Temptation (2007 U.S. game show)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Temptation: The New Sale of the Century'' is an American syndicated television
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 ...
loosely based on both the original Australian and American ''
Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being th ...
'' versions, plus the 2005 Australian version, also titled ''Temptation''. The show began airing in
syndication Syndication may refer to: * Broadcast syndication, where individual stations buy programs outside the network system * Print syndication, where individual newspapers or magazines license news articles, columns, or comic strips * Web syndication, ...
on September 10, 2007, with the last first-run episode airing on May 23, 2008. Reruns continued until September 5, 2008. The series was hosted by
Rossi Morreale Rossi Morreale (born April 27, 1977) is a television personality and former college football player. Career Morreale was a starting wide receiver/ punt returner for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks football team, lettering from 1997&nda ...
with former
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
host
Rolonda Watts Rolonda Watts (born July 12, 1959) is an American actress, producer, and television and radio talk show host. She is best known for hosting the eponymous '' Rolonda'', an internationally syndicated talk show which aired from 1994 to 1997. Watts ...
as announcer. ''Temptation'' was produced by
FremantleMedia North America Fremantle (; formerly FremantleMedia) is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. Fremantle takes its name from Fremantle International, acquired by predecessor company All American Television in ...
(logoed as FremantleMedia) and
20th Century Fox Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
but was syndicated by
20th Television 20th Television (formerly 20th Century Fox Television, 20th Century-Fox Television, and TCF Television Productions, Inc.) is an American television production company that is a division of Disney Television Studios, part of The Walt Disney Compa ...
. As with other syndicated half-hour programs, ''Temptation'' aired two episodes in some markets, with the second episode with a later production date. In July 2008, ''Temptation'' was canceled due to low ratings (it was the lowest among game shows during the 2007–2008 season) and replaced by '' Trivial Pursuit: America Plays'' on most stations.


Front Game

The game was played in two rounds, each containing several parts. Three contestants, one a returning champion, each started the game with 20 "Temptation dollars".


Round 1

This round was broken down into three parts: a "Speed Round", an "Instant Bargain", and a "Fame Game": *Speed Round: Morreale asked a series of rapid-fire
pop culture Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * Pop (Gas al ...
questions over 30 seconds (instead of 60 as in the '80s series); correct answers were worth $5 while incorrect responses lost $5. *Instant Bargain: The leader after the initial speed round was offered a chance to spend some of his/her "Temptation dollars" to purchase a prize at a discount. Played just like the original ''Sale of the Century'' Instant Bargains, the host often offered extra incentives (e.g., reducing the price, offering extra cash, or offering additional tickets if the offer includes a trip) to entice the contestant. However, if two or all three contestants were tied, a
Dutch auction A Dutch auction is one of several similar types of auctions for buying or selling goods. Most commonly, it means an auction in which the auctioneer begins with a high asking price in the case of selling, and lowers it until some participant accep ...
was frequently conducted. The only stylistic difference was that instead of the host saying "Going once... going twice...", the player was placed on a five-second "Shop Clock". *Fame Game: The host read clues pertaining to a famous person, place, thing, etc. from a first-person perspective. Unlike the 1980s version, letters filled in a puzzle one at a time on the monitor behind the host. The contestant who answered correctly won $15.


