Pawnography

Last updated
Pawnography
Pawnography logo.jpeg
Genre Game show
Presented by Christopher Titus
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes30
Production
Executive producers
  • Russ McCarroll
  • Zachary Behr
  • Elaine Frontain Bryant
  • Brent Montgomery
  • David George
  • Shawn Witt
  • Michael Binkow
Production companyLeftfield Pictures
Original release
Network History
ReleaseJuly 10, 2014 (2014-07-10) 
January 30, 2015 (2015-01-30)

Pawnography was an American game show broadcast by History. Hosted by comedian Christopher Titus and featuring Pawn Stars personalities Rick Harrison, Corey Harrison and Austin "Chumlee" Russell as panelists, the series featured two contestants answering questions for a chance to win cash and items for sale from the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop (where Pawn Stars is recorded). The show premiered July 10, 2014, at 10 p.m. ET, following Pawn Stars and concluded on January 29, 2015. [1]

Contents

Episodes

Season 1 (2014)

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title(s)Original air date
11"Wheel and Deal"July 10, 2014 (2014-07-10)
22"Bring the Heat"July 10, 2014 (2014-07-10)
33"Money Train"July 17, 2014 (2014-07-17)
44"Wheel and Deal"July 17, 2014 (2014-07-17)
55"Knuckle Busters"July 24, 2014 (2014-07-24)
66"The Gambler"July 24, 2014 (2014-07-24)
77"Saddle Battle"July 31, 2014 (2014-07-31)
88"Stealing Art"July 31, 2014 (2014-07-31)
99"Playing for Jeeps"August 7, 2014 (2014-08-07)
1010"Choose Your Weapon"August 7, 2014 (2014-08-07)

Season 2 (2014–15)

No. in
series
No. in
season
Title(s)Original air date
111"Mantle Money"November 6, 2014 (2014-11-06)
122"Watch Closely"November 6, 2014 (2014-11-06)
133"Banana Montana"November 13, 2014 (2014-11-13)
144"Duke It Out"November 13, 2014 (2014-11-13)
155"The Triumph"November 20, 2014 (2014-11-20)
166"Smoking Gun"November 20, 2014 (2014-11-20)
177"Stuck In a Rupp"December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04)
188"Silver Spoons"December 4, 2014 (2014-12-04)
199"Bank Shot"December 11, 2014 (2014-12-11)
2010"Pulling Strings"December 11, 2014 (2014-12-11)
2111"Jimi That!"December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18)
2212"Chicken Hawk Down"December 18, 2014 (2014-12-18)
2313"Weight in Silver"January 8, 2015 (2015-01-08)
2414"Ridin' Like Robin"January 8, 2015 (2015-01-08)
2515"Zombie Defense"January 15, 2015 (2015-01-15)
2616"Motivader"January 15, 2015 (2015-01-15)
2717"Whizzing By"January 22, 2015 (2015-01-22)
2818"Flintlock and Loaded"January 22, 2015 (2015-01-22)
2919"Perfect Game"January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29)
3020"Fit for the King"January 29, 2015 (2015-01-29)

Gameplay

The game is played in three rounds. In the first round, two contestants compete against Corey and Chumlee, who work together. Titus asks a series of multiple-choice toss-up questions with four answer options; $100 is awarded for each correct answer, and there is no penalty for a miss. If a contestant is in the lead when time runs out, he/she earns the chance to win an item from the shop's collection, revealed at the start of the round. If Corey and Chumlee win the round instead, the item is removed from play and returned to the shop. Rick provides occasional comments on the questions and answers. Any ties for high score between a contestant and Corey/Chumlee are broken in the contestant's favor. If the contestants tie for high score, the item at stake is carried over into the second round.

Titus then asks a $150 bonus question, open only to the contestants and having to do with an item seen in a Pawn Stars episode. The contestants separately choose answers during the commercial break after the first round. For the second round, Rick takes the place of Corey and Chumlee, and their score is transferred to him. All questions in this round are worth $200, and a second item is at stake if a contestant is in the lead at the end. The higher-scoring contestant advances to the Pawnography Showdown round, while the low scorer is eliminated from the game with no winnings. If the round ends in a tie between the contestants, Titus asks them one last question; the first contestant to answer correctly wins an additional $200 and advances.

In the Pawnography Showdown round, the surviving contestant faces Rick, Corey, and Chumlee as a team, with a third item at stake. Each side has 60 seconds to answer the same 10 open-ended questions, and must wait in a soundproof isolation booth during the other side's turn. While Corey and Chumlee can suggest answers to Rick, only his responses are counted on behalf of the trio. There is no returning to passed or missed questions, and Titus does not inform either side during the round as to which answers are correct or incorrect. However, an on-screen tally displays the correct answers and scores for the viewer's benefit. He also does not immediately reveal the final scores, instead first giving Rick and the contestant a chance to negotiate an offer (of cash and/or some of the items at stake) for the contestant to walk away from the game. If the contestant turns down Rick's final offer and has out-scored or tied the trio, they win all cash and items accumulated during the first two rounds, as well as the third item; if the trio wins the round, though, the contestant leaves with nothing.

