10 Darkest Moments in Game Show History
game show scandals, game show, woman of the hour, dating game killer, Charles Ingram, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Richard Dawson, Family Feud, quiz show scandals, The Dating Game, Rodney Alcala, Bullseye, John Cooper, Wetten dass, Samuel Koch, Tomoaki Hamatsu, The Moment of Truth, Lauren Cleri, Edward Edwards, To Tell the Truth, watchmojo, watch, mojo, true crime, moments, crimes, true crime, crime, watchMojo, watch mojo, mojo, top 10, list,
10 Darkest Moments in Game Show History
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the creepiest, most unfortunate, and most tragic things that have occurred on television game shows. We will only be including footage that you actually see in the show, so behind-the-scenes stories will not count.
The Charles Ingram[a] Scandal
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” (1998-2014; 2018-)
It didn’t take long for someone to exploit this show. And it was…surprisingly easy. The program premiered in 1998, and just three years later it hosted British Army major Charles Ingram. Ingram struggled with many questions but miraculously managed to guess the correct one every single time. He walked away with the top prize, but the producers thought “there’s just no way” and refused to hand over the money. During an investigation, they found that Ingram’s wife and a fellow contestant named Tecwen Whittock would cough when Ingram read the correct answer. It was that simple. The scandal had a profound impact on the game show industry, and all three conspirators were given suspended prison sentences. Ingram was also forced to resign from the Army.
Richard Dawson Kissing Women
“Family Feud” (1976-85; 1988-95; 1999-)
The ‘70s were a weird time. Richard Dawson was a fine host of “Family Feud,” but he had one bizarre trademark, and that was kissing women. On the lips. While their partners were in the audience. Some call it a casual display of affection, a cute little gesture to make contestants feel welcomed. Others see it as highly inappropriate and borderline creepy. Societal attitudes toward personal space, consent, and professional boundaries have changed significantly since the 1970s, and while there’s something to be said for changing norms, Dawson’s kissing wasn’t exactly a hit back then, either. In fact, television executives and producers hated the practice and continuously asked Dawson to knock it off. He didn’t.
Demeaning Contestants
“The $1.98 Beauty Show[b]” (1978-80)
There’s a fine line between satire and humiliation, and we’re not sure if “The $1.98 Beauty Show” walked it successfully. Released in the late ‘70s, the game show was a parody of beauty pageants, with contestants often encouraged to act in ridiculous ways for a rotten bouquet of flowers and $2 in change. Hosted by Rip Taylor, the show had an irreverent tone and featured contestants who often didn’t fit the standard mold of beauty pageant participants. Their appearance and talents were often the subject of open mockery, and some appeared visibly uncomfortable with the whole charade. The show received some backlash for exploiting and demeaning the participants, and it was canceled after two years.
Lauren Cleri[c] Tells the Truth
“The Moment of Truth” (2008)
A short-lived Fox show, “The Moment of Truth” saw contestants answering personal questions for cash. They were given a polygraph test beforehand, and the questions were repeated in the studio - if they told the truth, they won. If they lied, they were out. Lauren Cleri was a contestant, admittedly seeking “fame and fortune.” Well, she certainly got that. Over the course of the game, Cleri admitted that she had committed theft, that she had cheated on her husband, and that she secretly wished to be married to her ex-boyfriend. It was painfully awkward for everyone involved - even host Mark Walberg, who begged the network not to air the episode. They did, and it was horrible.
The Quiz Show Scandals
Various
Quiz shows were nearly ruined as soon as they began. The genre was immensely popular in the 1950s, but fun soon turned to fury when a major scandal emerged detailing an intricate cheating scheme. Producers of various shows had been rigging their games, mostly to generate false drama for continued interest and views. This is best exemplified through the continued success of Herb Stempel, who became a media sensation while dominating the show “Twenty-One.” Only, his entire six-week reign was rigged, as he was fed answers by the producers. It was Stempel who eventually blew the whistle, and the backlash was incredible. Public trust was destroyed, a multitude of shows were canceled, and Congress even amended a law preventing future tampering on game shows.
