If you’re reading this post, you probably love trivia and game shows as much of the rest of us _flossers. So chances are you’ve watched at least one episode of Cash Cab on Discovery Channel, right? And chances are you’ve wondered whether it was rigged or not.
Well, the short answer is no, it’s not rigged. The more complicated answer is: eh, sometimes sorta. Mixed in with my narrative below, you’ll find seven first-person accounts I scooped off the Web to give you a clear understanding of how the show, er, rolls.
First of all, the cab is a real, licensed cab. While host Ben Bailey is actually a comedian, he HAS taken and passed the New York City cabbie exam and is a licensed cab driver. The money he hands out isn’t real, but if contestants win, they’re sent a real check after the show airs. (This is probably done for tax purposes so the network and the IRS can track the money, legally.) After the contestants agree to be on the show, a production assistant gets in and sits shotgun. He/she helps Ben along the route, though the questions are fed into Ben’s earpiece as he drives.
So what about the contestants? Well, basically about ½ of them are pre-screened and about ½ are actually randoms off the street. In fact, if you look closely at the credits at the end, you’ll notice the line: “Some contestants have been pre-screened prior to their appearance on the show.”
So let’s tackle those contestants first. Here are a couple excerpts from first-person accounts — actual contestants talking about their experiences, most found over on Yelp.
Contestant #1
Basically, I was interviewed in Union Square Park for a show called “Show Me New York,” which would feature New Yorkers of all walks of life talking about their favorite spots in the city. Awesome, right??? I wasn’t sure why that show required a trivia quiz in the interview (maybe they didn’t want anyone stupid on-air?), but I aced it. After 2 weeks of emails with the producers, I got my film date. My friend and I waited for a cab, which we were told would take us to Century 21 downtown, where we were going to film our segment. Except, when the cab pulled up….the obvious happened…
…I’m episode 45 if anyone is interested.
Contestant #2
I, too, was picked up in Union Square to be in this show! Same scenario as [contestant #1] and we had to fill out this ridiculously long survey which obviously meant nothing since it was fake. Alas, we frickin lost one block away from our destination and we didn’t even think to use our street shout-out! I’m telling you, it’s easy to say ‘that’s so easy, I could have been on the show”, but when you’re in that cab and those lights are all over the place and Ben Bailey’s staring at you to answer the question, 30 seconds is just NOT enough time! I got a stupid shirt for playing (and losing) and every time I wear it to the gym someone has to comment. They say “hey! you were on the show! did you win??”. And I always answer: I’m wearing this shirt. What do you think?” Guess that’s the closest I’ll get to being a celebrity – I’ll take it! :-)
Contestant #3
My husband and I were recruited for a “smart” tourism show to talk about our favorite places in New York. They told us to get in a cab and meet them at the destination. Lights came on and you know the rest. Unfortunately, my husband and I disagreed on an answer. I deferred to him because I thought he was an expert on the subject, and my answer came from a dirty joke. Turns out I was right and he wasn’t and out on the curb we went.
My street shout-out? We happened to pick someone who started cursing out the crew like a crack addict. Ben Bailey said that had never happened before. I don’t know if this ever aired.
Contestant #4
I was on the show and although we had fun it is a scam! I met a rep after responding for an on-camera role for a “travel show” and after passing a current events oral exam (20 questions) I was told that I was what they were seeking. I was then informed that I was going to receive a call that would direct me to a location where I would be expected to speak about. At that point I knew something wasn’t on the up and up but I figured what the hell…nothing ventured – nothing gained. Then they threw me an even weirder curveball, I was asked to bring one to two additional people along. When I inquired why – especially after they wanted to know my depth of topical news etc., they said that more people helped the shot. Being a NYC radio talk show host and on-camera host I was getting more leary {sic} about going through with a situation that got more bizarre by the day but I did. My plan was to simply tell them NO THANKS or go scratch depending on how funky the scenario was if I decided to pull the plug. My buddy and his girlfriend accompanied me and we did very well (1 wrong answer and we gambled on the grand prize and lost : (
Yes, I was disenchanted over the misrepresentation but I had some laughs and it made for compelling content…or at least that’s what others told me. Buyer…or respondents BEWARE. ;
Contestant #5
So then what about the randoms who aren’t pre-screened? There are many people out there talking about how they were picked up by the Cash Can, but the best example I could find was from a redditor, who had a lot to say, answering questions from other redditors. You can read the whole thread here, but below are some excerpts:
Yes, I couldn’t tell it was the Cash Cab, but there was a 10 minute period after he hit the lights where they stopped, a PA came and talked to me, told me the rules, I signed a waiver, and continued, but that’s entirely cut out. I had the chance to opt out, but I don’t know if they would’ve still driven me. My guess is no.
