Rigging: back to the fifties?

The last time that a game show rigging scandal hit the news was the Our Little Genius rumpus back in 2010.

Before that abortive effort you have to ramble all the way back to the 1950s for rigged game shows, at least as far as anybody will publicly admit. But now a few stories have cropped up in Google News about a supposedly rigged mobile phone game show called Tap That Awesome App. This now defunct show ran on a now defunct Verizon mobile phone channel. That's a lot of defunct.

The reason this story is getting any attention at all is that it involves Olivia Jade Giannulli. If you haven't heard, she's been in the news lately for reasons beyond this blog's ambit. The alleged rigging occurred in 2016 when producers of Tap That Awesome App reportedly forced other contestants to lose so Olivia Jade could win.

Don't ask me if any of this is true. To be honest, the rigging story strikes me as the media piling onto an already wounded target. As you probably know, there's a federal law against rigging game shows. The language of the statute, enacted in 1960, is archaic and of course doesn't envision mobile phone game shows (or mobile phones themselves).

No matter what the statute says, I doubt seriously that there will be any legal troubles over Tap That Awesome App. But it makes for a nice media hoohah.

One other odd note. The host of the show was Hunter March, who later helmed GSN's short-lived Emogenius. And yes, his grandfather was Hal March of $64,000 Question infamy. You can't make this stuff up.

Tweet

Subscribe to receive free email updates: