Game Show Cheats & Scandals

These are the three fascinating stories of the biggest scandals in TV game show history.

Perhaps the most famous game show cheat: Charles Ingram aka the Coughing Major, along with his wife Diana and fellow contestant, Tecwen Whittock, who came up with a plan to win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

Let's throw it back to the 1950s, when game shows and quiz shows first became popular. Shows like Dotto, $64,000 Question and Twenty-One dominated the ratings, but turns out the shows were rigged. Contestants like Herb Stempel and Charles Van Doren were cast almost like actors by the producers to play their roles to keep sponsors happy. So how did it all get exposed?

Finally, Michael Larson, whose ingenious plan left Press Your Luck host, contestants, audience and producers completely astounded. Find out how he hacked the system to outsmart 1980s hit show.

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[amglimpse]

Yep, as many people have pointed out, Michael Larson didn’t technically cheat, but it was a big scandal at the time! Thanks for watching 🧡

[mrowley]

Michael figured out the pattern and used it against the show, can't help but respect the guy for that

[emdotrod]

What Michael Larson did is to study the game and exploited it so hard that the producer thought he was cheating.

[SirPumpkinSlice]

Wait the Whammy guy did not cheat, that is just skillful play

[nasis]

Michael memorized the pattern. That's not cheating. That's skill.

[Himbeaw]

What Michael achieved was f**king brilliant. Noticed a pattern, and absolutely took advantage of it. He’s skilled, not a cheater or a hack, and anyone in his position would’ve done the same.

[gimmick]

If you cheat, make sure to not be perfect. First rule on the book.

[WobblesandBean]

This always seemed kinda insane in hindsight to me. How did people NOT notice the constant coughing?

[Verilee]

I like how, "he moved to Florida, " is all the explanation one needs to understand how somebody evaded both the IRS and the SEC.

[cecemepls]

Michael did not cheat in my opinion….the producers just didn’t expect anyone to see the spins as anything other than random 🤷🏼‍♀️ Whether it was Michael or not, surely someone would’ve noticed at some point, I’m sure some game fanatics already knew but never got a chance on the show. If you want your game to be truly random, you have to work harder to make sure it’s actually random lmao I think he deserved his win….

[awfulfalafelwafflerofl]

Holy shit! Michael Larson was only 35 when he was on Press Your Luck?! I would have guessed he was in his late 50s at least!

[NA]

Larson's memorization of the PYL board was absolutely incredible. If he hadn't gotten nervous, he could have gone on indefinitely.

[DemonsSister]

I honestly feel the "Press the Luck" guy didn't cheat. He just learned the game.

[masterdoge]

The saddest thing about Charles Ingram’s case - other than the fact that his £1M question was stupidly easy - is that he was effectively the game show Icarus. He could’ve just guessed Onassis on question 8, walked away with a cool £8, 000, and still kept his public image. But instead, he tried flying too close to the sun, and lost his giant prize. Truly a sad story.

[Person]

"he was wanted by the SEC, the IRS and the FBI, so he fled to florida" that cracked me up for some reason.

[asmileisspecial]

I love true crime where nobody dies! You’ve already covered scams I didn’t know about so thank you! Subscribed, I think the algorithm is favouring your channel now as you were recommended to me.

[MisterVercetti]

Something a lot of folks don't know about the Michael Larson situation was just how close he came to losing it all. Notice the last square he lands on: it switches from $700 + a spin to the Bahamas. The other value it could have switched to instead of the trip? A Whammy.

So yeah, despite his amazing skill in getting to that point, it really did come down to luck in the end.

[TSNAnnotator]

I’m glad you mentioned the “Twenty One” scandal. There’s a great Ralph Fiennes and John Turturro movie about it called “Quiz Show”

[kcbh]

Michael died at 49 in 1999? He looked 49 in the 1980's

[jodiv]

Micheal A cheat? Not a chance.. He had to do a lot to be able to get the winnings. How hard was it for him to hit that button perfect every time..Just one wrong move or hesitation and he would have lost it all. Give the man a bow