About.com Game Shows

Price is Right 7000th, Plus Theme Shows Next Week

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:52:13 +0000

Yesterday's 7000th episode of The Price is Right had a lot of subtle nostalgic touches that made it a lot of fun to watch. The contestants, with the exception of Justine of course, didn't seem to fare very well, but the games themselves were very well done. I know many people were hoping for a guest appearance by one of Barker's Beauties or even the man himself, but what we ended up with was a solid nod to the past while keeping the current spirit of the game intact.

The highlight of the show in my opinion was the Showcase portion. From classic music to the presentations of the Showcases themselves, the whole segment just worked. The lowlight? Contestant Evie stopping at 30 cents in the second Showcase Showdown. Major blunder there.

We'll close out this week's hat-tip to Price with one final poll: Who's your favorite former Price is Right model? If you've got a favorite who isn't listed, please feel free to mention her in the comments.

Finally, next week Price welcomes a special guest and serves up an annual themed episode. On Tuesday, November 10th, NASCAR driver Carl Edwards makes an appearance. Then, on Wednesday, November 11th, it's the U.S. Armed Forces episode.

What did you think of the 7000th episode celebration? Were you expecting a little more, or did you enjoy the show for what it was?

Photo courtesy CBS

Price is Right 7000th, Plus Theme Shows Next Week originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 11:52:13.

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Kara Scott Officially Named High Stakes Poker Co-Host

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:06:48 +0000

I have to admit, I've stayed pretty quiet on the whole High Stakes Poker kerfuffle over at GSN, mostly because I'm not a poker fan at all. I know very little about the game, don't play, and don't watch. Most of you know, however, that co-host AJ Benza was fired, and he's covered his experience extensively in his blog. There's also a good overview of what's happened over at BuzzerBlog.

Today, GSN issued a press release that confirms the latest rumors over who will be replacing Benza as co-host of High Stakes Poker, along with Gabe Kaplan. Kara Scott, a poker player herself who's also hosted the European Poker Tour, will be joining Kaplan when High Stakes Poker begins filming this month at the Golden Nugget Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. Season 6 of the show will begin airing on February 14th, 2010.

What might be worrisome to fans of HSP is that GSN is also boasting a "new look and feel" for the show. There are no details to describe these changes, of course, except that Kara Scott will apparently be "reporting from the High Stakes Poker suite, interviewing poker players about poker strategy, big hands and the table dynamics."

We do have a partial list of the competitors on tap to play (which is subject to change), and they are:

Patrik Antonius
David Benyamine
Doyle Brunson
Tom Dwan
Eli Elezra
Antonio Esfandiari
Sammy George
Barry Greenstein
Phil Hellmuth
Andreas Hoivold
Phil Ivey
Mike Matusow
Allan Meltzer
Daniel Negreanu
Dennis Phillips
Lex Veldhuis
Yevgeniy Timoshenko

What do these changes mean to the end product of the show? No one knows yet, but from what I'm hearing, many fans aren't happy with the way things are rolling out with this new season.

Logo courtesy GSN

Kara Scott Officially Named High Stakes Poker Co-Host originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 at 13:06:48.

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Who's Your Favorite Current Price is Right Model?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:19:50 +0000

Tomorrow's The Price is Right show marks its 7000th episode, so this week we're doing some Price-based polls, just for fun.

Yesterday I asked you who your favorite announcer is, and the results so far are pretty close!

Today, we're voting for our favorite current Price is Right model. The models have always been a big part of the show, and it's always great when we get to see a little bit of their personalities in addition to their good looks and fun outfits. And don't worry classic Price fans - tomorrow we'll be asking you to pick your favorite past model.

So which of these lovely ladies is your favorite? Go ahead and submit your vote!

Who's Your Favorite Current Price is Right Model? originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Wednesday, November 4th, 2009 at 14:19:50.

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Upcoming Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Guest Hosts

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 13:42:56 +0000

Here's some good news for Who Wants to Be a Millionaire fans, for a change. Regis Philbin announced this morning on Live! with Regis and Kelly that he's heading out this afternoon to begin taping a weeks' worth of shows as a guest host, filling in for Meredith Vieira while she's on vacation.

The shows won't actually air until spring 2010, but at least we know that one of the guest hosts will be worth tuning in for! Live with Regis and Kelly executive producer Michael Gelman will be the expert for the Ask the Expert lifeline that week. A video clip of Regis' announcement this morning will be posted at the Live with Regis and Kelly website later this afternoon, and Meredith Vieira will be a guest on the show this coming Monday, November 9th, to discuss the Tournament of Ten.

