The 5 Weirdest Game Show Contestants Ever
3. Greed's Curtis Warren
I once described the Greed master as resembling "Phil Spector's stockbroker brother-in-law," and that still holds true. Warren was a whiz at the show's four-part questions, adding some un-diplomatic bursts of conjecture to the chilly proceedings. Thanks to the show's "Million Dollar Moment" segment in later months, Warren was invited back to play for $1 million, where he became the show's biggest winner. He was also a major champion on the Jim Perry version of Sale of the Century.
2. Press Your Luck's Michael Larson
You know you're a crazy game show contestant when rumors swirl that Bill Murray will play you in a biopic. Michael Larson, the Press Your Luck savant who memorized the show's gameboard patterns, avoided Whammys with ease, and racked up a small fortune, was a bit too strange to secure his winnings. With his wife, the get-rich-quick schemer withdrew his prize from the bank in $1 bills, hoping to find a single greenback featuring a serial number that could win him a sweepstakes, but in a stroke of misfortune, an intruder stole the bags of $1 bills from his house. You can sense host Peter Tomarken's leeriness only a few minutes into this clip:
1. Wheel of Fortune's Raymond Taylor
Raymond Taylor is the undisputed king of strange game show contestants. Not only did he appear woozy throughout his entire Wheel of Fortune winning streak, but he seemed out of breath and, uh, euphoric too. But let's give the man credit for his legendary catchphrase, "Vanna, put some 'L's on that board!" There was something Peter-Finch-in-Network about his crackalacka charm, and note that Pat Sajack has to pry Raymond off of Vanna White after his first bonus round win. Unfortunately, Raymond's weirdness took a more illicit turn when he began stalking the show four years later. Yikes. Still, God love the man.
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Watching these clips, I can't help but feel the thrill of being home, sick from school, juxtaposed with the torture of being held captive in my grandparents' living room.
Hahaha! The funniest, most honest comment I've ever read on any comment board. A true truism.
Thanks! You don't know how much I appreciate it.
Dr. Zaius Wants to be a Millionaire at #4?
4. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's "Kevin James" is actually, according to the clip, "Kevin Smith".
Insert your own Kevin James/Kevin Smith punchline.
Maybe you are one of the top 5 biggest douchebag journalists too?
This really cracked me up. Some really crazy people there.
I would like to see this
I think Kevin Smith was in shock when he won the million dollars. His muttering about Regis and the host's reaction was amusing.
I remember when contestants win the big money on Reege's version, a lot of them seemed pretty non-chalant too, compared to people you see win a Chevy Aveo on "The Price is Right". The first winner, John Carpenter (the IRS guy) threw his hands up as if the audience was supposed to bow to him. Then again, at that time that really had never been done before so maybe he was justified. 🙂
The coolest thing about Roger Craig's Jeopardy appearance wasn't in that record-setting game; it was in his debut game. It was a close contest, he had about $12,000, and he bet it all on a Periodic Table symbol question that was at the bottom of the column. I've never seen that sort of reaction from Alex Trebek: he did a flabbergasted double-take, not believing that a contestant had that sort of chutzpah. I assumed Roger had the Periodic Table memorized (he's a biochemist, so it's certainly his area of expertise), but it was still an awesome moment. People under-bet on the Daily Doubles way too much.
If you look at the beginning of that particular episode for Kevin Smith, he walked to the hot seat with a cane. That's why he did not get up for his win.
How do you stalk a game show? Like, lay down in the tall grass by the stream it drinks from and pounce? Or what?
He'd show up on set! Circling the Vanna and everything!
Dimo, you rock! That is some funny scat!
Kevin Smith on Millionaire wasn't kooky at all. I saw him as polite and respectful and dignified... sure, his appearance was strange but when you get to that age I'm sure that it just doesn't matter that much to you.