Gameshow Marathon (U.S. TV series)

infobox television
show_name = Gameshow Marathon


caption = Ricki Lake, host
format = Game show
runtime = 60 minutes
starring = Host: Ricki Lake
Announcer: Rich Fields
Prize delivery host: Todd Newton
Contestants:
Lance Bass, Paige Davis,
Tim Meadows, Kathy Najimy,
Leslie Nielsen, Brande Roderick
Panelists:
Adam Carolla, Adrianne Curry,
George Foreman, Kathy Griffin,
Bruce Vilanch, Betty White
country = US
network = CBS, with simultaneous substitution on CTV in Canada
first_aired = May 31, 2006
last_aired = June 29, 2006
num_episodes = 7
imdb_id = 0787359
tv_com_id = 58786 |

"Gameshow Marathon" is an American television program, based on the UK's television program of the same name. It is a retro-themed/celebrity game miniseries that debuted on American television network CBS and Canadian television network CTV on May 31, 2006 as a television special that aired through the entire month of June. It is based on "Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon", which aired in 2005 on the UK's ITV as part of the network's 50th anniversary. A second series is currently running in the UK, however the new series is presented by Vernon Kay.

The first (and thus far only) season was produced by FremantleMedia North America and Granada America, hosted by Ricki Lake, and announced by Rich Fields. Todd Newton hosted the "prize delivery" segments, in which he appeared at the homes of the play-at-home winners.

Premise

The seven-part game show tournament featured celebrity contestants Lance Bass, Paige Davis, Tim Meadows, Kathy Najimy, Leslie Nielsen, and Brande Roderick. The celebrities played "The Price Is Right", "Let's Make a Deal", "Beat the Clock", "Press Your Luck", "Card Sharks", "Match Game" and "Family Feud" (in that order). The "Match Game" installment featured panelists Adam Carolla, Adrianne Curry, George Foreman, Kathy Griffin, Bruce Vilanch and Betty White (in her traditional seat). They also appeared as audience members (humorously feigning aspirations of contestant selection) during the first installment ("The Price Is Right").Gilbert Gottfried and the "Barker's Beauties" from "The Price Is Right" also played a role in some of the installments, along with the original Whammy animations (along with a remix of the original Whammy "foghorn" sound effect) on "Press Your Luck". Gilbert Gottfried was the official "Let's Make a Deal" zonk, as he appeared in all the "zonk" prizes in that portion.

Formats

The format of each individual show was largely unchanged, though modifications were made to accommodate the 60-minute format (as opposed to the 30-minute duration of the non-"Price Is Right" component shows) and to conform with the overall format of "Gameshow Marathon".

The tournament format was as follows: All six celebrity contestants participated in the first game ("The Price Is Right"). The player who won this game won the first of four seats in "Finalists' Row" and moved on to the next round of play. The remaining players after each game was played then participated in the next game (five for "Let's Make a Deal", four for "Beat the Clock", and three for "Press Your Luck") to win one of the remaining seats. After the fourth game, the remaining two players were eliminated.

The four players in "Finalists' Row" were then paired in a knockout competition—first against third and second against fourth—to play the fifth and sixth games ("Card Sharks" and "Match Game", respectively). The winners of these two games then proceeded to the "championship game", "Family Feud".

For the finals, each celebrity has to assemble a five-player team of family and friends to play "Family Feud" in the 1979 format, with the charity of the winning "family" receiving US$100,000.

The series used replicas of the game shows' original sets, with the exception of "The Price Is Right" (for which parts of the actual game set were transported from Studio 33 to Studio 46, including the Big Wheel and Plinko). The "Family Feud" set featured a video screen (similar to that used for the present version) instead of a trilon game board.

Each installment began with Rich Fields's narration of the night's featured show. He provided a short overview of the best-known versions of each show, complete with rules and highlights.

Home viewers' sweepstakes

CBS sponsored a home viewers' sweepstakes in conjunction with series co-sponsor Harrah's Entertainment. During each broadcast, a multiple-choice trivia question was asked relating to that installment's game. Viewers submitted their choices out of three given answers either by text-messaging via cell phone, or registering on the CBS.com website and using the online entry form. The names of the entrants who answered correctly were placed into a random draw pot, from which the winners were chosen. For the first six installments, said winner won the same prizes won by that evening's winning celebrity player, plus a "Harrah's VIP Vacation Package" trip. (Each of these prize packages was worth about US$50,000.) The winner of the seventh night's drawing won a flat US$50,000 cash.

Winners of the sweepstakes were featured in the "prize delivery" segments, in which Todd Newton introduced a semi-trailer truck (emblazoned with the "Gameshow Marathon" logo) delivering the prizes won. Further details on the rules of this sweepstakes can be found [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/game_show_marathon/rules.php here] .

CTV aired the same sweepstakes details, despite the fact that Canadians were ineligible to participate. No separate promotion was held.

Tournament recap

*On "The Price Is Right", Brande Roderick had the best bid in the Showcase and advanced to the semifinals.
*Lance Bass became the next semifinalist on "Let's Make a Deal".
*Paige Davis won the "Beat the Clock" installment.
*Kathy Najimy won the last semifinal slot on "Press Your Luck". Tim Meadows and Leslie Nielsen were eliminated (Nielsen whammied himself out of the game).
*Roderick defeated Davis in "Card Sharks", the first semifinal.
*In the second semifinal, Najimy defeated Bass on "Match Game".
*Najimy and her family then beat Roderick and her family on "Family Feud" to capture the top prize. (Each had played the game before: Najimy with other relatives on a regular game in 1981, and Roderick as part of the cast of "" in 2000.)

