10 Great Game Show Gaffes

Most game shows are perfectly edited so moments that are even slightly inappropriate never make it on air. But sometimes, especially when the show is filmed in front of a live studio audience, there’s no preparing for a fumble—whether in the form of mishandled speech or unexpected physical reaction. Below, take a peek at some of the funniest human blunders turned greatest game show bloopers. Occurring in the heat of the moment, they beat any preplanned attempt at humor—making even the most dedicated contestant crack up.


Staircase Stumble



Catchphrase, a British game show that ran from 1986 to 2002, required two contestants to identify a familiar phrase represented by a piece of digital animation. During the opening credits, host Nick Weir could be seen hopping energetically down a staircase to greet at-home watchers through a panning camera lens, but during one particular show, his luck (and his limbs) stumbled elsewhere.



“What Is a Hoe?” 
 


Alex Trebek hosts the well-known quiz show Jeopardy!, on which three competing contestants answer categorized questions worth a predetermined amount of money. On many occasions, Trebek makes the audience chuckle, but it’s not often due to a contestant’s demeanor-shattering moment. It just so happens that this contestant, Ken Jennings, went on to hold the longest winning streak in the show’s history, but during this particular hot-seat moment, a true blooper was born. 



Favorite Condiments
 


The Newlywed Game, a show that pits just-married couples against each other in answering a series of revealing questions—attempting to determine how well each spouse knows the other—can certainly conjure up embarrassing situations. However, when the question is entirely misinterpreted, humiliation is in its finest form.



The Prize Is Right
 


The Price Is Right, a long-running daytime show that requires contestants to guess the retail cost of products, often calls on the audience for opinions. A roar of cheering usually ensures favor, and a low rumble, disfavor. In this particular episode, host Bob Barker’s honest but misplaced introduction to a prize gets the loudest audience cheer of all.


Exclusive with a K
 


Hosted by Pat Sajak since its debut in 1975, Wheel of Fortune , has contestants commandeer a spinning wheel and its many prize-winning amounts while guessing letters of the alphabet until they can figure out the secret phrase. Winning can be as much about luck as it is wordplay. Often, the wheel doesn’t work in a contestant’s favor, but in this clip a contestant just doesn’t live up to the fortune bestowed on her.



Banana Is a Three-Letter Word
 


Though only on air for a limited time, Merv Griffin’s Crosswords —from the creator of a variety of game shows including Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune —had its own share of gaffes. Hosted by Ty Treadway, this game had contestants fill in crossword puzzle blanks for a prize. Though the game has guidelines, there are very few rules to flub. Nonetheless, watch here as one contestant does just that. 



The Flip-Flopper
 


The Price Is Right makes its way onto the list again, but this time it’s the contestant that makes the gaffe. Even after double-checking to make sure he knows what needs to be done, the contestant, with his accidental answer revelation, nearly sends Bob Barker into early retirement.



Dinoceros
 


Hollywood Squares featured contestants who decide on the validity of a famous player’s answer—celebrities occupy each of the nine cubes of a tic-tac-toe board—in order to win the square and eventually the game. The celeb’s answer was meant to summon a few laughs, but in this video, it’s the host who scores points with the tuned-in audience.



Caffeine Conundrum
 


Responsible for many now-famous one-liners, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? has seen its share of caught-off-guard contestants. While most times the standard lineup of questions—which run from easy to hard—has a contestant soaring through to at least the fourth round, occasionally common sense escapes a player embarrassingly early on.



Bob vs. Drew
 


This final The Price Is Right clip features brand-new host Drew Carey, who debuted on the show on October 15, 2007, replacing sweet-as-pie Bob Barker—who hosted the show for 35 years. When one contestant refers to the new host as the old, the sincerity of the mistake sends the contestant and the audience into hysterics—and gets Mr. Carey giggling as well.