The Rich List is an American television game show on Fox, that aired its only episode on 1 November 2006 at 9 pm ET / PT. The show was then cancelled two days later by Fox after rating poorly in comparison to its slot competitors, Lost (on ABC) and CBS's Criminal Minds. It was produced by the British company 12 Yard, whose main creative team devised and produced Weakest Link and Dog Eat Dog. It featured competitors making lists of things, such as ABBA songs or Steven Spielberg movies, with the winning team being the one that could name the most. British television presenter Eamonn Holmes was the host.
In the episode, Holmes stated, "Our top prize is so big...well, we don't have a top prize!"
Despite its failure, two and a half years later, a revised version aired on GSN under the title The Money List, with Fred Roggin hosting.
Gameplay Two teams of two players each competed. The teams were placed in separate soundproof isolation booths, with audio that could be turned on or off by the host, much like the Twenty-One game show. He would announce the category for the list, such as "Tom Cruise Movies" or "Top 50 Broadway Shows of All Time", and the teams would take turns bidding on how many they thought they could name.
The host would switch the audio on and off between booths as the bidding continued, then turn them both on when one team dared the other to fulfill the bid. That team would then need to come up with that many correct answers in a row to win the list. One mistake would award it to their opponents.
The first team to win two lists won the game and went on to the bonus round.
Tiebreaker If each team won one list, a sudden death tiebreaker was played. The host would give the category, both booths were switched on, and the teams took turns giving one answer at a time. To win the list and the game, one team would have to give a correct answer while their opponents missed.
Bonus round (The Rich List/The Money List) The winning team was given a new category by the presenter and had the chance to supply up to 15 right answers. Winnings increased after every third one as shown in the table below.
Right AnswersWinnings (The Rich List)Winnings (The Money List)3$10,000$5,0006$25,000$10,0009$75,000$15,00012$150,000$25,00015$250,000$50,000
If a wrong answer was given at any time, the team would lose all accumulated money for that bonus round, but previous winnings were safe. After every third answer, they could choose to stop (keeping all money won so far) or go on. Regardless of the outcome, they would have returned to play against a new pair of opponents; only a loss in the main game could have eliminated the champions.
Contestants and winnings The Rich List NumberContestantsAppearanceTotal winningsNo. of Rich Lists played1Ray Barnhart & Bill MayNovember 1, 2006$175,0002
The Money List NumberContestantsAppearanceTotal winningsNo. of Money Lists played1Scott Seidler & Harriett DaviesJune 13, 2009$5,00022Charysse Harper & Mike WendingJune 20, 2009$25,00023Darren Heyman & Barbara StcherbatchefYoung Dawkins & Shannon DardashtiJune 27, 2009$10,000$10,000 114Robert Checkoway & Anastasia TraversJuly 11, 2009$50,00025Robert Checkoway & Anastasia TraversBrad Serton & Megan NiedermeyerJuly 18, 2009$5,000$10,000 116Brad Serton & Megan NiedermeyerJuly 25, 2009$15,00027Lisa Vickers & Bentley KaluCourtney Welch & Alisha ZuckerAugust 1, 2009$15,000$0118Autumn Jenkins & Christopher SlaughterKaren Steinbach & David VestAugust 8, 2009$0$0 119Karen Steinbach & David VestAugust 15, 2009$10,0002
Past lists The Rich List Episode # Air Date Lists1 November 1, 2006Tom Cruise movies
Books or short stories by Stephen King
People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive Sudden Death
Best Picture Oscar winners The Rich List
Top 50 Broadway shows
America's 50 most read daily newspapers
Animated Disney Films theatrically released including Pixar The Rich List
The Money List Episode # Air Date Lists1 June 13, 2009Julia Roberts movies
Countries of Asia
Scrabble letters worth more than one point Sudden Death
Dr. Seuss books The Money List
America's Top 50 restaurant chains
Celebrity guest stars who have appeared as themselves on the TV series Will & Grace
The Beatles Billboard US Top 40 Hits The Money List2 June 20, 2009Elvis Presley's Billboard US Top 40 Hits
Hotels with Casinos on the Las Vegas Strip
Looney Tunes "Looney Stars" cartoon characters Sudden Death
Presidents of the USA before 1900 The Money List
Adam Sandler movies
100 most populated cities in the world
Countries that have held the Miss Universe title 1952-2008 Sudden Death
Winners of the Tony Award for Best Musical 1949-2008 The Money List3 June 27, 2009Oscar-winning actresses 1927-2008
Properties for sale on a Monopoly board
Men who have walked on the Moon Sudden Death
The characters and family in the TV series Friends The Money List
Elton John's Billboard US Top 40 Hits - including collaborations
Host cities of the Summer Olympics 1896-2008
Dustin Hoffman movies The Money List4 July 11, 2009Meryl Streep movies
Named characters from the book Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Mariah Carey's Billboard US Top 40 Hits - including collaborations Sudden Death
European Capital Cities The Money List
The 100 Great Stand-ups of all time
Female Grand Slam Tennis singles Champions 1968-2008
Songs from the original film soundtrack of Grease The Money List5 July 18, 2009Saturday Night Live male cast members
Michael Jackson's Billboard US Top 40 Hits - including collaborations
Characters that were voiced in The Simpsons Movie Sudden Death
Countries that have a star on their national flag The Money List
Best Actor Oscar winners 1927-2008
Top 50 girls names' in USA in 2007
Top 10 largest lakes in the world Sudden Death
Clue characters, weapons & locations The Money List6 July 25, 2009John Travolta movies
