Talk:American game show winnings records/Archive 1

Comments
The information that I listed is from the best info I can find on the internet...I am aware that it is not completly accurate...and some of the questions I have are posted as WikiNotes in the All Time Winnings List section...I have confirmed some things and have updated them accordingly...I have posted the same question about Tom O' Brien and someone has said that the answer to that is no...but I have no proof of that other than the word of the person who responded to that question...other changes are still needed and would be appreciated!

I have listed the questions that can be found in the ATWL notes below

More info can be added for some contestants, such as dates, exact winnings, etc. ...some questions I have are below...crispinh1 I heard (but have no conformation) Dr. Heish (#10) won $100,000 on Millionaire...if you can confirm this, adjust the list and add that please!

Is $500K Millionaire winner Tom O'Brien (#T32) the same Tom O'Brien who is listed above as the big S.O.C winner or is he a different Tom O' Brien??
 * REPLY-No, he isn't. I asked him recently.

I know that Paulara Hawkins won about $750,000 on the short lived "Show Me The Money"...however I don't know the exact total so I can't add her...so if someone could find that and add her to the list...there also could be more big winners from that show that I can't remember

If anyone with better information can please help clean this article up it would be appreciated -CrispinH1 15:42, 06 February 2007 (UTC)

Citing sources
I went through the body of this article (the sections entitled "Daytime game shows" and "Overall winnings record") and tried to find as many reliable sources to verify the information here. Notice that I didn't delete information I couldn't find, even though that's a strict interpretation of Wikipedia policy. Consider this, written by Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales: "It is better to have no information, than to have information like this, with no sources." Also, go read Verifiability, one of the WP's core content policies.

I suspect everything in this well-written and interesting article could be verified, so I chose not to edit out anything in the first two sections. Maybe someone can pitch in to verify the rest of the information; for example, the Team Record info in the second section. As far as the list of winners is concerned, though, I think that any number that can't be verified should be tossed out. That's why I reverted Chad1am's revert. It's not enough to say that the figures are "accurate," and it's my understanding that you can't even say, "I saw Ken Jennings win $714.29 on 1 vs. 100." If you're able to find the source for it (I wasn't able to), please add it back in and provide the reference, even if it's the TV episode itself.

(To Chad: I used the MSNBC article because it was the best article about Jenning's winnings I could find. I also deleted much of the paragraph before the list because when I'm finished, it's my hope that we can get rid of the Unreliable Section tag.) --Figureskatingfan 05:44, 6 September 2007 (UTC)

I deleted the information about Ed Toutant, since I couldn't find anything to corroborate it. If anyone finds it, please re-add it. --Figureskatingfan 23:29, 6 September 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm just wondering why Jennings's 1 vs. 100 winnings are not there when he, uh, won them. — Chad "1m" Mosher EmailTalk Cont. 23:37, 8 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Forget that, actually. I've properly sourced all of Jennings's winning. — Chad "1m" Mosher EmailTalk Cont. 00:07, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

I deleted the following:
 * Jerome Vered, Jeopardy!, Win Ben Stein's Money: $501,602
 * Won $106,801 in original J! appearance and subsequent Tournament of Champions appearance, first to win $5000 on WBSM, won $389,801 in Ultimate Tournament of Champions, finishing 3rd overall.

According to the J! archive, Vered won only $96,801. That brings his total winnings to $499,102, just below the list's parameters. So I deleted him. If I did so in error, please correct. --Figureskatingfan 04:48, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

I deleted the following trivia about Todd Kim, because I couldn't find anything to support it. ''Kim appeared on Jeopardy! shortly after his Super Millionaire appearance, but was forced to forfeit his $2000 second place prize because he had appeared on a game show in the previous year.'' --Figureskatingfan 05:08, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

More deletions, sorry; made because I couldn't find the source (please correct):
 * Christina Howard, Identity: $500,000
 * John Zole, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: $500,000
 * Stephanie Wambach, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: $500,000
 * Robert Rutter, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?: $500,000

It looks like we need a relable source for 5th Grader. Except for my one reference, about Todd Kim, the recap page on their website doesn't list last names. --Figureskatingfan 05:42, 11 September 2007 (UTC)
 * Yeehaw. I referenced all but Wambach. I found an article detailing that she will be on the show, but nothing about any winnings. Maybe something will turn up! — Chad "1m" Mosher EmailTalk Cont. 02:50, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

