National Bingo Night Each hour-long episode of
NBN was divided into three games – Red, White, and Blue. Only cards with the correct designation were eligible to win prizes. Unlike the audience members, studio contestants did not actually have a bingo card. Instead, they participated in stunt games. During these games, they took guesses on what the next ball to be drawn from an oversized bingo drum will be. Generally, this took the form of odd or even, red or black numbers (originally red or black decals on the balls), or whether the next number is higher or lower than the previous one. On at least two occasions, the stunt was to draw balls that contained a certain number, such as five 5's ("High Five"; drawing G-55 would count for two 5's) or four 9's ("Baseball") If the contestant successfully completes the stunt before anyone in the studio audience gets a bingo, the contestant wins one of various prizes. If not, then an audience member wins $5,000 (or a prize the studio contestant failed to win on at least one occasion). In the event that the in-studio contestant completes their game and an audience member gets a bingo, only the audience member wins. All games were winner-take-all. Non-winning contestants received nothing.
Bingo America The format was later retooled as
Bingo America and aired new episodes on
GSN from March 31, 2008 to January 2, 2009. In the new format, two contestants competed on each show for a top prize of $100,000. The new version also included an at-home element in which viewers had the chance to win prizes. ==References==