Round 2

After the first commercial break, the second round consisted of "Knock-Off", a second Instant Bargain, a second speed round, "Instant Cash", and one final speed round. *Knock-Off: A category was announced and 12 possible answers were shown; nine answers were correct while three were wrong. Each contestant, in turn, selected one of the answers. A correct answer turned gold and was worth cash (four $2 answers, three $5 answers, a $10 answer, and a $15 answer; Some boards had two $3 answers replacing two worth $2). An incorrect answer turned red and eliminated that contestant for the remainder of that round. Play continued until the last correct answer was found or all three players had been eliminated. In general, the less obvious an answer was, the more it was worth. *Instant Bargain: Played as before but for a slightly more expensive prize. *Speed Round #2: Two answers were given before the start of the round, both usually with a similar theme (e.g., "Winger or Gunslinger" and contestants had to identify films as starring Debra Winger or Westerns, which were sometimes called Gunslingers). Once again, the speed round lasted for 30 seconds, and questions were worth $5 up or down. *Instant Cash: Based on the ''Sale of the Century'' round of the same name. The leader at that point was offered a chance at a cash jackpot which began at $500 and rose by that amount until it was claimed or reached $5,000, at which point the pot was frozen until someone won it. To play, the contestant had to give up his/her entire lead over the second-place opponent. If two or more contestants were tied, a Dutch auction was conducted (it usually started at the difference between the tied players and third place). If a contestant opted to play, they were shown three wallets (one white, one brown, one red) and asked to choose one and open it. Inside two of the wallets was a slip that said "$100" on it, with the other having a slip with the amount of money in the Instant Cash jackpot inside. Regardless of whether or not the leader chose to play, Morreale revealed the location of the jackpot. *Speed Round #3: After a second commercial break, a final 30-second round of questions was played, however each answer was worth +/- $10. The contestant with the highest score was the champion and advanced to Shopper's Paradise for the "Shopping Spree of a Lifetime". If two or more contestants were tied, a tiebreaker question was played. The contestant who had the right answer earned $10 and became the champion. If not, the opponent won $10 and became the champion. The losers kept any cash and prizes won during the main game; unlike earlier incarnations of ''Sale of the Century'', no contestants received their score in cash. Any player who had not won anything up to the end of the game received unacknowledged parting gifts.


Shopper's Paradise

''Temptation'' used a similar shopping endgame to its predecessor series, but was slightly different. After the champion entered Shopper's Paradise, he/she was shown each of the five prizes that could be purchased that week and how much it cost in "Temptation dollars" to buy. Each new prize increased in value as the champion went along, with the most expensive/valuable prize usually being a car. Unlike the Australian version of ''Temptation'', on which this series was based, and the 1980s ''Sale of the Century'', there was no opportunity to buy all on-stage prizes nor receive a cash jackpot for accumulating a high amount of money. Contestants were also not permitted to buy more than one prize in Shopper's Paradise, a rule that carried over from the 1980s ''Sale'' series. Once the entire gallery of prizes was revealed to the champion, he/she attempted to build up his/her bankroll by playing a round of "Super Knock-Off". Like the version played in the front game, twelve answers were shown. This time, only six were right and the round was played for higher stakes. Four of the answers were worth $25 each, one was worth $50, and one worth $100 for a total of $250 added to the bankroll for finding all six answers. The champion could stop choosing answers whenever he/she desired, as choosing one of the wrong answers wiped out the bank and ended the round. After Super Knock-Off was completed, any money from the correct answers was added to the champion's already-accumulated bankroll and he/she was given a choice to buy a prize or return on the next show and try to add more money to the bank. If the total bank was not enough to buy the lowest level prize in Shopper's Paradise, a Croton diamond watch was offered as a consolation prize. Champions played until they either decided to buy a prize, were defeated, banked enough to buy the highest level prize, or won a fifth match. If that happened and a champion had not banked enough money for the highest level prize, he/she was forced to buy any prize that he/she could afford and retire undefeated.


Tournaments

From November 19–21, 2007, and again from November 26–28, ''Temptation'' aired two 3-day tournaments where three former contestants returned and played for the entire tournament. The contestants were different for each of the two tournaments. Rules remained similar for each tournament, except that contestants started each game with $30. The winner of each game played Super Knock Off. The winner of day 1 and 2 played Super Knock Off, but did not go to "Shopper's Paradise". In day 3, a special 10% off coupon to be used in Shopper's Paradise was presented for the contestant in the lead for the second Instant Bargain if the contestant accepted the bargain. Only the winner of day 3 went to "Shopper's Paradise".


Shop-at-home offers

Before commercial breaks, offers for products at discounted prices were advertised under a
deal of the day Deal-of-the-day (also called daily deal or flash sales or one deal a day) is an ecommerce business model in which a website offers a single product for sale for a period of 24 to 36 hours. Potential customers register as members of the deal-a-day w ...
format. These items were purchased online at the show's official site. The offers were originally separate items, but later became generic "60% off retail" plug offers.


