The most frog-awful game show of all time...

mr3urious

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Of all the game shows I've seen past and present, this has got to be the worst. I mean, its badness is legendary among game show fans, and was described in forums in an almost creepypasta fashion, though traders have had the premiere episode since at least 1998! It wasn't until April of 2013 that someone has posted all its fail on YouTube for all to see.

Of the few people who have ever watched this back in 1987 (the golden year of syndicated game shows), no one, and I mean NO ONE has any fond memories of it.

Ladies and gentleman, I give you...

Shopper's Casino!


(And an article for those who wish to not go insane from watching the full episode)

http://gameshowgarbage.com/ind135_shopperscasino.html

Behold the cheap set that looks like it was shot in someone's basement, the signs that look like they were created by a 3rd grade art class, the host, hostess, and poor dealer Dirty Harry clearly there for the paycheck (the first couple of seconds in, they flub their lines), the dull casino gameplay involving only three games played twice, the poor camerawork due to the cramped set (you can barely see what's going on, making it really confusing and boring), the crappy prizes that look like they were salvaged from a thrift shop (which home viewers can even order by phone!), and the home contestant calling in apparently using the clearest phone line I've ever heard!

Even worse are the commercials that are apparently produced by the production company (since they use the same style) and are the ONLY ONES in the breaks, including one for an obvious pyramid scheme! This gives me the impression that this was just one big infomercial disguised as a game show! :grouchy:

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to regain my sanity!
 

D'Snowth

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Just so you know, the host, Jeff Maxwell, played Igor the chow server on M*A*S*H.
 

Drtooth

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Even worse are the commercials that are apparently produced by the production company (since they use the same style) and are the ONLY ONES in the breaks, including one for an obvious pyramid scheme! This gives me the impression that this was just one big infomercial disguised as a game show!
Impression? It's fairly obvious that's what it is. And disguised more poorly than... uh... anyone see Hoodwinked Too, and how the wolf thought that a top hat, monocle, and fake beard was the ultimate disguise? Yeah. Worse disguised than that.

Then again, while that certainly has some very terrible aspects, that's almost nothing (and shockingly less dishonest) compared to some of the stuff Fox came up with. Here's TV Trope's entry on one of the least moral game shows of all time.

Yet another one from FOX — the insipid reality show Who's Your Daddy? A person who had been adopted as an infant is forced to pick out his/her biological father from a group of 25 men. Picking the right man won $100,000, but otherwise the "impostor" got the money. Yes, you read that correctly — somebody at FOX thought it would be a bright idea to take the paternity tests from Maury and build an entire reality show around them. After being hit with poor ratings, massive public backlash, and the Raleigh-Durham affiliate (WRAZ, the same station that refused to air Married by America) refusing to broadcast the show, FOX canned it after one episode... then aired the other five episodes they had filmed on their FOX Reality cable channel.
 

mr3urious

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Or what about The Chamber, which is just televised torture porn? You answer questions while being subjected to extreme heat (or cold), high winds, and earthquakes. It was rushed out quickly to compete with ABC's The Chair (a show about answering questions while keeping your heart rate under control, and one I actually liked), and only aired three of the six episodes produced. One contestant actually sued the producers from the health issues suffered from playing it.

Thousand Dollar Bee was another stinker that's just as bad as Shopper's Casino in terms of production values, but at least the pathetically low amount of money the kids won went toward their college education, so there was some good in it.
 

Drtooth

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Thousand Dollar Bee was another stinker that's just as bad as Shopper's Casino in terms of production values, but at least the pathetically low amount of money the kids won went toward their college education, so there was some good in it.
A thousand dollar scholarship and you have to be on the show the entire season for that? Even coloring books had better contests than that.

And it totally looks like a local TV production. That's what it has to be.
 

mr3urious

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A thousand dollar scholarship and you have to be on the show the entire season for that? Even coloring books had better contests than that.

And it totally looks like a local TV production. That's what it has to be.
It was produced for an African-American cable network that was only available in a few markets, and has been defunct since 2007.
 
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