The $40,000 Chain Reaction (USA, Episode 9)

[dougmorrisontheair]

(ding; audience applause)

Right -- and all over it.

Forty cents in the bank, Marc. Let's go for four bucks.  Next link under MONTY PYTHON is a B.

[marc412]

British?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Excellent guess -- but not right. That'll cost you your first spare letter.










(ding)


B-L.

[marc412]

Black Knight?

[dougmorrisontheair]

That's not right. That'll cost you another letter.









(ding)

B-L-A.

[marc412]

Eh, just a flesh wound. How about blackmail?

[dougmorrisontheair]

There ya got it.









(ding; audience applause)

"Monty Python's Flying Circus" had a game show parody sketch. The game was called "Blackmail".

You're now up to four dollars. Next link is for $40. Under BLACKMAIL, there's a C.

[marc412]

Crime?

[dougmorrisontheair]

That's it -- CRIME.









(ding; audience applause)

Blackmail is one form of crime.

You're now up to $40, Marc. Next stop is $400. You still have five free letters. Under CRIME, there's an F.

[marc412]

Fighter?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Wow -- great guess -- but not right. That'll cost you another letter.









(ding)

F-A.

[marc412]

Fashion?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Not FASHION. There goes another letter.









(ding)

F-A-M.

[marc412]

Ah, family.

[dougmorrisontheair]

There ya go -- FAMILY.










(ding; audience applause)

Fictional character Tony Soprano was part of the DiMeo crime family.

$400 in the bank now. Marc, you're now going for $4000 here. Next link, under FAMILY, is the letter P.

[marc412]

Plot?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Sorry -- it's not PLOT. There goes another letter.









(ding)

P-O.

[marc412]

Portrait?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Ohhhh -- this is probably the biggest setback you've had since you've been with us, Marc.

PORTRAIT is incorrect. That costs you another letter.









(ding)

And that T happens to complete the link -- POT.

(scattered groans)

When everyone at a Texas Hold 'Em Poker table calls or raises with no one folding, each player ends up adding money to the pot -- hence the poker term "family pot".

And speaking of money in a pot, you can't "back into" a correct answer -- so you're still working on $400. Best you can do is $4000 -- which is a respectable payoff. Let's try to finish with a $4000 payoff, Marc. Under POT, there's a B.

[marc412]

Boiler?

[dougmorrisontheair]

Sorry, it's not BOILER. This costs you your final free letter.









(ding)

B-E. One final try at $4000. Good luck, Marc. What's that final link?

[marc412]

Belly.

[dougmorrisontheair]

If it's BELLY, we'll ice your cake with $4000.















































(ding; audience applause)

All right -- $4000.  Yeah, if you eat too many chicken wings, like our staff does, you might end up with a pot belly.

(scattered laughter among the crew and audience)

[dougmorrisontheair]

Well -- this is not the ending you were hoping for, Marc, but you're still leaving here with a huge piece of change...

...$224,250.

(audience cheers)

A couple of quick notes before we say goodbye to Marc. We *are* working on a tournament of champions format -- likely inviting three or four winners of at least $100,000 each.

Clearly, you're the current top seed, Marc. Only one other player has cracked the hundred-grand barrier since this version of Chain started -- but he is unavailable to play.

When we get a better idea of a format, Marc, we'll be sure to give you and everyone else a buzz and proceed from there.

Marc, anything you'd like to say before our nervous accountant cuts you a big check for $224,250?

(scattered laughter from the crowd)

[nathandiniz]

WAY TO GO MARC!!!!!!! (sets off lots of sirens, bells, alarms with confetti)

[marc412]

I'd just like to thank you and your staff for making my time here so pleasant.

[dougmorrisontheair]

Thanks for the kind words and we congratulate you on a splendid performance. Our producers will be in touch with you when tournament plans come to fruition.

Another big hand for a big winner -- Marc Enyedy. (audience cheers) Back for more -- after this.

(theme plays; more cheers)

[dougmorrisontheair]

We're seeking an audience game player on Chain Reaction. Who wants to play?

(I've got a busy day at the office today; earliest we'd start the game is tonight. Oh, and we're bypassing qualifying due to a bit of a time crunch. So, first one to respond to this gets to play.)

[billmcdee]

I'll do it, unless it's one of my puzzles that I wrote for you of course...

[dougmorrisontheair]

[NOTE FROM DOUG: We'll let Bill play -- for charity. ]

---

(theme plays; audience applause)

Welcome back to The $40,000 Chain Reaction. Hey, look, it's one of your favorite hosts and mine, Bill McDee!

(audience cheers)

Bill serves as one of our writers on the show -- and we're going to let Bill play for one of his favorite causes. What would that be?