Countries that use Spanish as an official language
US Vice Presidents The Money List
Madonna's Billboard US Top 40 Hits - including collaborations
Golfers who have won a Major title, 1960-2008
The 10 Top-Earning deceased celebrities Sudden Death
Primetime Emmy Award-Winning TV Comedy Series, 1966-2007 The Money List7 August 1, 2009Bruce Willis movies
The 30 most populous US cities
The Top 25 wine-producing countries in the world The Money List
The 101 Top-selling musical artists of all time in the USA
The plays of William Shakespeare
Portraits on current US Legal Tender Sudden Death
Movies directed by Steven Spielberg The Money List8 August 8, 2009Eddie Murphy movies
Winners of the NFL Super Bowl 1967-2008
The 50 highest-paid celebrities in the world The Money List
Currencies of the world
Characters, creatures & droids from Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi
The 20 most common surnames in the US Sudden Death
Best Female country vocal performance Grammy winners 1964-2008 The Money List9 August 15, 2009Whitney Houston's Billboard US Top 40 Hits - including collaborations
Commercial airlines that fly in and out of Chicago's O'Hare Airport
Time magazine's "Person of the Year" recipients, 1927-2007 The Money List
American Idol Finalists 2002-2008
States of the US with an Ocean coastline
Musicals composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber Sudden Death
Will Smith movies The Money List
International versions
Fox promos for The Rich List in the weeks leading up to its debut had mentioned that the show was the most addicting game show to come out of the UK since Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. However, despite being created by a British group, The Rich List had not then been televised in Britain (the US version was first to air). Before the US version was announced, Holmes did host a pilot for ITV, but the show was not picked up. It later aired as a tie-in for the National Lottery on BBC One under the title Who Dares Wins, hosted by Nick Knowles. In Australia, Seven Network picked up the rights to the show and announced plans to air a local version before the US version premiered. The program is hosted by Deal or No Deal host Andrew O'Keefe. The pilot episode was taped on 18 October 2006. The show began taping episodes for air on 11 December 2006 and auditions for contestants for the show continue. The money amounts for the final round are the same as on the US show, except in Australian dollars. The show premiered on 29 January 2007. In Germany, The Rich List is produced for the German TV channel Sat.1. Kai Pflaume is the host. The format and rules appear to be identical to those on the US and Australian versions, although the prize values for the bonus list are less (the top prize for completing the bonus list is €100,000). The show premiered as a three-night event on 26 May 2007, and will now run Saturdays and Sundays at 7:15 pm. In Greece, the local version of The Money List was produced and aired on ANT1. The show has started airing on 7 October 2008 until 2009 and was hosted by Christos Ferentinos. In New Zealand, The Rich List is produced for TVNZ and airs on TV ONE. Applications for the show were opened at the beginning of April 2007. The grand prize for completing the bonus list is NZ$50,000. The host is Jason Gunn. In North Macedonia, Листа за 300 (List for 300) is produced for Sitel. The show has started airing in April 2019 and the host of the first season was famous Macedonian actor Dejan Lilikj. For the second season there was change of host and Marko Noveski is host of the show. In the first season, the main prize was 300,000 denars (around €5,000), and after it the top prize was decreased to €300. In Ireland, The Money List is produced by RTÉ and airs on RTÉ One. The show has started airing on 1 October 2023 and is hosted by Baz Ashmawy. The grand prize for the Irish version is €15,000.
Country Local name Host Channel Year aired Top prize per round The Rich List Andrew O'Keefe Seven Network 2007–2009 $250,000 La Liste gagnante Patrice Laffont France 3 2009 €5,000 Rich List – Jede Antwort zählt Kai Pflaume Sat.1 2007–2008 €100,000 H ΛίσταI Lista Christos Ferentinos ANT1 2008–2009 Unknown The Money List Baz Ashmawy RTÉ One 2023–present €15,000 The Rich List Jason Gunn TV ONE 2007–2008 $50,000 Листа за 300Lista za 300 Dejan LilikjMarko Noveski Sitel 2019–present 300,000 denars (first season)€300 (since second season) La Lista Daniel Domenjó La 1 2008 €25,000Carlos SoberaLa 22010 Who Dares Wins Nick Knowles BBC One 2007–2019 £50,000 (original format) The Rich List Eamonn Holmes FOX November 1, 2006 $250,000 The Money List Fred Roggin GSN 2009 $50,000
Cancellation After only one episode with a 1.5/4 rating (4 million viewers),The Star Ledger. May 2007 the show was pulled from its time slot, to be replaced by a special new episode of The O.C. the following week, which struggled the next night during its season premiere. The Rich List became the second US program in the 2006 calendar year (after ABC's Emily's Reasons Why Not in January), and the first of the 2006–07 television season, to be cancelled after a single telecast.
Revival
The show earned a revival for GSN under the title The Money List, and premiered on 13 June 2009. Pilot episodes of the series were taped in London on the set of Who Dares Wins at The London Studios from 27 to 30 August 2008 with sports commentator Fred Roggin as host. The top prize for this version is US $50,000, which is the same top prize amount as the UK and New Zealand versions (the only difference is that the UK's version is in pounds sterling, while New Zealand's version is in New Zealand dollars). The revival ended on 15 August 2009 after one season and nine episodes aired.
References
External links
GSF-What's New in Game Shows-The Rich List Zap2It article TVSquad Article