News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #100

This was quite the busy news week in the world of game shows. Earlier this week, we had learned that Jamie Foxx will be the host of a “Name That Tune”-style game show called Beat Shazaam, Andy Cohen will be the host of FOX’s Love Connection revival and Starcade is making a comeback. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. This week's update article will take a look at more of the latest US and international game show news from the past week in 200 characters or less.

December 2016 Game Show Highlights

Rather than attempting to cram all of the late-arriving December moments into my annual quasi-reader-selected top 10 countdown list, today’s article is dedicated to listing the top December highlights (as well as some honorable mentions) that will not be featured in the aforementioned end-of-the-year list. Some of the top December moments include yesterday’s incredibly quick $100,000 win on The Price Is Right, Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal crowning its ninth £250,000 winner, Timothy Howe winning the first (and more than likely last) season of GSN’s Window Warriors and the latest Countdown champion.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #99

This week's update article will take a look at the some of the latest US and international game show news from the past week in 200 characters or less. Highlights include a monumental win on Millionaire last week, a new game show debuting on NBC Sports Network, pending premieres of two of ABC’s hit summer game shows, The Wall receiving an early preview date and some of the latest game show ratings.

STAY TUNED Fall Edition: New Seasons Of Daytime & Syndicated Game Shows Begin September 12

As we are only less than a month away from summer officially coming to an end, today’s article will focus on the veteran game shows that will be returning to television networks in September with new episodes. Next week, I’ll be reviewing the highs and lows of a few game shows that have aired this summer in the US and UK. For now, let’s take a look at what’s in store this year for shows including Family Feud, Celebrity Name Game and Wheel of Fortune.

UPDATE: The Price Is Right will unveil a new pricing game during the show's premiere week and Let's Make A Deal debuts its eighth season on CBS Daytime on September 19 with "Mega Deal Week". 

“Millionaire” Moves To Las Vegas For Season 15

Beginning this upcoming season, the veteran game show will be officially moving to Las Vegas, Nevada for its 15th year in syndication. Millionaire will tape its shows from Bally’s Las Vegas in front of a live studio audience after filming its previous two seasons in Stamford, Connecticut. The new season, hosted by The Bachelor’s Chris Harrison will officially premiere on Monday, September 12 and will once more give contestants the rare opportunity to answer 14 questions correctly for $1 million with three lifelines to help them along the way: Ask The Audience, 50:50 and Plus One. 

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #90

This week's quick update article will take a look at the some of the latest game show news from the past week in 200 characters or less. This week's highlights include ratings updates, MTV adapting a UK-based game show (currently airing on ITV2), Millionaire airing a special edition of the show featuring two contestants from the The Bachelor and The Bachelorette and Channel 4 filming a pilot episode to a new game show next week.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #84

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! Today's article will cover a variety of some of the latest game show news from the past week in 200 characters or less. Updates include Millionaire's upcoming "Whiz Kids" week, Spike TV's ordering a new game show to improve upon the network's success of Lip Sync Battle, an unusual tiebreaker situation in the Jeopardy! College Championship and some of the latest game show ratings.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #82

This week's quick update article will cover some of the latest game show news headlines from the past few days in 200 characters or less including a few updates featured on the TBIR Facebook page. News updates include The Price Is Right bringing back its annual Socially Awesome Week, a local Philadelphia affiliate news station holding a contest with the winners receiving tickets to attend a taping of Wheel of Fortune, Logo greenlighting a new game show starring Skin Wars judge RuPaul and Jeopardy's upcoming adult online audition test dates.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #77

This week's quick update article will cover some of the latest game show news headlines from the past few days in 200 characters or less including updates featured on the TBIR Facebook page. News updates include game show ratings, an iconic ITV game show ending its run, Let's Make A Deal bringing back the Super Deal this week, The Game of Life creator's widow filing a law suit against Hasbro and others and Anthony Anderson discussing To Tell The Truth with Jimmy Kimmel.

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #72

Today's update will review some of the latest game show news headlines from the past week in 200 characters or less including updates featured on the TBIR Facebook page. Quick updates include the second season premiere of Sports Jeopardy! under a revised format, big winners on The Chase, The Chase Australia, another quarter-million dollar winner on Millionaire and some of the latest ratings updates. 

News In A Flash!: Quick Game Show Updates #71

This week's update will review some of the latest game show news headlines from the past week in 200 characters or less including updates featured on the TBIR Facebook page. This series of quick updates include the ratings for TLC's Labor Games official first night out last Tuesday, the second season of Sports Jeopardy! kicking off next week, Mastermind returning to New Zealand after a 30+ year hiatus and a contestant winning a staggering six-figure sum during the Millionaire's 14th season premiere week.

Special Weeks Announced For 14th Season Of "Millionaire"

Along with Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy! and Family Feud, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire will begin its new season in syndication Monday, September 14. Unlike the three aforementioned shows, Millionaire will see yet another change in its format and host with The Bachelor's Chris Harrison taking over. The revised format will be going back to basics by switching back to the Money Ladder format after taking a five-year absence thanks to the Shuffle format. The 14-question 2015-16 money ladder is as follows: $500; $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $5,000; $7,000; $10,000; $20,000; $30,000; $50,000; $100,000; $250,000; $500,000; $1 million. The three lifelines that will be at the contestants' disposal this year are Plus One, Ask The Audience and the return of 50:50. List below are the speciality weeks scheduled to air this season, including a few from returning from the past few years.

