16 Top Players Are Set to Play 'Grand Slam' With Host Dennis Miller

16 Top Players Are Set to Play 'Grand Slam' With Host Dennis Miller

Tournament to Determine the Best Game Show Contestant Premieres Saturday, August 4 at 7 PM on GSN

#1 Seed Brad Rutter and #2 Ken Jennings Headline Player Brackets

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., July 14 /PRNewswire/ -- The top game show contestants in the United States come together to challenge each other's skills and intelligence on the fastest and most intense game show ever created. GSN's GRAND SLAM features 16 of the top players facing off in a one- on-one tournament to determine the champion who will win the $100,000 grand prize and take home the coveted GRAND SLAM crystal trophy. The one-hour show premieres on Saturday, August 4 at 7 PM ET with the second show on Sunday, August 5 at 7 PM ET. (Please note this is a new premiere date and time. It was previously announced to premiere on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at 8 PM ET.)

"Throughout the month of August on every Saturday and Sunday night, we will be featuring the top contestants going head-to-head in a variety of categories to determine the best game show player in the land," said Jamie Roberts, GSN's Senior Vice President of Programming. "We are excited to announce these players and unveil the tournament brackets."

Dennis Miller and Amanda Byram host GRAND SLAM. The player field was ranked by their total prize money won on previous game shows.

Rank Name Bio Total Winnings

#1 Brad Rutter Won the "Jeopardy Tournament of
Champions, Million Dollar Masters
and Ultimate Tournament of Champions." $3.255 million

#2 Ken Jennings 74 game winning streak on "Jeopardy,"
"Jeopardy Ultimate Tournament of
Champions," "1 vs. 100" $3,020,700

#3 Kevin Olmstead Appeared on both "Jeopardy" and "Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire" where he
won the biggest single prize ever
$2.18 million. $2.207 million

#4 Ed Toutant Also appeared on both "Jeopardy" and
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" where
he won $1.86 million. $1.871 million

#5 David Legler 14-month reign as TV's richest quiz
show winner after appearing on
"Twenty-One" in 2000. $1.765 million

#6 John Carpenter First winner of "Who Wants to Be
a Millionaire. $1.25 million

#7 Rahim
Oberholtzer Won over a million on "Twenty-One." $1.12 million

#8 Nancy Christy Only woman to win $1 million on
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." $1.0 million

#9 Ogi Ogas He created software to help him study
for Millionaire and still kicks
himself for not answering the million
dollar question because he knew the
answer. $500,000

#10 Phyllis Harris Numerous game show appearances:
Card Sharks, Scrabble, Trivia Trap,
Wheel of Fortune, Super Greed and Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire." $497,150

#11 Thom McKee After appearing on "Tic Tac Dough" for
a record 46 days in 1980, held
television game show record of
consecutive wins for many years. $312,700

#12 Frank
Spangenberg A lieutenant in the NYPD, was the
first to win over $100,000 on five
days of shows on "Jeopardy." $269,596

#13 Leszek
Pawlowicz Appeared on "Jeopardy" plus the
"Tournament of Champions" and
"Ultimate Tournament of Champions"
in addition to "Win Ben Stein's
Money" and "History IQ." $194,700

#14 Michelle Kitt The biggest winner on the US
version of the " The Weakest
Link". $107,500

#15 TBA

#16 Amy Kelly Biggest winner on GSN's LINGO. $20,500

Opening up the tournament on Saturday, August 4 at 7 PM ET/6 PM CT with an encore at 10 PM ET is the most recognizable game show contestant in history, Ken Jennings, taking on the #15 seed (tba). There will be two matches each show and in the second contest of the premiere #3 Kevin Olmstead faces #14 Michelle Kitt.

GRAND SLAM will feature new episodes every weekend throughout the month on August on GSN. On Sunday, August 5 at 7 PM is another first round match up of #1 Brad Rutter vs #16 Amy Kelly and then #4 Ed Toutant vs. #13 Leszek Pawlowicz.

The second weekend in August will finish the remaining first round match ups. On Saturday August 11 #7 Rahim Oberholtzer takes on #10 Phyllis Harris and the first Millionaire winner #6 John Carpenter faces off with #11 Thom McKee, who was a record setter on "Tic Tac Dough." The first round ends on Sunday, August 12 when #8 Nancy Christy plays #9 Ogi Ogas and then #5 David Legler takes on #12 Frank Spangenberg.

The quarterfinals of GRAND SLAM on Aug. 18 and 19 will determine who survives to go to the semi-finals on Saturday, August 25. The final on August 26 includes an extra round as well as highlights, interviews and the trophy presentation to the GRAND SLAM Champion.

GRAND SLAM's rounds include general knowledge, to the test, math and logic, words and letters, as well as pop culture and current events. The unique countdown clock format puts maximum pressure on the players but no players are better suited for the task.

As the most comprehensive test of contestants on television, the tournament is single elimination with two players going head-to-head each match. Matches will feature four rounds. The winner moves on to the next match and the loser is eliminated.

Michael Davies is the Executive Producer. GRAND SLAM is the second game show produced by Michael Davies' New York based company Embassy Row and Sony Pictures Television for GSN.

Source: GSN

CONTACT: Dennis Johnson, GSN, +1-310-255-6935, or djohnson@gsn.com; or
Tracey Bowen, Embassy Row, +1-212-507-9700, tlb@embassyrow.com, for GSN

Web site:

http://www.gsn.com/

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