Contestant #6
This person was very excited to be on.
Cash Cab is REAL!!! I was on it yesterday!!! I can’t say if i won or lost, but BEN ROCKS!!!
Contestant #7
Another blogger raves…
My friend Kristian and I found ourselves stepping into quite a surprise today. I won’t give away the details, since I want the show to remain successful, but hot sh*t was it a fun time!
And we won! We really did. There were a few close calls, of course. In fact, we got the first fucking question wrong! I was not pleased. But, in the end, we walked away with quite the pocket full of pennies. We even won the video challenge / double-or-nothing question at the end and doubled our score! I don’t know when our episode will air, but rest assured, America’s favorite bald spot will be seen on the Discovery Channel before too long. We couldn’t have done it without the help of my friend Brian aka Taco Bull. He was our “lifeline” and he answered a question correctly for us!
Anyone have any experience with the show? Feel free to tell us about it below!
If you liked this post and want to keep up with all my writing, be sure to follow me on Twitter: @resila. And be sure to follow @mental_floss too for the latest on all our great content and amazing facts, 140-characters at a time.
Comments (39)
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kind of sad aboutthis
posted by willy on 1-7-2010 at 10:13 am
It kinda ruins it since the money isn’t real. Dude… what a ripoff.
posted by Kate on 1-7-2010 at 11:21 am
eh. I’ll still have fun watching it and pretending like if I ever went to NY and randomly picked up cabs all day I MIGHT hit the jackpot. I find it interesting that contestant 7 bleeped out sh*t, but felt fine dropping the f bomb.
posted by Hastings on 1-7-2010 at 11:33 am
Wait, something on TV isn’t real?
posted by Craig on 1-7-2010 at 11:51 am
I was recruited for Cash Cab in the way described about three years ago, but never actually got to be on the show. Some Discovery Channel people purporting to represent “Here Is New York” asked a friend and me to tell them our top five favorite spots in the city, getting cranky when some of those spots were in Brooklyn. I was ineligible anyway, due to having just been on another game show. I thought the whole thing was kind of dodgy so I googled it when I got home and discovered what it actually was. And I was devastated, as I’m a huge fan!
posted by Jess on 1-7-2010 at 12:06 pm
I always wondered about the money they give the winners; it seemed dangerous for people to be holding hundreds of dollars on the street at night…
posted by Nora on 1-7-2010 at 12:08 pm
Nice story! I’d love to see the show with Contestant #4 because they sound like a miserable person and it would have been fun to see them go down in flames. Scam? Misrepresentation? Put a lid on the whining, already.
posted by DanB on 1-7-2010 at 12:12 pm
What the Frak? The last person, #7 said they “won’t give away the details” and then proceeds to tell that they got the first question wrong, their mobile shout-out got the question right, and that they not only won, they won the double or nothing video question.
What details are left? oh yeah, and he’s bald, all we’re missing is his name.
posted by Jonny on 1-7-2010 at 12:28 pm
Great stories. You have to have some control over who is on a show. I never really expected it to be just like the show represents. No problem, I still enjoy the show and the concept.
posted by TimH on 1-7-2010 at 12:30 pm
Me-thinks David needs to consider switching to decaf.
posted by Fredd in Harlem on 1-7-2010 at 12:31 pm
If you’ve ever watched the show, you can tell the cash isn’t real. It’s got Ben’s face on it, and I don’t mean Franklin. I’ve seen the “fine print” and always wondered how they prescreen contestants.