I'm sure you noticed that I said "one of the guest hosts" above. Apparently, according to a poster at the Golden-Road message board, the other guest host will be none other than John Henson, co-host of Wipeout!.

Photo courtesy ABC

Upcoming Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Guest Hosts originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 13:42:56.

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Who's Your Favorite Price is Right Announcer?

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:14:11 +0000

In honor of the upcoming 7000th episode of The Price is Right, we're going to run a couple of polls this week just for fun.

The first one covers the three regular Price is Right announcers who have been featured on the show during the past 37 years. Everyone has his or her favorite, so now it's time to vote for yours!

As a quick refresher (not that most of us need it), Johnny Olson was the first announcer for Price, from 1972 to 1985. Olson was a class act, and he worked on many game shows, including The Match Game and To Tell the Truth. He's the one responsible for the TPIR catch phrase, "Come on Down!"

After his death in 1985, Olson was replaced by Rod Roddy. Roddy had worked previously on Love Connection and Press Your Luck, and became well-known for his flamboyant personality and wardrobe. Roddy held the announcer position until his own death in 2003.

Since 2004, the announcer has been Rich Fields. Fields is a long-time fan of the show, and as an audience member in 1978 was called up by Johnny Olson to holler, "Johnny Olson, come on down!"

The announcers on The Price is Right have always enjoyed quite a bit more camera attention than on most game shows, making them a vital part of the show's success. Now it's time to choose which one you've enjoyed most over the past (almost) 7000 episodes!

Who's Your Favorite Price is Right Announcer? originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009 at 11:14:11.

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How to Find Game Show Auditions

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 01:10:04 +0000

By Chad Mosher

I've written about The Three Bes, the three things an potential game show contestant can do to cement success when they try out for a show. But before you can be successful at an audition, you've got to know where to find the audition! In the age of the internet, auditions could turn up almost anywhere. This post details the most likely areas where information on a tryout can be found.

The first place a prospective contestant should always look is on that show's web page. All shows will post information about future auditions. Some shows even let you audition right on their website! In recent years, both Jeopardy! and Who Wants to be a Millionaire have featured online tests, similar to those at in-person auditions. With Jeopardy!, to be on the show you will still have to pass an in-person test; for Millionaire, a video audition and good test score is good enough for them! Most of the big shows go on the road to audition throughout the year. The show's website will have that information. If you know that your city will be one featured, check the website of the local station that airs that program. They're likely to have more specialized information than the national site.

If you're in the New York or Los Angeles area where most game shows tape (or are willing to travel there to audition), another great place to look that one might not even think of is Craigslist. Craigslist is a collection of free and paid online advertisements, organized by region, and you can do anything from buy furniture to get a job there. Most of the big cities and their metropolitan areas have their own section on Craigslist, where buyers, sellers and job hunters can post what they're looking for free. For the New York and Los Angeles areas, the places where you'll want to do your searching is the "gigs" and "jobs" section. Doing searches for "game show" and "contestant" will usually yield you the best results. A big note is that if you're not in these areas, you probably shouldn't try to contact the posters as it will be useless. The postings in the NYC/LA areas are usually for localized shows that aren't going to conduct contestant searches around the country.

Read more...

How to Find Game Show Auditions originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 01:10:04.

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The Price is Right Celebrates Episode 7000 This Week

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:09:16 +0000

The Price is Right is celebrating a milestone this week, and you'll want to tune in for this one for sure. On Thursday, November 5th, the show marks its 7000th episode.

Since 1972, The Price is Right has racked up some pretty interesting (and impressive) stats. Check these out:

Almost a quarter of a billion dollars in cash and prizes given out to over 62,000 contestants.
Two million studio audience members.
The phrase, "a new car!" has been hollered by Johnny Olson, Rod Roddy, and Rich Fields over 15,000 times. (Of which only about 7,000 cars have been awarded.)
Contestants from all 50 states have played, as well as many Canadians and visitors from other countries. This remains one of the only Canadian-friendly game shows out there.

The show on Thursday will mark current host Drew Carey's 415th episode, and number 1,001 for announcer Rich Fields. The number "7000" will feature heavily in the games and set decor too.

Three of the six games on the show will be those that were included in the very first broadcast, on September 4th, 1972. Want to wager any guesses on what they might be? It might have been fun if they had reverted back to the old prices for those too. (I'm kidding, of course.)

