Temptation (2007 US game show)

Infobox Television
show_name = Temptation


caption = "Temptation" logo (2007-2008)
genre = Game show
presenter = Rossi Morreale
country = USA
language = American English
num_seasons = 1
num_episodes = 170
executive_producer = Ginger Simpson
producer = FremantleMedia North America/20th Television
location = Los Angeles, California
runtime = 20:17 minutes
network = Syndication
first_aired = September 10, 2007
last_aired = June 13, 2008 (reran until September 5, 2008)
preceded_by = "Sale of the Century" (1983 – 1989)
followed_by =
related = Temptation (1967 US game show)
website = http://SeenOnTemptation.com

The American version of the Australian show "Temptation: The New Sale of the Century" was a television game show. Loosely based on both the original Australian and American "Sale of the Century" and the current Australian remake, also called "Temptation", the show began airing in syndication starting September 10, 2007, with the last first-run episode airing June 13, 2008. Reruns continued until September 5, 2008.

"Temptation" was hosted by Rossi Morreale, produced by FremantleMedia North America, and syndicated by 20th Television. Former talk show host Rolonda Watts served as the announcer.

Owned-and-operated stations of MyNetworkTV were among the stations carrying the show, as was the former WTBS Atlanta, which is currently known as Peachtree TV. MyNetworkTV carried a preview of the show, featuring several "American Idol" alumni, on September 5, 2007 in primetime.

Before the show premiered, the writers went on strike because FremantleMedia refused to recognize the Writers Guild of America, west as the writers' chosen labor representative. [http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/CA6479480.html Writers Guild of America West Pickets Tribune Studio’s Temptation - 9/18/2007 1:15:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable ] ]

Some markets including WWOR in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut area, and KTXH in the Houston area were airing two episodes per day. The second episode aired was from later in the season. This was determined by the noticeably shorter intro, and Watts referenced "Temptation dollars" in the "Shopper's Paradise" round. She referenced the price of the prizes as dollars in earlier episodes.

Front Game Rules

The game was played in two rounds, each broken down into several parts. Three contestants, including a returning champion, started the game with $20 (which were called "Temptation dollars"). The host explained the rules:

Round 1

This round was broken down into three parts — a speed round, an "Instant Bargain" and the "Fame Game," each described below:

*30-second "speed round" — Morreale asked a series of rapid-fire pop culture questions; correct answers were worth $5, while incorrect responses lost $5.

*Instant Bargain — The leader after the initial speed round was offered a chance to spend some of his/her "Temptation dollars" to purchase a prize at a discount. Played just like the original "Sale of the Century" Instant Bargains, the host often offered extra incentives (e.g., reducing the price, offering cash, on occasion, if the prize was a pair of " Cheap Tickets " the host added additional tickets until the player buzzed in) to entice the contestant; however, if two or all three contestants were tied, a Dutch auction was frequently conducted. The only stylistic difference was that instead of the host saying "Going once... going twice..." the player was placed on a five-second "Shop Clock."

*Fame Game — The host read clues leading to a famous person, place, thing, etc. One major difference from the 1980s "Sale of the Century" round was that, on the monitor behind the host, letters filled in a puzzle, one at a time. For a correct answer, the contestant won $15.

Round 2

After the first commercial break, the second round consisted of rounds named Knock Off, a second Instant Bargain, "Instant Cash" and two toss-up rounds.

*Knock Off — Similar to the 1980s game show "Wipeout", a category was announced and 12 possible answers were shown; nine answers were correct, while three were wrong. Each contestant, in turn, selected one of the answers. A correct answer turned gold, and was worth cash (four $2 answers, three $5 answers, a $10 answer, and a $15 answer, although some boards also had two $3 answers replacing two worth $2). An incorrect answer was noted in red and eliminated that contestant for the remainder of that round. Play continued until the last correct answer was found or all three players had been eliminated. In general, the less obvious an answer was, the more it was worth.

*Instant Bargain — This was played as before, usually for a slightly more expensive prize.

*Second "speed round" — Two answers were given before the start of the round, both usually with a similar theme (e.g., "Winger or Gunslinger," where contestants had to identify the films as Films Starring Debra Winger; or Westerns, which were sometimes called Gunslingers). Questions were based around the two possible answers. Once again, the speed round lasted for 30 seconds, and questions were worth $5 up or down.

*Instant Cash — Based on the "Sale of the Century" round, the leader at that point was offered a chance at a cash jackpot, which began at $500, and rose by that amount until it was claimed or reached $5,000; at that point, it was frozen until claimed. To play, the contestant had to give up his/her entire lead over the second-place opponent; also as before, if two or more contestants were tied, a Dutch auction was conducted (it usually started at the difference between the tied players and third place). If he/she opted to play, the host showed the contestant three wallets, one of which had contained the jackpot and the other two $100. This was a carryover from the 1980's version of "Sale of the Century", except the players chose 1 of 3 boxes and the jackpot started at $1,000 and went up that much with no limit.

*Final "speed round" — After a second commercial break, a final 30-second round of questions was played. Correct answers were worth $10; incorrect answers lost that amount.