Turkey Telecast

Kanal D in the Turkey presented the Turkey version of "Yarışma Maratonu", beginning on April 11, 2006. For Turkish viewers, this was a rare glimpse into the world of American game shows, although some, such as "The Price Is Right" ("Kaç Para?"), "Let's Make a Deal" ("Seç Bakalım"), "Match Game" ("Şansını Dene"), "Sale of the Century" ("Yüzyılın İndirimi"), "Card Sharks" ("Aşağı Yukarı"), "Password" ("Parola") and "Family Feud" ("Aileler Yarışıyor"), have succeeded in the Turkey. Emre Altuğ and Özgü Namal were the hosts.

UK telecast

ITV2 in the UK presented the U.S. version of "Game Show Marathon", beginning on August 31, 2006. For British viewers, this was a rare glimpse into the world of American game shows, although some, such as "The Price Is Right"; "Card Sharks" ("Play Your Cards Right"); "Match Game" ("Blankety Blank") and "Family Feud" ("Family Fortunes"), have succeeded in the UK.

German telecast

ProSieben in Germany has also aired a local version of the show, which began on January 15, 2007. The featured games in the show are "The Price is Right" ("Der Preis ist heiß"), "Family Feud" ("Famillien-Duell"), "Let's Make a Deal" ("Geh aufs Ganze!"), "Card Sharks" ("Bube Dame Hörig"), "Sale of the Century" ("Hopp oder Top"), and "Ruck Zuck" -- all most-watched game shows in the last 30 years on German television. Oliver Pocher and Oliver Petszokat were the hosts.

Trivia

* Most installments featured set designs, rules, music, and sound effects taken from the shows' original versions. "The Price Is Right" featured the Season 34 (current season at the time of taping in March 2006) set designs, rules, music, and sound effects. "Card Sharks" combined elements of the original 1978-1981 NBC version (the four-corner split-screen introduction, alternating flashing neon signs, the theme music, and an introductory poem) and the subsequent 1986-1989 CBS version (the Money Cards using three pre-dealt change cards, and the car game). "Match Game" used the more well-known 70's version, rather than the rarely seen original version. The cash amounts and other prizes for all of the shows were updated considerably.
* The series covered the Monty Hall version of "Let's Make a Deal", the Bud Collyer version of "Beat the Clock", the Peter Tomarken version of "Press Your Luck", the Bob Eubanks version of "Card Sharks", the 1970s Gene Rayburn version of "Match Game", and the first Richard Dawson version of "Family Feud". In addition, the series also covered both the Bill Cullen and Bob Barker versions of "The Price is Right", although the Barker version was played with a modified 30-minute format which included three pricing games and the Showcase Showdown.
* Press Your Luck used recreations of whammy animations, and the soundtracks were digitally remastered.
* In the "Family Feud" episode, the 1994 rule change (still in use at the time on the current syndicated version) regarding the Fast Money time limit of 20/25-seconds was adopted instead of the original 15/20-second format.
* To home viewers, it seemed as though Kathy Najimy was given only one putt in the "The Price Is Right"'s "Hole in One" segment. In actuality, she was given two putts (missing both), and the second putt was edited out due to time constraints.
* During "The Price Is Right", a special rule was added for the "Plinko" segment, allowing Paige Davis to win the last small prize (in this case, an MP3 player) for all non-celebrity audience members when she guessed the correct number in the price of the prize. The MP3 player ended up being $99. The Plinko board's layout was the same as that of "The Price Is Right"'s primetime specials, the top slot being $20,000.
* The oval survey board for "Family Feud" was accidentally constructed upside-down, with the screen on the narrower end where the bottom lights should've been. It was destroyed a few months later. The upcoming season of the syndicated Feud at the time was adopting a similar look but the board was clear and not blue, and had computer screens for the score readouts instead of the eggcrates. (An eggcrate score was added to the family podium later in the 2006-07 season.)
* To make Card Sharks even more accurate, they borrowed an original card from Fox exec (and former Game Show Network head) Bob Boden just to replicate the size.
* The "Press Your Luck" rotating contestant seats rotated opposite the way they rotated on the actual series.
* Betty White was the only one to appear on the Match Game segment, which she was from the original version of it and in her original position as well.

External links

* [http://www.cbs.com/primetime/game_show_marathon/ Official CBS.com show page]
* [http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/show/CTVShows/20060517/gameshow_marathon_default/20060517/ Official CTV.ca show page]
* [http://www.planetricki.com/television/gsm/ Ricki Lake fan site Gamehsow Marathon page]
* [http://www.flashgameshows.com/GSM.html FLASHGames² involvement with "Gameshow Marathon"]
* [http://www.richfields.tv Rich Fields Official Website]
* [http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117939825?categoryid=14&cs=1&nid=2565 "Variety" article on "Game Show Marathon" details]
* [http://www.richfields.tv/gsmpromo.mpeg Video clip of the show's promo]