Dirty Rotten Cheater

Dirty Rotten Cheater
Format	Game show
Presented by	Bil Dwyer
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	13
Production
Location(s)	Studio 41, CBS Television City
Running time	60 minutes
Production company(s)	Jonathan Goodson Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	PAX
Original run	02012-01-06 January 6 – April 14, 2003 (2003-04-14)

Dirty Rotten Cheater is a game show that aired on PAX from January 6 to April 14, 2003. The show's gameplay combines elements of Weakest Link and Family Feud along with the BBC game format The Enemy Within, with a contestant being privy to answers in each round and trying to elude detection by fellow contestants and the studio audience. The PAX version, of which 13 weekly episodes aired, was hosted by Bil Dwyer, produced by Jonathan Goodson, and shot at CBS Television City in Hollywood (except for the original pilot, which was titled Cheaters and produced on The Weakest Link's set at NBC Studios in Burbank). Different versions of the show also aired in other countries.

Gameplay

Each episode opens with six contestants walking up to their podiums, each of which is equipped with a monitor. The contestants open their monitor doors and find out if they have been designated the "Dirty Rotten Cheater." After each contestant is introduced, he or she faces the camera and other contestants and claims to not be The Cheater.

Each round (there were 5 rounds total) begins with a survey question, similar to those on Family Feud (for example, "Which parts of their body do women think are too big?"). In the first four rounds, each player gives one answer, with he or she receiving money if their answer appeared on a list of top 10 responses given. As shown in the below table, answers that rank lower in the top 10 are worth more money than the higher-ranked answers (as opposed to Family Feud, which gives greater reward for higher-ranked answers). A contestant receives no money for giving an answer that is not on the top ten list. The Cheater can see the entire top ten list of answers displayed on their podium monitor, and may choose to either give a high-dollar answer to build their own bank (and raise suspicion from their fellow contestants) or a low-dollar answer in hopes of throwing off suspicion.

Position	Value
10th ranked answer	$2,500
9th ranked answer	$2,250
8th ranked answer	$2,000
7th ranked answer	$1,750
6th ranked answer	$1,500
5th ranked answer	$1,250
4th ranked answer	$1,000
3rd ranked answer	$750
2nd ranked answer	$500
1st ranked answer	$250

Rounds 1-3

At the end of each of the first three rounds, bonuses are awarded to the players who scored the most money in the round. The first place bonus is $10,000, second place is $7,500, and third place is $5,000. If there is a tie, the appropriate bonuses are combined and split between the tying players (i.e., if two players tie for first place, each receive $8,750).

The players are then given an opportunity to accuse one another of being The Cheater. After a few contestants have opined, they all secretly vote for whom they think is The Cheater; using cards with the players' names on them, the players reveal their votes from camera left to camera right. The first contestant who receives three votes for that round is eliminated, losing all of his/her winnings, and must then truthfully state whether or not he/she is The Cheater.

Depending on the outcome of the vote and the eliminated contestant's revelation, one of three possible scenarios occurs:

• If the eliminated contestant is The Cheater, he/she is eliminated from the game with no further participation, the remaining contestants keep all the money in their banks, and one of the remaining players is designated as the new Cheater in the same manner as at the beginning of the show.
• If the eliminated contestant is not The Cheater, all the money earned by the remaining contestants up to that point is halved, and the eliminated contestant is later given a chance to win money in Round 5. The Cheater in that round remains Cheater in subsequent rounds until being eliminated and/or revealed.
• If no contestant receives three votes, all of the money the contestants earned up to that point is halved. The Cheater stays in the game and is allowed to secretly eliminate an honest player through the use of a button hidden inside the The Cheater's podium. (Since each podium has a button, each contestant must reach inside their podium, allowing The Cheater's identity to remain secret to their fellow contestants and the audience; however, only The Cheater's button works.) One at a time, the host reads each contestant's name; when the name of the contestant that The Cheater wishes to eliminate is read, The Cheater presses his or her button, allowing a red light in the stage floor for the designated target to illuminate. The eliminated contestant, however, is allowed a chance to win money in Round 5.

Round 4

At the end of the fourth round, after the 3 remaining players have a chance to accuse the other players, the studio audience votes for whom they think is The Cheater. If a contestant receives at least 50 percent of the audience vote, he or she is eliminated, and as before must honestly reveal if he or she is The Cheater. If no majority is met, The Cheater stays in the game and secretly eliminates an honest player as before. In this round, the remaining two players see no reduction in their winnings.

Round 5

In the 5th and final round, two survey questions are asked. For each question, the two remaining contestants alternate turns, giving three answers each. After both questions have been asked (and a total of 12 answers have been given), all eliminated honest players (i.e. those who were not The Cheater) return; they, and the audience, hear each contestant give a 15 second plea that they are not The Cheater. After the players have stated their case, the eliminated contestants and the studio audience vote for whom they think is The Cheater. When the voting is concluded, the host reveals the identity of person who ultimately ended up as The Cheater; any eliminated honest player(s) who voted for that contestant as The Cheater wins $500 each.

Both remaining contestants (the revealed Cheater and the last honest contestant) are then brought to center stage, where each is presented with a vault containing the amount of money in his or her bank. The revealed Cheater walks forward to his or her vault, opens it, and reaches inside. At this point, one of two outcomes occurs:

• If the majority of the studio audience correctly determined The Cheater's identity, his or her money immediately falls through a trap door in the vault, and the honest player wins the money in his or her own vault.
• If the majority of the studio audience believed the honest contestant was Cheater, the trap door is not activated and The Cheater wins his or her money, with the honest player receiving nothing.

Foreign versions

In 2004, Dirty Rotten Cheater began airing six nights a week on Canale 5 in Italy.

In Japan, the program was broadcasting as The Cheater (ザ・チーター) on TBS between October 2005 and August 2006. It was broadcast as a special program in May 2005, then as a late-night program between October 2005 and March 2006.

A short-lived version of the program also aired on France 2 (July 2006) as "Qui est le bluffeur?" ("Who is the bluffer?") with Belgian host Jean-Michel Zecca.

The UK version was hosted by Brian Conley. Originally this was to transmit in spring 2007, but eventually began on BBC One at 2.35pm on Monday 15 October. It was screened every weekday for three weeks, but was then replaced in the schedule by Diagnosis: Murder - the final five shows switched channels and were shown from Monday 12 November at 2.00pm on BBC Two. The UK version was taped at the Maidstone Studios in Kent, but edited at BBC Television Centre.

There are some format differences between the US and UK versions, the most obvious being that the UK version has one less contestant.

In addition to being produced in France, Italy, Japan, and the UK, the show was also produced in Hungary, India (as "Bluff Master"), Spain, & Vietnam.