Gameshow Marathon (US version)

In 2006, CBS presented a special seven episode summer celebrity filled game show tournament called *Gameshow Marathon*. The show was based on the UK special of the same name hosted by Ant & Dec in 2005 and later Vernon Kay in 2007. This American version was hosted by talk show hostess Ricki Lake, announced by Rich Fields while Todd Newton acted as the prize deliverer. *Gameshow Marathon* was a seven show special consisting of classic game shows and *Card Sharks* was the fifth to be played. In addition, some of the models from *The Price is Right* appeared as models on this episode and three others.

The other six in the series were: *The Price is Right (1972 version)*, *Let's Make a Deal*, *Beat the Clock*. *Press Your Luck*, *Match Game* & *Family Feud*.

## Gameplay

*Card Sharks* was the first of two semi-final games (the other was *Match Game*). It was played by *Baywatch Babe* Brande Roderick and *Trading Spaces* host Mindy Paige Davis.

The set was just like the 1978-1981 shows although the boards and one of the poll questions were reminiscents of the 1986-1989 shows. The face-card turntables were replaced with red and blue card backs from both versions, and the boards were attached to the turntables, which when turning would reveal the boards attached to them. Finally, all displays used were eggcrate displays (the main game displays on the old shows used sportstype).

### Main Game

The match was played the same way as the actual series. Except that it was not a best two out of three, it was played for big cash prizes. The first game was worth $1,000, the second was for $2,000 and the third $3,000, for a grand total of $6,000. The celebrity with the most money won the match. In case of a $3,000-$3,000 tie, a fourth game was played in true tiebreaker fashion (this did not occur that night), though it is unknown whether it was the 3-question or 1-question version (as again, this did not occur).

#### Game 1

In the first round, the question used was the same as the one from Ant & Dec's show. Brande won that question moved three spaces and froze on a nine.

The second round saw Paige win the question and also moved three spaces, but she missed out on the fourth card. Brande earned a free play but missed out as well but on the last card.

Round three, Paige won control again, only this time she froze on a ten in the third position, tying with Brande.

In the final Sudden Death round, Brande won the question, passed control to Paige and won the game since Paige missed on her turn.

#### Game 2

In the first round, the question was polled to ten cheerleaders. The question was: "Have you ever accidentally cheered for the wrong team?" Six of them did cheer for the wrong team (Brande thought only one of them did). Paige won the question, kept her base card of four, called the next card right and froze on the seven.

Round two saw Brande win the question; she elected to change her ten and got a three. Brande missed two spaces in, and Paige earned a free play. Paige went on to win the game. This puts Paige in the lead $2,000-$1,000.

#### Game 3

In the first round of what is now the deciding game, the first question of that game was previously used in the second pilot of the original *Card Sharks*. Brande won that question, got rid of the ugly eight and got a king. Brande froze one card short of the end.

The second round saw Brande win control again. She made a very crucial change from an eight to a ten. Brande called the next card higher than the ten and won the match with $4,000 for a home viewer.

### Money Cards

The Money Cards round was played exactly the same as in the series. The big change here is that the first two base cards were now worth quintuple (x5) (double and a half in terms of CBS) meaning that the first two base cards now added $1,000 to the winner's total. So a perfect playing was worth a grand total of $144,000 (despite the fact that the scoreboard only had room for five digits). Like in the late 80s run, the winning player can change one card on each row using a choice of three spare cards.

#### Money Cards Sequence

 $1,000

Brande picked up an additional $6,000 that night for a total of $10,000 for a home viewer.

### Car Game

The Car Game was far different from the ones used in the late 80s run. Like the second Car Game, it involved the ten members of the studio audience (in this case the cheerleaders). Here, the winning player must decide whether the actual number of cheerleaders who said yes to the final question is higher or lower than five. The answer was presented in the form of a Card Sharks playing card. A correct answer won the BMW Z4 Roadster worth $40,445 for a home viewer.

The final question was: "We asked these cheerleaders, 'Have you ever dated somebody from a rival school?' How many of theses cheerleaders said they have dated someone from a rival school?" Brande said that the number of 10 cheerleaders who did that is lower than five. The actual number was two which gave Brande the BMW Z4 Roadster worth $40,445 and $10,000 for a home viewer.