Mar 1, 2008  Cash Cab is a fun game show that takes place in a New York taxi. The likable host and driver, Ben Bailey, surprises people once they are seated in the cab by flashing ceiling lights an announcing, “This is a TV game show called Cash Cab”.   Unassuming people enter the “Cash Cab” as simple passengers taking a normal taxi ride, only to be shocked when they discover that they are instant contestants on Discovery Channel’s innovative game show.

Check out the Cash Cab page on the Discovery Channel’s website here.

Ben Bailey, the host and driver of Cash Cab, then offers them the following proposition:

The Cash Cab will drive you all the way to your destination and ask you general knowledge questions along the way. The questions start out on the easy side, then get harder along the way – the harder the question, the more money it’s worth. The first four questions are worth $25 for each correct answer. The next four are worth $50 and then every question after that is worth $100.

A correct answer is awarded the cash, an incorrect answer means the contestant gets a strike. The contestants can earn cash all the way to their destination. But the second they miss their third question (i.e., earn their third strike), Ben pulls the Cash Cab over and ejects them onto the sidewalk, no matter where they are!

If they get stumped on a question, contestants can “shout out” for help, either by calling someone on our mobile phone (a “Mobile Shout-Out”), or by asking someone on the street for help (a “Street Shout-Out”). Each contestant only has one Mobile and one Street Shout-Out during the course of each game.

If the contestant has won at least $200 and the cab hits a red light, a “Red Light Challenge” is offered, which is a single question with multiple part answers. The passenger has 30 seconds to get all answers (e.g., name all seven of Snow White’s dwarfs). If the contestant gets each part of the answer correct, they win $200; if time expires, they move on without receiving any strikes against them.

Finally, if the contestant arrives at their destination having earned cash, they can opt to bet it all – double or nothing – on a “Video Bonus Question.” The question is a based on a clip from Discovery’s library.