85 Fun Facts About Cash Cab

Which stand-up comedian and licensed New York City taxi driver hosted the American Cash Cab?

Ben Bailey holds a real New York City taxi licence, handy for a host who does the driving himself.

On which network did the American Cash Cab originally premiere in 2005?

Discovery Channel was home from the 2005 premiere until the show changed networks for its ninth season in 2019.

In which country did the Cash Cab format originate?

It began in the United Kingdom: the original ran on ITV from June 2005 to June 2006 before being franchised around the world.

How many wrong answers get contestants thrown out of the Cash Cab with nothing?

On the third strike the host pulls over immediately, and a camera crew from the trailing van is already waiting on the sidewalk.

How long do contestants get to answer a Red Light Challenge?

30 seconds. Running out of time costs nothing and is not a strike, so the challenge can only add to the passenger's total.

How much is a completed Red Light Challenge worth on a regular ride?

A Red Light Challenge pays $250 on a regular ride; on a Double Ride the same challenge pays $500.

What are the two lifelines available to Cash Cab contestants called?

Shout-Outs, one a phone call and the other a stop at the curb so passers-by can help, can each be used only once.

How long can a Mobile Shout-Out phone call last before the contestant must answer?

The Street Shout-Out, by contrast, has no official time limit once the cab is at the curb.

In the revived Cash Cab, the Mobile Shout-Out was replaced by a lifeline using which platform?

The Social Media Shout-Out lets viewers watching the live stream help the passenger.

Cash Cab passengers who reach their destination without striking out can double their money by risking it all on what?

A Video Bonus question doubles the money if they get it right; get it wrong and they leave with nothing but a cab ride.

Unlike some other versions, what happens to US contestants who decline the Video Bonus?

Passengers who take the money and leave never learn what they would have been asked.

From Season 3 onward, what were the three regular question values in the American Cash Cab?

From Season 3 the questions paid $50, $100 and $200, up from the first two seasons' scale; a rare Double Ride doubles them again.

In the first season, how much were the first five questions worth each?

The next five paid $50 and anything after that $100, so early rides were worth far less than later ones.

What was different about the 2007 spin-off Cash Cab: After Dark?

Night pickups with doubled prize values, and harder questions too; it debuted in August 2007 as a short-lived companion to the main show.

How many episodes did Cash Cab: After Dark run before it was ended?

It debuted on August 8, 2007 with double the usual cash values.

Which city hosted a special run of Cash Cab episodes filmed during the fifth season?

Las Vegas. Filmed in May 2010, the episodes had celebrities like Penn & Teller playing for charity.

The previous winnings record, $4,100, was set by two New York City workers in what job?

Sean Devney and Steve Irolla reached their destination with two strikes and then nailed the Video Bonus.

Which reality show's boat crews competed in Cash Cab's 250th-episode charity special?

Deadliest Catch: Time Bandit's Andy Hillstrand and Cornelia Marie's Josh Harris faced Sig Hansen's Northwestern crew, with winnings going to charity.

A special episode themed on which 2008 film was driven by the host of Cash Cab: Canada?

Adam Growe took the wheel for the promotional episode aired December 23, 2008.

Which comedian hosted the short-lived spin-off Cash Cab: Chicago?

Beth Melewski hosted it. It used the same rules as the New York show and was cancelled after a single season in 2011.

How many cameras are fitted inside and on top of the New York Cash Cab?

Three of them sit in the advertising shell on the roof, filming the passing streets.

How does the host receive questions and logistics during a ride?

Through a radio earpiece: a support van full of producers and camera crew tails the cab and feeds him the questions and logistics.

What model of vehicle is the New York Cash Cab?

A Toyota Sienna minivan dressed as a yellow cab with a rooftop advertising shell; the Canadian version also chose a Sienna.

What is true of the cash the host hands over at the end of a winning ride?

The bills are a prop; real winnings arrive by check later, because the money has to be taxed and documented.

Which device plays the Video Bonus clip in the American Cash Cab?

The lights and fanfare that greet passengers run from a switchboard wired to an iPod and the car stereo.

How are passengers who are selected in advance tricked into the Cash Cab?

The cab, of course, turns out to be the show itself; other riders are picked at random from the sidewalk.

In which year did TV Guide include Cash Cab in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever?

2013. TV Guide placed Cash Cab among classics such as Jeopardy! and The Price Is Right, rare company for a cable game show.

In which year did the American host confirm Cash Cab's return for a new season?

2017. Season 7 premiered on December 4, 2017 with a Celebrity Edition featuring Scott Bakula and Gilbert Gottfried.

Which annual event did Cash Cab's Season 8 premiere tie into in July 2018?

Shark Week. The special coincided with the 30th anniversary of Discovery's famous programming block, which began in 1988.

