''National Bingo Night'' is an American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

hosted by

Ed Sanders Edward Sanders (born August 17, 1939) is an American poet, singer, activist, author, publisher and longtime member of the rock band the Fugs. He has been called a bridge between the Beat and hippie generations. Sanders is considered to have bee ...

which premiered on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

on May 18, 2007, with a six-episode order. Sanders is known for his work on another ABC show, '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition''. The show was cancelled by ABC and was repackaged as ''

Bingo America ''Bingo America'' is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network. The series follows two contestants as they try to compete to win up to $100,000. Additionally, the series lets at-home viewers print bingo cards online that allow them to ...

'' on GSN, first hosted by

Patrick Duffy Patrick Duffy (born March 17, 1949) is an American actor and director widely known for his role on the CBS primetime soap opera ''Dallas'', where he played Bobby Ewing, the youngest son of Miss Ellie, and the nicest brother of J.R. Ewing (pla ...

, and in October 2008 by

Richard Karn Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong ...

. The creator of this program,

Andrew Glassman Andrew Glassman is an American television producer. Glassman founded the production company Glassman Media in 2001 following his successful career as an Emmy Award-winning investigative Broadcast Journalist during which he appeared on-air at NBC N ...

, also created the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

game ''

Average Joe The terms average Joe, ordinary Joe, Joe Sixpack, Joe Lunchbucket, Joe Snuffy, Joe Blow, Joe Schmo (for males) and ordinary Jane, average Jane, and plain Jane (for females), are used primarily in North America to refer to a completely average p ...

''. The game is an

interactive Across the many fields concerned with interactivity, including information science, computer science, human-computer interaction, communication, and industrial design, there is little agreement over the meaning of the term "interactivity", but mo ...

experience for both the studio audience and viewers at home. On ''NBN'', members of the studio audience attempted to win a game of

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

while competing with a solo studio contestant. For ''Bingo America'', it is played as a straight general knowledge quiz format with two players and a home viewer bingo game within. Home viewers play along with pre-printed game cards that are available from the network website just before each episode airs, and are also eligible to win prizes. The show was expected to return for a five-episode run during the week of December 17, 2007,ABC Clears Card for Bingo Night - 7/9/2007 3:16:00 AM - Broadcasting & Cable
/ref> but on November 13, 2007,

decided to replace it instead with its new game show, ''

Duel A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two people, with matched weapons, in accordance with agreed-upon Code duello, rules. During the 17th and 18th centuries (and earlier), duels were mostly single combats fought with swords (the r ...

''. In 2008, the show was cancelled and was afterward shopped to other networks. Eventually GSN acquired the rights and the game was repackaged into a five-day-a-week 30-minute version with modifications listed below.

Gameplay

National Bingo Night

Each hour-long episode of ''NBN'' was divided into three games – Red, White, and Blue. Only cards with the correct designation were eligible to win prizes. Unlike the audience members, studio contestants did not actually have a bingo card. Instead, they participated in stunt games. During these games, they took guesses on what the next ball to be drawn from an oversized bingo drum will be. Generally, this took the form of odd or even, red or black numbers (originally red or black decals on the balls), or whether the next number is higher or lower than the previous one. On at least two occasions, the stunt was to draw balls that contained a certain number, such as five 5's ("High Five"; drawing G-55 would count for two 5's) or four 9's ("Baseball") If the contestant successfully completes the stunt before anyone in the studio audience gets a bingo, the contestant wins one of various prizes. If not, then an audience member wins $5,000 (or a prize the studio contestant failed to win on at least one occasion). In the event that the in-studio contestant completes their game and an audience member gets a bingo, only the audience member wins. All games were winner-take-all. Non-winning contestants received nothing.

Bingo America

The format was later retooled as ''

'' and aired new episodes on GSN from March 31, 2008 to January 2, 2009. In the new format, two contestants competed on each show for a top prize of $100,000. The new version also included an at-home element in which viewers had the chance to win prizes.

References

External links

*
Official Website (via Internet Archive) Bingo Night Numbers - Fan SiteAustralian National Bingo NightIndian National Bingo Night
{{National Bingo Night Bingo American Broadcasting Company original programming 2000s American game shows 2007 American television series debuts 2007 American television series endings