| Show Me The Money | |
|---|---|
| Format | Quiz show |
| Created by | Dick de Rijk |
| Directed by | R. Brian DiPirro |
| Presented by | William Shatner |
| Composer(s) | Doug DeAngelis Kevin Haskins Doug Beck |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 (2 unaired) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Mike Nichols |
| Editor(s) | Chip Brown |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ABC |
| Original run | November 14 – December 13, 2006 |
Show Me the Money is a television game show hosted by William Shatner which premiered on Wednesday, November 22, 2006 at 8pm on ABC. On December 8, 2006[1], after the first seven episodes had been taped, an additional six-episode order as well as a planned move to Tuesday nights starting on January 2, 2007 were announced, but the show was cancelled on December 15, 2006[2]. Five of the original seven episodes aired.
The show was taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood. It also aired in Canada on CH.
Contents |
Before the game, scrolls were distributed randomly to thirteen female dancers known as the $1,000,000 Dancers. These scrolls show 12 different dollar amounts and a symbol representing the "killer card", which is a yellow triangle. The dollar amounts were:
| $20,000 | $40,000 | $60,000 | $80,000 |
| $100,000 | $120,000 | $140,000 | $160,000 |
| $180,000 | $200,000 | $220,000 | $250,000 |
Each turn involved a set of three concealed questions (A, B, and C) with a common initial word or phrase. The player was shown this initial phrase, and picked A, B, or C. The question was read, and the player could either answer it or pass and pick another letter. The player could pass twice on a turn, but then had to answer the remaining question; a player could not return to a previously passed question. After giving an answer, the player picked a dancer who still had her scroll, which was opened; then the correct answer was revealed. If it showed a dollar amount, it was added to the player's pot for a correct answer or subtracted for an incorrect answer.
When the player had given either six correct answers (shown as plus signs on the scoreboard) or six wrong answers (minus signs), each for a dollar amount (killer-card turns were not counted), the game ended and the player won the total in the pot. Thus, the maximum win was the total of the six highest dollar amounts, or $1,150,000 U.S. The game could also end prematurely if the pot fell so far below zero that it could not become positive given the possible number of correct answers and dollar values remaining; this occurred at least once. The eliminated player who lost would have his/her final dance.
If the killer card was revealed, a "sudden-death" question was asked (with no option to pass). On the premiere episode only, only an incorrect answer on a regular question when the killer card was revealed would cause the player to face sudden death. The player had to answer correctly or else the game ended at once and the player won nothing. A correct answer on the sudden-death question, if asked, allowed the player to continue to the next turn with the pot unchanged. All the plus signs remained intact.
Everyone who picked the killer card did so on an incorrect answer, and none of them were able to answer the sudden-death question correctly.
A triumphant series of three musical notes accompanied each correct response. This music is still used on Don't Forget the Lyrics! for correct answers, and a shorter version of that music means that correct lyrics are partially revealed. Conversely, a sad chord accompanied a wrong answer, and this music is also used—for wrong answers—on Don't Forget the Lyrics. The lock-in music is not the same on that show as on Show Me the Money.
Due to continually declining ratings, ABC axed the series, replacing it with repeats of America's Funniest Home Videos. ABC had earlier decided to cease production of the series, but air the remaining episodes. Three game shows faced a similar situation.[3]
GSN picked up the rights to the seven episodes of Show Me The Money in June 2007, which included the five that aired on ABC, plus the remaining two episodes that the network did not air.
The first episode aired on June 12 and the second episode aired on June 19. However, on June 26, GSN replaced the series with an episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It is known that GSN pulled the show due to bad ratings for the first 2 weeks and it was replaced by Dog Eat Dog on the Tuesday nights for the remainder of July 2007. There is no indication that GSN will air the show again, thus the two episodes not broadcast by ABC remain unaired.
(However, GSN's webpage for the show included a photo that appeared to be from an unaired episode. The carryover contestant from the last episode aired by ABC (Bob Glouberman) is shown with the amount of $890,000 displayed on the scoreboard; he finished the episode with $882,000 and was paid despite the fact that the show did not air.)