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Before they were Hollywood A-listers, many famous faces tried their luck on game shows, testing their wits and charm under the spotlight. From buzzer rounds to bonus prizes, these early appearances laid the groundwork for stardom in unexpected ways. Get ready to discover which celebrities once battled it out for cash and prizes before making it big on the big screen!
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00:00I'd like to go to an interesting place. Venus, maybe. It's supposed to be really pretty there.
00:03That's not sexy. Thank you.
00:05Welcome to Ms. Mojo.
00:07And today we're counting down our picks for celebs who appeared on game shows before becoming household names.
00:12And John is just all about anything fabulous for you, Mary.
00:16Number 20. Steve Martin. The Dating Game.
00:19While still a student at UCLA, Steve Martin appeared on The Dating Game Show in 1968.
00:24And we're delighted to welcome Steve Martin.
00:27He competed with two other contestants for a date with a woman with the same last name as him, Deanna
00:31Martin.
00:32Steve put his charm and humor on full display, ultimately coming out on top.
00:36One of my favorite stories has always been the Goodwill.
00:39And I'd like to be locked in there some night, try on all the old clothes and the ladies' hats.
00:43That likable, funny character was just a preview of what would come.
00:47Deanna saw something in Steve.
00:48Luckily for us, we were able to see more of Steve,
00:51starting with his stand-up comedy performances during the 1970s,
00:54and then, of course, in the movies.
00:56How much is this going to cost me?
00:58Number 19. Joey Fatone. Nick Arcade.
01:02Just before experiencing a massive rise in fame as a member of NSYNC in the late 1990s,
01:06Joey Fatone appeared on Nickelodeon in the game show Nick Arcade.
01:10I'm here today with Josephs of the Yellow Team.
01:12The competition consisted of head-to-head video games and trivia questions.
01:15Just look at those throwback arcade games.
01:17Fatone and his partner didn't get the job done in the end, but they didn't leave empty-handed.
01:21The game show provided them with consolation prizes that give off nostalgic Nickelodeon commercial vibes.
01:27Not bad.
01:28Now, Joseph, I understand you like to sing and you like to act.
01:30Do you, like, sing around in the shower or in a choir or something?
01:34Um, yeah, a school and everything.
01:36School and everything?
01:37Besides Fatone's fame in the music and acting industries that came after this appearance,
01:41he also went on to be an announcer in a game show.
01:44Number 18. Stephen Merchant. Blockbusters, UK.
01:47Choose a letter, get a question, and answer with a word beginning with that letter.
01:51That's the basic premise of the game show Blockbusters.
01:54While in his 20s, Stephen Merchant appeared on the show.
01:57From the get-go, you could tell he meant business.
01:59Revenue. Revenue is right.
02:01After a good start, though, his opponents soon took the lead and never looked back.
02:05About 16 years later, Merchant appeared on the Graham Norton show and talked about his Blockbusters experience.
02:10That included a funny anecdote about taking on a team of two by himself.
02:14Why was it one person against two people?
02:17Yeah, I agree.
02:18Because I used to watch the show thinking which idiot goes on on their own.
02:22At this point, Merchant was famous for his contributions to comedy and television shows,
02:26such as the UK's The Office and Extras,
02:28and for being a co-host of The Ricky Gervais Show.
02:35Number 17. Andy Kaufman. The Dating Game.
02:38He had already been on SNL, Van Dyke & Company,
02:41and The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson by the time he appeared on The Dating Game in 1978.
02:49But Andy Kaufman would become much more famous in the years that followed,
02:53particularly thanks to his role as Laka Gravis on the sitcom Taxi.
02:56Kaufman went against conventions, as he often did throughout his career,
03:00when he brought his foreign man character to The Dating Game.
03:02I don't know what she looked like. Could I see what she looked like?
03:07No, you can't.
03:07Kaufman won a fair share of laughs from the crowd, but not the game in the end.
03:10Still in character, he showed that the loss was a tough pill to swallow.
03:20Number 16. Linda Cardellini. The Price is Right.
03:26Being able to correctly guess the price of items, or come really close, is an underrated talent.
03:31In a 1994 episode of The Price is Right,
03:33Linda Cardellini came so close with her guess of a fireplace's price that she got to take it home.
03:39Actual retail price, $1,057. Winner, Linda.
03:44Her 2003 interview on The Sharon Osbourne Show revealed what happened to the prize,
03:48and the heartwarming plan her parents had for it.
