Cash Cab (stylized as CA$H CAB) is an American game show that began airing on the Discovery Channel on December 5, 2005. The program was hosted by stand-up comedian Ben Bailey. It is part of the global Cash Cab franchise that originated in the United Kingdom.

While Bailey's show took place in New York City, some episodes of season six took place in Las Vegas. Contestants who ultimately hailed the Cash Cab were not made aware that they were part of the game until they hired the cab and Bailey informed them of the show and its rules.

In 2007, Discovery Channel began airing a spin-off edition of the program, Cash Cab: After Dark, in which contestants were picked up near or after sunset as well as overnight and the cash value of the questions was double that of the regular version of the show. The questions were usually more difficult than the daytime version.

The show's tagline in the first two seasons was: "There are 13,000 cabs in New York City, but there's only one that pays you!" Starting in season three, the tagline was modified: "There are 13,000 cabs in the streets of the Big Apple, but there's only one that pays you!" On Cash Cab: After Dark, the tagline is: "Every night, 13,000 cabs hit the streets of the city that never sleeps, but there's only one that pays you!"

Cash Cab is a TV game show devised by Adam Wood that originated in the United Kingdom and has been licensed to television networks in numerous other countries. Passengers in a specially outfitted taxi are surprised and offered the chance to win money by correctly answering a series of general knowledge or trivia questions on the way to their destination.

See also

References

Cash Cab is an Australian music trivia game show hosted by James Kerley, except for the third season, where he was replaced by Charlie Pickering. It is part of the global Cash Cab franchise that originated in the United Kingdom. The first two seasons of the series were filmed in Melbourne, with the third being based in Perth and the fourth based in the Gold Coast. The programme airs on the Australian subscription television music channel, Channel V.

A parody of this show has appeared on Balls of Steel Australia which is also hosted by Kerley.

Format

Contestants are asked several trivia questions (mainly music questions) in various verbal, audio and video based questions for the duration of their taxi trip. After being asked 5 questions, players are asked to choose The Loot or the Boot. Contestants have the opportunity to keep "the loot" they have won so far, or trade it all, depending on how many questions they answered correctly, for what is in "the boot". Boot prizes may be worth substantially more or substantially less than their current winnings. By choosing "the boot," the contestant's winnings are reset to $0 and the prize is theirs to keep, even if they use up their three strikes. On rare occasions, the host may give an opportunity to the contestant to win some of their money back by doing a 30-second dare relating to their substantially less valuable "boot" prize. Contestants are entitled to two "Shout Outs", one 30 second phone call to a friend on the phone (a "Mobile Shout-Out") or to ask a passer-by off the street (a "Street Shout-Out") that they are travelling on. When contestants reach their destination, they are asked if they want to "Double or Nothing" in which they can choose to walk away with what cash they have won, or to sit and watch a video clip and be asked an observation-based question. If they answer correctly, they walk away with double the winnings of the trip. If they get it wrong, they walk away with nothing.

Cash Cab is produced by Castlewood Productions and began airing on September 10, 2008 on Discovery Channel (Canada) and Discovery HD. It is hosted by comedian Adam Growe. The game show airs in Canada instead of the American version of the series, which airs on the affiliated US Discovery Channel network. Cash Cab is the English version of the Cash Cab franchise available in Canada; the French version is called Taxi Payant, and airs on V. Bill Davis

Game show

The Canadian version closely mirrors the structure of its US counterpart, retaining familiar features like "Shout Outs", "Red Light Challenges", and the "double or nothing" Video Bonus option at the end of each game. However, the Canadian version differs in its heavier focus on questions of science, technology, nature and adventure, as opposed to purely general knowledge. Regular questions are worth $25, $50, $100; while Red Light Challenge questions are worth $75. In the second season, a third "life line" was added: when contestants reach the $100 questions, they have the option to "swap out" a question, and the Cash Cab dispatcher will give them a new question.