| Host | |
| Sam Kalilieh | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packagers | |
| TVtropolis | |
| Syndicated Distributor | |
| Program Partners | |
Inside the Box was a Canadian game show similar to 20 Questions about television where contestants had to guess a certain TV show, actor, or characters by asking the other contestants yes or no questions about the subject.
Gameplay[]
Three contestants compete in a game of television programs. Each contestant one at a time sat in a TV shaped booth (referred to as The Box). Inside the box are two TV monitors for the contestant inside it to look at. The players outside the box have just one monitor (which both displayed a picture of the subject) each and are sitting left and right of the box. The inside contestant was given a TV category (title, character, actor etc.), and then has two minutes to ask yes or no questions (listed on the 1st box monitor) to his/her two opponents, the inside contestant alternated between the opposing contestants. Each time a question was answered with a yes, the question became a clue to the identity of the subject, it appeared on the viewers' screens and on the second monitor. Each time the inside contestant received five yes', the clock stopped and he/she received a more detailed clue, plus a free guess. If the inside contestant is wrong or there is no guess, game play resumes as before. At some point the inside contestant can ask to stop the clock voluntarily and take a guess at the risk of a penalty. As soon as the inside contestant guessed the right subject, the clock stopped and the inside contestant scored/banked the time leftover.
Scoring Time[]
Unlike most game shows, and like at least two, contestants play for time. Contestants score time for guessing the correct subject. Incorrect yes or no answers incurs a five second penalty, contestants inside the box can also lose five seconds, if they make an incorrect guess on the subject each time they stopped the clock voluntarily. So negative scores are always possible. And the faster they come up with the right subject, and the lesser mistakes they make, the more time they score.
The game is played in two rounds, so each contestant gets two turns inside the box. The player with the highest amount of time won the game.
Winner's Round[]
The winner of the day's game went on to play for up to $10,000. The winning player sat "inside the box" one last time trying to name the final subject of the day. Gameplay is the same as before except for these differences:
- The contestant now asked host Sam the yes or no questions listed and Sam himself provided the yes or no answers.
- The clock never stopped, it always ticks down. Every six seconds, the value of the jackpot reduced by $500.
- The contestant is restricted to only three guesses. The third wrong guess ended the game automatically.
As soon as the inside contestant guessed the right subject, the clock stopped and the contestant won the money leftover. But if he/she made three mistakes or ran out of time, the contestant still won the minimum prize of $500.
Syndication[]
In the United States, Program Partners, a division of Sony Pictures Television, syndicated reruns of Inside the Box to local stations for the first half of the 2008–09 season, as an optional replacement or companion program for Merv Griffin's Crosswords, which was then on hiatus (although very few American stations actually took the series). However, it was eventually decided not to go forth with additional first-run episodes of Crosswords, and both shows were officially cancelled in February 2009. ([1])
Inventors[]
Michael and Christopher Geddes.
Music[]
Peter Warnica
Rating[]
Links[]
Official Site (1)
Official Site (2)