NY Wired

NY Wired was a lottery game show aired from 1997 to 1999. The weekly show was produced by Jonathan Goodson Productions in association with the New York Lottery. For its first season, it was also co-produced by DDB Needham. The show was canceled in early 1999 due to low ratings.

The show was hosted by WNBC weather forecaster Janice Huff during its first season, when the show was televised on that station. Cheryl Washington took over when the show switched to WNYW for its second season.

Contestants won a spot on the show by playing a scratchcard, in order of usage, "NY Wired Instant Game" (October 4, 1997-Early 1998) or "TV Cash" (early 1998-June 13, 1999), and sending it into a sweepstakes. Contestants were divided into three teams, blue, yellow, and red, in which a representative of that team played several games of chance to win thousands of dollars. The show used sound effects from The Price is Right.

The show was also used to publicize the Lottery's promotions, as presented by veteran Lottery number-caller Yolanda Vega at an anchor's desk.

Format

Qualifying Round

3-player mode

Three lottery retailers played a qualifying round in which they answered survey questions asked to people all over New York. The host read each question one at a time and gave three possible answers. The first player to buzz-in had a chance to choose one of those answers. A correct answer (the number one response in the survey) scored a point, but an incorrect answer gave the other contestants a chance to buzz-in and answer, and another incorrect answer from another player gave the remaining player the point by default. The first player to score three points played for the jackpot; the remaining two players played a second qualifying round.

2-player mode

The second qualifying round was played with the remaining two players and was played a little differently. This time the survey questions were polled by the audience and were all yes or no or either/or. On each question, the audience locked in their answers, then the player in control predicted how the majority of the audience answered. A correct answer scored a point, but an incorrect answer gave the opponent the point. The first to reach two points won the right to play the next mini-game, and the losing player received $5,000. If the tie was 1-1, they played one question in a manner similar to Card Sharks, with the first player guessing a number, and the opponent guessing higher or lower.

Originally the goal was to three points like in the first round.

The winner earned the right to play a mini-game for an escalating jackpot, which started at $60,000, and increased by the amount earned in each game until it was won.

Mini-Games

Skyscraper

To start, the winner of the qualifying round was given a miniature building to hold, worth $10,000. The contestant then faced a game board consisting of four other buildings. The buildings were each a different color which corresponded to the colors of ten blocks lined up in front of the contestant. Each block concealed a different number from one to ten, arranged randomly.

The contestant chose a number from one to ten and the corresponding block was revealed and stacked in front of the building of the same color. The buildings were each one block taller than the last, and were worth an increasing amount of money (as set out in the table below). The constant would win the value of the tallest skyscraper they managed to complete. However, if all four buildings received a block, the game ended and the contestant lost half of his/her winnings. Once three different buildings had received at least one block, the contestant was given the opportunity to stop the game after each selection and keep the full amount won to that point.

Niagara

The player faced a board of 18 numbered rods, split into three rows (1-4 on top, 5-10 in the middle, and 11-18 on the bottom), with a colored ball suspended between each pair of adjacent rods: Rods 1-4 held up two red balls and a green ball, and the rest held yellow balls. The winner of the qualifying round drew a number, and that number's rod gets removed from the board.

Each time a yellow ball splashed down into the water, the player received $6,000. If no balls splashed down, the player received $1,000.

The game ended if a red ball or a green ball splashed down. If the red ball splashed down, either on its own or with other colored balls, the player lost half of their winnings. The player could walk away with their winnings at any point, ending the game. If the green ball splashed down without a red ball, the player won the jackpot.

This game was known as Splashdown on the Illinois and Florida lottery shows.

2nd Season Changes

The amounts decreased to $500 if no balls splashed down and $2,500 if a yellow ball splashed down. The amount of the green ball remained the same.

Saratoga

The player was shown a board with 3 "horses" - a red horse, a yellow horse, and a blue horse. They were then shown a board of 12 numbered boxes, and asked to call out numbers, one at a time. Finding four of a color ended up the game and awarded the player a cash prize -- $10,000 (for the red horse), $20,000 (for the yellow horse), or a cash prize called the "Big Purse" (for the blue horse). Before the game, the contestant would choose from one of three flags, each of which had a different cash amount (two worth $40,000, one worth the jackpot), to determine the top prize for the blue horse.

This game was known as Home Run on Illinois Instant Riches/Illinois' Luckiest and Grand Prix on Flamingo Fortune. On those shows, unlike NY Wired, it only took three of a color to award a money amount.

Treasure Quest

The winner of the qualifying round stood at the beginning of a giant treasure map. The map had 15 colored circles (five of each color (red, blue and green)). At the end of the map are seven treasure chests; six of them represent $5,000, while the one up front represents the jackpot. A member of the studio audience representing the player's team was shown a mini treasure chest presented by Scott. Inside the chest are three jewels colored red, blue and green. Scott would shake up the chest just to mix up the jewels, after which he opened it up again and then the audience member reached into the chest and pulled out a jewel; whatever jewel he or /she pulled out, that's when the player moved to the closest circle that matches the jewel.

Each time a player stepped to the next circle, he/she received a treasure bag good for $5,000. When the player reaches to the point where he/she may reach a $5,000 chest, that player would then place the treasure bags to the chest he/she thought would land on other than the jackpot chest. Whatever the chest chosen, the $5,000 treasure bags would then be added to the $5,000 chest.

Whatever treasure chest was hit, that is the amount his/her team won; if it's a chest without bags, he/she won $5,000, if it's a chest with bags, he/she won $5,000 plus that amount for each bag placed on it, but if it is the jackpot chest, he or she won the jackpot.

Home viewer games

• People finding a "couch" symbol on either scratchcard could send it in for a ticket with a three-digit number & the name of a NY town. If they matched the number & town revealed on the show, the person won $1,000.
• Players sending in non-winning tickets were entered in a drawing. Three names were revealed, each winning either $500, $1,000, or $1,500 based on when their name was revealed.

Season 2 format changes

• In season one, each contestant played for a colored section of the audience (red, yellow & blue) and a school. Half of the winnings went to the appropriate section of the studio audience (minimum of $6,000 per person, five in all), while the other half went to the school the contestant was playing for (minimum of $30,000). In season two, the players were captains of each team, they would split all the money, while the school (randomly selected before the show) they were playing for won $5,000.
• The Jackpot decreased to a minimum of $25,000.

Stations

• Albany - WTEN
• Buffalo - WGRZ
• New York City - WNBC (1997–1998), WNYW (1998–1999)
• Plattsburgh - WPTZ