Grand Slam (U.S. game show)

For the 1976 NBC game show, see 50 Grand Slam.
For other uses, see Grand Slam (disambiguation).
Grand Slam
Starring Dennis Miller
Amanda Byram
Pat Kiernan (off-camera)
Country of origin United States
No. of episodes 8
Production
Running time approx. 44 minutes
Production company(s) Embassy Row Productions
Release
Original network GSN
Original release August 4 – September 8, 2007

Grand Slam is an American game show based on the British series of the same name. Unlike the British series, which was played as a regular quiz show, the American version was conducted as a super-tournament featuring contestants who had appeared on other game shows.

Grand Slam aired on GSN for eight episodes from August 4 to September 8, 2007. Dennis Miller and Amanda Byram hosted the program and provided commentary between rounds. The questions were asked by Pat Kiernan, who was never seen on camera. The series was produced by Embassy Row Productions in association with Sony Pictures Television and GSN. The 74-game Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings won the Grand Slam tournament, defeating Ogi Ogas in the final round.

Premise

The program featured 16 of the biggest winners in United States game show history in a single-elimination tournament. The contestants were seeded by the amount of money they won on their original show(s). The winner took home the $100,000 Grand Prize and a crystal trophy.

Gameplay

The contestants faced off against each other in a rapid-fire style series of questions. There were four rounds of questioning: General Knowledge, Numbers and Logic, Words and Letters, and "Mixed" (questions from all of the previous categories). Exclusively for the final match, a fifth "Contemporary Knowledge" round was added as round #3, between "Numbers and Logic" and "Words and Letters". In each round, the players were given one minute on their clocks, and the first contestant (determined by coin toss for the first round where the loser goes first; alternates for each subsequent round) was asked a question by the off-camera "Questioner", and his clock started counting down. The timing mechanics were similar to those of a chess clock; if a contestant answered correctly, his clock stopped, and his opponent's clock started running. If the active contestant answered incorrectly or passed, their clock continued to run and another question was asked.

When one contestant's clock expired, the round ended and whatever time the other player had remaining carried over. At the beginning of the final round, players' carried-over time was added to the one-minute base time. Once a player's clock ran out, the other player was declared the winner and moved on to the next round.

Each contestant was given three "switches" at the beginning of the game, and one more before the fourth round: by saying "switch", a player could stop their own clock and start their opponent's with the current question. Switches could be used consecutively (by saying "switch back") to switch the question back and forth between contestants.

List of players

The players were seeded in the following order:

Tournament bracket

The listed score is the number of seconds the winner had remaining at the end of the match.

First round Quarterfinals Semifinals Finals
            
1 Brad Rutter 2:14.09
16 Amy Kelly
1 Brad Rutter
9 Ogi Ogas 16.82
8 Nancy Christy
9 Ogi Ogas 1:50.09
9 Ogi Ogas 1:37.48
5 David Legler
4 Ed Toutant
13 Leszek Pawlowicz 50.67
13 Leszek Pawlowicz
5 David Legler 44.55
5 David Legler 1:02.86
12 Frank Spangenberg
9 Ogi Ogas
2 Ken Jennings 1:27.67
2 Ken Jennings 36.10
15 Victor Lee
2 Ken Jennings 2:19.77
10 Phyllis Harris
7 Rahim Oberholtzer
10 Phyllis Harris 1:21.42
2 Ken Jennings 2:45.45
14 Michelle Kitt
3 Kevin Olmstead
14 Michelle Kitt 3.34
14 Michelle Kitt 9.18
6 John Carpenter
6 John Carpenter 55.31
11 Thom McKee

Results

Games are listed in the order in which they aired.

First round

Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
2 Ken Jennings 31.62 1:31.62 36.10 55.52
15 Victor Lee 8.70 8.28 1:16.98 0.00 1:16.98
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
3 Kevin Olmstead 17.98 11.68 1:29.66 0.00 1:29.66
14 Michelle Kitt 18.15 1:18.15 3.34 1:14.81
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
1 Brad Rutter 46.36 4.43 51.68 2:42.47 2:14.09 28.38
16 Amy Kelly 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
4 Ed Toutant 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
13 Leszek Pawlowicz 19.06 16.83 25.58 2:01.47 50.67 1:10.80
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
7 Rahim Oberholtzer 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
10 Phyllis Harris 3.55 39.31 10.83 1:53.69 1:21.42 32.27
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
6 John Carpenter 31.50 55.25 2:26.75 55.31 1:31.44
11 Thom McKee 36.27 1:36.27 0.00 1:36.27
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
8 Nancy Christy 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
9 Ogi Ogas 16.23 39.64 31.03 2:26.90 1:50.09 36.81
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
5 David Legler 41.38 3.01 1:44.39 1:02.86 41.53
12 Frank Spangenberg 6.25 1:06.25 0.00 1:06.25

Quarterfinals

Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
1 Brad Rutter 18.63 14.20 1:32.83 0.00 1:32.83
9 Ogi Ogas 39.08 1:39.08 16.82 1:22.26
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
13 Leszek Pawlowicz 6.94 1:06.94 0.00 1:06.94
5 David Legler 25.38 21.54 1:46.92 44.55 1:02.37
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
2 Ken Jennings 35.49 32.36 47.88 2:55.73 2:19.77 35.96
10 Phyllis Harris 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
6 John Carpenter 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
14 Michelle Kitt 15.34 14.65 20.41 1:50.40 9.18 1:41.22

Semifinals

Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
9 Ogi Ogas 28.83 32.73 23.20 2:24.76 1:37.48 47.28
5 David Legler 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00
Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4
Start End Used
2 Ken Jennings 35.50 27.69 54.09 2:57.28 2:45.45 11.83
14 Michelle Kitt 1:00.00 0.00 1:00.00

Finals

A fifth round, Contemporary Knowledge, similar to the first round of the British series, was used in the Finals only.

Contestant Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 5
Start End Used
9 Ogi Ogas 0.14 2.96 1:03.10 0.00 1:03.10
2 Ken Jennings 48.64 9.67 1:58.31 1:27.67 30.64

External links

References

    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, May 06, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.