Production

The series was filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada along with Pawn Stars to allow the Harrisons to continue filming Pawn Stars without having to leave the city. [2] The prizes on the show were chosen by the producers with assistance from the shop's CFO, Theo Spyer. According to Harrison, he did not know what items would be offered as prizes until they were revealed on the show; if the prizes were won, the producers would reimburse Harrison for the items, although it was at a large discount. [2] Although the family patriarch, Richard "Old Man" Harrison, was offered a chance to participate, he declined the offer, saying, "I'm 73 years old. I already got a job. I don’t want another one." [2] The series was green-lit on April 30, 2014, with History ordering ten episodes of the show. [3] A second season of the show, which premiered on November 6, was announced on October 7, 2014. [4]

Reception

Diane Werts of Newsday gave the series a "B", saying, "America can't get enough of those Pawn Stars guys... so here they are for another weekly hour, doing what they do." [5]

Ratings

Pawnography's July 10 premiere received 2.82 million viewers as well as 995,000 adults 18–49, making it the highest rated premiere episode of any History original since the beginning of 2014. [6] Among adults 25–54, the series was also among the ten highest rated new summer cable series in 2014. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Supermarket Sweep</i> American television game show

Supermarket Sweep is an American television game show. Teams of contestants answer trivia questions before competing in a timed race to gather grocery items from the aisles of a supermarket. The original show was broadcast on ABC from December 20, 1965 to July 14, 1967. Later seasons aired on Lifetime from February 5, 1990 to June 16, 1995, and later on PAX from April 3, 2000 to May 23, 2003, with reruns airing until March 26, 2004. Another version of the show aired from October 18, 2020 to January 30, 2022, also on ABC.

<i>Sale of the Century</i> American game show

Sale 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 the short-lived game shows Letters to Laugh-In and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and a weekly syndicated series began that fall and ran for one season.

The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. Contestants answer trivia questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's title refers to the game's slot-machine mechanism also having jokers, which may be used to represent any category.

<i>The Challengers</i> (game show) 1990–1991 US television program

The Challengers is an American game show that aired in syndication during the 1990-91 television season The series was created by Ron Greenberg and was based largely on his 1969 production, The Who, What, or Where Game. Dick Clark presided over the show with Don Morrow announcing. The Challengers was a joint production of Ron Greenberg Productions and Dick Clark Productions, with Buena Vista Television as distributor.

<i>Temptation</i> (Australian game show) 2005 Australian TV series or program

Temptation was an Australian game show which premiered on the Nine Network on 30 May 2005 and aired at 7.00pm. Hosted by Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon, the show was a remake of Sale of the Century, which aired on Nine in the same timeslot for more than twenty years between 1980 and 2001. Temptation had the same general format of its predecessor, but with several new features and a de-emphasis on the "shopping" aspects of the endgame. The show ran until 30 November 2007, when it was placed on hiatus by the network following strong competition from game show Deal or No Deal on the rival Seven Network; during the hiatus, Nine filled the timeslot with episodes of the American sitcom Two and a Half Men. When Ed Phillips made an appearance on The NRL Footy Show he announced "maybe summer" would be the return of the show. This statement was accurate, as Temptation returned for a shortened fourth series from 1 December 2008 with unaired episodes which were recorded during 2008. During that time, Ed Phillips was dumped by the Nine Network after his contract expired in November, and Temptation never returned to the schedule. After 23 January 2009, when the show's final episode aired, all Temptation websites were removed, and Two and a Half Men returned to Channel Nine's 7:00pm schedule.

Sale of the Century is an Australian prime time game show that aired on the Nine Network from 14 July 1980 to 29 November 2001. It is based on both Great Temptation that aired from 1970 to 1974 and on the original Sale that first aired in the United States from 1969 to 1973. The Australian format of Sale has since been used internationally, including in a revived US version that aired from 1983 to 1989.

<i>Supermarket Sweep</i> (British game show) British television game show

Supermarket Sweep is a British game show that is based on the original American version. Originally hosted by Dale Winton, it ran for exactly 8 years from 6 September 1993 to 6 September 2001 and then revived from 12 February to 31 August 2007 on ITV.

<i>Catch 21</i> American game show

Catch 21 is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). Created by Merrill Heatter, the series follows three contestants as they play a card game centered on blackjack and trivia. The show is based on a popular online game from GSN's website and aired for four seasons from 2008 to 2011. It was hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, with actress Mikki Padilla serving as the card dealer.

