00:00Just three weeks after this episode was filmed, Peter and Gwenda Dixon were shot dead.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most unsettling or tragic events
00:11that completely recontextualized how we watch our favorite game shows.
00:14Please welcome Rodney Alcalon. Rod, welcome.
00:18Number 10. A Wipeout Contestant Tragedy.
00:20Wipeout. Obstacle courses are fun, but they can come with a host of safety concerns.
00:25Wipeout does its best to vet contestants and provide them with sufficient protective gear,
00:29but accidents can still happen.
00:33Contestant Michael Paredes found this out the hard way,
00:36suffering a heart attack after completing the show's obstacle course.
00:39He was promptly rushed to a local hospital, but it was too late to save him.
00:42TMZ reported on his death shortly after.
00:45In spite of the tragedy, the series went on as planned,
00:47but it's hard to shake the feeling that contestants are risking their lives for viewers' entertainment.
00:54Number 9. Alleged Poor Conditions. Squid Game The Challenge.
00:57In 2021, Squid Game became Netflix's newest hit show,
01:01garnering both mass appeal and critical approval for its dark yet captivating premise.
01:06But when the streaming giant announced that they would be producing their own game show
01:09based on the series' success, many were skeptical.
01:12Squid Game was critiquing the dystopian competition at its center, not endorsing it.
01:21Unfortunately, it turned out that the naysayers were right to be uneasy.
01:24Although Netflix naturally denied any foul play,
01:27contestants complained of unbearably cold sets and long hours.
01:30Some even compared the filming to a war zone.
01:38These anonymous criticisms of the show's conditions completely recontextualized the show,
01:43which has more similarities to its inspiration than many fans are comfortable with.
01:47Number 8. The 1950s Quiz Show Scandals.
01:54Have you ever watched a game show and wondered if it may be rigged?
01:57In the 1950s, many viewers were stunned to learn that this was the reality for three major quiz shows.
02:0221, The Big Surprise, and Dotto.
02:05The scandal began with 21, which was revealed to have scripted the loss of a contestant named Herb Stemple.
02:10Then you'll win $20,000. Congratulations!
02:13He lost out on an unknown amount of potential winnings, and to add insult to injury,
02:17the final nail in his competitive coffin was an incorrect answer about one of his favorite films.
02:21Thank you for being a wonderful contestant.
02:23Herb Stemple, ladies and gentlemen, tonight.
02:25On The Big Surprise, a warm-up question that contestant Dale Logue did not know the answer to
02:30is deliberately repeated for the show,
02:32while Dotto was found to be providing answers to its participants.
02:35Possible?
02:35Possible is absolutely right.
02:37Number 7. Ryan Jenkins is suspected of murder.
02:40Megan Wants a Millionaire. I Love Money.
02:42Following Rock of Love, contestant Megan Hauserman was offered another chance at love by VH1 in
02:47Megan Wants a Millionaire. Among the contestants was so-called smooth operator Ryan Jenkins,
02:52who also filmed for the third season of another dating show, I Love Money.
02:56I figured, hey, if there's any time for a Baywatch dive, it's now.
02:59During Megan Wants a Millionaire's initial broadcast, Jenkins' wife was found dead,
03:03causing the series to come to an abrupt halt.
03:06I Love Money 3 never made its air.
03:08In the days after his wife's murder, Jenkins evaded police, crossing the border into Canada
03:12and eventually taking his own life before a trial could be held.
03:15The manhunt for a reality show contestant Ryan Jenkins ended yesterday when he was found
03:19dead in a Canadian motel.
03:21Had Megan Wants a Millionaire continued, viewers would have seen him place third,
03:25proving that people are not always what they seem.
03:27You know, I've put a lot of blame on myself for it for a long time, because I knew him as a different person.
03:37Translating to Do Not Proceed, Crazy Youth,
03:40Susunu Denpa Shonen was a challenge-based game show in Japan,
03:44which became notorious for the cruelty of its competitions.
03:46In its first year on air, the series began its most controversial challenge to date,
03:57Denpa Shonen Teiki Kensho Seikatsu,
04:00in which the contestant, Nasubi, was forced to live solely on sweepstakes prizes.
04:05Nasubi, Nasubi, Nasubi!
04:07His condition was filmed and reported on for 15 agonizing months,
04:10all without his explicit consent, as he struggled to win basic necessities, particularly food.
04:16What was, at the time, perceived to be light entertainment,
04:18was actually the broadcast torture of a human being.
04:26Number 5. The Death of Michael Lush
04:28The Late Late Breakfast Show
04:29While The Late Late Breakfast Show wasn't technically a game show,
04:33its Give It a Whirl segment featured many hallmarks of the reality subgenre.
