July 12th: Mashantucket, CT (at Foxwoods Resort Casino)
July 22nd: Ft. Lauderdale, FL
July 24th: Charlotte, NC
July 26th: Detroit, MI

If you auditioned prior to June 2011 you’ll need to visit again to get into the contestant pool.  You need to be over 18, and a resident of the United States, and have never played at the Hot Seat or the table.  If you want to learn more click here to visit the show’s website.  Good luck!  Let’s get another millionaire from BuzzerBlog.

Photo courtesy Disney-ABC.

Just to keep people excited, I heard nearly unanimous praise for the game, Mark, and Brooke.  It’s faithful to the UK version which should keep the hardcore people entertained but it’s a very accessible  fun, exciting show for newcomers.  The Final Chase is, without a doubt, the most exciting two minutes on television right now.  Not to mention we have a lot of readers on the show so we’re pretty excited to see it.  Everyone else ready?

UPDATE: Thanks to GSN for clarification.  The first week, August 6th, will be two new episodes.  Every week after that will be one new episode followed by a rerun.  So no worries about a four week run.  You have many weeks to enjoy.

Brooke Burns and Mark Labbett of The Chase. Courtesy GSN.

Whenever anything Cash Cab gets nominated we just expect it to win, and it was predictably correct again.  Ben Bailey won best game show host, which is a bit shocking.  I was hoping we’d see it go to Steve Harvey finally, but this is most likely Ben’s last time for this and he’s undeniably great at what he does so congratulations.  But, again, if this year’s unbelievable performance on Family Feud wasn’t enough to get him an Emmy I’m not sure what he’ll have to do beyond burst into a ball of confetti mid show next season.  Due to an excellent performance by Steve, funny moments, and out of this world casting, last year was the best Feud has been in decades.

The shocker of the night was the Best Game Show award to The Price is Right.  We mean no disrespect by that.  We’re on the record of being huge fans of the show’s current direction and what they’ve done to turn the show into a modern, fun, engaging game from its previous-but-recent state of crusty and old. However, if you read any message board or discussion thread anywhere, even here, you’d figure the show has never been worse.  It just continues my constant persistence, to the annoyance of many and I am sorry, that fanboys may be vocal but they are the distant minority.  Price is the best its been in decades thanks to the great hosting of Drew Carey and the amazing producing job of Mike Richards.  They managed to update the show while keeping it recognizable to its older audience.  No one revives and revamps a show successfully like Fremantle and it’s glad to finally see them get the recognition they deserve.

He jumped from $50,000 to $1,000,000.  Say what you will about the tournament and the clock format, but the final day (the bottom video) was probably one of only two or three times the clock produced a genuinely terrifying moment.  Ironically they both came because of contestant Jehan Shamsid-Deen.

Congratulations to Tasha on the big win. Did you see it? What did you think? Wheel has had one hell of a season of big money, hasn’t it?

EDIT: Check out the big win below.  Thanks a lot to reader Nick Casiano for the video and link!

Courtesy Sony Pictures TV

As always, more locations will be announced later so don’t worry if somewhere near you hasn’t popped up yet.

Have audition stories?  Be sure to let us know in the comments.

Until we find out, take a look at the set.  What do you think?

GSN’s The Chase logo

GSN’s – The Chase
hosted by Brooke Burns
and as “The Beast” Mark Labbett

Butler Giles, played by Gildart Jackson, host of “Whodunnit?”

Thirteen contestants/guests play the game from Rue Manor.  One of them is the killer.  The host Butler Giles, played by actor Gildart Jackson, leads the contestants through all the events and goings-on of the game.  Each episode sees a different “murder” happen.  Contestants can choose to enter one of several rooms which give them clues as to how it’s done.  Throughout the show more information will be revealed, puzzles will be presented, and contestants can share information, though they don’t have to be truthful.

At the end of the day each guest will make a private accusation as to how the murder was done.  At the evening’s dinner each will receive an envelope.  Those who did the best will be marked “Spared” and go through.  Those who did the worst will be marked “Scared,” and are up for elimination.  You don’t know how many could be marked.  That night, as everyone is sleeping, the killer will “murder” (or eliminate) one of the marked guests.  That person is out of the game, and that murder will be the basis for next episode.  The eventual winner will receive $250,000.

