RUSSIAN ROULETTE
Premiere: June 3rd, 2002
Host: Mark L. Walberg
Announcer: Burton Richardson
Airtime: Weekdays on GSN at 4:30 PM and 11:00 PM Eastern
Four players compete. Each is standing in a hole on a gameboard of six. The players are given $150 to begin. A randomly chosen player starts the game and is asked a question. They choose a player to challenge. Once chosen, three choices are revealed and they have 10 seconds to answer. A right answer is worth $150. If they get it wrong, they forefit their money to the challenger and they play "Russian Roulette." To begin, one drop zone is in play with one being added on each successive question. The contestant pulls their handle and the lighted zones spin around the game area. If a light lands on the player, they drop and are out of the game. A round ends when a player drops. Should time run out before a player drops, the leader gets to pull a special handle center stage, causing one player to drop. If there is no leader, Mark Walberg does the honors and their money is evenly divided among the surviving players.In round two, questions are worth $200 a pop and have four choices. Play otherwise is the same.
When two players remain, the game changes a bit. Questions are worth $300. In season two, they became worth $250. Now, the challenger can answer it themselves or challenge the opponent. When the final player drops, the last man standing wins and keeps the money. If time runs out before a player drops, the lowest scorer is dropped.
In the bonus game, the winner is faced with five questions in 60 seconds. Every 10 seconds a drop zone opens. Every right answer is worth $500, but a wrong answer ends the bonus game and the player drops. Every answer
must be prefaced with "my answer is..." and they can pass. Five answers in one minute is worth $10,000. Then, the player can risk the ten and change it to $100,000. The lights around each open zone spin when the handle is pulled. If a light stops around the player, they drop. If their spot is dark, they win $100,000.In season two, the bonus round was reworked. The five questions were replaced with rapid fire multiple choice questions. Each right is worth $300, and a miss ends the round. Once they get 10, they win $10,000 and a chance to go for $100k. All other factors remain the same.
NOTES
Mark L. Walberg was previously seen as the co-host/announcer on "Shop 'til You Drop," and also hosted "Temptation Island."
The drop for players is only four or five feet. However, waivers are issued in case of injury. In 130 episodes, a sprained ankle was the only one recorded.
MY THOUGHTS
Interesting game. The money changing hands is exciting, and the hole gimmick doesn't get old, as I thought it would. The payouts are very nice, although the $10,000 given in the bonus round seems like an afterthought compared to how its treated on other shows.
JAY SAYS...
Cast - 2.0
Game - 2.0
Bells and Whistles - 1.5
Prize - 2.0
Tilt - 1.5