Edward Edwards
“To Tell the Truth” (1956-68; 1969-78; 1980-81; 1990-91; 2000-02; 2016-22)
Some game shows welcome controversial figures, and “To Tell the Truth” was one of them. In this game, three people claim to be the same person, and panelists must ask questions to discern who is telling the truth and root out the “real” contestant. In this episode, they had to guess the real Ed Edwards, a reformed man who was once on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. Edwards was contestant #3, having landed himself on the list after committing robbery and escaping from prison. It gets worse. Five years after the show, Edwards committed murder and would go on to kill at least five people, possibly as many as fifteen. He was finally apprehended in 2009 and died in prison.
John Cooper
“Bullseye” (1981-95; 2006; 2024)
A British game show popular in the 1980s, “Bullseye” combined darts and trivia. In May of 1989, a man named John Cooper appeared on the show, telling host Jim Bowen[d] about his love of scuba diving. But Cooper had a much darker hobby. He had a long criminal history stretching back to the early 1960s, including assault and theft. But his crimes got progressively more serious, and just four years before appearing on “Bullseye”, Cooper murdered a pair of siblings while robbing their farmhouse. And just one month after the show, he murdered a tourist couple after robbing them on a walking path. He was finally apprehended in 2009, and the prosecution used the footage from “Bullseye” to link Cooper to an eyewitness sketch.
The Failed Car Jump
“Wetten, dass[e]..?” (1981-2014; 2021-)
German for “Wanna bet, that..?,” “Wetten, dass..?” was an enormously popular European game show that was broadcast all across the continent. But it experienced a major ratings decline in the early 2010s, starting with the infamous Samuel Koch incident. Koch appeared on December 4, 2010, betting that he could jump over five moving cars using a pair of jumping stilts. He went through three cars unscathed, but the fourth proved disastrous. The vehicle was being driven by Koch’s own father, and the stuntman failed to jump it, instead spilling over the top and landing on his head. Everyone immediately knew that it was bad, and it was. Koch had broken his neck and was left with quadriplegia.
Tomoaki Hamatsu[f] Is Tormented
“Susunu! Denpa Shōnen” (1998-2002)
A highly controversial Japanese game show, “Susunu! Denpa Shōnen” was known for placing contestants in extreme, often inhumane, conditions. Hamatsu’s challenge was to remain isolated in a small apartment and live entirely off what he won in mail-in sweepstakes. He would only be freed once he won ¥1 million in prizes - about the equivalent of $8,000. Once this goal was met after 335 days, Hamatsu was taken to yet another apartment in South Korea, with the goal of winning a ticket home to Japan. All told, Hamatsu spent fifteen months in complete isolation, living mostly on dog food and rice, playing video games, and speaking to a stuffed toy for companionship.
Rodney Alcala
“The Dating Game” (1965-2021)
A bachelor-type game show, “The Dating Game” saw three men sitting behind a partition while a woman asked them questions laced with innuendo. She would then choose one and the couple would go on a date. In 1978, a man named Rodney Alcala appeared on the show, wooing bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw. However, Bradshaw refused the date, finding Alcala to be “creepy” - a sentiment that was mirrored by one of the other contestants. Their intuitions were correct. Alcala was a convicted sex offender and serial killer, having murdered at least eight people throughout his life - but possibly more than 130. By the time he appeared on “The Dating Game,” he had already killed multiple people and had spent time in prison for sexual assault.
Did you see any of these live? Let us know in the comments below!
[a]Ingram = ING-rum
Tecwen Whittock = TECK-wun WIT-tuck
Charles Ingram = https://youtu.be/2SaPf6g87Zc?t=200
Tecwen Whittock = https://youtu.be/2SaPf6g87Zc?t=2622
[b]the dollar ninety eight beauty show https://youtu.be/fF7yrbl_X6E?si=iz0nZBbgIT1lAQy8&t=29
[c]Cleri = cleary https://youtu.be/Q7F1wki-klM?si=Ev9os2c-7UUktm9w&t=36
[d]https://youtu.be/qRKtqVeWM8g?si=MuXVPt_S99vWXwze
[e]vettin dawss https://forvo.com/search/Wetten%2C%20dass%20...%253F/
zawm-weel / zaw-moo-ill kawhhhh https://forvo.com/search/samuel/de/
https://forvo.com/search/koch/
https://youtu.be/_Gm3D4icAEg?si=Li2J_zUxZ5i8dtYT&t=6
[f]tomo-AW-kee HAWMMAWT-soo https://translate.google.ca/?sl=ja&tl=en&text=%E6%B5%9C%E6%B4%A5%20%E6%99%BA%E6%98%8E&op=translate
soo-SOO-noo DEN-pah SHOH-nen https://forvo.com/search/Susunu%21%20Denpa%20Sh%C5%8Dnen/
¥ = yen
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the creepiest, most unfortunate, and most tragic things that have occurred on television game shows. We will only be including footage that you actually see in the show, so behind-the-scenes stories will not count.
