| You Bet Your Ass | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by |
|
| Presented by | Stewart Francis Sitara Hewitt |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Production company | Lone Eagle Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | The Comedy Network |
You Bet Your Ass is a Canadian game show that aired on The Comedy Network. It followed a blackjack and casino motif, with contestants answering questions on popular culture to earn points. The contestant with the most points at the end of the show was the winner.
Hosted by Canadian comedian Stewart Francis and his co-host, Sitara Hewitt, the show premiered in 2005. As of June 25, 2007, the Comedy Network dropped You Bet Your Ass from its weekday lineup, replacing it with reruns of This Hour Has 22 Minutes . Reruns of You Bet Your Ass began airing in the weekday morning block on April 28, 2008 (replacing History Bites ).
The series was created by Michael Geddes and Christopher Geddes of Lone Eagle Entertainment in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, who are the producers of two other game shows, Game On and Inside the Box .
The show was taped at the Canadian Broadcasting Centre in Toronto.
The game was played in four rounds.
In the first round, "Piece of Ass", the three contestants are shown a category. Francis says the show's "Hit me" to reveal a category and the contestant must answer a question for 100 points. The contestant in the left podium begins the round. After seeing the category, a contestant has the option of "doubling down", to receive two questions in the category, for 200 points. However, if the contestant gets a question wrong, not only does he lose points corresponding to how much it was worth (100 normally, 200 for a double-down), but the other players have a chance to steal the question. Players are given 1000 points to begin the game. Also, one player may get a wild card instead of a category, and he must choose an opponent from whom to take 500 points if he can answer a single question.
Round two was the "Dirty Dozen", much like the typical "lightning round" on many game shows. 12 questions were asked (4 per contestant), with a spotlight randomly falling on a contestant who must then answer directly. The correct answer to each question serves to segue to the next question. Questions are worth 500 points apiece (100 in season 1), and no points are lost on incorrect responses. In season 1, the contestant who answers was determined before Stewart read the question; however, in season 2, Stewart would read the question and then the contestant would be chosen.
Round three was "Up Your Ass". It takes the same form as round one, only with 200 or 400 points at stake, and 1000 points are again given to all players.
The final round, "Ass On The Line", presented the players with four categories. The player with the lowest score got first choice and could wager any amount up to their total on each of three successive questions in the chosen category, with a minimum bet of 500 points (100 in season 1). The round is over for players who fall below the minimum. The player who began the round in second place chose from the three remaining categories and the same structure applied, followed by the same routine for the player that was leading to begin the round.
Whoever had the most points at the completion of the final round won $500 and then got to see one final category, and could choose to answer one question for a further $1,000, or to answer two questions for a further $2,000. Regardless of the choice, it was an all-or-nothing bonus: if, for example, the player opted to answer two questions, but answered the first one correctly and misses the second, they would only win the $500 for winning the game.
In season 1, the winner could choose to take $500 or "double down" and attempt to answer one final question correctly for $1,000, but a wrong answer meant he or she got nothing. If a game ended in a tie, the double down question was not offered and the tied contestants split the $1,000 prize automatically.
You Bet Your Life is an American comedy quiz series that has aired on both radio and television. The original version was hosted by Groucho Marx of the Marx Brothers, with announcer and assistant George Fenneman. The show debuted on ABC Radio on October 27, 1947, moved to CBS Radio debuting October 5, 1949, and went to NBC-TV and NBC Radio on October 4, 1950. Because of its simple format, it was possible to broadcast the show on both radio and television but not simultaneously. Many of the laughs on the television show were evoked by Groucho's facial reactions and other visual gimmicks; the two versions were slightly different. The last episode in a radio format aired on June 10, 1960. The series continued on television for another year, recording a season on September 22, 1960 with a new title, The Groucho Show.
Bullseye is an American game show that aired in syndication from September 29, 1980, to May 1982, with reruns continuing until September 24, 1982. Jim Lange was the host, and the program was produced by Jack Barry and Dan Enright. Jay Stewart was the announcer for the first season, and Charlie O'Donnell announced for the second season. The series' executive producer was Ron Greenberg.
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. In the show, contestants answer 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.
Chain Reaction is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, in which players compete to form chains composed of two-word phrases.
Beat the Geeks is an American television game show that aired on Comedy Central from 2001 to 2002. The show was rerun on The Comedy Network in Canada.
