WIN BEN STEIN'S MONEY

'''Win Ben Stein's Money''' was an American television game show that ran from July 28 1997 to May 8 2003 on Comedy Central. It featured three contestants who competed in a general knowledge trivia contest to win the grand prize of $5,000 from the show's host, Ben Stein.
Stein always had a co-host to exchange jokes with and to ask some of the questions in the game. Jimmy Kimmel was the co-host for the first three years of the show's run, but he left the show in 2000 (even though he made occasional guest appearances after that). Nancy Pimental replaced Kimmel and co-hosted the show through 2001. Kimmel's cousin, Sal Iacono, who took over the role in 2002, was the show's last co-host. The show won six Daytime Emmy awards. Reruns of Kimmel versions from seasons 2 and 3 aired on GSN from 2004 to 2006.

Contents

Rules of the game

First round

Second round

"Best of Ten" test of knowledge

"Ben Stein's Cup" episode

Running gags & classic moments

Versions outside the USA

Music

External links

Rules of the game

First round

The game began with three contestants, five categories (whose titles were puns hinting at the question contents) that were read by the co-host, and $5,000 in Stein's bank. Questions in this round can be worth $50, $100, or $150 of Stein's money. The money was not from Ben Stein's actual assets, but was put up instead by the show's producer, Valleycrest Productions.
Once a player chose a category, Stein asked a question that was worth a dollar value, depending on the level of difficulty. The player who buzzed in and answered that question correctly, the value of the question was subtracted from Stein's bank and added to the contestant's score. Stein then asked that contestant a follow-up question from the same category for an additional $50; any of the opponents could answer that question if the contestant answered it incorrectly. A new category replaced the old one after both questions were asked, and whoever won the previous question got to choose the next category.
At the end of the first round the contestant with the lowest score was eliminated from the game and that player's money (if he/she had earned any) was put back into Stein's bank. If there's a tie after the first round in which the only player has the lead and advances in the second round, Ben Stein will ask a tie-breaker question to the lowest scoring contestants to determine who advances to the second round. Both leading players will advance the second round if they tied the leading score.

Second round

Stein competed against the two remaining contestants in this round. The co-host (Kimmel/Pimental/Iacono) -- who always gave a disclaimer stating that "from this point forward, Ben has no advance knowledge of any of the questions asked in this round".
The second round also contained five categories, but the questions in that round were worth $200, $300, $400, or $500 of Stein's money if a contestant answered them correctly. (If Stein answered a question correctly, the bank total did not change.) Follow-up/Toss-up questions were not asked in this round.
The contestant with the lower score at the end of the second round was eliminated from the game, with his or her winnings going back into Stein's bank. If there's a tie after the second round, Jimmy Kimmel/Nancy Pimental/Sal Iacono will ask a tie-breaker question (Stein does not get to answer) to determine who will play against Stein one on one for $5,000.
For this round, Stein would always play from the podium to the far right in the third position as the viewer saw it.

"Best of Ten" test of knowledge

Both Stein and the winner of the second round were placed in isolation booths, so one could not hear the other's answers. The isolation booth for the contestant was plain, with a hardwood stool and a bare light bulb hanging for light, while Stein's booth was far more luxurious, with a leather wingback chair among other lavish furnishings. ''(In later seasons, the contestant's isolation booth was made to appear in disrepair, with a large crack running down the back wall among other "damage.")'' The co-host asked each of them the same ten questions, and both Stein and the contestant had sixty seconds apiece to answer them. If the contestant answered more questions correctly than Stein did, the contestant won all of the $5,000 that Stein put into the bank at the beginning of the show. If Stein answered more questions correctly, the contestant only won the money that he or she won in the first two rounds. Originally, if there were a tie, the contest would go to Ben Stein, and the contestant would just win the money that he or she gained. In later seasons the rules were changed; the contestant won the money that he or she had already won from Stein plus an additional $1,000. The contestant always had the choice of playing first or second.
As noted in a disclaimer during the closing credits, "Ben Stein's money" was actually furnished by the producers of the show. However, any money left over in the prize budget at the end of a season that had not been won by contestants would be given to Stein. Therefore the stakes were really money that ''could end up'' being Ben Stein's. Stein was also paid a standard salary as host which was not affected by his game play, so he traditionally donated his prize money to charity (not mentioned on the show).

"Ben Stein's Cup" episode

Beginning in the fourth season, three of the best players of the season (who had already won $5,000) returned for a special "Ben Stein's Cup" episode, for a chance to win $25,000. In Round 1, the question values were $200-$800. In Round 2, the question values were
worth $1,000-$2,000. The winner attempted to beat Ben Stein for the entire $25,000.

Running gags & classic moments

★ Upon his entrance on stage, Ben always opened the show with a line from a popular song- speaking it (in his usual deadpan delivery) instead of singing it- to make it sound like he was waxing philosophical.

