GSN Live


GSN Live is an American live interactive show on Game Show Network that premiered on February 25, 2008, at noon ET and officially ended its 3-year run on July 29, 2011. The last "live" edition aired May 13, 2011. It lasted three hours in between regular GSN programming and featured games that viewers played to win prizes over the phone, highlights from Classic game shows, interviews, behind-the-scenes views of GSN, and celebrity appearances. It was formerly hosted in two shifts. The first shift, from Noon to 3:00 p.m. ET was hosted by Heidi Bohay. Fred Roggin hosted the 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET segment. Kelly Packard co-hosted from September 15 to November 28, 2008, and Roggin co-hosted the 3 hours with rotating guest hosts until Debra Skelton was chosen to replace Packard on May 26, 2009, the same day the current set was introduced and when it was hosted by three people. Fred Roggin left GSN Live on July 2, 2009, Alfonso Ribeiro left GSN Live on August 11, 2009, Debra Skelton left GSN Live on January 2010, and Heidi Bohay left the show in April 2010, making Bob Guiney currently the sole host. The show was executive produced by Burt Dubrow until March 6, 2009, and is currently produced by John Berkson, Gary Green, and Laura Slobin. The sound mixer was Mike Dooley. Budget cuts implemented by the new GSN executive regime are causing the almost weekly dismissals of production staff members from the show. Due to these cuts the show was cut from six hours to three hours and now runs from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. The staff was cut by 7 effective December 30, 2009, leaving the future of the show in question.
The show has run for three hours daily, Noon to 3:00 p.m. ET from its debut until September 12, 2008, and since October 12, 2009, from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. ET. The hosts for the three-hour show were Fred Roggin and Heidi Bohay. On September 15, 2008, it expanded to six hours daily and ran from Noon to 6:00 p.m. ET until October 9, 2009. GSN Live was on hiatus for the week of May 18, 2009, to May 25, 2009, to transition to a new set, and returned on May 26, 2009.

Format

The interactive games on GSN Live are interspersed during regular programming for a short time when commercials would normally run. Games are introduced at the beginning of an hour and played by a caller near the end of the hour. There is only one player for each game. Entries can be made on the internet or over the phone, both having an equal chance of selection.
Every individual who logs on or calls to enter, whether they are chosen to play on the air live or not, is entered into a "Weekly Prize Bonanza" drawing for which a single prize is awarded once a week. Prizes in the first three weeks included a vacation package, diamond watches, and a cruise. In addition, all contestants who play on-air are currently awarded 2,500 "Oodles," an online currency offered to GSN website users.
At the beginning of March, the show introduced another way home viewers can win called "Steal These Wheels". All contestants chosen to play live on the air were entered into a drawing for a new Chrysler PT Cruiser, which was awarded on the first day of April. Generally, during the final segment of the show, the hosts presented three keys with labels showing the first names and towns of that day's players, then placed them into a glass tumbler, referred to as a "hopper". The hosts had a running gag that the car was parked in host Fred Roggin's parking spot, thus making the spot unavailable for his own car.
On April 1, 2008, a name was pulled from the hopper, and the PT Cruiser was awarded to a male contestant living in Woodstock, Illinois. Host Heidi Bohay then surprised viewers by announcing that "Steal These Wheels" would continue for a second month, with a Jeep Patriot being the prize.
During the final week of March, regular host Fred Roggin took a one-week vacation. In his absence, game show legend and celebrity emcee Wink Martindale took his place. Regularly, throughout the week, Martindale made jokes centering on Roggin's absence, such as finding a wallet full of cash tucked inside the host chair and revealing to the audience that Fred was not on vacation, but was, in fact, on the run from the police. While Fred was in Beijing, China for NBC's Olympic coverage, several hosts filled in, including Martindale, Alfonso Ribeiro, Ty Treadway and Bob Goen .
The hosts have increasingly taken a light-hearted approach to the show's material, gently poking fun at the classic game shows on the GSN schedule and their sometimes anachronistic elements, the network itself, and each other.