I changed Carpenter's winnings, because only half of the money he earned during the Tournament of Champions was his to keep. The rest went to the charity of his choice. I moved him down the scale accordingly. --PokerJoker811 (talk) 21:20, 26 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I'm a little confused about why you did that. It looks like you moved him down the list, but his winnings listed were the same.  That being said, though, I don't think that the fact that half his winnings went to charity matters.  He won what he won, doncha know.  What he (or anyone else) chooses to do with the money is up to him.  If he gave half of it to me (in my dreams!) or his mother, it doesn't change the amount of his winnings. In addition, you provide no sources supporting your assertion. --Figureskatingfan (talk) 05:54, 27 July 2008 (UTC)

Sandra Diaz-Twine
Sandra Diaz-Twine's 2 million dollar win on Survivor does not count. While Survivor airs in the United States, It is not filmed in America. An American game show is defined as a game show that is both filmed and shown in the United States. Therfore, No Survivor contestant qualifies an an American game show contestant. —Preceding Signatures comment added by Special:Contributions/Notundercovercop327 (talk) 23:39, 24 July 2010 (UTC)
 * Survivor is an American television series, airing first-run episodes on an American television network and produced by the American company Mark Burnett Productions, Inc. .Sottolacqua (talk) 01:16, 27 July 2010 (UTC)

Just because Survivor is recorded in a different part of the world, does not mean that it is not an American game show. The production company is American. WikiLubber (talk) 21:12, 19 August 2010 (UTC)

I came here to point out that Survivor contestants are not counted but should. Plus, Rupert (the pirate) I think also won over 1.1 mil. Nergaal (talk) 03:09, 21 October 2010 (UTC)

Survivor is not a game show, it is a reality competition. If Sruvivor is a game show, then so is the World Series of Poker and we must include all of the top money winners in that event. --173.54.203.93 (talk) 05:54, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

If Sandra from Survivor is included in this listing, is there any reason why Erin Brodie ($2M from For Love or Money) is listed beside. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.102.52.218 (talk) 01:24, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

The Big Spin $15m win
Should this be included or excluded? --Æ AUSSIE evil Æ 03:01, 22 December 2010 (UTC)

Only those shown on national game shows count. 208.120.60.120 (talk) 21:13, 28 December 2010 (UTC)

If Sandra Diaz-Twine is counted, then why is not Melanie Amaro?
The X Factor carried a $5,000,000 cash prize for winning an elimination contest similar in elimination structure to the show Diaz-Twine won. So, if Diaz-Twine counts, then why is Amaro not considered the leader on this chart? J. Myrle Fuller (talk) 00:50, 9 February 2012 (UTC)


 * The X Factor is not a game show. There are no games involved, unlike Survivor. WikiLubber (talk) 00:55, 9 February 2012 (UTC)

Fashion Star
Fashion Star carries a $6 million prize for winning. The season finale, however, is tonight. I'm thinking this is not a game show. Does this count? I'm just curious. --WM-86 11:35, 15 May 2012 (UTC)

Adam Rose
I noticed that by Adam Rose's name there is a citation needed message. What exactly is this asking for?Bentvfan54321 (talk) 14:59, 28 December 2012 (UTC)

Possible changes?
While Survivor and The Amazing Race are (in my opinion) much closer to game shows than Idol or The X Factor, they're still technically reality competitions. Since there is (or was) so much discussion over whether or not these contestants should be included, I propose either removing all the Survivor or Amazing Race contestants from the list completely, or creating a separate article similar to this one for reality show winnings records. I was also checking archives for this talk page and saw that some editors believed that ALL winnings should count, even if they go to charity (which would mean adding $150,000 to Ken Jennings' total, $100,000 to Brad Rutter's, and changing John Carpenter's to $1,250,000, which would be enough to put him on the chart). I agree with that, because it doesn't matter who gets the money, or what the contestant does with it, he still went on the show and won that money, so it shouldn't change the winnings total. --Bentvfan54321 (talk) 13:15, 10 June 2013 (UTC)


 * As it's been over a MONTH and I haven't gotten a single reply, I'll go ahead and boldly change the totals of the respective players (I'll leave the Survivor contestants on the list for now). If anyone disagrees with this change, please let me know. --Bentvfan54321 (talk) 16:58, 21 July 2013 (UTC)