★ Ben often made no attempt to hide his disdain for being forced to "fight" three everyday people for "his" money. He often said "I'm putting $5,000 of my money on the line, and giving these (the contestants) three (insert insult here) a chance to take it all away from me if they're smart enough (quick enough, and lucky enough)." He would often follow it up by saying, "Now why have I done this? Call me crazy." The audience then would reply by shouting, "You're crazy!!" at Ben. Ben would then reply by saying, "But you can also call me fairly sure they don't have a chance against me!"

★ Ben would introduce Jimmy by saying, "And now, let's turn to the (object) to my (related object), Jimmy Kimmel to find out who our contestants are."

★ The categories always contain serious questions but are phrased in a humorous fashion (much to Ben's chagrin). At times the topics were sexually suggestive:
:For example:
::"Pour Some Syrup On My Luftwaffes"
::"Place Your Lips On Your Sackbut And Blow"
::"Another Four Letter Word You Can't Say In Church"
::"Keep Your Hands Off My Balzac"
::"German Marches Not Involving Nazi Bastards"

★ In season 1, the five categories and dollar values were displayed on art cards. Beginning in season 2, the art cards were replaced by monitors. In addition, the questions were shown on the monitors after the selected category for the dollar value of Ben Stein's Money.

★ A cuckoo clock was rung to signal the end of each round, with the cuckoo changing every show. Once, instead of a cuckoo, it was a Ben Stein bobblehead that came from the clock.

★ Ben often poked fun at ''Jeopardy!'' on the show. Players who accidentally answered in the form of a question were made to wear a dunce cap. After the first round, Ben once said, "And now I'm going to do something Alex Trebek would never do: I'm going to dive into the pit and actually become a common contestant!"

★ Before Kimmel would explain the rules of the "Best of Ten Test of Knowledge," he would use a pet name when telling Ben that he would do so (ex. "Yes, nipple nuts", "Sure thing, Squeakypants" or "Yes, my little Butt Nugget", which caused Ben to temporarily lose his composure and turn away from the camera).

★ After asking the ten questions in the final round to Ben, Kimmel would often follow up with a joke question, especially if Ben had already bettered his opponent. For example, after asking the last question, Kimmel once asked, "Will you have my baby?" or "Do you want to cuddle after the show?", or if Ben were on the losing end, Kimmel would ask, "How does it feel to lose $5,000?".

★ Ben, upon losing the final round, would half-bow to the winning contestant, reluctantly open his safe, hand the contestant $5,000, and say, "I bow to your superior intellect. I'm amazed, I'm impressed, I hate you, take my money, get out of here!"

★ In one episode, Jimmy made a bet with Ben that if he lost the "Best Of Ten.." that he and Jimmy would both drop their pants on camera. The contestant went on to answer all ten of his questions correctly, and Stein and Kimmel kept to their word, with even the contestant joining in.

★ Famous paintings or artwork were often shown between commercials, modified to include Ben. These include Ben on a classic "We Want You!" poster, Ben as the Mona Lisa, and Ben as the Statue of Liberty.

★ Beginning in the second season, fake money dropped from the ceiling when a contestant won the $5,000, along with the eggcrate flashing $5,000. In the last three seasons, a WINNER! sign lowered from the ceiling, along with the fake money and the eggcrate flashing $5,000 when a contestant won the $5,000.
Ben often had a few guest stars on the show, even when they weren't playing for charity, examples being members of Jimmy Kimmel's family (along with Kimmel, though Sal Iacono would be made permanent co-host in 2002), or Jackie and Sammi Forrest of Fun House playing the Ben Stein Cheerleaders in one episode.

Versions outside the USA

A British version, called ''Win Beadle's Money'', hosted by Jeremy Beadle, ran in the UK in 1999. The format was the same as listed above, but with scoring 20% of the above figures and in pounds (GBP£1,000 was the grand prize). Richard Morton was co-host. It aired on Five.
''Win Roy & H.G.'s Money'', an Australian version hosted by comedy duo Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson, ran for a handful of episodes in 2000. The grand prize was AUD$5,000. This aired on the Seven Network.

Music

Various pieces of classical music were used as the themes. The opening theme was the fourth movement of ''Beethoven's Ninth Symphony'', ''Ode To Joy'', which was repeated to begin the second round, and again if the champion won the $5,000. The closing theme was ''Ride of the Valkyries'', from the second opera of Richard Wagner's ''The Ring of the Nibelung''. Other classical music pieces used on the show included:

★ ''Water Music'' by George Frederick Handel (leading to first commercial break).

★ Spring from ''The Four Seasons'' by Antonio Vivaldi (Coming out of the first commercial break).

★ ''Eine kleine Nachtmusik'' by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (leading into the second commercial break).

★ ''Trepak (a/k/a "The Russian Dance")'' from ''The Nutcracker'' by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (used to segue to the final commercial break).

★ ''Night on Bald Mountain'' (leading to the final round) by Modest Petrovich Mussorgsky (coming out of the final commercial break and cuing to the final round).
While not used explicitly in the program, the group Too Hip For The Room recorded a song titled ''I Wanna Be Ben Stein'', which Stein later told them was played prior to each taping. [1]

External links

★ ''Win Ben Stein's Money'' episode guide (unofficial)

★