04:37Viewers of The Variety Show would call in as a whirly wheel was spun to
04:40decide what stunt they would perform on the following week's program.
04:43This included everything from car stunts to being fired out of a cannon.
04:47It was an incredibly dangerous segment,
04:48which had already resulted in a few injuries prior to the involvement of its final contestant, Michael Lush.
04:53It certainly looked remarkably frightening from the pictures I can see.
04:56Lush was set to perform a bungee jumping stunt that also involved a straitjacket and an explosion.
05:01No professional stuntman had attempted the feat prior to Lush's first day of training,
05:05and a fatal mishap cost him his life.
05:07Because of the tragic accident involving Michael Lush while preparing for tonight's edition of
05:11The Late Late Breakfast Show, the BBC has decided to cancel this and all further additions.
05:17Number 4. The Bleef Nick Family
05:18Family Feud
05:19When you tune into an episode of Family Feud, you know you can expect some well-intentioned barbs,
05:24a few double entendres, and plenty of wide-eyed reactions from Steve Harvey.
05:28So while this response from Tim of The Bleef Nick Family may not seem so out of the ordinary,
05:32the truth behind the scenes makes this moment extremely sinister.
05:35What's the biggest mistake you made at your wedding?
05:38Honey, I love you, but said I do.
05:42Bleef Nick was later convicted of the murder of his wife, Becky, who did not appear in the episode.
05:47Allegedly, his wife had requested a restraining order from him a year prior to her death,
05:51which was rejected by the legal system for unknown reasons.
05:53And you shot her. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 times.
06:02Tim Bleef Nick was sentenced to life in prison, though he insists that he did not commit the crime.
06:07Because of that joke, so many people paid attention to his case in this trial.
06:12Number 3. Edward Edwards Conceals the Truth
06:14To Tell the Truth
06:15Edward Edwards had already been dubbed one of the FBI's most wanted fugitives when he appeared on To Tell the Truth.
06:20In fact, this history is the entire reason he was cast on the show.
06:24I, Ed Edwards, was once on the FBI's list of the 10 most wanted criminals in America.
06:30Now, I am a respected citizen in my community.
06:33His unique life experience made him the perfect candidate for the series,
06:36which saw contestants attempting to guess which of the three people was that episode's central character.
06:41Although Edwards claimed to have been reformed and even wrote a book on his life as a criminal,
06:45his reformation was all a charade.
06:46The real Ed Edwards, please stand up.
06:49Between 1977 and 1996, Edwards lived as a serial killer, murdering at least five people.
06:59Looking back, it's hard to believe people let him achieve the level of fame that he did.
07:02The more trouble you get into, the bigger you are in their eyes.
07:06Number 2. Bullseye Helps Catch a Criminal
07:08Bullseye
07:08John Cooper's crime spree began when he was just 17.
07:11Back then, he was seen publicly intoxicated and was charged with stealing cars and assaulting police officers.
07:16He would graduate to murder in 1985 when he killed a man and woman while robbing their farmhouse in Scoveston Park.
07:23Four years later, he would participate in the game show Bullseye, a British series involving darts and trivia.
07:28No one could know that this charming Welshman was a double murderer.
07:32As his violent crime spree continued, investigators realized that a police sketch looked eerily similar to Cooper's appearance on the show
07:38and used the likeness as evidence to build a case.
07:41Following Cooper's conviction in 2011, ITV would officially vault the episode he appeared on,
07:46ensuring that viewers of the light-hearted game show weren't reminded of his grisly crimes.
07:50You've got 220 pounds. What are you going to do?
07:53You'd like to gamble.
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08:10Number 1. The Dating Game Killer. The Dating Game.
08:13Now known as the Dating Game Killer, Rodney Alcala is notable for actually winning the episode of The Dating Game he appeared on.
08:19Luckily, the female contestant who chose him ultimately decided not to go on a date with him because she found him creepy.
08:25Can you be a little more descriptive?
08:27Peel me.
08:28We're sure she's now thankful for following her gut instinct, as Alcala would later be directly linked to eight murders,
08:35with many more considered open cases in which he was a prime suspect.
08:38The detective frantically tried to call the police department and let other detectives know that he was on television.
08:43Watching the show back today is unsettling,
08:45particularly when you consider no background check was performed on any of the show's potential bachelors.
08:50Thinking back on it, it was very spooky.
08:55Have you ever seen a game show with competitions you thought were too dangerous?
08:58Let us know in the comments.
08:59Here we go!
09:00Hang on!
09:01Hang on!
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