Game Show NewsNet

Jeopardy! by Chico Alexander, GSNN

Air time: Check listings or jeopardy.com
Host: Alex Trebek

Melissa Ahart (librarian orig. from Oswego, NY); $10,200

Brian Lamb (middle school teacher from Bakersfield, CA)

Raena de Silvia (artist from Vancouver, BC)

Melissa knows how to do the math, but can she convert knowledge into dollars?

Kathy starts with $200 You Do Know Jack. Try this one: Anagrammed Canadian Cities for $800: "My hometown: bus Rudy." No one gets "What is Sudbury?", but Brian uses the category to springboard to $5600 to Raena's $2600. Melissa still has yet to make a move going into the TV time out.

Raena finds the Daily Double under $800 "Fit"ness. She goes all-in for this: Greek mercenaries used a Cypriot dialect to put this on the Sphinx. "Nope." Graffiti puts Raena back at zero. She goes to $1200 at the half, but this is Brian's round with $9200. Melissa, with $400, gets to start off Double Jeopardy!...

... with $400 Finish the Shakespeare Title. We go to Before & After for $800 for the first Daily Double. Brian bets $3000 on this: Stephen Hawking's 1988 bio of the universe that was a no. 1 hit for Jim Croce. "What is A Brief History of Time in a Bottle?" Right for $16,200! Brian looks to sew it up with the second Daily Double under $1600 in Fitness (no quotes). He bets $2600. The clue: the name of this meditative exercise & martial art comes from Chinese words for "fist of the great absolute". "What is t'ai chi?" Right for $20,000 even! It's his game to lose as he goes into the final with $22,000. Raena has $7600, while Melissa has $4000.

Final Jeopardy! in "'60s Novels' First Lines": it begins "Amerigo Bonasera... waited for justice; vengeance on the men who had so cruelly hurt his daughter". Correct question: What is "The Godfather" by Mario Puzo?

No one got it right again, and it only cost Brian $2000 as he returns tomorrow with $20,000. Melissa, who said "What is Love in the Time of Cholera?", leaves with $11,200.

Lingo by Chico Alexander, GSNN

Air time: 7:30p ET/6:30p CT on GSN
Host: Chuck Woolery & Shandi Finnessey

On-again Off-again Couple Genevieve (student) & Jeremiah (documentary filmmaker)

Friends Brian (web designer) & Rich (executive assistant)

BONUS LINGO JACKPOT: $16,000

Who's up for 16 large? Anyone?

Yellow! Up to the board with an F. Red steals in a FLASH for 25. Brian & Rich follow with HUSKY, but Rich draws a stopper. They come back, though, as they VISIT the drum for a Lingo, giving them 125.

Back to Genevieve & Jeremiah, who start off with an N. Brian & Rich steal again with NYLON, and follow with CABIN, a spell out of ARMOR, and a draw out of a stopper. But Brian & Rich are there to pick up another easy steal with BERRY for 25 more. Another stopper for them. That should be all three, which means we need to go to break. Score at the half, Brian & Rich up 225-0.

Genevieve & Jeremiah start round 2 with a C... which is stolen from Brian & Rich! That's a CRIME! And that's 50 more. And that leads into the Lingo, giving the Reds 375.

Genevieve & Jeremiah need to pick things up with a B. And they avoid the donut with BASIC! "We were about to give you the Nacho Award. A lot of things may be your game, but this is no'cho game right now." Brian & Rich in the zone stealing TIPSY. They follow with PLANE. That's game for Brian & Rich, 475-50!

With three Bonus Lingo letters, Brian & Rich get THONG, MOVIE, BLEND, ERROR, SAUCE, CRIED, JACKS, and GRATE, for eight $100 balls. Tonight's money ball is 10. Brian's got... 2. No $16,000, but a Lingo is an inevitability... and wouldn't you know it? They draw 10 to get it. So they get $5000.

Next time, $17,000 is up for grabs.

Wheel of Fortune by Chico Alexander, GSNN

Air time: Check listings or wheeloffortune.com
Hosts: Pat Sajak & Vanna White

Fourth day on Wheel Cruises as we sail to a $1000 Tossup. On the Map, the category. Texas A&M student John Martin of Grapevine, TX solves RIO DE JANEIRO. Annie Tschanz, a teacher from Gurnee, IL, and Tschelinda Wilson, a salesperson from Mobile, AL, hope to take $2000 in Sony money from the next tossup, a person. Annie slices from THE BIG CHEESE for $2000.