03:50All right, Linda, what did you do with that fireplace?
03:53My parents have it in the garage.
03:55The Price is Right was Cardellini's first appearance on television.
03:58She then rose to fame on the screen with roles in series such as ER and Freaks and Geeks.
04:03Oh yeah, and you might recognize her as Velma in the live-action Scooby-Doo films.
04:06Number 15. Meghan Markle. Deal or No Deal.
04:10Perhaps you know her as the Duchess of Sussex, the woman married to Prince Harry.
04:14Or for fans of Suits, she's Rachel Zane, paralegal turned attorney.
04:18Before all of that, and before becoming a prominent figure in pop culture,
04:22Meghan Markle was on Deal or No Deal.
04:24Eleven, eleven, go.
04:27In 2006, she landed a job as a briefcase model on the NBC game show hosted by Howie Mandel.
04:33She certainly made this woman happy after opening the number 11 case.
04:40After 34 episodes spanning two seasons, Markle had enough of the game show.
04:44Years later, at this point extremely famous, she opened up about the downside of Deal or No Deal.
04:49I was so much more than what was being objectified on the stage.
04:53I didn't like feeling forced to be all looks and little substance.
04:58Number 14. Stephen Fry. University Challenge, UK.
05:01While a student at Cambridge at the time, Stephen Fry put his mind to the test on the British TV
05:06quiz program, University Challenge.
05:09Representing Queen's College alongside three other young gentlemen, Fry was at first flustered in an attempt to answer this question.
05:15Um, sorry, hang on.
05:18After this game show appearance, he would soon be on his way to greatness in the fields of broadcasting, acting,
05:23comedy, and writing.
05:24Alfresco, a comedy sketch series aired from 1983 to 1984, was one of many significant stepping stones.
05:30The question surely, sir, is why the only totally blind officer we have gets the job of forger.
05:38Over 30 years after the young Fry appeared on University Challenge, he became president of the mental health charity known
05:43as Mind.
05:44We're addressing a real crisis.
05:47Number 13. John Ritter.
05:49The Dating Game.
05:50Tex Ritter was a famous singing cowboy and actor.
05:53His son John followed in his footsteps in terms of the latter.
05:56John Ritter.
05:57John, good afternoon to you.
06:01Prior to making his mark in his father's footsteps, though, John Ritter appeared on The Dating Game at 19 years
06:06old.
06:06He showed he got game and was selected as the winning bachelor.
06:09Number 3.
06:10All right.
06:10Although, it wasn't the smoothest reaction to being announced victorious.
06:14He already secured the win, so nothing to worry about, John.
06:17This was John Ritter's first ever appearance on TV.
06:20Among his myriad of TV and film roles that followed, there perhaps wasn't one more notable than Jack Tripper in
06:26the sitcom Three's Company from 1977 to 1984.
06:34Number 12.
06:35Lady Gaga.
06:37Foiling Points.
06:37Before countless fans went gaga for Lady Gaga, she appeared on a prank-based reality game show on MTV in
06:432005.
06:44At that point, she wasn't Lady Gaga yet.
06:47She was Stephanie Germanotta, a 19-year-old with music dreams.
06:51Me?
06:52Yeah.
06:53Where'd my salad go?
06:54Oh, I guess the best boy took it away.
06:56But no paparazzi would have recognized her then.
06:58In this episode of Boiling Points, she found herself on the wrong end of a restaurant prank.
07:03I'm gonna bomb.
07:04After what was done to her meal, there was no reason to show a poker face and pretend everything was
07:08okay.
07:09Who puts that in their mouth?
07:11Would you put that in your mouth?
07:12Just a few years later, that young woman became a pop icon after the release of her debut studio album,
07:17The Fame.
07:18Number 11.
07:19Farrah Fawcett.
07:20The Dating Game.
07:21Whether it was the TV series Charlie's Angels, a cosmetic commercial, or a red swimsuit poster, Farrah Fawcett appeared in
07:28many capacities starting in the 1970s.
07:30Okay, but I can't be gone long.
07:32She went on to become a household name.
07:34Before her career took off, though, she was looking for a date on The Dating Game show in a 1969
07:38episode.
07:39We're delighted to welcome to The Dating Game, Farrah Fawcett.
07:43Fawcett was 22 years old at the time.
07:45As the host mentioned when introducing her, she had other ventures going on back then.
07:49If you were in charge of everything, what would you make the national pastime?
07:53Over three decades later, her sculpture work with Keith Edmire was exhibited at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art
07:58and the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh.