<i>Pawn Stars</i> American reality television series

Pawn Stars is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in Las Vegas, Nevada, where it chronicles the daily activities at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, a 24-hour family business opened in 1989 and originally operated by patriarch Richard "Old Man" Harrison, his son Rick Harrison, Rick's son Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison, and Corey's childhood friend, Austin "Chumlee" Russell. The series, which became the network's highest rated show, and the No. 2 reality show on television, behind Jersey Shore, debuted on July 19, 2009.

<i>Pointless</i> British television quiz show

Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot.

<i>Perfection</i> (game show) 2011 British TV series or programme

Perfection is a BBC quiz show which was hosted by Nick Knowles. It was first shown on BBC Two from 17 January 2011 to 10 February 2012, then shown on BBC One from 2 January 2013 to 31 October 2014 and then back on BBC Two from 2 to 30 March 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Harrison</span> American businessman and TV personality (born 1965)

Richard Kevin Harrison is an American businessman, reality television personality, and owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop which is featured on the History series Pawn Stars. Harrison and his father, Richard Benjamin Harrison, opened the shop in 1989, which they co-owned until his father's death in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Benjamin Harrison</span> American pawnbroker and television personality (1941–2018)

Richard Benjamin Harrison Jr., also known by the nicknames "The Old Man" and "The Appraiser", was an American businessman and reality television personality, best known as the co-owner of the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop, as featured on the History Channel series Pawn Stars. Harrison was the co-owner of the pawn shop with his son Rick Harrison. They opened the store together in 1989.

<i>Tipping Point</i> (game show) British television quiz show

Tipping Point is a British quiz show that has aired on ITV since 2 July 2012. The show also airs repeats on U&W, which is owned by the UKTV network, and Really, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The programme is presented by Ben Shephard and features three players answering questions on the subject of general knowledge in order to win counters, which they use on a large coin pusher arcade-style machine, that represent (mainly) cash prizes. The machine was hand built by Lotus Cars mechanics working on the weekend.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chumlee</span> American television personality (born 1982)

Austin Lee Russell, better known by his stage name Chumlee, is an American businessman and reality television personality, best known for his appearances on the History Channel television show Pawn Stars, which depicts day-to-day business at the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas where he works. Chumlee went to work at the pawn shop five years before filming the first season, having been a childhood friend of Corey Harrison whose father and grandfather founded the shop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Corey Harrison</span> American businessman (born 1983)

Richard Corey Harrison, also known by his nickname "Big Hoss," is an American businessman, reality television personality, and a cast member of the History TV series Pawn Stars, which documents his work at the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, which he co-owns with his father, Rick Harrison.

<i>Million Dollar Minute</i> Australian TV quiz show

Million Dollar Minute is an Australian quiz show which aired on the Seven Network. It premiered on 16 September 2013. The show was originally hosted by Grant Denyer, and later by Simon Reeve, and aired at 5:30 pm on weeknights. The show was cancelled in September 2015 and was replaced by The Chase Australia in its timeslot. Repeats are currently shown on 7TWO in place of Home and Away's Early Years on Hiatus.

<i>Cash Trapped</i> British game show

Cash Trapped is a British game show which aired on ITV from 1 August 2016 to 20 December 2019. Presented and based on an idea by Bradley Walsh, the show pits contestants against one another in a contest to amass and win prize money by answering questions in various categories.

<i>Pawn Stars Do America</i> American reality television series

Pawn Stars Do America is an American reality television series shown on History and produced by Leftfield Pictures. The series is filmed in multiple cities across the United States, where stars Rick Harrison, his son Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison, and Corey's long-time friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell visit each city for a 3-day event. The series debuted on November 9, 2022.

References

  1. Hibberd, James (April 30, 2014). "Pawn Stars game show coming to History – Exclusive". Entertainment Weekly .
  2. 1 2 3 Lawrence, Christopher (July 9, 2014). "Pawnography gets it while the gettin's good". Las Vegas Review-Journal . Archived from the original on July 13, 2014.
  3. Bibel, Sara (April 30, 2014). "History Greenlights 10 Episodes of Pawn Stars Game Show Spin-Off Pawnography". TV by the Numbers . Zap2it. Archived from the original on May 3, 2014.
  4. "History's Hit Game Show Pawnography to Return 11/6". Broadway World. October 7, 2014. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  5. Werts, Diane (July 7, 2014). "Pawnography review: Same old Pawn Stars, new game show". Newsday .
  6. Patten, Dominic (July 11, 2014). "History Wins With Pawnography Game Show Debut Starring Pawn Stars Trio". Deadline Hollywood . PMC.
  7. Kissell, Rick (August 28, 2014). "TNT is Summer's Scripted Cable Leader; Net's Last Ship, FX's The Strain Top New Shows". Variety .