Bill Engvall To Play “Millionaire” May 8 & 11

Beginning this Friday, comedian and former Lingo host Bill Engvall will be stepping up to the tough trivia challenge that is Millionaire. Engvall will be playing for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, an organization dedicated to helping as many children as possible by raising vital funds and awareness for children's hospitals across North America. All this week, Millionaire will be donating $10,000 to the charitable organization every time a contestant makes it through to the second round (a.k.a. Classic Millionaire). Stay tuned this Friday and next Monday to find out if Bill Engvall can become the show’s next million-dollar winner. Check your local listings.

Interesting Update: Chris Harrison To Host “Millionaire” Beginning Fall 2015

After hosting Millionaire for less than a season thus far, Terry Crews has decided to step down as the host of the Disney/ABC’s syndicated game show. Like Cedric The Entertainment had done a year ago, Crews has decided to quit his hosting duties to reserve more time for his demanding film and television projects including hosting FOX’s comedic clip show World’s Funniest Fails. Earlier today, ABC announced its new host for 2015-16 season: Chris Harrison. Harrison, currently the host of ABC’s The Bachelor, is no stranger to hosting game shows as he took the helm of a short-lived, forgotten, lackluster GSN original series called Mall Masters and ABC’s equally short-lived primetime game show, You Deserve It. Harrison has also hosted shows on TV Guide Network (Hollywood 411) and HGTV (Designers' Challenge).

“Millionaire” To Raise Money For Shriners Hospital for Children Next Week With Special Guest

From February 9 - February 13, Millionaire is dedicating the week to raise money for Shriners Hospitals for Children, a charity that has transformed the lives of more than a million kids with special medical needs. Every time a contestant reaches the "Classic Millionaire” round, the show will donate $10,000 to Shriners Hospitals, regardless of their performance in the second round. The special week concludes on Friday, February 13 when Justin Pugh, offensive tackle for the New York Giants, steps up to the “Hot Podium” and plays for the charity. Stay tuned and check your local listings for air times. 

Thanksgiving Holiday Watch List (Nov. 26-28): "The Price Is Right", "Let’s Make A Deal", "Millionaire" and GSN Marathons

On Thanksgiving Eve (Wednesday, November 26) during CBS daytime, The Price Is Right and Let’s Make A Deal will be celebrating the holiday with special Thanksgiving-themed episodes. On Let’s Make A Deal, contestants will be dressed as turkeys, pilgrims and pumpkins and will play themed games including a 3-Turkey Deal for big bucks and games involving a Turkey hotline and a giant pumpkin that has apparently caught the eye of the "hungry" cast. As a special bonus, the studio audience will receive a family heirloom cookbook project featuring tools and directions on how to create your own cookbook filled with family recipes. Check your local listings for air times.

November Sweeps Highlights For The Week of November 10-14

Millionaire introduced this year’s November sweeps month with the show’s first-ever "Whiz Kids" week. The second week of sweeps month is going to be quite eventful. Special, DVR-worthy episodes include with Ken Jennings attempting to reclaim the top spot among the list of biggest-winning American game show contestants on Millionaire, The Price Is Right airing its third "Big Money Week", Let’s Make A Deal debuting its first-ever all-musical special, former Jeopardy! champions set to play the quarterfinal rounds in this year’s Tournament of Champions and the third season of GSN’s The Chase premiering with its first celebrity episode. There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get into it.

BIG NEWS: Ken Jennings To Play "Millionaire" November 14th & 17th

After defeating over 150 competitors and becoming one of biggest-winning champions on Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings is looking to take on a new challenge: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. In about three weeks, Jennings will be faced with 14 questions in an attempt to become fourth million-dollar winner in the syndicated version of Millionaire and the 13th top prize winner overall in the show's history. Jennings will be playing as a part of the show's "Guinness World Record Edition" theme week. He was the former world record holder for earning the "Largest Cash Prize Won on a TV Game Show". The record was broken last year when Andrew Kravis won $2.6 million on the ill-fated NBC game show The Million Second Quiz. 

Game Shows To Watch For The Week of September 7th

Tomorrow marks a brand new year for Fall television shows, specifically the return of veteran game shows and premiere of rookie game shows in syndication. Since there is so much going on this month, starting today, I will be highlighting the top game shows to watch for each week in September. This week, the top game shows to watch include the third season premiere of Let’s Ask America, Terry Crews’s debut as the new host of Millionaire, and the return of Celebrity Squares to ITV in the U.K.

Upcoming Audition Dates For "Millionaire"

The New York City auditions for the million-dollar trivia game show are already underway. Applicants may apply for the next series of auditions, which will occur from Wednesday, August 6 - Wednesday, October 8 from 5:00pm-7:00pm. Complete the audition request form on the show’s “Auditions” page to sign up. Anyone who is over 18 years old, a resident of the United States, has never played on either the ABC or syndicated version of the show and meets all eligibility requirements may apply to audition. If you are interested in trying out for the show, you MUST sign up in advance as soon as possible as no walk-in auditions will be accepted. The road auditions will be resuming as well to the following locations (for more information on each road audition, click on the city and date below):