The Chase (U.S. game show)

The Chase
Genre	Game show
Based on	The Chase
Presented by	Brooke Burns
Starring	Mark Labbett
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	51
Production
Executive producer(s)	Bob Boden Michael Kelpie Martin Scott
Running time	42–44 minutes
Production company(s)	ITV Studios America
Release
Original network	Game Show Network
Original release	August 6, 2013 (2013-08-06) – December 11, 2015 (2015-12-11)
Chronology
Related shows	The Chase (UK) The Chase Australia
External links
Website
Production website

The Chase is an American television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. The program involves a quiz competition in which contestants attempt to win money by challenging a quiz show genius known as the "chaser". The show premiered on August 6, 2013, on Game Show Network, and received a nomination at the 41st Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show.

The series is hosted by Brooke Burns and features Mark Labbett (nicknamed "The Beast") as the chaser. The American version of the show follows the same general format as the original UK version; however, the American version of the program features three contestants instead of four. Also, while the UK and Australian versions feature one of five chasers who rotate from one episode to the next, the American version features Labbett as the only chaser.

Gameplay

Cash Builder and individual chases

Three new contestants compete on each episode as a team. Each contestant first plays individually against the chaser, starting with a round where they try to answer as many questions correctly as possible during a one-minute rapid-fire round,^[1] with each correct answer adding $5,000 to their bank. After the minute is up, the contestant competes head to head against the chaser in order to retain their bank and continue to the Final Chase. During celebrity episodes, contestants start with $5,000 already in the bank.^[2]

In the Chase, the contestant's goal is to answer enough questions correctly to move the earned winnings into the team bank without being caught by the chaser, whose job is to catch them by capitalizing on mistakes made by the player.^[1] The contestant must answer five questions correctly without being caught to bank the money and continue to the Final Chase, providing the contestant does not play for one of two additional offers given at the start of the round.^[3] These offers include having a contestant play for a lower amount and start one step closer to the bank, while being required to answer only four questions correctly without being caught. In addition, the contestant can also play for a higher amount of money, but must instead answer six questions correctly without being caught. On rare occasions, the chaser may escalate the stakes by offering a "super offer" for an even higher amount, with the contestant being required to answer seven questions correctly without being caught.^[4] Usually, the contestant is permitted to talk briefly with his or her teammates (if he or she has yet to play or has moved onto the Final Chase) for advice as to which offer to take.

After deciding which amount to play for, the prize money is displayed on a seven-space gameboard, with the appropriate number of spaces away from the bank depending upon the contestant's decision. The chaser starts the round off of the gameboard eight spaces away from the bank. Both the contestant and chaser are then presented with the same multiple choice question, and each locks-in their answer separately. After one has selected their answer, they may not change it and the other has five seconds to answer after them, otherwise they are locked out and do not advance on the gameboard.^[5] For each question the contestant answers correctly, the prize money earned moves one step closer to the team bank. For each question answered correctly by the chaser, he moves one step closer to the prize money. Additional questions are asked until the contestant reaches the end of the board (thus banking the prize money), or the chaser catches the contestant eliminating them from the game. No movement is made by the contestant and/or the chaser if an incorrect answer is provided or if they are locked out by the time limit. All three contestants take part in separate rounds to determine which of them will advance to the Final Chase and how much prize money will be at stake. If all three contestants fail to win their individual chases, the team selects one contestant to play the Final Chase alone for a total of $15,000 ($5,000 per contestant).^[6] During celebrity episodes, celebrity contestants that get caught leave with $5,000 for their respective charities.^[2]

The Final Chase

The Final Chase is played on a gameboard, with the team receiving a head start of one space for each member who advanced to this round. During the commercial break, the team chooses between two sets of questions, labeled "A" and "B", with the chaser playing the other set of questions. The contestants have two minutes to answer as many questions as possible. After a question is asked, contestants are only permitted to respond or pass a question after first ringing-in.^[3] If a contestant rings-in but another contestant answers, the question is treated as a wrong regardless if the answer was correct. If there is only one contestant in the Final Chase, then he or she does not ring-in. Each question answered correctly within the time limit moves the team one space ahead on the board.

