July 2012 Game Show Highlights (100th Article!)

Courtesy Nickelodeon.

As we enter into the month of August, this week's article will take a brief look back at some of the most interesting and most memorable game show moments that occurred during July. This month's game show highlight compilation include clips from shows such as Tipping Point, The Price Is Right, and The Cube. Enjoy!

Courtesy CBS.

July 4, 2012: The Price Is Right- Yahtzee! 
The Price Is Right's Fourth of July show did not exactly start with a bang as the first three contestants lost the first three games of the day. Despite a relatively slow start, the show quickly picked up momentum as the next three contestants won all three of the second half pricing games. The highlight of the three was Jonas achieving a rare five-of-a-kind on the first roll while playing Let ‘Em Roll for a $25,000+ car. This feat hasn't been accomplished since 2010. Click here to check out Jonas' easy car win. 

July 4, 2012: Figure It Out- Grennan's Getaway

Since Figure It Out returned to Nickelodeon, we have seen some memorable moments from the revived series thus far from contestants performing amazing, high-flying talents to last-second puzzle solves by the panel. The most unforgettable and craziest moment that has ever happened in the history of the entire series, past and present, occurred on July 4 upon a panelist correctly guessing the Word of Honor and Grennan’s secret talent. On a quick side note, watching Jeff run offstage reminded me of when Gene Rayburn would run through the aisles in the audience. At any rate, watch the clip below to see what happens.

July 5, 2012: Tipping Point- The First £10,000 Winner 

Courtesy ITV.

On July 2, ITV premiered a new game show that literally pushes the contestants’ nerves to their limit, or tipping point rather. Tipping Point has contestants answering trivia questions in an effort to strike it rich with the often unforgiving coin drop machine. In each show, four contestants play in three elimination rounds and the last man or woman standing will have a chance to play in the £10,000 end game. After watching the end game bonus round for the first time and seeing how difficult it was, I thought that it would be a while before the show would see a £10,000 win. I wouldn't be soon until I was proven otherwise as Tipping Point crowned its first £10,000 winner during the fourth episode of the series. Click here to check out Erika's £10,000 moment. 

July 9, 2012: Who Wants To Be a Millionaire and Blockbusters Continue Their Series 

Courtesy ITV.

July 9 marked the continuation of two well-known U.K. game shows, old and new: Who Wants to be a Millionaire and the all new Blockbusters. U.K.’s Millionaire resumed their 29th season with a series of “The People Play” special live episodes. For three consecutive nights, home viewers could play along with the show and answer the same challenging question as the contestants do by playing on the show’s website. According to host Chris Tarrant, this series of shows is simply an experiment. It worked well with ABC’s Millionaire with their play-along Enhanced TV online game play and the format should work with this program. On the first night, 61-year-old Dawn Harkins from Anglessy, North Wales came on the show with a purpose. Her ultimate goal was to win enough money to fly out to Brisbane, Australia and to see her son whom she had not seen in 45 years. On the second show, Dawn continued her emotional 12-question journey with a guaranteed £50,000 in her pocket after answering the second milestone question correctly on the last show. Her next question is worth £75,000. With two lifelines remaining, will Dawn add an extra £25,000 to her prize fund? Check out the clip below to find out. 

While Dawn’s Millionaire appearance worked out pretty well, the technology on the show proved otherwise. As Donna Herndon from Birmingham approached the £10,000 question, she quickly sought the help of the audience. The computer used to organize the audience’s answers didn’t provide much assistance, however. Check out the clip below to watch the electronic error and low-tech solution to the technical problem.

Courtesy Challenge TV.