08:01Number 10.
08:02Paul Walker.
08:03I'm Telling.
08:04In your opinion, who do you think looks better on stage today, you or Ashley?
08:10Myself.
08:11You.
08:11I'm Telling was a short-lived Saturday morning game show in which brother and sister teams competed for prizes.
08:17The object of the game was to match answers with your sibling in response to embarrassing and entertaining questions, with
08:22the highest number of matches resulting in a win.
08:25Let's see what Paul did say.
08:26He said, 10% and that's a match for 50 points.
08:30Think the newlywed game, only with siblings instead of spouses.
08:33The late Fast and Furious star was just 14 years old when he stepped onto the I'm Telling stage, playing
08:38with his younger sister, Ashley.
08:39The duo did quite well, finishing in second place, and each taking home a bike, a board game, and a
08:45Slurpee gift card.
08:46Ashley and Paul, you were terrific.
08:48There's no way to go on the way.
08:49I'm Telling.
08:50Here's Dean to tell you about your quality day.
08:52Number 9.
08:53Vanna White.
08:54The Price is Right.
08:55Vanna White's game show career had to be predestined.
08:58It's the only conclusion we can reach due to her fairytale-like journey.
09:01In 1980, White appeared on The Price is Right as one of the initial four contestants.
09:06$600.
09:07$600 is her bid.
09:09She didn't make it to the showcase, but her picturesque beauty and bubbly personality made jaws drop.
09:14Some of those jaws happened to belong to some very important TV producers.
09:17What do you bid?
09:18$6.95.
09:19Just two years after her Price is Right appearance, White auditioned for the vacant hostess spot on Wheel of Fortune,
09:25beating out hundreds of applicants to be named the regular co-host in December 1982.
09:30She is the longest-running game show hostess in history and is the female icon of the industry.
09:35It's my touch.
09:36Look.
09:37See?
09:38You try it.
09:39It won't work.
09:40Number 8.
09:41Kirstie Alley.
09:42Match Game.
09:43Match Game was a super popular show where contestants tried to match their answers with, well, let's say lubricated celebrity
09:50panelists.
09:51In a reversal of roles, Kirstie Alley appeared on the show in 1979, not as a celebrity, but as an
09:56unknown contestant.
09:57Some things are just impossible, like a drill sergeant asking Venus de Milo to blame.
10:02Salute.
10:02Introduced as an interior designer from Wichita, Kansas, Alley's appearance on Match Game came three years before her movie debut
10:09in Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan, and eight years before Cheers made her a household name.
10:14I do know you're giving me a headache behind the eyes. It feels like a little insect boring into my
10:21brain.
10:21Paired with Jamie Lee Curtis, Betty White, and others, Kirstie had one of the best game show performances of a
10:27pre-famed celebrity, winning both rounds and taking home $6,000.
10:36Number 7.
10:38Tom Selleck.
10:39The Dating Game.
10:40Over a decade before becoming the title character of Magnum P.I., and well before his role as New York
10:45City Police Commissioner Frank Reagan in Blue Bloods, Tom Selleck appeared on TV in a crimeless show, The Dating Game.
10:50He wasn't done after his first appearance in 1965, either. He returned to the show in 1967.
10:56We'd like you to meet Tom Selleck.
10:59Good luck, Tom.
11:00Selleck was a college student and basketball player at USC then.
11:04I promise to fall in love with you if you pick me, for sure.
11:07In a 2024 interview with Entertainment Tonight, he discussed the path that the dating game led him on. His words
11:12were quite humble and honest.
11:14Number 6.
11:15Paul Rubens.
11:16The Gong Show.
11:21Paul Rubens may be best known as Pee-wee Herman, but before Pee-wee hit it big, Rubens was simply
11:26a no-name performer.
11:27During the 70s, Rubens studied with the renowned Groundlings improv troupe and entertained his way through the lower echelons of
11:34show business, playing nightclubs and short spots on TV shows.
11:37But the peaks of his early comedy career were his appearances on The Gong Show, the wacky variety show that
11:43hosted all kinds of bizarre acts, and few were weirder than Rubens.
11:46When you try one of us, you'll have to try the other. Watch the toes, we'll give you the top
11:53billing.
11:53One of these anti-comedy skits featured a duo called Suave and Debonair, which saw Rubens paired with John Paragon
11:59in a satirical nightcloth setting.
12:01Another had Rubens in a dance group called Les Chas, which we'll let you try to decipher.
