Game shows are made for not only our entertainment as the viewer, but for the people competing
to have some fun and even potentially win some epic cash prizes.
Although, there can be a dark side to what should be an hours worth of fun for all.
Here are our top five gameshow scandals.
Nuber 1- Super Password - Fugitive
In 1988, A man by the name of Patrick Quinn
managed to win a total of $58,000 on the game show "Super Password".
Sadly enough, however, this was not long-lived.
The man, Patrick Quinn, was actually named Kerry Dee Ketchum, a fugitive who was wanted
in 3 states.
Someone watching the program managed to recognise him, and made the call to the police.
When the 36 year old turned up collect his prize money, he was swiftly arrested by local
officers.
Ketchum was sentenced to 5 years in prison for faking his ex wife's de ath, in order to
collect $100,000 from the insurance policy and for credit card fraud.
He also never received his super password winnings as it was deemed that he had violated
contestant eligibility rules.
Number 2 - Michael Larson - Press Your Luck
Genius or cheat? How about both!
In 1984, Michael Larson managed to win $110,237 in a single game of the American game show
'Press Your Luck'.
The concept of the game was simple, contestants would collect spins by answering trivia questions
and then use the spins on a seemingly random 18-space game board, to win cash and prizes.
However, The clever ice-cream truck driver noticed that the Luck board would always move
in one of 5 looping patterns and he was able to stop the moving square on the board anywhere
he wanted. It wasn't luck or random at all!
With the help of hundreds of recorded episodes, Larson completed his memory training in just
under two months.
He was then able to dominate the show by stopping the moving square on the high value prizes
and cash amounts which quickly added up to a sizeable amount.
Producers of the show tried to get out of paying him because his 'skills' could be counted
as cheating...
However, because there weren't any specific rules against memorising the patterns... the
producers had to admit that there were flaws in the system.. and Larson drove off into
the sunset with his cash...
Unfortunately, his small fortune didn't last long and within 2 years he had lost the lot..
mainly due to getting involved in illegal schemes and some had been stolen in a burglary.
Number 3 - Million Dollar Money Drop Scandal
A total reverse scenario here, in the form
of couple Gabe Okoye and Brittany Mayi, who were contestants on very first episode of
Million Dollar Money Drop.
The two were given a question, "Which of these was sold in stores first?", and the couple
placed $800,000 of their $1,000,000 on Post-It Notes, with the two other choices being a
Mac computer and a Walkman.
Unfortunately, the couples answer was wrong, and down the shoot their $800,000 fell...
However, after the show was aired, producers were left red-faced, when it was revealed
that the couples original answer of Post-It Notes was in fact correct.
The internet was extremely vocal in its collective upset with Fox, as they deduced that while
Post-It Notes, under that name, were sold after the walkman in 1980, they were first
tested and sold under the name Press N Peel in 1977.
So, technically, they were right.
However, host Kevin Pollak is on record explaining that because of the way the game is played,
at the time when they got the answer incorrect, it did not even matter, because the money
winnings were not even secured at that point, and the couple lost the remaining money on
the very next question.
To this day, the argument is still divided.
Rather than Fox offering the couple some sort of compensation, they were instead invited
back onto the show for another shot at the game.
However, in another streak of bad luck, the show was cancelled before they could come
back with a vengeance.
Number 4 - Who Wants To Be A Millionaire - Fraud
In 2001, former British army major, Charles
Ingram managed to show the world how utterly stupid he is, all the while being made to
pay 115,000 pounds in fines for fraud.
His crime?
Attempting to defraud on an episode of popular gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
How? by having his wife and another contestant cough as the correct answer was said out loud
to indicate that it was right.
Luckily, the producers of the show were vigilant and suspected foul play, and his scheme was
quickly sussed.
Charles managed to answer the 15th and final question correctly and had won the 1 million
pound jackpot prize.
However, the winnings were quickly suspended on allegations that he had cheated by using
the help of the audience.
After the show ended, Producers began looking at all the recorded footage in an attempt
to find evidence of cheating.. which they did, after Tecwen Whittock (who was another
contestant) and who was positioned right behind Charles, could be heard coughing and blowing
his nose numerous times through out the show, after the correct answer to the question was
read out loud by Charles.
During the 14th question which was worth 500 thousand pounds, Charles nearly messed up
the entire plan, when he almost answered the question incorrectly, but out of desperation,
Tecwen can be heard coughing and even whispering loudly, the word 'No'.
Charles' wife, can also be heard coughing twice during one of the questions, Once she
thought her husband didn't know the answer.
Charles has always claimed that he did not cheat during the show and did not recall hearing
any coughing.
However, a jury disagreed and found all 3 guilty of fraud and they were each given suspended
jail sentences, and instead of receiving the million pound prize, were made to pay over
100 thousand pounds in fines and fees.
Charles was also ordered to resign from his position in the Army due to the scandal.
Number 5 - The Dating Game Killer
The Dating Game, was an american TV show which