This Russian Roulette is not the pistol game, trust me! Though it may have some reminances, it takes the law of gravity!

MAIN GAME

4 new contestants compete and each are given a stake of $150 to startthe game. One player is the designated challenger, which is randomly selected to start the game. In round 1, the challenger receives a questionand is to give it to either of his/her 3 opponents, who must answer the question within10 seconds. There are 3 possible answers, and should that player answer correctly, s/he receives $150. At the start of every round, one "drop zone" isput in. And for every question, there is a "drop zone" added to a stipulation. One new drop zone is added with each new question, all the way up to 5 dropzones, the most dangerous spin should someone miss it, because if they miss the question, they lose their winningsto the one who challenged them, and must play Russian Roulette with the designated number of drop zones, after their zone is unlocked. In the first season of the show, the spin was random, whereas in the second season, the player controlled the spin by how long they hold the handledown. When the roulette spin stops, if the player's zone is not lit, they are "safe" and the game continues with another drop zone added and they become the challenger. However, if their zone is lit red, the zone opens and they fallright through it, eliminating them from the game. If a round ends and someone hasn't dropped, the player in the lead pulls the handlecenter stage and a drop zone spins and stops on a randomlyselected player, who loses their winnings and it is split evenly amongst everyone else. However, if there is a tie for first place, it signifies that NO ONE is in the lead, and host Walberg must pull the handle, and ALL players are vulnerable to drop.
In following rounds, the player in the lead (otherwise a random selection if there's a first place tie) becomes challenger, and value for questions in round 2 increase to $200 and become more challenging with 4 possibleanswers. When it comes down to 2 players in round 3, questions are worth $300 ($250 in season 2), and the designated challenger has the choice to force their opponent to answer the question, or they can simply take it for themselves, risking the money that they have. When there is one player left standing, the money earned throughout the game is theirs to keep.

BONUS GAME

The winning challenger now has a chance to win $10,000. In season one, questions vary in-between multiple choice, open-end, scrambled words, even math. Every answer must begin with the phrase, "My answer is..." before each and every answer, and there are 5 questions in all. In season two, host Walberg had 10 questions, each multiplechoice. In both seasons, the rules were simple. Every 10 seconds, a drop zone opens (clockwise). Should time run out on the contestant, or they give an incorrect answer, they drop. In season one, every correct answer is worth $500. Season two, every rightanswer won $300. But, should the contestant answer all of their questions correctly without missing or running out of time, they win $10,000.

$100,000 RUSSIAN ROULETTE

If the contestant wins $10,000, they have another decision to make. Depending on how much time was used, that determines how many drop zones will be in play. The contestant does have the right to take home the $10,000 and keep it, and Russian Roulette is played to see what would've happened, with the winner stepping out of the drop zone to stay safe. However, if they feel confident enough, they can give back the $10,000 they just won and play Russian Roulette against the drop zones. If they fall, their main game winnings are kept. But, if the contestant wins the final pull of Russian Roulette, they take home an additional $100,000.

$100,000 WINNERS

There were 2 winners in season one. The first winner was Al Winchell, a new father. He beat the bonus round very quickly, in 38 seconds tops, meaning 3 drop zones were open. He survived the 50/50 pull, and went home with $102,150. The second winner was Todd Truly, who used 44 seconds in the bonus round, opening 4 drop zones. He beat the 2/3 odds of dropping, and left with $102,200. The only winner from season two was MariaLaye, a singer from Clinton, MI. When it came to round 3, her final opponent, Elizabeth still had not been challenged, but Maria kept control until the fourth question, and then challenged Elizabeth, who would lose her $150 and fall victim to one of the 4 drop zones. In the bonus round, there were 9 seconds left on the clock for Maria when she answered the last question correctly. She went for it, going against the 1/6 odds, and BEATIT! She walked down the bridge with $102,000in her pocket.

FACTS:
-The drop was originally 3 feet to the floor below, later increased to 5 to 6 ft. Contestants landed on a crash pad below
-Documents and waivers were signed, signifying injuries if sustained. In the 160 episodes taped of Russian Roulette, only one contestant suffered an injury: a sprained ankle.
-On April Fools Day, Todd Newton of Whammy! was the April Fools host, while Mark L. Walberg was the April Fools host for GSN's Friend or Foe hosted by Kennedy. While Todd hosted Russian Roulette, the Whammy mascot was seen in the audience, while Walberg sat in the audience next to Kennedy. He got a camera shot in round 2 when it was over, since Newton asked him if time was really up, with Walberg's response, "I believe that is correct."
-Mark L. Walbergwould futurely host The Moment of Truth on FOX. Before hand, he hosted Temptation Island and the short-lived Free 4 All on USA, also being a co-host with Pat Finn on Shop 'Til You Drop

MY RATINGS:
I was first exposed to this through my mother's ex-fiance. He had taped a WWE show for me to see, and following that, there was a second season episode of Russian Roulette. Although falling is not my forte, it is what made this show so exciting and I actually loved watching the contestants drop! Mark L. Walberg was a very good host, though this was the first show I seen him host. Although this lasted 2 seasons, it could've lasted much longer than it did because it was fun, exciting, yet fun to see the contestants drop. In all the episodes of taping, one injury was reported as mentioned in the facts, so take care when dropping, eh? Al Winchell, incredible player. Todd Truly said, "You only live once, let's go for it" and did it. Maria Laye, I thought she would never make it because most of the time, you fall with the 5 drop zones, although there have been some times when it was survived. I even know I have the premiere hanging around in my collection somewhere, and that player would've won the $100,000 on the 5 drop zones, but Maria sure did. She beat the odds and won the $100,000, a great ending. Russian Roulette, I say this...BRING IT BACK!!!!

5 stars

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