First up, I love CASH CAB. It’s my favorite game show (especially now that I’ve passed the Jeopardy audition 307 times and never gotten “The Call”). But I’ve wondered how it is that they find so many good players.
I realize that JayWalking segments on the Tonight Show were edited: there’s no fun value in showing the person who answers “Who sailed the ocean blue in 1492?” with “Columbus”, and I think some of those people know the answers perfectly well but want to be on television. However, the people on CASH CAB seem way better at general knowledge trivia than your average “man on the street” would be, and while admittedly the CASH CAB questions aren’t Final Jeopardy quality they’re at least harder than most WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE? questions.
So I’ve wondered-
1- Anybody know if there’s anything in particular the driver/host looks for in cruising for contestants?
2- Does he have to obey the same rules as other cab drivers regarding picking up people (i.e. can’t discriminated based on age/race/etc.) because a preponderance of his passengers seem to be middle aged white former-yuppie types; hardly ever any non-whites, single (i.e. unaccompanied) senior citizens, kids (occasionally some college agers but I don’t recall ever having seen any little kids out with their parents) or for that matter scuzzy people. I also don’t believe I’ve ever seen him pick anybody up at or to go to the airport (which would be a really long match) or anybody who seems super stressed out or who can’t speak English.
3- Does anybody know what the workings of this show are? My guess would be that upon being told they’re on a game show they’re shown a video of the rules (otherwise how would they know about shout-outs) and that they would have to sign a waiver of some kind.
4- Obviously there’s a camera crew that either follows him or precedes him since the people are shown getting out, but does anybody know if there’s a camera man in the seat next to the host? I’ve wondered if it’s a manned cam or if there are several cameras in the cab.
5- Does anybody know if the contestants have to be paid for or sign a release for their appearance on-screen (or for that matter the people in the street shout out)?
6- Purely subjective: do you like or dislike the host?
Feel free to make any other comments or ask any other questions related to the show other than in answer to the above.
There are mini-cams throughout the cab. According to the legalese shown before the show, the contestants have to sign releases. If you look carefully, there is an edit between them accepting the challenge and Ben asking their names. That’s when they show them the rules, get the waivers signed, and all that. It also edits out everybody who says “Hell no!” They edit the footage pretty carefully, too, as the angle of some of the cameras gives interesting views, if you get my drift.
Yes, there’s a separate vehicle that carries a cameraman to film the contestants as they enter/exit the Cash Cab. It also has someone who relays the questions to Ben (as well as let him know how many blocks there are to the destination and other stuff, I assume). If you pay attention you’ll see Ben’s got an ear piece in his left ear.
I’ve seen a number of “non-white” contestants, as well as families with children. I’ve also seen him give a quick rundown on the rules, shout outs etc. They only show it for the first contestants of each episode - they’re edited out of subsequent contestants. The home viewers don’t need to hear them repeated.
No there’s no cameraman in the van - it (mostly) looks like a regular cab inside. Often Ben slouches down and puts on an accent so as not to tip off the folks getting in.
A friend and I were in NYC and started talking about cash cab. So the driver asked if we wanted to play for cab fare. He would ask us questions and an additional buck on the fare and we would ask him questions for one buck off. We ended up even but had a great ride back to Penn Station.
I don’t have it handy, but I did read an interview Ben where he talks about how he did have to get a cab driver’s license and follow all the rules. I’ve seen plenty of non-whites, and “Scuzzy” people, and a few drunks too. He also talked about how there’s plenty of people who don’t want to play, so you never see them.
Also, there are often multiple people in the cab. Think how many people would get the Jeopardy answers right if they were able to confer with each other before answering.
I’ve never seen the American version, but while I love the Canadian Cash Cab, the contestant pool comes across as…pretty much what you’d expect to see from random people who happen to hail a cab. Most of them make it to their destination and get money, but as gameshow contestants go, they’re some of the stupidest I’ve ever seen.
Adam Gross (the host): ‘This armoured plant eating dinosaur is named after the capital of Alberta.’
Contestant 1: ‘The capital of Alberta is…Calgary?’
If Ben is still hosting the show, if it exists at all in a few years, my brother and I want to head to New York and just troll the city looking for Ben.
I wasn’t sure on the capital so I had to look it up, so the capital of Alberta is Edmonton. What dinosaur is named after that? I wouldn’t have known that answer either.
I love Cash Cab! I always wish I could be on the show but since I rarely ever take cabs that’s unlikely to happen. I have noticed that he never goes much farther north than Lincoln Center. I have definitely seen people of many ethnicities on the show, lots of families with young kids, and many single people. In fact the largest amount ever won was by a single person.
There’s 2 (at least) - Edmontosaurus (my, incorrect - unarmoured - guess), and Edmontonia (the correct answer).
It’s safe to say, however, that ‘Triceratops’ is not named for the capital of Alberta. (Which was the Crowning Moment of Funny for the episodes. After confirming that they were going with ‘Triceratops’, Adam deadpanned ‘The city of Triceratops, Alberta…’)
The :smack: isn’t that they got it wrong - as I said, I got it wrong, too - it’s that they completely ignored a major aspect of the question, and gave an answer that’s not even in the right ballpark.
To give a more American-centric question of the same type, imagine if it went like this:
‘Named for an American state, this type of sushi contains cucumber and crab.’
‘Hmm…American state…probably California or New York, if it’s a kind of sushi, right?’
‘Wait, sushi…with cucumber…what’s that called? Oh, kappamaki!’
This could all be in the editing, but he does seem to sometimes remind people that they have shoutouts available, and then other people get thrown out with shoutouts remaining, and he didn’t remind them. Why would anybody say, “Capital of Iowa? Duh . . . I dunno,” have Ben say “You know, you could call somebody,” and they say, “Oh, no thanks!”
I too wondered how the average players seemed to be so knowledgeable. I was talking to my sister who lives outside of NYC about the show and she knows a couple who were on it. In their case, they had gone to an interview in the city to be on an un-named game show. They went through the typical tests to get on a game show I would imagine. On their way out after being told someone would be in touch, the Cash Cab picked them up (enough to suprise them but clearly planned all along).
While that would certainly explain why so many contestents seem to be trivia buffs, I’m still skeptical. If it were like that every time, the starting location would be the same every time. And it wouldn’t explain the drunks and morons and people opting out mentioned up thread. (Though personally I’ve never seen a drunk or anyone I would consider less than average intelligence on the show.) I guess it’s possible they do a combination of pre-screened ringers and random people too. I also don’t know whether the couple in this anecdote was from an early or recent episode, so maybe things have changed.
