Russian Roulette (game show)
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Russian Roulette was an American game show hosted by Mark L. Walberg (not to be confused with Mark Wahlberg) that ran in two seasons from June 2002 to 2003, with Burton Richardson as the show's announcer (doing only the opening spiel). It aired on GSN. The Russian Roulette studio consists of a circle with six trapdoors, four of which are occupied by the episode's contestants. After the show's cancellation, the set was reportedly taken down and sent to Taiwan for their version.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] First round
The four players are given $150 at the beginning of the show. One contestant, randomly selected to start the game, is read a multiple choice question (three choices in the first round, four thereafter, all increasing in difficulty as the round progresses) by the host, and must challenge another contestant to answer correctly. The challenged contestant has ten seconds to answer. If the challenged player gives a correct answer, they receive money and control of the next question. In the first season, the contestants received $150 in the first round, $200 in the second, and $300 in the third for each correct answer. In the second season, the third round was played for only $250 a correct answer. After every question, another "drop zone" is added, increasing the odds that the player will be eliminated after an incorrect answer. No more than five drop zones can be active in a round. In the event of any wrong answer, that player gives up all accumulated money to the challenger and must play Russian Roulette.
[edit] Playing Russian Roulette
The trap door of the player that answered incorrectly is unlocked. After the host gives them a chance to say some last words, they pull a handle in front of their trap door. This triggers the active drop zone lights (in red) to begin spinning around the field, much like a roulette wheel or (more appropriate to the metaphor) the cylinder of a revolver. The number of red lights depends on the number of drop zones added previously. In season one, it was a random spin. In season two, the player controlled the length of the spin by how long he or she pulled the handle.
If the drop zone light stops on the trapdoor on which the affected player is standing, that trap door opens and drops the player three feet (six feet in season one) into a room below the set, with thick padding. This ends the round; if the player survives, the round continues. Contestants are instructed to crouch down and roll when landing so their heads do not remain above the hole. Only one injury has been reported, a sprained ankle; nevertheless contestants are required to sign lengthy waivers and release forms. Once a player drops out of the game, the round is over and the next round begins after a commercial break.
When time runs out in the first two rounds (indicated by a chime), the winnings of all remaining contestants are compared. The person with the highest winnings is escorted to the center of the stage, and is safe from the drop. He or she pulls a handle in the center, for a random elimination spin where a single red light revolves around the cylinder until it stops on one of the remaining contestants — a successful drop always happens here. This ends the round, with the winnings of the player that fell being equally distributed among the remaining players (including the top winner) for the next round.
In the case of a tie for first place in a round-ending Russian Roulette, Mark himself pulls the lever, and all players are in danger of dropping.
[edit] Second and third rounds
The second round is played similar to the first, albeit with one fewer player. In the third round, since only two players remain, contestants have the choice to answer the question themselves or pass it to their opponent. A wrong answer forces the challenged to play Russian Roulette; a right answer gives him or her money and control of the next question. Whoever has the lower amount at the end of the round is the one to drop. The last person remaining at the end of this round assimilates the other player's score (if any) into his or her winnings and advances to the endgame.
[edit] Endgame
[edit] First season
The contestant is moved to the top-left zone and has one minute to answer five "brain-teaser" questions. These usually consist of jumbles, math problems, and general knowledge questions. The timer usually will start ticking while Mark asks the first question. For every ten seconds, one drop zone opens on the playfield. If time runs out or the contestant gives an incorrect answer, he or she drops, but receives $500 for every correct answer. Contestants must give their answer starting with "My answer is..." and the answer so that thinking out loud would not be mistaken for an answer. If the player gets all five questions correct, Mark will announce "Stop the clock!" and he or she receive $10,000. (The show's first $10,000 winner was Caroline Rath.) He or she then has the option of forfeiting the $10,000 prize for one final Russian Roulette, with the number of drop zones unopened being safe. Should the contestant risk his or her winnings and receive a safe zone (which will remain shut), the prize increases to $100,000. The money won through the first three rounds, however, is the winner's to keep and therefore not touched for the bonus round.
If the risk is refused, Mark will still insist the player pull the lever. Yet he or she will get to move off the trapdoor to witness the final potential result.
[edit] Second season
Similar to the first version, but the contestant must answer ten multiple choice questions (with three answers) in one minute in order to win $10,000. The timer only starts ticking when Mark has finished reading the first question. If the player fails, it is an additional $300 for every correct answer. It is no longer necessary (and could actually have cost time) to say "My answer is" before the answer. As before, should all 10 answers be correct, Mark will once again announce, "Stop the clock!" The contestant once again has the option of risking their money for a final pull.
[edit] $100,000 Winners
Three people have won the grand prize on Russian Roulette. All of them have been allowed to step off the trapdoor following the win.
- Al Winchell: 3 drop zones, $102,150 total winnings
- Todd Truly: 4 drop zones, $102,200 total winnings
- Maria Lay: 5 drop zones, $102,000 total winnings
[edit] Other Versions
A British version of Russian Roulette was made by Granada Television and broadcast as a series of irregular "specials" during 2002-3, airing on ITV. The British host was Rhona Cameron (the only female winner of Channel 4's So You Think You're Funny comedy contests). The top prize is unknown.
A Hong Kong version was produced by TVB and was hosted by actor Dayo Wong. It features five players, but otherwise, the front game plays out in much the same way as the U.S. version. Players start with 1,000 Hong Kong dollars, and rounds 1 and 2 have triple choice questions worth HK$1,000; round 3 has four-choice questions worth HK$2,000, and round 4, four-choice questions worth HK$3,000. (In the event that money is split after running out of time in a round, any odd dollars are lost.) In the bonus round, the winner faces up to 5 questions of increasing difficulty, worth HK$5,000, HK$10,000, HK$30,000, HK$150,000, and HK$500,000, with 20 seconds to answer each one. A wrong answer means all bonus money is lost, and the player drops. The HK$500,000 top prize is equal to about USD $64,000.
In Taiwan, their show aired on Star Chinese Channel, hosted by Xu Nailin. The grand prize there was 1,000,000 New Taiwan dollars (about US$32,000).
A Singapore version was screened for two seasons in the Chinese language in 2003 and 2004, for MediaCorp TV Channel 8. It was also hosted by Xu Nailin.
A Brazilian version was made by TV Record and was hosted by actor Márcio Garcia in 2004.
A Russian version was made for Channel One in a somewhat similar manner to the American show. However, in the Russian version, the host and the contestant have equal chances to drop down at the 1,000,000 roubles (about US$35,000) question level.
Other countries with versions of the show (as seen on GSN's "Drop Heard 'Round the World" marathon in October, 2002) include India, Spain, Indonesia, and Poland.
[edit] Trivia
- Former Hollywood Showdown host Todd Newton, who at the time was hosting Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck, guest hosted this special episode on April Fools Day on GSN in 2003.
- At the end of each episode, Mark says to the home audience, "Until next time, watch your step."
- There have been several times during the series where the host will fall down one of the open holes at the end of the episode.
- One of the contestants was Jorge Garcia