This should be a fun show, and I'm sure we'll see a few flashbacks to the first episode. The Price is Right has been quite enjoyable so far this season and I for one am looking forward to many more seasons.

Photo courtesy CBS

The Price is Right Celebrates Episode 7000 This Week originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 00:09:16.

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The New Jeopardy! Premier Club

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:08:00 +0000

If you've been watching Jeopardy! lately or visited the Jeopardy! website, you've likely noticed mentions of the new Premier Club. The program is fun, and there's even an online tournament going on with a nice little prize at the end.

To sign up, go to jeopardy.com and click on the ad for the Premier Club (it should be listed under "Essentials" on the left). You'll be taken to the Sony Rewards Jeopardy! page, where you can register. Then, after each episode of the show, log in and identify the correct Final Jeopardy category to earn points. You can also earn points by playing a weekly Jeopardy game, in which all of the categories and clues will come from the previous week's games.

Every three months, 33 players will be selected randomly to advance to one of three quarterly tournaments, played online. Whoever gets the highest score in this round will advance. After all quarterly tournaments have been played, the three players left standing for the final tourney, also played online. The winner of this round wins $5,000 and a trip to Los Angeles to attend a Jeopardy! taping. (If the winner is also a Sony Card holder, the prize money doubles to $10,000.)

If lots of you are planning to sign up and play, we can open up a thread in the game shows forum to share strategies and such. The tournaments are only open to US residents, so I'll not be playing, but I can certainly help out where I can! Good luck to everyone participating.

Logo courtesy Sony Television

The New Jeopardy! Premier Club originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Sunday, November 1st, 2009 at 17:08:00.

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Halloween Tune In Reminder

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 19:30:53 +0000

Don't forget to set your TiVo's or tune in on Friday, October 30th for some game show Halloween fun!

The Price is Right is getting all dressed up, with Drew Carey as the Cliffhanger yodeler. I won't spoil all of the costumes for you, but I will tell you that they're all various props from the show. I think the men in the audience will especially enjoy the Plinko chip.

Also, Family Feud is celebrating Halloween with families in costume, as well as host John O'Hurley. O'Hurley's young son Will makes a cameo appearance, and he is absolutely adorable. You can see some preview photos of this episode in our Family Feud Halloween gallery.

Don't forget too that Wheel of Fortune has been celebrating all week long with their themed Halloween Week.

Happy Halloween, game show fans!

Photo courtesy CBS

Halloween Tune In Reminder originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Thursday, October 29th, 2009 at 19:30:53.

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How to Play and Win on GSN Live

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 00:46:53 +0000

By Chad Mosher

I hope you picked up $100 (at least!) using my tips for GSN Radio last week. This week, we'll be discussing its older and more profitable television counterpart, GSN Live. Airing from 3-6 pm Eastern (12-3 pm Pacific) every weekday, GSN Live is an interstitial program that airs during some breaks in regular GSN programming. At the end of each hour, they play a game where a home viewer (sometimes multiple viewers) can win prizes from cash to HDTVs to even vacations! GSN Live is a bit more difficult to get on and play but once you do, if you follow my instructions you can make the most of it!

The entry format is very similar to that of GSN Radio but there are some subtle, yet important differences. Unlike on Radio where you can play if you're 21, Live's age requirement is 18. A negative for some is that Live is only open to American residents. Eligible prospects will need to register at their website, GSN.com/live. (Hint: In order to register for Live, you need a GSN.com account. Since using multiple accounts is forbidden, not to mention frowned upon by me, the multiple phones trick will not work online.)

Ten online entries (and one phone entry) are accepted from :00 to :45 of that hour - when you enter for a game, you are only entering for the game in that hour. (Hint: The exception to this rule is for the Money Meter game at the end of the day. All internet entries made throughout the day before 5:15 ET are eligible to be chosen to play the special Money Meter trivia question.)

So, if you want to play the game in every hour, you'll need to register at three different points in the day. (Hint: Try spacing out your entries throughout the hour. Imagine it as if they're entries at a raffle - you'd rather have them at different areas in the drum instead of clumped together, right?) At :45 the floodgates are closed and the phone calls start going out.

Automated calls are made to randomly selected entrants. When you pick up the phone, you'll hear a greeting that invites you to press "1" to confirm your age. After you do this, one of three things will happen:

Read more...

How to Play and Win on GSN Live originally appeared on About.com Game Shows on Monday, October 26th, 2009 at 00:46:53.

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