The Chamber (game show)

The Chamber
Genre	Game show
Directed by	Don Weiner
Presented by	Rick Schwartz
Composer	Dave Russo[1]
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of episodes	6[2] (3 unaired)
Production
Executive producers	Dick Clark[1] Barry Adelman[1] Don Weiner[1]
Producers	R. A. Clark[1] Cindy Clark[1]
Running time	approx. 44 minutes
Production company	Dick Clark Productions[2]
Release
Original network	Fox
Original release	January 13 (2002-01-13) – January 25, 2002 (2002-01-25)

The Chamber is an American game show that aired on Fox in January 2002. The show featured contestants answering questions while strapped into a torture chamber, in which they were exposed to either very hot or very cold temperatures, in conjunction with other environmental extremes, such as high winds or simulated earthquakes.^[1][3] After only three of its six taped episodes were aired, the series was cancelled due to low ratings and controversy over the show's content.^[3]

Gameplay[]

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Pre-game faceoff[]

To begin, two contestants (always one male and one female) were given a category by host Rick Schwartz. The contestants went back and forth, providing a single answer that fit the category. Once a correct answer was given, the opponent had to do the same. If a contestant gave an incorrect answer, duplicated an answer, or took too much time, the opponent could score a point by giving one more right answer. The first to score two points in this way moved on to the main game, the loser left with nothing.

Main game[]

Before entering the Chamber, the contestant was offered a $500 buyout to leave the game, which nobody took. To begin, the contestant was strapped into a chair, arms raised over the head. During the pre-game setup, a computer would choose whether the contestant would play against the "hot" or "cold" chamber.^[4]

Rules[]

Each player's goal was to answer as many questions, and to last in the chamber as long as possible. The player would be said to have won if they remained in the chamber, correctly answering questions through all seven rounds. Otherwise, the game could end in any of the following ways:^[4]

• Answering two consecutive questions incorrectly.
• The player's "stress quotient" exceeding a predetermined "Danger Zone" threshold for 20 seconds. Viewers only knew that it was an equation that used blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature as variables. However, unlike ABC's The Chair, players were not penalized monetarily for exceeding their Danger Zone.
• The show's medical staff could stop the game if they felt that the player would not be able to continue, or had been rendered unconscious from the stress. Neither of these happened, though one contestant, Jennifer Basa, nearly reached that point, and had to receive clearance from the show's medical staff in order to continue.
• The player could voluntarily end the game by saying, "Stop the chamber!"

As each round began, one minute was put on the clock and questions were asked to the player, each worth $1,000 if answered correctly. If the game ended for any of the aforementioned reasons above, the money was cut in half. If the player beat the level, the game would go into stop down mode for ten seconds, allowing Schwartz to speak to the contestant and check his or her status, after which the conditions inside would intensify, and the game continued. The maximum amount of questions has never been stated, but it has been stated that it is possible to win over $100,000 (with six questions per level and seven levels, the potential top prize would be $126,000).

Conditions[]

If the winner could also manage to answer 25 questions or more correctly, the total winnings would be tripled. Additionally, that environment would be retired, and something new created. It was reported that plans for future chambers centered around themes such as water, electric (shock) or insects; Bill Carter of The New York Times wrote that the latter may have involved "500 flies" released into the chamber.^[2][5]

Both variants of the chamber featured wind gusts of 40 miles per hour (64 km/h), air cannons periodically blasting toward the contestant with up to 140 miles per hour (230 km/h) winds, simulated earthquakes increasing in intensity, electrodes contracting the player's muscles, and oxygen levels gradually descending to 70%.^[2][4][6]

In the hot chamber, the internal temperature also began at 110 °F (43 °C) and increased toward a maximum of 150 °F (66 °C).^[2] The chair would begin to rotate back and forth at the second level, then up and down, through 270 degrees, and finally it would spin in complete circles. The player would also be surrounded by jets shooting flames around them.^[2] Beginning with the second episode, foul odors were released into the chamber.

In the cold chamber, the internal temperature also began at 30 °F (−1 °C) and decreased toward a minimum of −20 °F (−29 °C). The player would occasionally be sprayed with water, causing ice to form on their body.^[2]

Show format[]

For the first two aired episodes, there were three games played per hour. For the final episode, a fourth game was added to fill out the time. For the first two episodes, host Rick Schwartz was little more than a color commentator for the Chamber rounds; a male voice (Tony Rodgers) asked the questions, and a female voice (Karly Rothenberg) would let them know when the Chamber was transitioning into higher levels and shutting down. On the last-aired episode, Schwartz asked the questions as well as conducting interviews during the down time.

During the first episode, a controversy occurred on one of the questions, the answer to which was John Glenn. Christina Garner initially said "Glenn", then began debating aloud, "Glenn somebody...somebody Glenn" before offering the answer "Glenn Armstrong." In her post-game interview, she claimed she thought Glenn was a sufficient enough answer (as it is common for game shows to accept only a surname as a correct answer), but when she did not get a response, she gave a different answer. Since this was considered a second consecutive miss, her winnings were halved and she left with $10,000.

Production[]

The series was developed by Mike Darnell, then head of alternative programming at Fox, in conjunction with Dick Clark Productions.^[2] Darnell claimed he was inspired by Fear Factor, which had debuted on NBC in 2001, and wanted The Chamber to emphasize the "visceral" effects the game had on the contestants, telling Bill Carter of The New York Times, "I want to hear if they are in pain or suffering."^[5]

Sportscaster Matt Vasgersian was initially chosen to host, but apparently left the project "in disgust" at the show's content, walking off set during a rehearsal.^[5] He was replaced by Rick Schwartz, a sports radio host in Los Angeles.^[7] The show was taped at Hollywood Center Studios.^[7]

The producers of the ABC game show The Chair, which also premiered in early 2002 and had previously been pitched to Darnell at Fox,^[8] sued over alleged similarities between the two programs, including contestants answering trivia questions in a high-stress environment with their vital signs monitored throughout. Fox countersued, claiming that the ABC program had sent producers to "spy on the set" of The Chamber.^[6][9] In a 2007 book, Carter reports that Darnell did in fact conceive the show as a response to The Chair, and that The Chamber was rushed into production in November 2001 after ABC beat out Fox for the rights to the other show.^[10] The two networks competed to get their respective shows on the air first, with The Chamber ultimately premiering on Sunday, January 13, 2002, two days before The Chair.^[11]

Reception[]

The Chamber received negative reviews, with Carter reporting that the show caused "a critical outcry over subjecting people to what appeared to be torture for the entertainment of television viewers."^[3] The Baltimore Sun's Kevin Cowherd of called the show "a sordid, putrid mess."^[2]

The series premiered to around ten million viewers in the United States, performing best among younger audiences, but had declined to 5.6 million by the third episode, when it had been moved to Friday nights.^[3][5] It was cancelled as Fox executives concluded that its declining viewership made it hard to justify continuing a show "that was generating so much hostile reaction."^[3]

One contestant, Scott Brown, passed through all seven levels of the cold chamber and answered twenty questions correctly; he won $20,000, more than any other contestant on the show. After his game however, he was hospitalized for hypothermia, and sued Fox and the producers of the show. The lawsuit was settled out of court, and Brown was awarded an additional $100,000 for compensation.^[12]

References[]

External links[]

• The Chamber at IMDb
• Official site (via Internet Archive)