Temptation (1967 American game show)

Game play

Three contestants each secretly picked one of three displayed prizes, but could only keep it if the other two did not also choose it. The game had five rounds. During rounds three and four, host James revealed which two players had already selected before the final pick.

In the last round, if exactly two contestants chose the same prize, the third player took all three. The contestant with the highest total winnings returned for the next episode. James always wore a riverboat gambler's tuxedo, ruffled shirt, and cigar.

KTLA version

A short-lived version of this game show aired on Los Angeles station KTLA for four Monday nights in the fall of 1960, hosted by Tom Kennedy. The rules for that run were not the same as the later series. In the scoring, if only one contestant won a prize, that person also received $500. If all three won prizes, the top contestant got $300, the second got $200, and the third got $100.

Round 5

Each round had one prize labeled the "bonus prize," which gave extra bonus points to the winner. After the main game, contestants stood in order of their scores and faced five prizes and a single price. Matching the price to the correct prize won that item plus $500, then the next contestant played for a cheaper prize. If the first player missed, the second-place contestant tried the same set of prizes and price.

Bonus round

The winner then moved to a bonus round. That round used three boxes: two contained $500 each, and the third held a jackpot that began at $1,000 and grew by $500 each day until claimed. After the contestant chose a box, Kennedy offered to buy it back for $750. If the offer was refused, he opened one of the $500 boxes and let the contestant switch to the other unopened box.

Winning the jackpot meant the contestant retired automatically but played one final game for a car. In that game, two boxes were shown—one held a car, the other nothing.

The contestant could take $2,500 to quit or pick a box. If a contestant did not win the jackpot but won five games, they played a different two-box game with no bribe: one box held the jackpot (at least $3,000), and the other held the car. This three-box bonus round setup is similar to the Monty Hall problem, which became famous on Let's Make a Deal.