Win Ben Stein's Money

Win Ben Stein's Money is a game show that requires some brains (unlike Wheel of Fortune) but is funny and doesn't take itself as seriously as Jeopardy. The show is hosted by Ben Stein, who is probably most famous for his appearances as a teacher in "The Wonder Years" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", along with Jimmy Kimmel as the smart-ass side-kick.

There is a lot of shtick, and good interplay between Stein and Kimmel that gives the show both humor and likeability. Kimmel is funny and rude, but occasionally crosses the line to gross or mean. Special theme episodes are occasionally shown, such as a recent cross-dressing episode. Another fun bit, is that if a contestant answers in the form of question, ala Jeopardy, they are forced to wear a dunce cap.

The premise of the show is that Stein has put up $5,000, which he will try to keep the contestants from winning. The exact financial details might vary somewhat - fine print at the end of the show hints at this. Stein competes against the contestants, usually successfully.

The show starts with 3 contestants, who choose from five categories, with various joke/scatological titles. Questions are assigned a dollar value for correct answers, and in the first round have a $50 follow-up. At the end of the first round, the contestant with the lowest winnings is dropped, and replaced by Ben Stein. At the end of the second round, the contestant with the highest winnings is selected to go on to the "Best of Ten Test of Knowledge", a one-on-one contest directly against Stein. The constestant and Stein are locked in isolation booths (one of the jokes is that the contestant's booth has a bare lightbulb, steel stool, and cracked plaster, while Stein sits in a booth with paneling, and an overstuffed chair). The contestant and Stein are given the same ten questions, and if the contestant beats Stein is given all $5000 dollars put up by Stein.

The show airs on Comedy Central, Monday-Friday, twice in the evening.

"Win Ben Stein's Money" was one of the best shows that aired on Comedy Central when "South Park" and "The Daily Show" were rather new. It was highly creative and almost always witty and funny. Ben Stein, best known as a character actor and commercial spokesperson with a monotone voice and tweed sweater, comes to life as both host and contestant. He and co-host Jimmy Kimmell had an excellent chemistry, and their exchanges of jokes and insults were among Comedy Central's finest moments. Very few of the questions were dumbed down for mass consumption, and the show's entertaining and quick pace made it a welcome contrast to the dull and ridiculous "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." The show did suffer a bit when Nancy Pimental took over as co-host, as she lacked Jimmy's chemistry (he later went on to co-host the insipid "Man Show"), but she was fairly competent as a comedian. Ben showed his true talent as an entertainer here, and it resulted in his short-lived spin-off, "Turn Ben Stein On." If your cable providers offer The Game Show Network, due yourselves a favor a catch a rerun of "Win Ben Stein's Money" if you're not too busy. You won't regret it.

With the possible exception of The Millionaire, which has only been on a few times and is not a regular series. Unlike Trebek, Sajak, and all those other phonies who pretend they actually knew the answer that none of the contestants did, Ben Stein is the real deal. He plays along and admits that he doesn't always know the answers (though he knows most of em). And unlike the silly Jeopardy show, contestants dont have to phrase their answers in the form of a question (which is truly idiotic). Jimmy Kimmel (who also co hosts the immensely entertaining Man Show) is a funny guy and a good co-host too. My only objection is that the prize budget should be higher.

This had to have been one of the funniest game shows of it's era. Ben Stein has to be one of the sharpest and funniest individuals to host a game show and during the era when Jimmy Kimmel was his co-host it was a classic. Unfortunately, after Kimmel departed the show the show went downhill from there. Nancy Pimental and Sal Iaconno didn't have the chemistry that Stein and Kimmel had and what a shame because this show was definitely the best thing that Comedy Central had on it's schedule.

Forget all that I Wanna Be a Millionaire junk, this is a real game show. The only thing those other shows got going for them is that they are giving away large amounts of money. If they had the same show but only with a smaller amount of money no one would watch. On Win Ben Stein's Money it's a lot more fun. They have cool names for all the categories and it's fun to see Ben Stein pretending to be annoyed when someone takes his money. Plus how often on a gameshow do you get to compete against the host.