He’s battled Klingons, starred in big blockbuster movies, and speaks his lines with big dramatic pauses as he tries to remember the words; but there’s only one William Shatner.  The Canadian born actor loves to perform, but one of his greatest performances has already been mostly forgotten and was mostly missed – and that’s his brief stint as a game show host.

In 2006, the ABC television network got into the big money prime time game show craze with their new show Show Me the Money.  The show, which was one giant spectacle and hosted by William Shatner, was sadly cancelled before all the episodes could be broadcast.

The series featured 13 “Million Dollar Dancers,” who each held a scroll that contained 12 different dollar amounts and one killer card.  The contestant would be presented with a category that started with the answer and three possible choices for questions.  Once they chose a question, they would have to answer, and then select one of the dancers who would reveal the amount of money on their scroll.  If their answer was right, they got the money on the scroll, if it was wrong it was deducted from their bank.  Answering 6 questions either correct or incorrect ended the game.  If the one “killer card” was revealed, the contestant was placed into a sudden death situation, where an incorrect answer immediately ended their game, or a correct answer allowed them to move on.

Besides the hot models, the fun part of the show was William Shatner.  Shatner is at his best when dealing with outrageous contestants.  It was nice to see him ad-lib and dance right along with the models.  In fact, the show really didn’t seem to be about the quiz at all, but more of watching Shatner and 13 models dance.  Before going to commercial break, Shatner would scream a random dance to the models and everyone would hilariously dance to break!

Here’s a look at the pilot episode of the show:

Sadly, the show never really caught on and was cancelled.  Seven episodes were taped and five were aired.  The odd thing is that executives at ABC at first thought this show would work and ordered an additional 7 episodes, but then quickly changed their minds, and cancelling the show a week later after episode 5.

The ratings were so bad, when the Game Show Network aired the reruns; they had to cancel the show again after only reairing the first two episodes.  The final two episodes have never and most likely won’t ever see the light of day.

THE 411

What: Show Me the Money

Type: TV game show

Host: William Shatner

Airdates: November 14 – December 13, 2006

Number of episodes: 5, plus 2 unaired

Network: ABC

JERSEY JOE RECOMMENDS

The concept was corny and over the top, but Shatner made it work.  ABC should have moved the show to another night and gave it another shot.  This could have also worked as Saturday night network TV filler, instead of on a tough Tuesday night with big time competition from the other networks.  I could see this on playing in the background at a packed bar on a Saturday night, getting laughs.

Very little video of this show is still online, so take a moment, and laugh at the hilarious first episode while you can, because as the ratings show most people missed it the first time around.

“Ladies, let’s salsa!”