Temptation (2007 American game show)

Did You Know?

• Before commercial breaks, the show offered discounted products under a deal of the day format, purchasable online at the show's official site.
• The show was replaced on most stations by Trivial Pursuit: America Plays.

Front Game

The front game consisted of two rounds, each with multiple segments. Three contestants, including a returning champion, began with 20 Temptation dollars. The first round had a Speed Round (30 seconds of pop culture questions worth $5 each, with $5 deducted for wrong answers), an Instant Bargain (the leader could spend dollars to buy a prize at a discount, with a five-second Shop Clock instead of the traditional auction chant), and a Fame Game (clues about a famous person, place, or thing were read from a first-person perspective, with letters filling in on a monitor; a correct answer earned $15). After the first commercial break, the second round included Knock-Off, a second Instant Bargain, a second Speed Round, Instant Cash, and a final Speed Round. In Knock-Off, a category was shown with 12 possible answers, nine correct and three wrong; contestants selected answers in turn, with correct answers turning gold and worth varying cash amounts ($2, $3, $5, $10, or $15), while incorrect answers turned red and eliminated that contestant for the rest of the round. The second Speed Round gave two answers before starting (e.g., "Winger or Gunslinger") and lasted 30 seconds with $5 per correct or incorrect answer.

Shopper's Paradise

After becoming champion, the contestant entered Shopper's Paradise, where five prizes were displayed with their Temptation dollar costs. Each prize increased in value, with the most expensive usually being a car. Unlike the Australian version and the 1980s Sale of the Century, contestants could not buy all on-stage prizes or receive a cash jackpot for accumulating a high amount, and they were only allowed to purchase one prize. To build their bankroll, the champion played Super Knock-Off: twelve answers were shown, six correct, with four worth $25, one worth $50, and one worth $100 (total $250). The champion could stop at any time; choosing a wrong answer wiped out the bank and ended the round. After Super Knock-Off, the money from correct answers was added to the bankroll, and the champion could either buy a prize or return the next day to add more money. If the bank was insufficient for the lowest prize, a Croton diamond watch was offered as a consolation. Champions played until they bought a prize, were defeated, banked enough for the highest prize, or won five matches, at which point they were forced to buy any affordable prize and retire undefeated.

Broadcast history

Temptation was based on the Australian series of the same name, a revival of Sale of the Century. Two pilots were filmed on the Australian set using Australian sound effects and theme. The American version initially allowed only female contestants to target a female demographic, but later in the second season a small number of male contestants competed, always with a two-female-to-one-male ratio. The show had no studio audience, using a stock applause track instead. MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated stations and former WTBS Atlanta (Peachtree TV) carried the show; MyNetworkTV aired two sneak preview episodes on September 5, 2007, featuring American Idol alumni, which were repeated in March 2008. Before the series premiered, writers went on strike over FremantleMedia's refusal to recognize the Writers Guild of America. BUZZR aired reruns from February 9 to April 20, 2018, on Friday nights and later as a weeknight entry that fall. The first taped week aired March 3–7, 2008, with a slightly different structure: Speed Round #1, Instant Bargain #1, Fame Game, Speed Round #2, then after the break Knock-Off, Instant Bargain #2, a second Fame Game worth $25, Instant Cash, and Speed Round #3. In that week, Shopper's Paradise price tags were white instead of orange, and Morreale showed the winner around while Watts described prizes. The show never rose above a 0.5 Nielsen rating except for the preview episodes (0.8), making it the lowest-rated game show on broadcast television that year.