Fame and Fortune (television)
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Fame & Fortune is an Irish game show, broadcast on RTÉ One on Saturday nights during the summer months of June, July and August. Like sister show Winning Streak, Fame & Fortune is funded by the An Post National Lottery Company, and entry is based on scratchcards. As of 2004, contestants can win up to €250,000 in prizes, when previously it was €500,000. It is hosted by popular Irish personality Marty Whelan. His signs off every show with the words "How do you play? You buy a ticket."
The format of 2006 series ran as follows:
- 'Famous Faces': As each contestant is interviewed, they pick one of five 'scrolls', which denotes a famous character (real and fictitious) from history, who will be their 'guide' for their game on the touchscreen. They can choose between Helen of Troy, Robin Hood, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar and Fionn mac Cumhail. They play three games from a number stored in the computer, these include:
- 'Trapdoor': The 'guide' stands on a trap door in front of five lights. The player presses one of these lights, hoping not to choose the trap door and see their guide fall into the pit, but to instead reveal cash prizes, and accumulate as much money as possible. Similar to the 'Goldmine' game on 'Winning Streak'.
- 'Odd One Out': Two different cash amounts are hidden in four different panels. The player chooses three of them, and wins the amount that doesn't match.
- 'On The Menu': There are five different 'food items' on the board, three with cash inside, and 2 that are empty. The player gets 3 choices, so they are guaranteed at least one cash prize from this game.
- 'Higher or Lower': Host Marty Whelan reveals a 'base' number on the screen, and the player has to move across the board, guessing whether the next number is higher or lower than the base number, rather than higher or lower than each other.
- 'Spin Spin Spin': After the break, the player with the lowest amount of money from 'Famous Faces' plays this game. If there are two people with the sane amount, then it goes to the bubble to decide who spins the wheel. They spin a wheel with cash prizes ranging from €5,000 to €20,000. The player can keep on spinning the wheel until they land on an amount that is lower than the last one. As Whelan puts it: "you stop when you drop". There are several segments on the wheel which have a car on it. If the player lands on a car, they win it instead and the game ends.
- 'The Fortunate 5': The draw for next week's players. Same as Winning Streak, five names out of a drum.
- 'Around the World': A globe is displayed on the screen, with 24 destinations around the world displayed on either side. A 'Winning Streak' style bubble machine chooses the player who must choose a destination, which can move them either 1, 2 or 3 spaces along the board. There are seven spaces on each player's board with the aim being to be the first to reach the seventh space, the 'dateline'. As they complete their turn, they also receive a prize of either cash or a holiday. One destination also contains a car, whilst six more contain a euro symbol (€) which adds another €250,000 ball to the final game, the 'Fortune Globe'.
- 'Fortune Globe': The extra black €250,000 balls won on 'Around the World' are placed into the large bubble machine, along with a large number of other balls numbered €10,000, €12,000, €15,000, €20,000, €30,000, €40,000, €50,000, and €100,000. Eventually, after a certain length of time, one ball is selected from this machine, and the player has its amount added to their final total.