Hosts

A new feature called "Stump the Master" was introduced to the show. On the Friday programs, Ken Jennings, former Jeopardy! champion, is pitted against home viewers. Viewers submit their questions via GSN.com, and if they can stump Jennings, they win $1,000. For the first few shows, Ken came to the studio in person and sat on a stool with his back facing the categories. On one show he was called and answered the question over the telephone for the show. Currently, Ken appears via video phone, sponsored by Skype. If the question is answered correctly by Jennings, $1,000 is added to the jackpot until he is beaten. Regardless, the viewer who sent in that question receives a consolation prize. The first game of Stump the Master was played on October 31, 2008 So far, the highest amount of money won on Stump the Master is $9,000. As of August 24, 2009, this game is now defunct. It can be said that it was replaced by "Clued In."

Quick Wits

A new feature called "Quick Wits" was introduced during the second half of GSN Live. Multiple callers are standing by live, while Fred/Todd/Alfonso asks a trivia question to home viewers to compete for cash and prizes. If the caller is incorrect or runs out of time, they'll move on to the next caller, who then attempts the same question; when a question is answered correctly, the next caller is given a new question. The game continues until there are no more callers; usually, six people are called. Currently, Bob spins a wheel to determine the prize to be played for.

Money Meter

On May 26, 2009, a new feature called "Money Meter" was introduced at the end of GSN Live, the same day the current set was introduced. The Jackpot starts at $500, the Money Meter Jackpot increased every time the games were played when the players are online at GSN.com and logging-on from their personal account at GSN.com. When a caller is chosen to play Money Meter, a question is asked by the host. Once after the host finishes asking a question and the multiple-choice answers, a caller has five seconds to answer the question. If a caller is wrong or run out of time, the money meter stays for the next three hours of GSN Live the next day. If a caller answers the Money Meter question correctly, the caller will win the Money Meter Jackpot, and the Money Meter restarts again to $500. In 2010, this was changed to the "Weekly Money Meter" where the Jackpot is built throughout the week and the question is asked at the end of Friday's show. By April 2010, however, the Weekly Money Meter was gone.

Clued In

On July 27, 2009, a new feature called "Clued In" was introduced during the second half of GSN Live. Home viewers watched daily and logged on to GSN.com/Live to face former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings to catch the clue of the day. Every week, Ken shows the clue of the day and the clues are connected to come up with an answer. Whoever misses it will be posted on the Facebook page, and the next clue will be revealed by Ken the next day from Monday through Thursday. On Friday, up to three callers will play with Ken for $1,000 cash. Like the Money Meter, this was also gone by April 2010.

GSN Live After Hours

In March 2010, a new feature called "GSN Live After Hours" is introduced at the beginning of the show. Every weekday and weekend from 6:00 pm through 2:30 pm, players can enter by phone number online 10 times each hour. When a caller is chosen, the host will spin the wheel and see how much money the caller will be playing for. Questions can be worth $100, $250, $500, and $1,000, each with two spaces; the money amount also determines the difficulty of the question. After the wheel stops, Bob will read the question assigned to that space, along with four multiple-choice answers. Once Bob finishes reading the question and the multiple-choice answers, a caller has five seconds to answer the question; the first answer must be accepted. If the caller is right, they win the amount spun on the wheel. Each time a $1,000 question is asked and missed, one of the lowest remaining money amounts is removed from the wheel and replaced with a $1,000 space until the $1,000 is won; in this way, once six $1,000 questions are asked and missed, all further attempts at the game are worth $1,000 until someone wins. If an inability to generate a winner persists for several more days, an "Instant Winner" space replaces one of the $1,000 spaces; if the "Instant Winner" space is landed on, the contestant wins the $1,000 immediately. More recently, an "Instant Winner" space begins replacing $1,000 spaces starting with the last $500 space, and another is added to the wheel for each failure.

Repeats

On September 1, 2008—Labor Day—GSN aired clips from the "best" of the series. As a result, the show was not live that day.