The All New Blockbusters continued its first season back on the air with a special, hour-long celebrity episode. The list of celebrity contenders include Konnie Huq (who had previously appeared on the show during Bob Holness era), Paul Daniels, Debbie McGee, Alex James, Fatima Whitbread, and Keith Duffy. The celebrities were broken into two solo players and two paired teams. The winners of each of the two matches played a Gold Run bonus game and faced off against each other in the final match of the show. In this case, solo players Konnie Huq and Alex James won their matches, which resulted in Konnie selecting a partner (Keith Duffy) for the deciding match. Click here to check out the final match to see who will become the celebrity champion (or champions) of the show and if Konnie Huq can fully redeem herself after losing the match on her initial appearance more than 25 years ago. 

July 9 & 16, 2012: The 2011 Fear Factor Series Finale

Meanwhile in the U.S., the Fear Factor revival series continued its season with a new episode airing on July 9. The two-part episode titled "Leeches & Shaved Heads & Tear Gas, Oh My!" featured five teams battling it out in five extreme, phobia-driven stunts for $100,000. The second part aired the next week on July 16, perhaps marking the series finale for the six year-old show. Check out the Fear Factor series finale in the video below.  

Courtesy ITV.

July 14, 2012: Olympian Mo Farah Beats The Cube

In August 2009, Objective Productions created a show that put the contestants’ nerves, concentration, speed, strategy, physical agility, and mental ability to the ultimate test: The Cube. Since the show’s premiere, no one has ever fully beaten The Cube’s nefarious games. Many have reached the final £250,000 game, but decided instead to take the sure thing of £100,000. As the series progressed, it seemed like no one was going to have the tenacity or courage to beat The Cube. That is, until Olympic gold medalist Mo Farah stepped up to the ultimate challenge and approached the Cube with confidence. Avid viewers of the BAFTA awarding-winning game show know that the final game is a more difficult version of the game the contestant struggled with the most during their time in The Cube. Farah’s final challenge was “Barrier”. In this game, instead of stepping over two barriers, Farah must step over three without knocking down the sticks and make it to the opposite side of The Cube in order to bank the £250,000. Check out Farah’s “gold medal” performance in his jackpot game on BuzzerBlog. 

July 17, 2012: Nickelodeon Adds Splatalot 

Speaking of obstacles and challenges, the new Canadian kids’ game show Splatalot made its way to American soil by premiering on Nickelodeon on July 17 after Figure It Out. For those of you who have never heard of or have seen the show before, it’s essentially Wipeout for kids. (Check out my review of Splatalot for more information.) Comedian Matt Chin and television and radio host Jason Agnew took the helm as the hosts of the new medieval-themed game show. Splatalot premiered on YTV in Canada on March 14, 2011. So far, the show is now seen in over 100 countries worldwide. If you check out an episode shown in the video below, you will see why hundreds of networks from around the world have added this show to their schedule.

July 24, 2012: GSN's Debuts Minute To Win It 

Since NBC’s Minute To Win It was pulled off the network’s schedule in 2011, the Guy Fieri-hosted show has not been seen on any network since the show’s cancellation. On July 24, GSN picked up the rights to rerun episodes of the once popular NBC game show. Interestingly enough, GSN kicked off their premiere of Minute To Win It by airing the 14th episode from the first season, the third episode to feature the two-player team format. I hope GSN airs the first episodes from the beginning of the inaugural season just to see the one-player format again. Fast forwarding to the second season, Minute to Win It kicked off season two with holiday-themed episodes in 2010 with a team of two sisters playing ten games for $3,000,000. Check out the clip below to watch the sisters play their next game for $250,000. Will they do it?

Courtesy Sony Pictures Television.

July 30, 2012: Jeopardy! Kicks Off Kids Week 

Jeopardy! began airing their series of Kids Week episodes on Monday. During this annual event, the show gives 15 children between the ages of 10 and 12 a chance compete in the answer/question game for big money over a five-day period. Jeopardy! started this series of shows in 1999 and it has also been called “Back to School Week” and “Holiday Kids Week”, depending on what time of year the show aired the special episodes. Jeopardy! has seen some big wins from in past Kids Week shows such as Thomas Horn’s $30,000+ victory in 2010. I hope to see some big winners from this year’s edition of Kids Week on Jeopardy!