Another fine article!
posted by AmyD on 1-7-2010 at 12:32 pm
I’ve actually seen a few eps where it’s pretty obvious that they stop for a while to brief the contestants. Their demeanor totally changes from one second to the next (and once I saw someone who apparently removed her jacket while talking to the rep).
I didn’t know the money was fake, but I’m with Nora; I always wondered about the guys getting out in NYC at night flaunting a few hundred bucks.
What I’ve always been curious about is the camera set-up. Are the cameras really that well-hidden? Is the leading van obvious or not?
posted by Lugh on 1-7-2010 at 12:47 pm
I saw the Cash Cab pulled over once in Hells Kitchen with the van right behind it. At first we couldn’t figure out why there was all this digital equipment in the back of a cab and then we saw the van. I was hoping they’d ask us to be on it! Alas… Oh and no Ben Bailey to be found. Double alas…
posted by Heather on 1-7-2010 at 1:15 pm
Great article! I always wanted to be on Cash Cab – I tell myself that if I ever go to New York, I would make an effort to get on the show (in fact, my fellow Cash Cab-loving friend and I try to figure out Ben’s route when we watch it)!
posted by Steve from San Diego on 1-7-2010 at 1:34 pm
Many people are surprised that the money isn’t real, but I was skeptical from the minute I first saw the show, that they would give these people hundreds of dollars to wave and fan out for the camera on a New York street. Upon closer inspection, you’ll see that the money they hand them is significantly bigger than normal bills. Check it out.
posted by RyBo on 1-7-2010 at 3:41 pm
If you watch the show, you will notice there is a Ford truck or van (white) always following the cab. You can see it through the back window. I figured that was a tech vehicle, and also thought they might pre-screen. Some people just don’t seem that surprised. I would love love love to be on Cash Cab!
posted by Hyacinth on 1-7-2010 at 6:53 pm
I want to be on Cash Cab when I visit New York!!!!
posted by Karl on 1-8-2010 at 4:09 am
They probably got the idea from a German show called Quiz Taxi — then again the Germans might have taken it from somewhere else.
The street shout-outs and gambling the grand prize is even similar…
posted by Louis on 1-8-2010 at 7:02 am
@ TimH
lol. exactly what i was thinking.
posted by jnf on 1-8-2010 at 8:07 am
Also the cab ain’t a real cab; a real cab is a Ford Crown Victoria.
posted by Vic on 1-8-2010 at 8:22 am
Not sure why this would disappoint people so much. I never really thought that money was real and you could tell that they edited parts out, so I assumed it was for signing waivers, explaining rules, etc. So some people are screened beforehand, so what? They still didn’t know they were gonna be on Cash Cab right away, so the surprise is still genuine (although it’s sometimes funny when people recognize Ben right off the bat). And they still actually pick random people, too, so you still have a chance of getting on the show by getting in a random cab. The cash may not be real, but the check they get in the mail sure is. Sounds like a real enough show to me! Hope they continue for a long time!
posted by Matt W on 1-8-2010 at 8:32 am
At least this is more real than Extreme Makeover Home Edition… (Spent 3 days checking out one show being made locally as a spectator, and THAT show is NOT spontaneous AT ALL. And I never actually saw a host!)
Now Cash Cab… whether pre-screened or not, the contestants don’t know they’re getting into the Cash Cab. Prop-money and check later… big deal… those giant checks we see on other shows aren’t real either. Gee and they cut parts out… come on, its video… everyone cuts out the boring stuff! Overall its nice to hear Cash Cab is as honest as it is!
posted by Este on 1-8-2010 at 8:51 am
FYI – there are many different types of cabs in NYC not just Ford Crown Victoria. There are SUV cabs, toyota cabs, etc…if you’re ever in NYC you’d notice this. I live in NYC
posted by Winnie on 1-8-2010 at 9:43 am
…I didn’t know there was an American cash cab show. I’ve seen ‘Cash Cab’ but it was always set in Toronto!
posted by Daisy on 1-8-2010 at 9:52 am
i was in the cash cab – my friends and i were recruited to be on a “nights out in NY” show and were asked to get into a cab which would take us to our destination and it turned out to be the cash cab. we ended up losing, and apparently we cursed too much because they didnt air the episode! but the money looks real, it just says really big on it “FAKE” so that it cant be spent – and we were told that if we won, we should act really excited with the fake money and wave it around for the cameras. additionally, because they didnt film us getting into the cab the first time, after we got read the rules and signed waivers, we had to get out and RE get into the van so they could get it on camera.
posted by vanessa on 1-8-2010 at 11:36 am
Just because the producers recruit by using a misleading approach doesn’t mean it’s a scam.
