Extreme game shows are so popular that show creators keep pushing their shows, and the contestants foolhardy enough to participate, as far as they can go without killing them.
Contestants died after appearing on the shows Wipeout and Survivor, due to health reasons so not totally the show's fault, and a guy almost drowned on the show Dog Eat Dog.
But no game show has tried to kill its contestants quite like Fox's The Chamber, where people were strapped into a torture chamber and forced to endure killer conditions for $100k.
Only 3 episodes of The Chamber were aired back in 2002 (even though six episodes were shot), and only one conestant ever made it through all seven rounds of torture.
With this laundry list of torturous conditions it's no wonder:
In the Hot Chamber, the contestant faced the following:
- Heat beginning at 110°F (43°C) and increasing to 170°F (66°C).
- Real flames surrounding the contestant, getting bigger as the game progressed.
- Muscle contractors strapped to the limbs.
- Simulated earthquake tremors (Richter scale 5.0 to begin, going up to 9.0).
- The chair would begin to rotate back and forth (level two), then up and down, through 270 degrees, and finally it would spin in complete circles.
- On the last show, foul odors were piped into the Chamber after the fourth round.
- Wind gusts of 40 miles per hour (64.3 k/h) joined in at level two.
- Falling oxygen levels throughout the game (90 percent down to 70 percent).
- Air cannons blasting at up to 140 miles per hour.
If the Cold Chamber was chosen, this is what the contestant got:
- Temperatures beginning at 30°F (-1 °C) and decreasing to -20°F (-29°C).Muscle contractors and simulated earthquake tremors (as in the Hot Chamber).
- Water jets squirting the contestants, causing ice to form on their bodies.
- Ice blasted at the contestant.
- Wind gusts of 40 miles per hour (64.3 k/h) from level three onwards.
- Falling oxygen levels (95 percent down to 70 percent).
- Air cannons blasting at up to 140 mph (as in the Hot Chamber).
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