I'm still reeling from Jeopardy! champ Roger Craig's nonchalant domination and record-setting victory last night, even if I'm a little disappointed in his ho-hum demeanor. The best game show moments happen thanks to competitors with zany personality quirks, or at least some darting pupils. In tribute to the freaky fun of this wonderful genre, let us revisit the five weirdest contestants in game show history.
5. Scrabble's Terry Ray
Chuck Woolery is the Steve McQueen of game show hosts, a pillar of smooth machismo with a topaz complexion, and that's why beloved Scrabble champ Terry Ray's witty (and proudly gay!) retorts to him worked so well on the '80s show. In the first clip here, we're introduced to Terry's unpredictable nature, and in the second, we watch him throw some transparent innuendo Chuck's way, rendering the unflappable emcee speechless. Terry was cool enough for good one-liners, but he was weird enough to remain a wild card. He should be your hero.
4. Who Wants to be a Millionaire's Kevin Smith
Kevin Smith didn't act erratically per se, but everything else about his victory on the Meredith Vieira edition of Millionaire read as kooky: his biblical beard, his recollection of Regis Philbin's errors, his utter nonreaction to winning a giant hunk of change, and most of all, my eerie suspicion that he is a serious genius. Watch him as he struts off -- no, wait, sits quietly -- after earning a fortune.
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.