Just because there is some legal mumbo jumbo edited out doesn’t mean the events you see aren’t real.
Just because the money isn’t real doesn’t mean the winners don’t get paid.
posted by Aimee on 1-8-2010 at 12:31 pm
I wasn’t on cash cab, but I was on Wheel of Fortune. It was an awful experience. Here’s some of the most memorable:
I was the last show of the day filmed, so by the time I was up at the wheel I had already been in contestant training for over 11 1/2 hours.
There were thousands of things about the show that my friends were surprised to hear. The wheel itself supposedly weighs 2 tons, but the actual top part with the dollar amounts is made of painted clapboard. The amounts are just shiny stickers. I picked up the wild card on one of my spins and was dismayed to find out it was only a piece of cheap foamboard (like that from a science fair) covered in some contact paper.
After every puzzle, the taping is stopped and the contestants get down from the platform behind the wheel to get makeup touched up and to be told what the next kind of puzzle will be. They’re also told what they are doing incorrectly (say, clapping – the contestants on the show are not supposed to actually touch hands when they clap, lest they make noise into the microphone) and other small reminders. If you think that’s bad, note that the list of clothing restrictions alone was 2-3 insulting pages (“Ladies, no ‘muffin tops’!”).
From the moment we arrived in the morning on the day of taping, we had a crew of contestant coaches that followed us around and criticized everything we did. While they were well-meaning, twelve hours of someone constantly yelling and cheering and telling you what you’re doing wrong eventually just makes you want to punch a wall.
There is tons and tons more, but the puzzle solving is real – and INCREDIBLY difficult in front of a live audience with so much at stake. There is a board that tells contestants which vowels and consonants have already been taken, so if you see that on television it means most likely the person was taken off the stage after that puzzle and blasted for not playing correctly.
After all was said and done, I got back into my car and ended up on the highway, headed home in my garish stage makeup and uncomfortable clothes after 12 1/2 hours of misery and constant coaching, bawling and swearing to never be on television again.
YMMV.
posted by AM on 1-8-2010 at 2:44 pm
very interesting folks! @AM – that was priceless info. Thanks for sharing…
posted by David on 1-8-2010 at 3:00 pm
I was on the show with friends a couple of years ago — similar experience with the travel show set up except we knew that this was a scam from the beginning because we had a friend who had worked on the show. Only other interesting fact is that the producer called me a couple of month later asking if I had other friends who might want to be on the show.
posted by Brianna on 1-8-2010 at 3:00 pm
When I was in high school I won the local National Vocabulary Championship for Detroit (through the Game Show Network) and won $5000 and a free trip to NYC.
The filming took forever, but we didn’t have any stage make up or anything, and the finals were EXTREMELY difficult. I was up against kids who had made it to the National Spelling been multiple times when I had won on a fluke :/
Overall it was a lot of fun, though.
Also! I’m really glad Toronto has a Cash Cab!
posted by Liz on 1-9-2010 at 6:42 pm
I love Cash Cab and idk why anyone would be disappointed to hear about this. If even half of the contestants are actually randomly picked up off the street, it’s still a great show.
This is TV people, nothing’s is in actuality, reality. Like the post said, the end credits say that some of the contestants were screened. That message isn’t even in fine print or anything.
^__^ NYC is full of crazies. I don’t blame the producers.
posted by ScottyB on 1-9-2010 at 10:51 pm
AM: Wow, my experience couldn’t have been more different from yours when I was on Wheel of Fortune in 2006. The things you say as far as the mechanics of the show were the same for me (yes, folks, the wheel is made to look pretty for the cameras using flimsy material — seems obvious but it’s a surprise when you’re handling the cards). We also had to step down from the podium for makeup touchup and advice while they reset things for the next show. And yes, the puzzle solving part looks a lot easier on home than it does when you’re staring down one in that studio.
