Most people probably fantasize about going on a game show and winning some big money or, at the very least, some nice prizes. Not everybody can be Ken Jennings—or James Holzhauer, for that matter, but, with enough luck and persistence, anything is possible. Imagine getting that once chance, and then winning... and winning the weirdest thing possible. Like a goat.
Game shows are all about risk, so there aren't guarantees. Most people probably have felt safe going on national television thinking the one thing they wouldn't come away with was a live animal—or a person! Here are the ten weirdest game show prizes of all time, ranked.
The Price Is Right: Treill For Woman In A Wheelchair
Context is everything. A treill would be a great thing to win, especially for folks looking to get more active but maybe can't afford it. Game shows should consider their audience, always, and their contestants. An infamous episode of Drew Carey made it even worse by ribbing the woman with "boy, it sure took you a long time to get up here." Sheesh.
High Rollers: A $10,000 Fish Bowl
High Rollers was a show that had a couple of different runs back in the mid-to-late 70s, both times with Alex Trebek hosting. The basic idea was two people rolled giant oversized pairs of dice and then tried to remove the number they rolled from the game board.
The prizes weren't great or practical, which is maybe why the show didn't exactly work out. Among the weirder prizes was a $10,000 fishbowl, which, naturally, was empty. The least they could have offered was a fish. And some water.
Crackerjack: Cabbage
Food is food, but contestants probably don't want to walk off a game show stage holding an armful of cabbage. The UK children's game show Crackerjack! did this repeatedly, stuffing the arms of its players with food and the losers in particular with giant heads of cabbage.
The basic idea behind the show was to put kids through various competitive matches for the delight of adults in the audience and at home. A modern version of the show just debuted in January of 2020.
The Price Is Right: A Pinball Machine
Proving The Price Is Right struggles with sticking a landing, an episode from 1993 offered a pinball machine as a prize. Again, nothing wrong with a pinball machine, except it was 1993 and what kids really wanted right at that particular moment was a Super Nintendo.
Worse still, some classic pinball machines would have been perfectly fine, but this one was just purr-fect. The Bad Cats pinball machine was a thing that existed and Bob Barker gave it away to some unsuspecting contestant.
Runway: Newspaper From Day You Were Born
Runway hails from the late 80s in the UK and had an intriguing premise. Three contestants tried to guess the year that the other contestants were born by clues, most critically from the front page of the newspaper from the day the contestants were born. Winners won a holiday, but losers took home a copy of the newspaper from the day they were born. Not exactly something worthwhile considering they pretty much read it while they were competing in the game.
Ready Steady Cook: Official Dinner Plate
UK game show prizes are... practical, that's for sure. Enter Ready Steady Cook. The format of this 90s show is actually a bit fun, and a precursor of current popular shows like Chopped and its myriad clones.
Two contestants get paired with a celebrity chef, some money, and time to make a great meal that then gets judged. Winners got £100, which, while alright, wasn't anything great. Losers got a complimentary official dinner plate with the Ready Steady Cook logo on it. Not very delicious.
Fun House: A Box Of Twenty Harmonicas
Fun House had versions in the UK and the US back in the 90s and was sort of the huge Nickelodeon-style game show that was very popular at the time. The basic idea pitted kids against each other through fun obstacle courses that in no way was dangerous or hazardous to their self-esteem.
The prizes didn't always seem worth the considerable physical effort involved. Case in point: one of the consolations prizes was a box of twenty harmonicas. In case the kid lost like nineteen of them?
Family Fortunes: Family Portrait
This Irish game show shares a lot in common with the US classic, Family Feud. Actually the premise is exactly the same: two teams, each with five from the same family, would be asked to guess the results of surveys. If they won, they got money. If they didn't, they got a picture.
That's right. The losing team got a framed black and white portrait of their own family, which was a decent gesture, at least. Except, the winning team got a family portrait in color, and evidently losers don't get the color upgrade.
Let’s Make A Deal: A Live Goat
Drifting into territory that might make contestants worried about the legalities, the classic US game show Let's Make A Deal routinely gave away live goats as prizes. Actually, they were 'Zonks!,' which were basically Whammies from Press Your Luck. The gonzo energy of the show, where everyone in the audience dressed up in some kind of costume and Monty Hall basically led a carnival-like atmosphere certainly contributed to the weirdness.
Pakistani Game Show: A Real Baby
If the live goat was just weird, then this is definitely morally and legally concerning. Back in 2013, a Pakistani game show set the new bar for WTF by giving away abandoned babies on live TV to unsuspecting contestants. Players might think they're getting some money. A new car. A box of harmonicas. Nope. They got a newborn baby, no strings, good luck. This controversial show, Aman Ramazan, ran for seven hours at a time during Ramadan. That's a lot of babies.