The $40,000 Chain Reaction (USA, Ep. 49)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Kevin, below LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,...









(ding)

...you're taking H-E.

[koopakid17]

Not what I thought it was gonna be.

Heaven.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Not HEAVEN. So we go back to Nels.

[dougmorrisontheair]

(buzz)

No decision in time.

So -- Kevin...









(ding)

...we give you the next letter below LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA -- H-E-L.

We also give you the next letter above LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- O-D-D.

Pick a link, please, Kevin, and give it a guess.

[koopakid17]

Above Las Vegas.

I'll say Oddity.

[dougmorrisontheair]

(cuckoo bird sfx)

Form of the word or words in that link, Kevin. One chance to capitalize on that guess without losing control.

[koopakid17]

Oddball.

[dougmorrisontheair]

(buzz)

Sorry, can't take. So we're back to Nels -- who really could use the points.

[nelson21]

Ill take a letter under la California

[dougmorrisontheair]

Nels, under LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, you're taking...









(ding)

(a few laugh in crowd)

...H-E-L-L -- and, for better or worse, I'll point out there's at least one more letter after the second L.

[nelson21]

Hello

[dougmorrisontheair]

(impersonating Larry King) Los Angeles, California -- hello.









(ding; audience applause)

That's our writers' tribute to Larry King. Great great broadcaster.

Nels, you've doubled up to $1500. Need to get on a run here to narrow the gap in score. I will point out the link above LAS VEGAS, NEVADA is incomplete. So -- how do you play the chain?


koopakid17
nelson21

[nelson21]

I'll take a letter under hello

[dougmorrisontheair]

Nels keeps it and takes, below HELLO,...









(ding)

...the letter D.

[dougmorrisontheair]

(Bump for Nels)

[nelson21]

Doctor

[dougmorrisontheair]

Ah, what a good guess -- but DOCTOR is incorrect.

We're back to Kevin.

[koopakid17]

I might have both. I'll take over Las Vegas since I'm more confident about that one.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Okay, one link at a time...









(ding)

...because the star says we can't give you the last letter of the four-letter word that's above LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, Kevin.

[koopakid17]

Odds.

[dougmorrisontheair]

There ya got it.










(ding; audience applause)

For the curious, there is more than one way to connect the word ODDS to the city of LAS VEGAS, NEVADA. We can't go into the meanings right now.

Kevin, when you said ODDITY when O-D-D was up there, you'll recall you got the cuckoo bird and a second chance. You then guessed ODDBALL and got the buzzer.

Again, due to the multiple meanings of ODDS and in fairness to Nels, you had to be spot on with a guess of ODDS. Ultimately, you did.


koopakid17
nelson21


And that puts you $500 away from victory. Each link from here on out is worth no less than $750. So the next right solution from you makes you the champ, Kevin.

Nels, if it gets over here, you'll need to get on a run.

Kevin, control and a big decision rest with you.

[koopakid17]

Bellow Hello... say that five times fast. I'll take the next letter.

[dougmorrisontheair]

For the game, Kevin, no matter how many times you say it...









(ding)

...you're taking D-O.

[koopakid17]

Dolly!

[dougmorrisontheair]

If it's DOLLY, you're the new champion.



















































(dings; audience applause; win music plays)

That's it!

"Hello, Dolly!" leads us to say hello to a new champion. How does that feel, Kevin?

[koopakid17]

Wonderful!

[nelson21]

My sleep schedule got the best of me good game Kevin

[koopakid17]

And you the same Nels.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Great sports all around. Let's recap and finish off the chain.









During his live talk show, Larry King would welcome a caller from a certain Southern California city by saying, "Los Angeles, California, hello!" "Hello, Dolly!" is a classic musical from the 1960s.









(ding)

Dolly Parton is a famous country singer -- and *still* going strong after all these decades.










(ding)

Oh, aren't our writers clever? NINE TO FIVE.

Dolly Parton who was one of the stars of the movie "9 to 5"; she also sang the title song to the movie soundtrack.

A horse could be at 9:5 odds to win a race. And oddsmakers would express the odds as ways to lose and ways to way. They would calculate, in this hypothetical case, the horse would have nine ways to lose and five ways to win.

You can play the odds -- whether betting on a horserace or a spin of a roulette wheel -- in Las Vegas, Nevada. And speaking of roulette, you could bet on the odd numbers, or the "odds", on a roulette table or in certain dice games in Las Vegas.

So -- there's your Round 3 chain with a crash course in gaming. (scattered laughter from crowd) Nels, sorry we have to say goodbye. But we say farewell with a *really* nice piece of change.

$47,250. (audience cheers) One more nice round of applause for Nels.

(audience cheers; board rotates as part of the theme plays)






But it's Kevin who's about to play the final chain. Kevin, again, our congratulations.

Before you play the final chain, let's play Missing Link -- where you objective is to save all four of these pennies...







(ding)

...now in a moment, we'll spot you the top and bottom links of this three-link chain -- and the first letter of the link in the middle. That's the missing link.

Correctly solve that missing link -- and all four pennies join you in the final chain -- where you could parlay them into $40,000.

(audience cheers)

But for each additional letter you need, it will cost you a penny -- and reduce your potential winnings in the final chain.

Ready to play the Missing Link game?

---

[NOTE FROM DOUG: Effective this post, deadlines will be relaxed since Kevin will be playing against the house and this host has some time off scheduled.]

[koopakid17]

Let's play!