The Charles Ingram[a] Scandal
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” (1998-2014; 2018-)
It didn’t take long for someone to exploit this show. And it was…surprisingly easy. The program premiered in 1998, and just three years later it hosted British Army major Charles Ingram. Ingram struggled with many questions but miraculously managed to guess the correct one every single time. He walked away with the top prize, but the producers thought “there’s just no way” and refused to hand over the money. During an investigation, they found that Ingram’s wife and a fellow contestant named Tecwen Whittock would cough when Ingram read the correct answer. It was that simple. The scandal had a profound impact on the game show industry, and all three conspirators were given suspended prison sentences. Ingram was also forced to resign from the Army.
Richard Dawson Kissing Women
“Family Feud” (1976-85; 1988-95; 1999-)
The ‘70s were a weird time. Richard Dawson was a fine host of “Family Feud,” but he had one bizarre trademark, and that was kissing women. On the lips. While their partners were in the audience. Some call it a casual display of affection, a cute little gesture to make contestants feel welcomed. Others see it as highly inappropriate and borderline creepy. Societal attitudes toward personal space, consent, and professional boundaries have changed significantly since the 1970s, and while there’s something to be said for changing norms, Dawson’s kissing wasn’t exactly a hit back then, either. In fact, television executives and producers hated the practice and continuously asked Dawson to knock it off. He didn’t.
Demeaning Contestants
“The $1.98 Beauty Show[b]” (1978-80)
There’s a fine line between satire and humiliation, and we’re not sure if “The $1.98 Beauty Show” walked it successfully. Released in the late ‘70s, the game show was a parody of beauty pageants, with contestants often encouraged to act in ridiculous ways for a rotten bouquet of flowers and $2 in change. Hosted by Rip Taylor, the show had an irreverent tone and featured contestants who often didn’t fit the standard mold of beauty pageant participants. Their appearance and talents were often the subject of open mockery, and some appeared visibly uncomfortable with the whole charade. The show received some backlash for exploiting and demeaning the participants, and it was canceled after two years.
Lauren Cleri[c] Tells the Truth
“The Moment of Truth” (2008)
A short-lived Fox show, “The Moment of Truth” saw contestants answering personal questions for cash. They were given a polygraph test beforehand, and the questions were repeated in the studio - if they told the truth, they won. If they lied, they were out. Lauren Cleri was a contestant, admittedly seeking “fame and fortune.” Well, she certainly got that. Over the course of the game, Cleri admitted that she had committed theft, that she had cheated on her husband, and that she secretly wished to be married to her ex-boyfriend. It was painfully awkward for everyone involved - even host Mark Walberg, who begged the network not to air the episode. They did, and it was horrible.
The Quiz Show Scandals
Various
Quiz shows were nearly ruined as soon as they began. The genre was immensely popular in the 1950s, but fun soon turned to fury when a major scandal emerged detailing an intricate cheating scheme. Producers of various shows had been rigging their games, mostly to generate false drama for continued interest and views. This is best exemplified through the continued success of Herb Stempel, who became a media sensation while dominating the show “Twenty-One.” Only, his entire six-week reign was rigged, as he was fed answers by the producers. It was Stempel who eventually blew the whistle, and the backlash was incredible. Public trust was destroyed, a multitude of shows were canceled, and Congress even amended a law preventing future tampering on game shows.
Edward Edwards
“To Tell the Truth” (1956-68; 1969-78; 1980-81; 1990-91; 2000-02; 2016-22)
Some game shows welcome controversial figures, and “To Tell the Truth” was one of them. In this game, three people claim to be the same person, and panelists must ask questions to discern who is telling the truth and root out the “real” contestant. In this episode, they had to guess the real Ed Edwards, a reformed man who was once on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list. Edwards was contestant #3, having landed himself on the list after committing robbery and escaping from prison. It gets worse. Five years after the show, Edwards committed murder and would go on to kill at least five people, possibly as many as fifteen. He was finally apprehended in 2009 and died in prison.
