5 Celebrity Game Show Appearances That Went Off The Rails
It takes a special kind of lunatic to decide to take part in a game show in front of a live crowd, but it seems to satisfy that basic human need for attention while also seeming smart by answering questions or guessing the price of baked beans.
Celebrities are people too, lest we forget, and are subject to the same kinds of human urges. Except their lives don't really get blown up after that exposure, and that kind of cavalier mentality means that when they do pop up on these programs, all bets are off regarding them and normal behavior. Let's see what happens when we blend narcissism and games ...
Aaron Paul on The Price Is Right
The Price is Right is the longest-running, most beloved daytime game show for old folks and flu victims alike. Some watch for the Plinko chips dropping down the board; others watch to see when that giant price-spinning wheel will eventually fall off its axis and murderously roll into the studio audience. It's fun, Drew Carey looks adorable with his ridiculous microphone, and the contestants are usually seven seconds away from humping the host's leg.
Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul earned his way onto the show in 1999, right around the time he had a bit part on Beverly Hills, 90210 as "Chad." Bob Barker was the host at that time, and in between urging people to alter their pets' reproductive organs, he entertained Paul, who when called to the first round of contestants, shrieked "You're the man, Bob! You're my idol!"
We're starting to get an idea of how Breaking Bad casting saw this guy and thought 'Stimulants.'
Paul made it to the stage proper after best estimating the price of a desk, looking every bit of someone that just exited a time machine from a '90s Warped Tour show. The future Mr. Pinkman then actually made it through to the final Showcase Showdown, where he proceeded to poorly guesstimate on a sports car package, thus ending his time on the show. And at no point did he utter the words, "I overbid, bitch."
Andy Richter Destroys Wolf Blitzer On Jeopardy!
Playing second fiddle to Conan O'Brien for a couple of decades probably gives you ample opportunity to absorb useless pop-culture facts. Of course, Andy Richter is much more than a sidekick -- he's often the funniest part of Conan's late-night show, but who knew he was so freaking smart on a broader scale? And ruthless?
Richter took the Jeopardy! stage by storm in 2009, alongside television's Dana Delaney and CNN's bearded news wonder, Wolf Blitzer. Carnage almost immediately ensued. Like, Andy Richter pulled off the game show equivalent of wearing Wolf Blitzer's skin mask. Seriously, Wolf Blitzer, the man who won a Peabody for his coverage of Hurricane Katrina, speaks fluent Hebrew, and who was a steadying, calming presence live on television on September 11, 2001, was involuntarily morphed into a dumbass who didn't know different kinds of pasta.
Better whip out that checkbook, Wolf; looks like you owe Trebeck the price of a used motorcycle.
As Blitzer tried to find new ways to be smugly terrible at answering questions, Richter ascended into the laps of the gods, financially speaking, and ended up with a staggering $68,000 that was donated to St. Jude's hospital. After waking up from the shock trauma that Richter inflicted upon him, Blitzer looked down to see his display reading $4600 in the negative. And this wasn't the first time Richter carved up the competition on the show: he won a decade previously.
Jon Hamm on The Big Date
Regardless of your sexual orientation, if Jon Hamm doesn't give you the vapors a little bit, you should probably get your pulse checked. The star of Mad Men exudes cool, so that would make him perfect for a dating show, right? Well, let's rewind a bit because the Jon Hamm that filled the suits of Donald Draper wasn't the same guy back in 1996. When Hamm appeared on The Big Date with two other potential suitors that year, he looked more like the kid that skateboarded into your girl's bedroom and stole her heart.
The setup of The Big Date was much like any other show where a few guys try to woo a girl in a few sentences. The two fellas he was competing against were a stuntman and Mark McGrath's doppelganger. Hamm himself presented as a waiter. A waiter who apparently loved the word "fabulous." He told the lady he was trying to impress that he would treat her to some "fabulous food," "fabulous conversation," and then a "fabulous foot massage." His luck on the show wasn't exactly fabulous, however, as he didn't even make it past the first round.
And just in case you think things went smoother when the celeb was in the dating show driver's seat ...
Arnold Schwarzenegger on The New Dating Game
When Arnold Schwarzenegger arrived on the shores of the United States in 1968, with his doofy demeanor and complete lack of grasp of the English language, people didn't pay him much mind. But for the next several years, when he devoted his life to bodybuilding and won a slew of Mr. Olympia fitness titles, his resume began to get as swollen as his obliques. In 1973, his star on the rise, Arnold guested on The New Dating Game.
We imagine dating was a lot easier for Arnie before his name became synonymous with 'Pitiless killing machine.'
As the game show opened, the first thing you see is Arnold's looming visage, man-tits fully on display. The former Austrian and future Terminator was then presented with three lovely ladies on the stage, one of whom would presumably be his consensual date. His perma-grin in full effect, Arnold visually scanned the trio of gals and asked the eternal question of the first contestant, "I am a man, and you are a woman; where do we go from here?" The woman proceeded to make a textbook cringe face and offered answers like swimming and, you know, leaving the planet. Anything and everything to not upset Detective John Kimble. The next two didn't have much else to add after that sound vomit, though the third female got Arnold to say "hanky-panky." Schwarzenegger then compared his body measurements to the three ladies, which they always love.
He would go on to choose contestant number two as his prize. When asked why he commented on her having a sexy voice, a compliment she no doubt would never ever reciprocate.
Zac Efron on Room Raiders
Zac Efron is universally agreed upon to be a simply beautiful man. But he's also kind of cool, like if you met him in life, he would hang out and play darts with you (he wouldn't). Most remember his meteoric rise after 2006's High School Musical, but he was still padding his resume the year before when he appeared on the MTV series Room Raiders.
If you boiled all of 2005 down into 20 stupid minutes, this would be it.
The show offered one lucky guy (17-year-old Efron in this case) the opportunity to choose one of three girls to date, based on the state and cleanliness of their homes. The show begins with Zac and the ladies talking about themselves in the vaguest possible manners, followed by a bizarre enactment of "abducting" the girls from their houses, so they don't have time to clean. The women get to watch on video as Zac peruses their personal living spaces, including their panty drawers, and listen to him compare one girl's animal print undies to his mom, somehow. When Zac wasn't being a pervert, he was swimming in another girl's pool and juggling yet another lady's cheerleading pom poms. Based on this extensive forensic research, Efron took to the beach to announce his winner, and shockingly it was the third contestant, the cheerleader. Zac almost chose the second girl, but her room had her name plastered all over the place and too many mirrors. He found that self-absorbed.
Top image: CBS