The most obvious thing anyone will notice is how much detail they put into the story and scenery of Whodunnit?.  On shows like The Mole or Take The Money and Run, especially the latter, while you were thrust into the world of solving crimes, it was clear you’re playing a game and they made that evident as often as they could.  Here, they play this without even a wink to the camera.  The contestants passingly mention at first about how it’s fake.  At first even I thought they were laying it on a bit thick.  After about ten or 15 minutes, though, the immersion works.  You fall into the story head first and stay in there.  Looking back, if they didn’t play it up as seriously as they did, the show would seem ridiculous.  Some may not enjoy how deep they make this seem, but I think most will appreciate it.

The special effects are equally spectacular.  While it’s not as gory as, say, CSI or The Following, there’s quite a bit of blood and bodily harm going on.  The first alone sees someone with glass stuck in that person’s face, what looks to be a bullet in the back of their neck, electrocution, and being caught on fire.  The team does everything they can to make it look real which, while obviously a necessity for the game to be valid, puts you into this world even easier.

Speaking of the game, this format does something I wasn’t expecting.  I knew we would have a Mole-like element of trying to figure out who it

Contestants try to find clues to solve a murder on ABC’s “Whodunnit?”

is.  That season-long arch is here, as you try to figure out the killer.  However, each episode presents a new murder that the players and home audience have to solve.  If you’ve ever watched a crime show like Law and Order or CSI you’ve, no doubt, sat there trying to figure out how it was done.  The same goes here.  You’re presented with all the clues.  You know as much as the guests do.  You’ll be sitting and guessing how the murder was done all show.  Even after that segment is done we move on to game two, where you try to figure out the murderer.  It adds a second level to the often-tried-deception game and it makes each episode seem more complete.

Before we get people complaining about the coverage we’re giving the show, this is just a reminder that this is a game show to the core and a great one at that.  A group of contestants play a weekly game, solving puzzles, trying to win $250,000.  It doesn’t get any more game show-y than that.  And I think you’ll all enjoy it.  They went all out to make Whodunnit? an unscripted murder mystery, and their efforts suck you in quickly.  The cast is great, the contestants are likable, the game is fun to play along with, and it’s an exciting, suspenseful way to spend an hour each week.  You can’t ask for more than that in a game show.

ABC’s Whodunnit? debuts Sunday, June 23rd, at 9:00PM ET.  Photos courtesy ABC.

Edit: Corrected a typo.

The Wild Card she won during the main game was the key to winning.  The Wild Card letter of “G” was the only additional letter she got for the final puzzle.  To the complete shock of Pat Sajak she solved the puzzle instantly and took home the $1,000,000 prize.  Autumn finished with a total of $1,030,340.  This is the biggest win in the nearly 40 year history of the franchise and 30 year history of the current syndicated edition.

“I am in complete and utter shock,” said the newly minted millionaire. “I’m shaking. I came here today because I love the game, I wanted to have some fun and solve some puzzles – I feel like I’m in a dream! No one could believe it! They were just off stage and couldn’t see what my prize was. They were celebrating the fact that I solved the puzzle,” Erhard added. “They kept asking me how much I won, and I had to keep repeating it because no one believed me at first.”

There are few things better on television than seeing someone win the jackpot on a show.  It’s incredibly rare to see a million dollar winner on most game shows these days, let alone Wheel of Fortune where it’s incredibly hard to win.  The equally-incredibly hard puzzle she had to solve, with practically no help, made it even more memorable.  Congratulations to Autumn.

Did you miss it, or want to relive it?  Check out the big win below.

Take a look.

You have to feel bad for the guy. It’s never fun to see anyone lose like this.

Meredith came onto the set to thunderous applause and prepared for the celebrity question, where the person playing could win $50,000 for charity.  Meredith had a big twist for Regis, though.  She also gave us one of the best fake-outs the show has ever seen.

Take a look.

The clock years of Millionaire (season seven and eight) gave us a few memorable contestants but, perhaps, none more-so than Alan Carver.  He had a strategy which was never really discussed during the show, which may have helped a bit.  We never got to it in live play but any time left over on each question is banked.  If the contestant reaches the million dollar question they’ll get 45 seconds plus whatever extra time has been banked to think.  It was an unspoken rule that contestants could interrupt Meredith to bank more time.  No one even really did it except Alan.  It was an interesting strategy that almost paid off.  He was also a contestant during the Tournament of Ten stunt and his speed almost helped him there.  We’ll get to that soon, though.  Sure, it came off as slightly awkward but it gave Meredith a chance to shine and some of her most memorable interactions ever.

Take a look back.