They say hindsight is 20/20 for a reason. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most unsettling or tragic events that completely recontextualized how we watch our favorite game shows.
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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
00:10events that completely recontextualized how we watch our favorite game shows.
00:14Please welcome Rodney Alcala. Rod, welcome.
00:18Number 10. A Wipeout Contestant Tragedy. Wipeout. Obstacle courses are fun, but they can come with
00:23a host of safety concerns. Wipeout does its best to vet contestants and provide them with
00:28sufficient protective gear, but accidents can still happen. Contestant Michael Paredes found
00:34this out the hard way, suffering 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. In spite of the tragedy, the series went on as
00:47planned. But it's hard to shake the feeling that contestants are risking their lives for
00:50viewers' entertainment. Number 9. Alleged Poor Conditions.
00:56Squid Game The Challenge. In 2021, Squid Game became Netflix's newest hit show,
01:01garnering both mass appeal and critical approval for its dark yet captivating premise. But when
01:06the streaming giant announced that they would be producing their own game show based on the
01:09series' success, many were skeptical. Squid Game was critiquing the dystopian competition
01:15at its center, not endorsing it. Unfortunately, it turned out that the naysayers were right to
01:23be uneasy. Although Netflix naturally denied any foul play, contestants complained of unbearably
01:28cold sets and long hours. Some 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. Have you ever watched a game show and wondered if
01:55it may be rigged? In the 1950s, many viewers were stunned to learn that this was the reality for
02:01three major quiz shows, 21, The Big Surprise, and Dotto. The scandal began with 21, which was
02:06revealed to have scripted the loss of a contestant named Herb Stemple. He lost out on an unknown
02:14amount of potential winnings, and to add insult to injury, the final nail in his competitive coffin
02:19was an incorrect answer about one of his favorite films. On The Big Surprise, a warm-up question
02:27that contestant Dale Logue did not know the answer to was deliberately repeated for the show,
02:31while Dotto was found to be providing answers to its participants.
02:37Number 7. Ryan Jenkins is Suspected of Murder. Megan Wants a Millionaire. I Love Money.
02:42Following Rock of Love, contestant Megan Hauserman was offered another chance at love
02:46by VH1 in Megan Wants a Millionaire. Among the contestants was so-called smooth operator
02:51Ryan Jenkins, who also filmed for the third season of another dating show, I Love Money.
02:59During Megan Wants a Millionaire's initial broadcast, Jenkins' wife was found dead,
03:03causing the series to come to an abrupt halt. I Love Money 3 never made its air. In the days
03:08after his wife's murder, Jenkins evaded police, crossing the border into Canada and eventually
03:13taking his own life before a trial could be held. Had Megan Wants a Millionaire continued,
03:23viewers would have seen him place third, proving that people are not always what they seem.
03:27Number 6. Nasubi's Challenge. Susunu Denpa Shounen. Translating to Do Not Proceed,
03:39Crazy Youth, Susunu Denpa Shounen was a challenge-based game show in Japan,
03:43which 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 Shounen Teiki Kensho Seikatsu, in which the contestant, Nasubi,
04:02was forced to live solely on sweepstakes prizes. His condition was filmed and reported on for 15
04:09agonizing months, all without his explicit consent, as he struggled to win basic necessities,
04:14particularly food. What was, at the time, perceived to be light entertainment was
04:18actually the broadcast torture of a human being. Number 5. The Death of Michael Lush.
04:28The Late Late Breakfast Show. While The Late Late Breakfast Show wasn't technically a game show,
04:32its Give It a Whirl segment featured many hallmarks of the reality subgenre. Viewers of
04:37the variety show would call in as a whirly wheel was spun to decide what stunt they would perform
04:42on the following week's program. This included everything from car stunts to being fired out of
04:46a cannon. It was an incredibly dangerous segment, which had already resulted in a few injuries prior
04:51to the involvement of its final contestant, Michael Lush. Lush was set to perform a bungee
04:58jumping stunt that also involved a straitjacket and an explosion. No professional stuntman had
05:02attempted the feat prior to Lush's first day of training, and a fatal mishap cost him his life.
05:12Number 4. The Bleef Nick Family. Family Feud. When you tune into an episode of Family Feud,
05:21you know you can expect some well-intentioned barbs, a few double entendres, and plenty of
05:26wide-eyed reactions from Steve Harvey. So while this response from Tim of the Bleef Nick Family
05:30may not seem so out of the ordinary, the truth behind the scenes makes this moment extremely
05:35sinister. Bleef Nick was later convicted of the murder of his wife, Becky, who did not appear in
05:46the episode. Allegedly, his wife had requested a restraining order from him a year prior to her
05:50death, which was rejected by the legal system for unknown reasons. Tim Bleef Nick was sentenced to
06:04life in prison, though he insists that he did not commit the crime. Number 3. Edward Edwards
06:13Conceals the Truth. To Tell the Truth. Edward Edwards had already been dubbed one of the FBI's
06:18most wanted fugitives when he appeared on To Tell the Truth. In fact, this history is the entire
06:22reason he was cast on the show. His unique life
06:33experience made him the perfect candidate for the series, which saw contestants attempting
06:38to guess which of the three people was that episode's central character. Although Edwards
06:41claimed to have been reformed and even wrote a book on his life as a criminal, his reformation
06:45was all a charade. Between 1977 and 1996, Edwards lived as a serial killer, murdering at least five
06:58people. Looking back, it's hard to believe people let him achieve the level of fame that he did.
07:03Number 2. Bullseye Helps Catch a Criminal. Bullseye. John Cooper's crime spree began when
07:10he was just 17. Back then, he was seen publicly intoxicated and was charged with stealing cars
07:15and assaulting police officers. He would graduate to murder in 1985 when he killed a man and woman
07:20while robbing their farmhouse in Scoviston Park. Four years later, he would participate in the game
07:25show Bullseye, a British series involving darts and trivia. As his violent crime spree
07:33continued, investigators realized that a police sketch looked eerily similar to Cooper's appearance
07:38on the show and used the likeness as evidence to build a case. Following Cooper's conviction in
07:422011, ITV would officially vault the episode he appeared on, ensuring that viewers of the
07:47light-hearted game show weren't reminded of his grisly crimes. Before we continue,
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08:10Number 1. The Dating Game Killer. The Dating Game. Now known as the Dating Game Killer,
08:15Rodney 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
08:24because she found him creepy. We're sure she's now thankful for following her gut instinct,
08:32as Alcala would later be directly linked to eight murders, with many more considered open
08:36cases in which he was a prime suspect. Watching the show back today is unsettling,
08:45particularly when you consider no background check was performed on any of the show's
08:49potential bachelors. Have you ever seen a game show with competitions you thought
08:57were too dangerous? Let us know in the comments!