Quick Review of "Pontoon Payday"

Here’s how CMT’s newest game show works: Host Frank Nicotero surprises a group of unsuspecting contestants with a chance to board the Pontoon Payday boat and play a trivia game. The team must work together to answer three questions correctly. An incorrect answer earns team a strike. If the team gets two strikes, they must face a Punishment (e.g.: shocking their teammates with a taser, shaving off an eyebrow, eating worms etc.) to remain in the game. Three incorrect answers ends the game with the team leaving with nothing and three correct answers wins the team $500. Upon winning the $500, the team may choose to keep the money or play the double-or-nothing Cooler Challenge in which they must decide which of the two coolers is filled with cash to double their total to $1,000 and avoid the empty one that forces the team to leave the game with nothing. 

Ambushed!: TLC’s “Labor Games” & CMT’s “Pontoon Payday” Debuts May 6 & 14

This month, TLC and CMT will be premiering their new ambush-style game shows Labor Games and Pontoon Payday. Tomorrow, TLC will be premiering sneak peek episodes of its new game show, Labor Games (May 6 at 10:00pm EDT).  Hosted by Lisa Arch, expectant parents will have a chance to play the impromptu game show for prizes including cash, trips, various baby accessories, food and a $10,000 scholarship for their unborn child. The 12-episode first season is filmed at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center in Pomona, CA and the series will “officially” premiere later this year. Over a week later, CMT debuts its series with a similar format called Pontoon Payday (May 14 at 10:00pm EDT). On Pontoon Payday, host Frank Nicotero (The Game of Life, Street Smarts) surprises unsuspecting lake-goers with the opportunity to play on a “floating game show”. Correct answers win the contestants money while incorrect answers could get them thrown overboard. The series is produced by 495 Productions, the same creators behind Jersey Shore.