The contestant with the highest score was the champion and advanced to the "Shopper's Paradise" round, for the "Shopping Spree of a Lifetime." If two or more contestants were tied, then, instead of a Dutch auction, a tiebreaker question was announced. The contestant who had the right answer earned $10 and became the champion. If not, the opponent won $10 and became the champion. The losers kept any cash and prizes won during the main game; unlike the earlier incarnations of "Sale of the Century", they did not receive their score in cash.

hopper's Paradise

The end game was played in two parts:

*Super Knock Off — This was nearly identical to the main game round, except six answers were correct and six answers were wrong. Correct choices netted the contestant anywhere from $25 to $100 in "Temptation dollars." Four answers were worth $25, one was worth $50, and one was worth $100 (for a cumulative maximum of $250). The contestant stopped at any time, as a wrong answer ended the game and forfeited any cash accumulated during that round.

*Shopper's Paradise — Almost the same in concept as the original "shopping" format from the 1970s "Sale of the Century", the contestant was shown five prizes, each in ascending value, at greatly reduced prices; the most expensive prize was usually a car, but sometimes an expensive trip was offered instead. After all five prizes were announced, the contestant was given time (one last commercial break, which included promotional consideration credits) to ponder whether he/she wanted to buy a prize (as long as there were enough "Temptation dollars" available), or bank it and return on the next show to try to buy one of the more expensive items. In the event that a contestant did not have enough "Temptation dollars" to buy the least expensive prize, they were offered the chance to either buy a Croton diamond watch with their winnings or return to the next show. If the five-day contestant does not have enough "Temptation dollars" to buy a either a car or an expensive trip, then he/she goes shopping and has to think on what to buy during one last commercial break.

Unlike the 1980s version of "Sale of the Century", for reasons unexplained, there was no special bonus for garnering a high amount of score money; as such, buying all the prizes was not possible. A contestant continued as champion until he/she purchased one of the prizes from "Shopper's Paradise," had enough money to purchase the top prize, or was defeated. Unlike previous versions of the show, there was a five-day limit on "Temptation": if the contestant was a five-time champion, they had to buy a prize from "Shopper's Paradise" after the Super Knock Off round, as they were retired afterwards.

Temptation Tournament

From November 19-21, 2007, and then again from November 26-28 of that year, "Temptation" aired two 3-day tournaments where 3 former contestants returned and played for the entire tournament. The contestants were different for each of the two tournaments. Rules remained pretty much the same for each tournament, except that contestants started each game with 30 "Temptation dollars." The winner of each game played Super Knock Off. The winner of day 1 and 2 played Super Knock Off, but did not go to "Shopper's Paradise." In day 3, a special 10% off coupon was presented for the contestant in the lead for the second Instant Bargain if the contestant accepted the bargain. Only the winner of day 3 went to "Shopper's Paradise." One contestant bought $10,000 and the other bought a 10-day trip to Thailand.

hop-At-Home Temptation Offers

Before commercial breaks, offers for products at discounted prices were advertised. These items were purchased online at the show's official site. The offers were separate items, but later became generic "60% off retail" plug offers.

Differences In The First Episodes

In the very first episodes of "Temptation", the games worked a little differently. They were: the first "speed round", the first "Instant Bargain", the Fame Game, then the second "speed round", then after the first commercial break, there was "Knock Off", then the second "Instant Bargain", then a second Fame Game worth $25, then "Instant Cash", and then the final "speed round." Also, the price tags at "Shopper's Paradise" were white instead of orange, and the host actually showed the winning contestant around "Shopper's Paradise," while the announcer told about the prizes.

Grand Champions

There were 5 contestants that went all the way to the top grand prize on the show (a car in all cases), and 4 won it. 3 contestants who won the grand prize were male and only 1 was female. The only other female contestant went all the way but failed to win a car.

Ratings

With the exception of the preview episode, which rated 0.8 [Downey, Kevin. [http://www.medialifemagazine.com/artman2/publish/Television_44/Syndicated_TV_s_new_star_Family_Guy.asp Syndicated TV's new star: Family Guy] . Media Life. October 4, 2007.] , "Temptation" wasn't rated above 0.5 in the Nielsen rating system^{(TVgameshows.net)}, making it the lowest rated game show on broadcast television. The next lowest rated game show, "Merv Griffin's Crosswords", maintained a 0.8-1.0 share. Although the final first-run episode of "Temptation" aired on June 13, 2008, the show's official cancellation was not announced until July 29, 2008.

ee Also

*Temptation (1967 US game show) "(a program not related to this series)"

References

*" [http://tvweek.com/news/2007/01/twentieth_clears_show_based_on.php Twentieth Clears Show Based On 'Sale Of The Century'] "

External Links

* [http://shop.seenon.com/index.php?v=sso-temp-about-temptation&DCMP=KNC-G-Temptation&HBX_OU=50&HBX_PK=temptation%20show&pa=Netramind_temptation%20show_G_Temptatn_Show Temptation official site]
* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068587/ Temptation IMDb listing]