But that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. I didn’t find any of the staff insulting, or belittling. The contestant handlers, the ones offering advice between rounds, were simply lovely people who did their best to make us feel comfortable in a situation in which all of us were out of our element. No one got yelled at for playing incorrectly, no one cried on or off camera — well, one person did, the husband of one contestant who didn’t win much, bit of an outburst in the audience.
Perhaps it’s all in the matter of how you approach it. I was there for the experience, and didn’t really expect to win anything (let’s just say my expectations were met).
posted by DanB on 1-10-2010 at 6:40 pm
I was on Cash Cab “After Dark” in the summer of 2007, and it was super fun. A friend of mine was recruited by a producer at a party, so we knew what was happening but weren’t supposed to let on to the crew that we knew. Very double agent-y.
The on-set producers told us that we’d be going to Chat N Chew (one of my favorite NYC restaurants) to talk about our favorite things to do in New York at night. She then got a call that the “van broke down” and that we’d have to take a cab. Oh no! I was trying not to laugh the entire time. Once we got in the cab, Ben asked us where we were going, we told him, and then had to act really surprised once the lights came on. Then we got out and signed some forms while the crew adjusted lights and sound (there is so much stuff in that cab) and they taped footage of us fake-hailing the cab.
Even though it seems like there’s a lot of “television” fakery happening, the questions (and tension) are very real. Everyone is super nice, the game is played very fairly, and like I said, it was really fun. Plus, it paid that month’s rent!
posted by KL on 1-11-2010 at 1:23 pm
A few pre-screened people in each episode makes for a much more entertaining show to watch on TV. Not everyone who hails the cab at random is going to be very bright. I like to see people get to the “double or nothing ” part from time to time. With just people off the street, sadly, I think that would be much less likely. I’m willing to accept a few “plants” in the contestant pool and a little editing to be able to make the show more fun.
All TV is pretty fake. I’m used to that. It’s entertainment.
posted by Melissa on 1-11-2010 at 3:00 pm
It kind of makes sense that the money they give out isn’t real. Think about it: a group of loudly happy people get out of a New York taxi counting bills? That’s an invitation for a mugging.
posted by heather on 1-11-2010 at 7:39 pm
Some of you keep using the word “scam” but I do not think it means what you think it means.
posted by splint on 1-13-2010 at 1:32 pm
When I’ve watched the show, I’ve noticed that sometimes a white (I think it was white) van follows Ben’s cab the whole way through the ride. I’m guessing this van carries video equipment and crew members. I’ve also noticed that their cab uses the same license plates across multiple episodes. I have to imagine that at least some contestants are screened. Otherwise trivia fanatics might just stand on the sidewalks looking for Ben’s cab.
posted by Wes on 1-13-2010 at 3:54 pm
A few weeks ago I saw an episode that showed a clip where the cab pulled over. It was getting dark and it was kind of rainy and when Ben pulled over a guy started to go up to the cab and Ben waved him off and took a couple. The guy seemed pissed and it didn’t make any sense to take the other people first. That’s when I knew that Cash Cab found contestants. Still love the show though!
posted by C.A. on 1-14-2010 at 8:02 am
I realize I’m late to this post…but I just have to respond to AM. I was on Wheel of Fortune in 2005, and had the time of my LIFE! Yes, it was a long day, but every aspect of it was fun. And I loved getting the makeup done! I didn’t want to take it off at the end of the day–I’ve never looked better :) And I’m not writing this as someone who walked away with a new car or anything. I won a little cash but not much (bad timing on the Bankrupt space!) but I would have done it for nothing, it was so much fun and such an interesting experience! Everyone there was so nice–including Pat Sajak, who came over to tell me how well I was doing after I landed on Bankrupt. Just didn’t want WoF to get a bad rap :)
posted by Laura on 6-17-2010 at 8:49 pm