Grand Slam first aired in Summer 2007 on the GSN network as a special eight-episode series. The premise of this trivia extravaganza was unlike anything ever seen on game shows before. Taking a cue from professional basketball’s “sweet sixteen” finals, Grand Slam pitted sixteen of the greatest champions in game show history in a winner-take-all elimination tournament. One competitor was crowned as the best and won a trophy along with the $100,000 grand prize.
Contestants are Top Winners from Jeopardy, Millionaire and Others
Each one-hour episode put two sets of competitors through four grueling “fast and intense” trivia rounds consisting of general trivia, math and logic, words and vocabulary, and a final round mixing the three categories. Contestants were top winners from a multitude of game shows, including Jeopardy, Millionaire, Twenty-One, 1 vs. 100, Super Greed, Wheel of Fortune, Card Sharks, Tic Tac Dough, Win Ben Stein’s Money, The Weakest Link, Lingo, and the World Series of Pop Culture. The contestants were ranked by their dollar winnings, and “seeded” accordingly:
- #1 - BRAD RUTTER: Career Winnings: $3.255 million
- #2 - KEN JENNINGS: Career Winnings: $3.02 million
- #3 - KEVIN OLMSTEAD: Career Winnings: $2.207 million
- #4 - ED TOUTANT: Career Winnings: $1.871 million
- #5 - DAVID LEGLER: Career Winnings: $1.765 million
- #6 - JOHN CARPENTER: Career Winnings: $1.25 million
- #7 - RAHIM OBERHOLTZER: Career Winnings: $1.12 million
- #8 - NANCY CHRISTY: Career Winnings: $1 million
- #9 - OGI OGAS: Career Winnings: $500,000
- #10 - PHYLLIS HARRIS: Career Winnings: $497,150
- #11 - THOM MCKEE: Career Winnings: $312,700
- #12 - FRANK SPANGENBERG: Career Winnings: $269,596
- #13 - LESZEK PAWLOWICZ: Career Winnings: $194,700
- #14 - MICHELLE KITT: Career Winnings: $107,500
- #15 - VICTOR LEE: Career Winnings: $83,333
- #16 - AMY KELLY: Career Winnings: $20,500
Like any game show, answering questions correctly was essential. However, answering them quickly. Each contestant received a full minute on the clock per round. The clock for each contestant ticked down at the start of each question and stopped once the question had been answered correctly. Contestants took turns with responses, and the one whose clock ran to zero was the loser of the round. Additionally, contestants kept any time they had left to be used in the final round. They also had three “switches” to use per round, in which they could send the question back to their competitor, thereby stopping their own clock. was a crucial element on Grand Slam
Jennings and Ogas Well-Matched
Sixteen contestants began at the start, eight advanced to the quarterfinals, four to the semifinals, and finally, two contestants (Jeopardy favorite Ken Jennings and Millionaire alum Ogi Ogas) made it into the finals. As final round competitors, Jennings and Ogas proved very well matched and a close game was predicted.
The first round of general trivia was the closest, with Ogas winning with a slim fraction of a second lead over Jennings. The second round of math and logic was typically where Ogas gained huge leads on his competitors. He had not missed a math question in the entire competition. However, against Jennings he only managed to gain a three second lead.
Current Events Round
Unlike previous episodes, the final game also included a “current events” round to make the competition even fiercer. It was in this round where Jennings was able to pull a large lead over Ogas, gaining over a minute in time. The fourth round of words and vocabulary also went to Jennings, adding even more time to his allotment.
By the final round, Jennings had a minute and fifty second advantage. Ogas seemed to struggle in the final mixed round of questions, and ran out of time while Jennings still had one minute and twenty seconds left on his clock. In the end, Ogas’ brilliance in math and logic was no match for Jennings overall knowledge. Jennings took home the $100,000 prize money and the trophy.
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