Idiot Savants is an American television game show on the MTV network which ran from December 9, 1996, to April 25, 1997. It was created by Michael Dugan and Chris Kreski, directed by Steve Paley, and hosted by comedian Greg Fitzsimmons.
Street Smarts is an American game show that featured two in-studio contestants trying to predict the outcome of interviews of people who were found on the street. The show, which was hosted by Frank Nicotero, aired in syndication from 2000 to 2005. Nicotero would be on locale with the on the street contestants, virtually any and everywhere in the United States. The in studio gameplay however, was at G4 and TMZ, headquarters, Victory Studios, in Glendale, California.
Stump the Schwab is an American game show that aired on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic from July 8, 2004 to September 29, 2006. The show featured three contestants trying to defeat Howie Schwab, ESPN's first statistician, in a sports trivia contest. Stuart Scott was the show's host. The show also appeared on Canada's The Score Television Network.
Debt is an American game show hosted by Wink Martindale which aired on Lifetime from June 3, 1996, to August 14, 1998. It was produced by Buena Vista TV, a part of The Walt Disney Company. The show featured contestants who were trying to earn money to get out of debt. It had a similar format to Jeopardy!, on which contestants answered trivia. However, it targeted a younger audience and placed a larger emphasis on popular culture.
Play the Percentages is an American game show hosted by Geoff Edwards which aired in syndication from January 7 to September 12, 1980. Jay Stewart announced for the first six weeks, after which Bob Hilton became the permanent announcer.
Split Second is an American game show that was created by Monty Hall and Stefan Hatos and produced by their production company, Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions.
Tic-Tac-Dough is an American television game show based on the paper-and-pencil game of tic-tac-toe. Contestants answer questions in various categories to put up their respective symbol, X or O, on the board. Three versions were produced: the initial 1956–59 run on NBC, a 1978–86 run initially on CBS and then in syndication, and a syndicated run in 1990. The show was produced by Barry & Enright Productions.
Fandango is a country music-themed quiz show which aired on The Nashville Network from March 8, 1983 to August 26, 1988, with reruns airing through March 31, 1989, when it was replaced by Top Card. Fandango was the first TV game show to air on TNN and was one of the longest-running game shows on a cable network.
Gameshow Marathon is an American television program which aired on CBS from May 31 to June 29, 2006. It is based on the United Kingdom series Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon which aired on ITV in 2005. It also aired in Canada on CTV.
Inside the Box is a Canadian television game show which debuted on September 18, 2006, on the cable network TVtropolis, and was syndicated in the United States by Program Partners in the 2008 television season. In the show, three contestants compete for a chance to win up to CA$10,000 by trying to guess television shows, characters, or actors by asking the other contestants either yes or no questions related to the subject. The show ran for two seasons, ending on December 7, 2007.
Game On! is a Canadian sports trivia television game show that was a variation on Jeopardy!. It ran from 1998 to 2000 on Global and was shown on GameTV. The show was hosted by Tim Steeves in season 1 and David Merry in Season 2, with Jennifer Hill as the female co-host. Three male contestants compete in this game. The set was designed to resemble a sports enthusiast's wood-paneled basement recreation room decorated with posters, trophies and other sports memorabilia. The host stood behind a 1970s-style wet bar while the three contestants sat in leather lounge chairs. To answer a question, a contestant pressed a button on a device that resembled a TV remote control.
Download is an Australian children's game show which aired on the Nine Network from 2000 until 2002. Scott McRae hosted the show in 2000–2001; he was replaced by Nathan Lloyd in 2001–2002, while Emily Jade O'Keefe hosted the final season of the show. The co-host for the final season was Miss Bytes.
500 Questions was an American game show broadcast on ABC. The show premiered on Wednesday, May 20, 2015, at 8:00 pm EDT, and ran for seven straight weeknights, with a weekend break. The show features contestants who try to answer 500 questions without getting three questions wrong in a row. The series was renewed for a second season on October 1, 2015.
Master Minds is an American game show airing on the Game Show Network. The show debuted on June 10, 2019, under the title Best Ever Trivia Show, hosted by Sherri Shepherd and regularly featuring Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah, Arianna Haut, and Ryan Chaffee. The series was renamed Master Minds on April 6, 2020, with Brooke Burns replacing Shepherd.
People Puzzler is an American television game show hosted by Leah Remini and broadcast by Game Show Network. It premiered on January 18, 2021. The show is inspired by the celebrity and pop-culture themed crosswords in People magazine.
