| Hosts | |
| Joe Clair Toccara Dr. Boogie (Gary Sturgis) | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Endemol Entertainment | |
Take the Cake was a short lived premium light-night puzzle phone-in game show on BET.
Gameplay[]
The contestants on Take the Cake were home viewers. United States residents 18 or older could have entered the program by text messaging a request or using the network's website. BET charged a fee for each text message entry, in addition to standard text messaging rates charged by the wireless provider. Entries on the website were free. Regardless of the method of entry, each entry had an equal chance of being selected. An entry did not necessarily guarantee an opportunity to appear on the show. Residents of certain states may have been ineligible to play various entry methods.
Games[]
Take the Cake featured various minigames that were played throughout the program. The rewards for the games were usually cash prizes ranging from $100 to $2,000.
To speed up the games at certain points, various methods were employed:
- Hints given by the hosts to viewers.
- A "speed round" where more calls were accepted than normal.
- The host increasing the prize amount as an incentive.
- A timer would start to represent how long the game would remain and when a new one would begin.
These games were featured on Take the Cake.
| Game | Instructions |
|---|---|
| A-List | An "A-List" celebrity was shown, along with the first letter of the title of a movie he/she starred in. The caller had to identify what movie was pre-chosen. |
| All Mixed Up | Similar to an anagram, a word, name or phrase with the letters mixed up was given. The contestant then had to identify what the unscrambled words were. |
| Baby Momma Drama/Boo'd Up | One of the hosts would have their photo mixed with another celebrity, or a famous couple would have their images mixed, creating an odd picture. The caller had to identify who the celebrity/couple was. |
| Black Don't Crack | A digitally aged photograph of a black celebrity was shown. The caller had to identify who that celebrity was. |
| Body Double | The host's face was superimposed over the face of a celebrity with the body still visible. The caller had to identify who the celebrity was. |
| Caketown Scoop | A celebrity gossip story would be discussed, along with revealing a pixelated photo and a hinting headline of the celebrity subject. The caller had to identify who the celebrity was. |
| Cast Away | A photo of a television show's cast was shown, with each cast member being revealed in 20 second intervals. The caller's job was to identify what the program is. |
| Clued Up | Similar to a crossword puzzle, this featured a number of horizontal words with one letter in each word replaced with a question mark. Vertically, the letters behind the question marks made the name of a popular celebrity. The contestant had to identify the hidden name. |
| Hot Moves | A popular hip hop dance was demonstrated. The caller had to then identify, from three choices, which dance was being performed. |
| Murder on Wax | A parody of a real rap song was performed by comedian Kel Mitchell The caller had to identify what the song being lauded was. |
| Say What You See | Three images were placed side-by-side. When the content of these images was said aloud, they formulated the name of a celebrity, movie or television program. The caller had to identify the name. |
| Snake Word | A 3×3 grid of letters was present. The contestant had to "snake" the letters in order to form the name of a celebrity. |
| Strip Tease | A picture of a celebrity was hidden behind 25 squares in a 5×5 grid. As the squares began to disappear, the caller had to identify the celebrity. |
| Twisted | A picture of a celebrity was morphed into various forms. The contestant had to identify the celebrity. |
| Vowel Movement | The name of a celebrity was shown, with all of the consonants removed. The caller had to identify who the celebrity was. |
| What the Blank?/Shooting Blanks | A word that could begin many words or phrases was given. Callers gave the answer that they thought would fill the blank. If he/she picked one of the pre-chosen answers, he/she won its designated value. |
| Who Am I? | Someone performed an impersonation of a celebrity. The caller had to identify who the celebrity was. |
| Word Up | Sixteen letters were given. A contestant had to make a smaller word using any of those letters. Choosing one of the pre-determined words would win a prize. |
These games were featured in separate segments outside of the normal rotation.
| Game | Instructions |
|---|---|
| The Big Spin | Not to be confused the California Lottery's game show of the same name On some nights, at the end of the program, a trivia question was given. The contestant then had to answer that question correctly. If he/she did, one of the hosts spun a wheel with nineteen spaces, each containing values of $100, $150, $200, $300, $400 and $500 while the other simultaneously spun an eight-spaced wheel with values of "single", "double" and "triple". The money value and multiplication the flipper of the wheel landed on was then awarded to the contestant. The wheel could also be used to determine cash prizes during regular play, as well. |
| Jackpot | Not to be confused with the 70s & 80s game show of the same name Occasionally, winners of normal games in the show were given a chance to play a special game for a designated large jackpot. There were two variations on the Jackpot game:
The Jackpot started at $1,000, and for each unsuccessful attempt, the jackpot would increase by $100 per clue or in the Memory game, per episode. If guessed correctly, a new Jackpot game was started on the next episode. |
Other features[]
During the regular program, celebrities often appeared to help as performers during the game or to help with clues in the games.
The show also featured chances to win when it was not airing. During the daily programming, there were "Daily Game" questions in which viewers could win cash. The entry methods and regulations were the same as the regular program. This feature ended on October 5.
Related Shows[]
- PlayMania – aired on GSN from 2006 until 2007
- Midnight Money Madness - aired on TBS in 2006