answering comedy questions facing three celebrity comedians head-to-head for a fabulous vacation.

Round 1

Jimmy asks both contestants a toss-up question about the world of comedy, and the first person to buzz-in with the correct answer gets 2 points (which Jimmy refers to as "billion[s of] Funny Money dollars"), and gets to pick one of the celebrity comedians to perform on the stage for 45 seconds. Each distinct time the on-screen laugh meter goes in the green zone, the contestant earns an additional point.

Round 2

Prior to the show, the staff went to National Lampoon's website, and found various unusual pictures. Before the show, Jimmy has the comedians come up with the funny captions for each one. Both contestants locked in the one who they think will get the biggest laughs according to the Laugh Meter. Each correct answer earns 5 points.

Round 3: Comedy Recall

All three comedians (one-by-one) (or a special guest) will perform on-stage for a short routine. At the end of the routine, Jimmy asks a series of toss-up questions to both contestants based on the comedians' performance. The first person who buzzes-in with the correct answer earns 5 points.

The round is played to an unspecified time limit; when the time buzzer is rung, the person with the most points wins the game and gets a chance to play the Bonus Round for a trip; the loser is given unacknowledged consolation prizes and an acknowledged joke prize (such as cedar chips or chocolate laxiatives).

Bonus Round

The show's logo is divided into 12 sections that hide a still from a famous comedy movie, and the contestant must identify the exact title of the movie. The contestant picks one of the three comedians. That comedian performs for one second for every point earned in the game, with a minimum time limit of 30 seconds.

For every laugh they get in the Funny Zone during the time limit that comedian performs, the contestant gets $300 and one section of the still to be revealed. The contestant is then given 5 seconds to confer with the comedian, and if they can identify the movie the contestant wins the trip. If not, they still earn their money.

Animal House Special

A special episode featuring Babs and Flounder from the movie Animal House played for charity aired in 2003. The winner, Babs, scored 28 billion "Funny Money dollars", earned $2,000 for her charity, and went on to play the bonus round for charity. During the 30 seconds (the house minimum) that her comedian performed, two laughs (for an additional $600) were generated; Babs failed to guess the final picture. If she had won the bonus round, her total winnings would have doubled for a grand total of $5,200.