The OGSP! Book of Lists

Here's where you'll find random bits of game show knowledge - and "the dreaded" opinion - that really don't fit anywhere else on the site.

The questions that made them millionaires

Here's the list of Million-dollar questions, as answered correctly by the eleven big winners of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Answers at the bottom of the page. (The million-dollar-mark questions from other shows will be added later.)

• John Carpenter, Nov. 19 '99: Which of these US Presidents appeared on the television series "Laugh-In"? A. Lyndon Johnson B. Richard Nixon C. Jimmy Carter D. Gerald Ford
• Dan Blonsky, Jan. 18 '00: The earth is approximately how many miles from the sun? A. 9.3 million B. 39 million C. 93 million D. 193 million
• Joe Trela, Mar. 23 '00: What insect shorted out an early supercomputer and inspired the term "computer bug"? A. Moth B. Roach C. Fly D. Japanese beetle
• Bob House, Jun. 13 '00:Which of these men does not have a chemical element named for him? A. Albert Einstein B. Niels Bohr C. Issac Newton D. Enrico Fermi
• Kim Hunt, Jul. 6 '00: Which of these landlocked countries is entirely contained within another country? A. Lesotho B. Burkina Faso C. Mongolia D. Luxembourg
• David Goodman, Jul. 12 '00:In the children's book series, where is Paddington Bear originally from? A. India B. Peru C. Canada D. Iceland
• Kevin Olmstead, Apr. 10 '01 ($2,180,000): Who is credited with inventing the first mass-produced helicopter? A) Igor Sikorsky B) Elmer Sperry C) Ferdinand von Zeppelin D) Gottlieb Daimler
• Bernie Cullen, Apr. 15 '01: What letter must appear at the beginning of the registration number of all non-military aircraft in the United States? A) N... B) A... C) U... D) L
• Ed Toutant, Sep. 7 '01 ($1,860,000): During WWII, U.S. soldiers used the first commercial aerosol cans to hold what? A) Cleaning fluid B) Antiseptic C) Insecticide D) Shaving Cream
• Kevin Smith, Feb 2003: The U.S. icon "Uncle Sam" was based on Samuel Wilson, who worked during the war of 1812 as a what? A) Meat Inspector B) Mail deliverer C) Historian D) Weapons mechanic
• Nancy Christy, May 2003: Who did artist Grant Wood use as the model for the farmer in his classic painting "American Gothic"? A) Traveling salesman B) Local sherriff C) His dentist D) His butcher

Game Show Saturday Night: The weekly 4-hour marathons that aired on GSN in 2000 and '01. See the complete list of featured shows, and find out if they really did air "Newlywed Game" 42 weeks out of the year.

Four-time contestants: Many years back, this site had a list of people who had been on three or more different American game shows. That list was lost during a server switch. Since then, there have been many new shows, and multiple chances for people to reach that once-elusive mark. So now, with the help of alt.tv.game-shows, we present a list of those who have played on four or more games. (Note: only shows n which the player in question was competing on their own behalf are counted for this list.) Know some more? Let me know! (Thanks to Brendan McLaughlin and Mike Klauss for multiple entries.)

• Dan Avila - The Joker's Wild, Break the Bank, Jeopardy! Greed, (oops! thanks to Leszek for the correction.)
• Bart Barrett - Hit Man, Wheel of Fortune, Super Password, Scrabble, Pyramid ('02)
• Mike Barry - Shoot for the Stars, $20K Pyramid, Super Password, Trump Card
• Don Benn - Diamond Head Game, Dating Game ('70s and '80s), $128,000 Question, Mindreaders, Sale of the Century, Scrabble, Tic Tac Dough, You Bet Your Life, USA Gonzo Games
• Jason Block - Turn It Up!, Wheel of Fortune, WWTBAM, Jeopardy!
• Maggie Brown - Second Chance*, Joker's Wild, Whew!, Press Your Luck, Wipeout
• LaRae Dillman - Blockbusters, $25,000 Pyramid, $ale of the Century, Russian Roulette
• Doak Fairey - Jeopardy!, The Challengers, Greed, WWTBAM
• Tom Gauer - $20,000 Pyramid, Sale of the Century, Wheel Of Fortune, Caesar's Challenge
• John Goss - Now You See It, Liar's Club, $25K Pyramid, $ale of the Century
• Phyllis Harris - Card Sharks, Trivia Trap, Scrabble, Wheel of Fortune, Greed, WWTBAM
• Susan Hawk - Survivor (I), Big Brother 2, Cannonball Run 2001: Race Across America, Dog Eat Dog
• Scott Hostetler - Wheel of Fortune, Press Your Luck, Trivial Pursuit, Match Game '98, Whammy!
• Emilie Kong - Body Language, Super Password, $100K Pyramid, Match Game '90
• Gerry Lancaster - Hollywood Showdown, The Chair, Big Brother 3, Dirty Rotten Cheater
• Mark Leinwand - Tic Tac Dough, Press Your Luck, Jeopardy!, The Challengers
• Leszek Pawlowicz - Jeopardy!, Win Ben Stein's Money, WWTBAM, History IQ
• Mark Richards (later host of Starcade) - Break the Bank, Big Payoff, Play Your Hunch, Dating Game, To Tell the Truth, Wheel of Fortune
• Sharlene Roth - Face the Music, $25K Pyramid, Monopoly, Shopping Spree, Trivial Pursuit, Wheel Of Fortune, Hollywood Squares
• John Spishak - Dream League, Sports on Tap, Scattergories, Quicksilver, Wait 'til You Have Kids!!, Debt, Match Game '98, Burt Luddin's Love Buffet, 100%, Smush, Weakest Link (daytime)
• Dave Wagner - Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, Press Your Luck, Headline Chasers
• Curtis Warren - Sale of the Century, Jeopardy!, Win Ben Stein's Money, Greed
• Randy West (later announcer of several games) - What's My Line?, Face the Music, Hit Man, Press Your Luck, All-Star Blitz, Sweethearts, To Tell the Truth

Contestants turned hosts: It's happened a few times.