Broadcast history

''Temptation'' was based on the Australian series of the same name, itself a revival of ''Sale of the Century''. The two pilots were filmed on the Australian set with the show's eventual mini-games in place; unlike the series, the pilots used the Australian sound effects and theme (the former based on the 1980s ''Sale'' sounds). Owned-and-operated stations of
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
were among the stations carrying the show, as was the former WTBS Atlanta (currently known as Peachtree TV).
MyNetworkTV MyNetworkTV (unofficially abbreviated MyTV, MyNet, MNT or MNTV, and sometimes referred to as My Network) is an American commercial broadcast television syndication service and former television network owned by Fox Corporation, operated by its ...
aired two
sneak preview A film screening is the displaying of a motion picture or film, generally referring to a special showing as part of a film's production and release cycle. To show the film to best advantage, special screenings may take place in plush, low seat-cou ...
episodes featuring ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It aired on Fox from June 11, 2002, to Ap ...
'' alumni Mikalah Gordon,
Justin Guarini Justin Guarini (born Justin Eldrin Bell; October 28, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter and actor who in 2002 was the runner-up on the first season of ''American Idol''. Early life Guarini was born in Columbus, Georgia. His father, Eldr ...
, and
Kimberly Caldwell Kimberly Ann Caldwell-Harvey is an American singer, actress and television hostess. She rose to fame when she was a finalist on the second season of ''American Idol''. After her American Idol stint, Caldwell was an entertainment correspondent ...
on September 5, 2007 in prime time. These episodes were aired again on March 13 and 14, 2008. Before the series premiered, writers went on strike because FremantleMedia refused to recognize the
Writers Guild of America The Writers Guild of America is the joint efforts of two different US labor unions representing TV and film writers: * The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), headquartered in New York City and affiliated with the AFL–CIO * The Writers Guil ...
as the writers' chosen labor representative.Writers Guild of America West Pickets Tribune Studio’s Temptation - 9/18/2007 1:15:00 PM - Broadcasting & Cable
/ref>
BUZZR Buzzr is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle (company), Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive li ...
aired reruns of ''Temptation'' as part of their Friday Night block from February 9 to April 20, 2018, and brought them back as a weeknight entry that fall.


First taped week

The first ''taped'' week of the series did not air until March 3–7, 2008 and featured a slightly different game structure. The show began with Speed Round #1 followed by Instant Bargain #1, the Fame Game, and Speed Round #2. After the first commercial break, Knock-Off was played followed by Instant Bargain #2, a second Fame Game worth $25, Instant Cash, and Speed Round #3. In addition, the price tags at Shopper's Paradise were white instead of orange, and Morreale showed the winning contestant around while Watts described the prizes.


Cancellation

With the exception of the preview episodes, which rated 0.8,Downey, Kevin
Syndicated TV's new star: "Family Guy"
, Media Life. October 4, 2007
''Temptation'' never rose above 0.5 in the Nielsen rating system, making it the least-watched game show on broadcast television that year; the next lowest-rated game, ''
Merv Griffin's Crosswords ''Merv Griffin's Crosswords'' (also simply called ''Crosswords'') is an American game show based on crossword, crossword puzzles. The show was created by its namesake, Merv Griffin, who died shortly after beginning production on the series. Ty Tre ...
'', maintained a 0.8–1.0 share. Although the final first-run episode of ''Temptation'' aired on May 23, 2008, the show's official cancellation was not announced until July 29. The final episode was later broadcast as the last repeat on September 5, making it one of only a handful of programs to do so. The series was replaced with '' Trivial Pursuit: America Plays'' on most stations that carried it; however, the program experienced similar low ratings as its predecessor and was canceled in April 2009.


References


Twentieth Clears Show based on "''Sale Of The Century''"



External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Temptation (2007 Us Game Show) First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 2000s American game shows 2007 American television series debuts 2008 American television series endings Television series by Fremantle (company) Television series by 20th Century Fox Television American television series based on Australian television series Sale of the Century