John Cooper
“Bullseye” (1981-95; 2006; 2024)
A British game show popular in the 1980s, “Bullseye” combined darts and trivia. In May of 1989, a man named John Cooper appeared on the show, telling host Jim Bowen[d] about his love of scuba diving. But Cooper had a much darker hobby. He had a long criminal history stretching back to the early 1960s, including assault and theft. But his crimes got progressively more serious, and just four years before appearing on “Bullseye”, Cooper murdered a pair of siblings while robbing their farmhouse. And just one month after the show, he murdered a tourist couple after robbing them on a walking path. He was finally apprehended in 2009, and the prosecution used the footage from “Bullseye” to link Cooper to an eyewitness sketch.
The Failed Car Jump
“Wetten, dass[e]..?” (1981-2014; 2021-)
German for “Wanna bet, that..?,” “Wetten, dass..?” was an enormously popular European game show that was broadcast all across the continent. But it experienced a major ratings decline in the early 2010s, starting with the infamous Samuel Koch incident. Koch appeared on December 4, 2010, betting that he could jump over five moving cars using a pair of jumping stilts. He went through three cars unscathed, but the fourth proved disastrous. The vehicle was being driven by Koch’s own father, and the stuntman failed to jump it, instead spilling over the top and landing on his head. Everyone immediately knew that it was bad, and it was. Koch had broken his neck and was left with quadriplegia.
Tomoaki Hamatsu[f] Is Tormented
“Susunu! Denpa Shōnen” (1998-2002)
A highly controversial Japanese game show, “Susunu! Denpa Shōnen” was known for placing contestants in extreme, often inhumane, conditions. Hamatsu’s challenge was to remain isolated in a small apartment and live entirely off what he won in mail-in sweepstakes. He would only be freed once he won ¥1 million in prizes - about the equivalent of $8,000. Once this goal was met after 335 days, Hamatsu was taken to yet another apartment in South Korea, with the goal of winning a ticket home to Japan. All told, Hamatsu spent fifteen months in complete isolation, living mostly on dog food and rice, playing video games, and speaking to a stuffed toy for companionship.
Rodney Alcala
“The Dating Game” (1965-2021)
A bachelor-type game show, “The Dating Game” saw three men sitting behind a partition while a woman asked them questions laced with innuendo. She would then choose one and the couple would go on a date. In 1978, a man named Rodney Alcala appeared on the show, wooing bachelorette Cheryl Bradshaw. However, Bradshaw refused the date, finding Alcala to be “creepy” - a sentiment that was mirrored by one of the other contestants. Their intuitions were correct. Alcala was a convicted sex offender and serial killer, having murdered at least eight people throughout his life - but possibly more than 130. By the time he appeared on “The Dating Game,” he had already killed multiple people and had spent time in prison for sexual assault.
Did you see any of these live? Let us know in the comments below!
[a]Ingram = ING-rum
Tecwen Whittock = TECK-wun WIT-tuck
Charles Ingram = https://youtu.be/2SaPf6g87Zc?t=200
Tecwen Whittock = https://youtu.be/2SaPf6g87Zc?t=2622
[b]the dollar ninety eight beauty show https://youtu.be/fF7yrbl_X6E?si=iz0nZBbgIT1lAQy8&t=29
[c]Cleri = cleary https://youtu.be/Q7F1wki-klM?si=Ev9os2c-7UUktm9w&t=36
[d]https://youtu.be/qRKtqVeWM8g?si=MuXVPt_S99vWXwze
[e]vettin dawss https://forvo.com/search/Wetten%2C%20dass%20...%253F/
zawm-weel / zaw-moo-ill kawhhhh https://forvo.com/search/samuel/de/
https://forvo.com/search/koch/
https://youtu.be/_Gm3D4icAEg?si=Li2J_zUxZ5i8dtYT&t=6
[f]tomo-AW-kee HAWMMAWT-soo https://translate.google.ca/?sl=ja&tl=en&text=%E6%B5%9C%E6%B4%A5%20%E6%99%BA%E6%98%8E&op=translate
soo-SOO-noo DEN-pah SHOH-nen https://forvo.com/search/Susunu%21%20Denpa%20Sh%C5%8Dnen/
¥ = yen
Have an idea you want to see made into a WatchMojo video? Check out our suggest page and submit your idea.
Step up your quiz game by answering fun trivia questions! Love games with friends? Challenge friends and family in our leaderboard! Play Now!