After time expires, the chaser is then given two minutes to catch the team by correctly answering a new series of questions, with each correct answer moving him one space along the board. If the chaser answers incorrectly or passes, the clock is stopped briefly and the team is given a chance to answer the question. A correct answer pushes the chaser back one space, or moves the team ahead by one if he has not moved onto the gameboard. An incorrect answer provides no movement for the chaser at all. Regardless of the outcome, the clock begins running again and the chaser continues to answer questions. If the chaser runs out of time before catching the team, the team splits the banked money equally;^[1] however, if the chaser catches the team before time expires, the team leaves with no money.^[3] On celebrity episodes, if the chaser catches the team before time runs out, the team leaves with $15,000 divided equally.

Production

Brooke Burns, host of The Chase

In April 2012, Fox ordered two pilot episodes to be taped in London for consideration to be added to the network's U.S. programming lineup. Bradley Walsh, presenter of the British version of The Chase, was featured as the show's host,^[7] while Labbett and Jeopardy! champion Brad Rutter were the chasers.^[8] Fox passed up the opportunity to add the series to its lineup.

After Fox's plans to launch The Chase fell through, GSN, in conjunction with ITV Studios America, picked up the series with an eight episode order on April 9, 2013,^[9][10] and announced Burns as the show's host and Labbett as the chaser on May 29.^[11] Dan Patrick was originally considered to host the series; however, those plans eventually fell through.^[12] The first season premiered on August 6, 2013. Despite the show having not yet premiered at the time, the network ordered a second season of eight episodes on July 1, 2013,^[13] which premiered on November 5.^[14] On March 18, 2014, GSN announced plans to renew the series for a third season, with both Burns and Labbett returning to the show.^[15] The third season premiered on July 8, 2014.^[16] After airing nine episodes, the series went on a hiatus, before returning with five additional new season three episodes on November 11, 2014.^[17] On August 21, 2014, GSN proceeded to renew the series for a fourth season,^[18] which began airing January 27, 2015.^[19] After the seventh episode of the season, the series went on another hiatus; new episodes from the fourth season resumed airing July 16, 2015.^[20]

Reception

Critical reception

The Chase has been generally well received by critics. Michael Tyminski of Manhattan Digest gave a positive review of the series, calling it "a breath of fresh air" and praising Burns and Labbett in their respective roles.^[3] Tyminski added that while the level difficulty is not always on par with other quiz shows such as Jeopardy!, the show avoids a "painfully slow pace".^[3]

Similarly, John Teti of The A.V. Club called the show a "pretty good adaptation" of its UK counterpart, but also noted the presence of "dick-related questions" in the series.^[21] Teti also maintained that although the British version of the show was "better", the American version "still holds its own".^[21] Additionally, The Chase was ranked number 9 on Douglas Pucci's (of TV Media Insights) list of best new television shows of 2013.^[22]

Accolades

The Chase was also one of two GSN originals (the other being The American Bible Challenge) to be honored at the 41st Daytime Emmy Awards in 2014 with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Game Show;^[23] however, the series lost to Jeopardy!^[24]

Ratings

The Chase has become one of the highest rated original programs in GSN's history. The series debuted to 511,000 total viewers during its premiere while maintaining 90% of its audience with 461,000 total viewers during the second episode airing that night.^[25] On January 28, 2014, The Chase set a new series high in terms of total viewers and adults 18–49, with 827,000 and 234,000 viewers respectively.^[26]

Although the season 3 premiere fell in the ratings from its series high, earning 494,000 viewers with only 73,000 in the 18–49 demographic,^[27] the premiere of the fourth season saw a sizeable rise over the previous season's premiere,^[28] earning 749,000 total viewers.^[29]

Merchandise

On December 18, 2013, Barnstorm Games released a mobile version of the game for iOS and Android.^[30] The app features Labbett as chaser and can be played by up to four people. The only differences between the app and the show are that four choices are presented for questions in the Cash Builder and the Final Chase rounds and that no Final Chase is played if all players are caught in their individual chases.

References

External links

• Official website
• The Chase at the Internet Movie Database
• The Chase ratings at TV by the Numbers