National Lampoon's Funny Money
National Lampoon's Funny Money is a comedy game show that aired on GSN from June 15 to October 24, 2003. The show was hosted by stand-up comedian Jimmy Pardo, and Budd Friedman served as the announcer.
| National Lampoon's Funny Money | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bob Levy |
| Presented by | Jimmy Pardo |
| Narrated by | Budd Friedman |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Pat Finn Budd Friedman Steve Ochs Marc Price Scott Rubin |
| Producer(s) | Jana Morgan Cheri Wozniak |
| Production location(s) | Universal Studios Hollywood, California Harrah's Resort Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | GSN |
| Original release | June 15 – October 24, 2003 |
Format
Two contestants compete by answering comedy questions facing three celebrity comedians head-to-head for a fabulous vacation.
Round 1
Jimmy asks both contestants a toss-up question about the world of comedy, and the first person to buzz-in with the correct answer gets 2 points (which Jimmy refers to as "billion[s of] Funny Money dollars"), and gets to pick one of the celebrity comedians to perform on the stage for 45 seconds. Each distinct time the on-screen laugh meter goes in the green zone, the contestant earns an additional point.
Round 2
Prior to the show, the staff went to National Lampoon's website, and found various unusual pictures. Before the show, Jimmy has the comedians come up with the funny captions for each one. Both contestants locked in the one who they think will get the biggest laughs according to the Laugh Meter. Each correct answer earns 5 points.
Round 3: Comedy Recall
All three comedians, one-by-one (or a special guest), will perform a short routine. At the end of the routine, Jimmy asks a series of toss-up questions to both contestants based on the comedians' performance. The first person who buzzes-in with the correct answer earns 5 points.
The round is played to an unspecified time limit; when the time buzzer is rung, the person with the most points wins the game and gets a chance to play the Bonus Round for a trip; the loser is given unacknowledged consolation prizes and an acknowledged joke prize (such as cedar chips or chocolate laxatives).
Bonus round
The show's logo is divided into 12 sections that hide a still from a famous comedy movie, and the contestant must identify the exact title of the movie. The contestant picks one of the three comedians. That comedian performs for one second for every point earned in the game, with a minimum time limit of 30 seconds.
For every laugh they get in the Funny Zone during the time limit that comedian performs, the contestant gets $300 and one section of the still to be revealed. The contestant is then given 5 seconds to confer with the comedian, and if they can identify the movie the contestant wins the trip. If not, they still earn their money.
Animal House special
In addition to its regular weeknight airings, most of the Sunday night episodes of Funny Money featured two celebrities playing the game for charity; one such episode was a special celebrating the 25th anniversary of the film Animal House. Originally aired on July 13, 2003, the game was played between Babs (Martha Smith) and Flounder (Stephen Furst). Martha won the game with 28 billion "Funny Money dollars", earning $2,000 for her charity.
During the 30 seconds (the house minimum) that Martha's comedian partner performed during the bonus round, two laughs (for an additional $600) were generated, and Martha failed to guess the final picture; had she done so, her winnings would have doubled for a grand total of $5,200.