12:14Number 5. Simon Cowell, Sale of the Century, UK
12:18Sale of the Century was a long-running hybrid game show, equal parts Price is Right and Jeopardy.
12:29In 1990, a young Simon Cowell made his TV debut on the show, and he bore no resemblance to the
12:34tyrant judge of today.
12:35Polite, well-mannered, and docile in character, Cowell competed with deft skill and sportsmanship, answering questions and winning random prizes,
12:44like cooking utensils.
12:46Congratulations, Simon. Bring Italian style to your cooking skills with this set of kitchen tools, complements of Sale of the
12:52Century.
12:53He won the game handily, but his integrity won in a much larger way.
12:57Not one rude remark was uttered by Cowell in what has to be the most subdued television appearance of his
13:01life.
13:02I'll come back.
13:03Of course you'll come back. Put it right there.
13:06Number 4. Olly Murs, Deal or No Deal, UK
13:10Olly Murs first came to public attention in the sixth season of X Factor, or did he?
13:15Two years prior to his X Factor redemption, Olly appeared on the UK version of Deal or No Deal, and
13:20the show couldn't have gone worse.
13:26Every case he eliminated had larger and larger figures, and eventually, every substantial sum was off the board.
13:33Host Noel Edmonds described all our thoughts when he said,
13:36This is the most appalling run of luck in the history of the game.
13:39It is a fact that you've just had the worst luck we've seen. Sorry, Olly.
13:45Murs finished the game with only ÂŁ10, which is one of the smallest totals in Deal or No Deal history.
13:50It's obvious his luck has since changed.
13:53I know you're no good, but you're stuck in my brain.
13:56Number 3. Jon Hamm, The Big Date
13:59Long before Jon Hamm conjured the charm of Don Draper, he was just an uncomfortable 25-year-old on a
14:04game show.
14:05Jon Hamm is next. He's 25 years old. He's a waiter. Jon Hamm later today.
14:09With a strange haircut and an even stranger expression, Hamm disconcerted viewers as a contestant on The Big Date,
14:15a derivation of the dating game in which players compete for a date with a near-mythical beauty.
14:19Hamm's eye assault of The Bachelorette didn't earn him any favors,
14:23neither did his creepy answers to the predictably trite questions.
14:26Start off with some fabulous food, a little fabulous conversation.
14:30Whether his actions came as a result of suggestions from the producers or his own personality is tough to say,
14:36although it's clear he was doomed on the show from his less-than-fabulous start.
14:40What else fabulous, Jon?
14:41End it with a fabulous foot massage for an evening of total fabulosity.
14:46Ah!
14:47Number 2. Arnold Schwarzenegger, The Dating Game
14:51Please join me in welcoming to the new dating game, the current Mr. Olympia, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
14:57The Dating Game was the cornerstone of 70s game show culture,
15:01and many pre- and post-fame celebrities were the objects of desire.
15:04Probably the most retrospectively famous person to grace the show was Arnold Schwarzenegger,
15:08who made an impressive appearance in 1973.
15:11Lady number 1. I am a man and you a woman. Now where do we go from here?
15:16Arnold had just tiptoed into the public consciousness thanks to his bodybuilding exploits,
15:20but this was years before his acting career made him a household name.
15:23It was on The Dating Game that mainstream American audiences got the first taste of his unique foreign charm,
15:28as the governator wooed the three contestants, one of whom was a playboy bunny.
15:32In the end, he bypassed the bunny, electing to choose the least weird of the three spacey girls.
15:37It was very hard to choose, but I would say, lady number 2.
15:42Number 2, alright!
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15:59Number 1. Aaron Paul
16:01The Price is Right
16:02Aaron Paul might be the only successful actor to owe his career to meth.
16:06Not literally, of course, but we wouldn't blame you if you thought his energetic demeanor during his pre-fame Price
16:11is Right appearance gave that impression.
16:16Even Paul himself stated in an interview they looked like he was on serious crack during the show, as the
16:22producers said they wanted energy.
16:23Paul went above and beyond the call of duty.
16:26The 20-year-old ingested six cans of Red Bull prior to shooting, and he exploded onto the stage when
16:31announced,
16:31running around, screaming, and even telling Bob Barker that he's his idol.
16:38He failed to win, but the rest of us did when the video of Jesse Pinkman in a much more
16:42colorful light surfaced years later.
16:51Let us know in the comments what game show you would go on.
16:54This is Jeopardy!
16:57This is Jeopardy!
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