Prize coming... it's a trip to Hawaii's big island worth $6163! The category is Same Name. John spins out $2500, but can't capitalize on it. Annie solves INCOME TAX & POINT OF NO RETURN for $800... which is augmented to $1000. Pat forgets to acknowledge that.

He does that coming out of break. Eggland's Best Jackpot Round, a Landmark. Annie scores a $1000 GC from NWA WorldVacations. And she has to give it up... Bankrupt, baby. Annie gets another $1000 in Atlantic luggage and quickly solves CHICAGO'S WRIGLEY FIELD for $1700 in swag. So far, $4700 and a prognostication that the Cubs will win the World Series within the 21st century.

Mystery round for $10,000. Prize puzzle for a nice trip. It's a Thing. Tschelinda winds up in Mystery Territory here. She misses the option after her guess of L... comes up blank. Now it's John's turn, but he's got an L to work with. Will he risk $1000 for a little peek? "I'm going to take it." He takes the option... and the Bankrupt wedge inside. D'oh! No more vowels as Annie solves SCRUMPTIOUS MIDNIGHT BUFFET, which Annie can have on her cruise of the Caribbean! Hey, you can get some of that midnight buffet action too if your Spin ID is JY01995. And you can get $50,000 to blow at the blackjack table if you have a Sony Card. So far, $13,498 for Annie.

John fires on the $3000 Tossup, On the Menu. It's STRAWBERRY LEMONADE for $4000 total. Tasty. Next category: title. And John can't buy a break, hitting Bankrupt again. Some regular play leads up into the Final Spin, as Pat spins out $1550. Annie, no surprise, solves THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE for $4450... I thought that was for Jeopardy!, though. Annie wins the big one with $17,948! Tschelinda leaves with the house minimum of $1000.

Bonus time! Given "phrase", the normal six, and HCM I..

I _ _ _ E
M Y _ _ R _

"I... I... I..." That's about right. I GAVE MY WORD, it was.... and that's all we give, as she loses a Mini Cooper Convertible.

Captain Block returns to the galley tomorrow.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire by Don Harpwood, GSNN

Air time: Check listings or millionairetv.com
Host: Meredith Vieira

The show has more money to give away, so let's see if someone can do as well as the 2 from yesterday, or even better...

Starting things off today is Julie Platt (New York, NY). She moved to New York last year without a job or a place to live, but she eventually got both. It just so happens that she moved into a place with some mice in it. They should be gone by now, though. Anyway, Julie starts by knowing that in the theme song for his kids' show, Mister Rogers asked "Please won't you be my neighbor". She makes it past the lower tier, then eventually faces this...

[$8,000]
What luxury brand's long-running slogan claims "There is no substitute"?
A: Porsche
B: Rolex
C: Gucci
D: Godiva

Julie asks the audience, and both polls favour B (43% of the studio audience; 30% of the AIM users). Julie trusts them... but they're wrong! It's A (32%; 28%)! Ouch. That sends her back to her place with $1,000.

Next up is Warren Phillips (Halifax, MA). He's in his 31st year as a teacher, and he has a tie that a student gave to him. It has a baseball picture on it, since he's a fan of the Boston Red Sox. That gets some boos from the New York audience (full of Yankee fans, I bet). I wonder if this will affect some results if the ATA lifeline is used... Anyway, Warren gets going by knowing that the greeting "Ahoy, matey!" is traditionally associated with pirates (and possibly weirdos who think they're pirates). He sweeps the lower tier, then soon gets to this...

[$8,000]
Known for his slow wit and upbeat demeanor, Odie is the canine sidekick in what popular comic strip?
A: Garfield
B: Dilbert
C: Blondie
D: Ziggy

Warren asks the audience, and both polls favour A (82%; 84%). Warren trusts them... and this time, they're right! Moving on...

[$16,000]
After escaping slavery, Frederick Douglass launched an influential newspaper in New York named what?
A: The Horizon
B: The Guiding Light
C: The North Star
D: The Beacon

Warren decides to call a co-worker's husband, Tim, and he says D, though he's only 30% sure. Warren then uses the 50:50, which takes out D. So much for Tim's help... Anyway, A and C remain. After plenty of pondering and consideration, Warren goes for it and says C... and he's right! He's out of lifelines, but he's still going...

[$25,000]
Named the most powerful woman in business by Fortune magazine, Meg Whitman is the CEO of what company?
A: eBay
B: Avon
C: PepsiCo
D: Xerox

After joking about being 30% sure, he says that his guess is A, but he doesn't want to risk it. So, he walks with $16,000. It turns out that he could have kept going, though, as it was indeed A.

That'll do it for today. See ya tomorrow!