• Rudy Boesch: Contestant on Survivor; host of Combat Missions
• Mark DeCarlo: Contestant on Tic Tac Dough (Wayne) and Sale of the Century; Host of Big Deal and Studs
• Blake Emmons: Contestant on The Joker's Wild; Host of The New Chain Reaction
• Ron Maestri: Contestant on Win, Lose or Draw; host of Quicksilver
• Frank Nicotero: Contestant on Debt and UFL: Ultimate Fan League; host of Street Smarts
• Mike Reilly: Contestant on Jeopardy!; host of Monopoly
• Paul Reubens: Contestant on The Gong Show; host of You Don't Know Jack
• Mark Richards: see above
• Gene Wood: Contestant on The Generation Game; host of Beat the Clock (credit: The Encyclopedia)
• The other way around... Larry Toffler: Hosted Finders Keepers; later was a contestant on Greed, Smush and Russian Roulette.
• And both ways... Rudy Boesch was a contestant on Survivor (Borneo), became host of Combat Missions, and returned as a contestant on Survivor: All Stars.

Reality show contestants with previous game show credits

• Teresa Cooper (Survivor: Africa): Card Sharks
• Gerry Lancaster (Big Brother 3): Hollywood Showdown, The Chair (later on Dirty Rotten Cheater)
• Marvin Latimer (Big Brother 5): Weakest Link (syn)
• Mitchell Olson (Survivor: The Australian Outback): The Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune (thanks for the e-mail, Mitchell!)
• Nick Warnock (The Apprentice): Dog Eat Dog

Game Shows: All in the Family

Husband-and-wife emcees:
• Martin Gable (With This Ring) and Arlene Francis (Blind Date)
• Allen Ludden (multiple series) and Betty White (Just Men!)
• Bobby Van (multiple series) and Elaine Joyce (The All New Dating Game)

Father-and-son emcees:
• Herb Shriner (Two For the Money) and Wil Shriner (Small Talk)

Brothers in the ranks:
• Jack Narz and Jim "Tom Kennedy" Narz

And Mother-and-daughter models:
• Carol Merrill (Let's Make a Deal) and Hillary Safire (Truth or Consequences!)

Chris the Webmaster's opinions
Take 'em as such.

The 10 best game shows: Match Game To Tell the Truth The Hollywood Squares The Price is Right Sale of the Century The $__,000 Pyramid Card Sharks Password Plus/Super Password Let's Make a Deal The Amazing Race The best game shows since 2000: The Amazing Race The Mole ESPN's 2 Minute Drill Russian Roulette Beat the Geeks The 10 Worst game shows I've seen: Shopper's Casino Hot Seat No Relation Peer Pressure Free 4 All Shuffle: The Interactive Game Judge For Yourself The Million Dollar Word Game Strip Poker 100%

The 10 best emcees: Bill Cullen Gene Rayburn Jim Perry Tom Kennedy Garry Moore Bob Eubanks Allen Ludden Bruce Forsyth (blimey!) Dick Clark Monty Hall The 5 best hostesses/models: Holly Halstrom, TPiR Lee Menning, SotC Susan Stafford, Wheel Carol Merrill, LMaD Lisa Stahl, TNPiR International award: Nicki Buckley, AUS $otC The 5 best announcers: Johnny Olson Gene Wood Johnny Gilbert Johnny Jacobs Jay Stewart

The 25 best game show theme songs: (listed chronologically) What's My Line? (closing), 1950-67* Haggis Baggis, 1958-59 The G.E. College Bowl, 1959-70?* To Tell the Truth, 1969-78* The Hollywood Squares, 1971-79* Match Game '73, 1973-82* The $10,000 Pyramid, 1973-81* Now You See It, 1974-75 & '89 Wheel of Fortune, 1975-83* Break the Bank, 1976* The Newlywed Game, 1977-80* Jeopardy!, 1978-79 Tic Tac Dough, 1978-86* Card Sharks, 1978-81* Whew!, 1979-80 Password Plus, 1979-82 Bullseye, 1980-82 Blockbusters, 1980-82* Press Your Luck, 1983-86 Super Password, 1984-89 Jackpot, 1985-90* High Rollers, 1987-88* The New Price is Right, 1994-95 Survivor: The Australian Outback, 2001 The Amazing Race, 2001- *-available on one of Varese Sarabande's two game show theme CDs. (Sorry gang, this was impossible to narrow down!)

Millionaire answers: Carpenter - (b); Blonsky - (c); Trela - (a); House - (c); Hunt - (a); Goodman - (b); Olmstead - (a); Cullen - (a); Toutant - (c); Smith - (a); Christy - (c).