To which network did Cash Cab move for its ninth season in October 2019?

Bravo. The move was announced in September 2019 after 14 years tied to its original home.

Where was the American Cash Cab host born?

Bowling Green, Kentucky. He was raised in Chatham Borough, New Jersey, and later attended Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

At which Los Angeles club was the future Cash Cab host tending bar when first offered a stand-up spot?

The Comedy Store. Emcee Skip E. Lowe overheard his after-hours stories and put him on stage.

Which NBC game show did the Cash Cab host front from 2011 to 2012?

Who's Still Standing?, the trapdoor quiz, ran one season on NBC from December 2011; it was not renewed because of high production costs.

In 2022-23 the Cash Cab host drove which group around in the spin-off Money Grab in the Cab?

Riders had ten minutes to answer as many questions as they could.

Which NFL team partnered with the Cash Cab host in 2025 to quiz its players and staff?

He drove members of the organization around and quizzed them, Cash Cab-style.

Which science series on the show's home network did the Cash Cab host narrate?

He has also popped up in 30 Rock, Blue Bloods and Law & Order: SVU, and had a recurring role on One Life to Live.

Which 2012 superhero film cut the Cash Cab host's scene from its final version?

His most notable film appearance is in Bad Parents.

Who hosted the original British Cash Cab on ITV?

Moody is a qualified taxi driver; the questions were read in voice-over by Annabel Raftery.

In the British version, how much were the first five questions worth?

Values climbed to £50, then £100, and any question after the seventeenth paid £500.

Which comedian hosted Canada's Cash Cab and returned for its 2024 revival, Cash Cab Music?

Adam Growe hosted the Canadian Cash Cab and returned in 2024 for the revival Cash Cab Music on AXS TV and Game TV.

What is the French-Canadian version of Cash Cab called?

Taxi Payant is filmed in Montreal, hosted by comedian Alexandre Barrette, and uses a Dodge Grand Caravan.

The Canadian version differs from the American one by focusing its questions more on what?

Science, technology, nature and adventure, matching the remit of Discovery Channel Canada, where the Canadian version premiered in 2008.

Which Canadian city hosted Cash Cab's fifth season in 2011, the only season not shot in Toronto?

That season added a 'bridge bonus' that doubled the score for one question per ride.

How many episodes did Discovery Channel initially order from Lion Television for Cash Cab?

Taping of that first run finished in November 2005, and the show premiered that December.

Which Friends actor joined unsuspecting passengers in Cash Cab's December 2017 Celebrity Edition?

Matthew Perry climbed in alongside regular passengers; Scott Bakula and Gilbert Gottfried also rode along in the Celebrity Edition to help contestants.

Which 30 Rock character rides the Cash Cab to hospital in 2010 and answers every question correctly?

Tracy Jordan hails the cab with no money on him while his wife is in labour, and wins his way across town. He arrives in time to see his daughter born.

Which alternative to the yellow taxi did Cash Cab's producers briefly consider before reviving the show?

An Uber or Lyft car was considered as ride-sharing apps squeezed traditional taxis. The production company decided the iconic yellow cab had to stay.

Which would-be passengers does the American Cash Cab host refuse to pick up because they may be rushing?

People with suitcases might be in a hurry, so he leaves them at the kerb. Many other New Yorkers recognise him on sight, even years after the last episode.

According to the American Cash Cab host, how did one losing contestant try to avoid being thrown out?

He buckled every seat belt around himself in the middle seat and announced he was staying put. Losing players are normally put out wherever the cab happens to be.

The towering American Cash Cab host jokes that strangers often mistake him for which fellow TV presenter?

Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs host, is the man people think they have spotted, and the comedian happily plays along. He admits he says outrageous things in Rowe's name.

Which NFL running back, phoned by his agent from the Cash Cab, flubbed a question about a Steinbeck novel?

Tiki Barber answered Lonesome Dove when the book about Tom Joad was The Grapes of Wrath. The host, a Giants fan, admitted a fumble joke slipped out at the star's expense.

What must surprised Cash Cab passengers spend about a quarter of an hour doing before play begins?

Signing legal waivers takes around fifteen minutes, which is why some people in a hurry simply decline to play. The paperwork starts the moment riders learn the cab is a TV set.

Besides phoning a friend, where else can stumped American Cash Cab contestants turn for help once per ride?

A passing pedestrian can be asked once the host pulls over to the kerb, and there is no official time limit. A rare double-money ride allows a second roadside appeal.

Under what two-word title did the Cash Cab format run on Germany's kabel eins channel from 2006?

Quiz Taxi ran on weekday evenings with Thomas Hackenberg at the wheel, and he came back for a 2023 revival. The other titles belong to versions in France, Taiwan and Slovakia.

Australian Cash Cab contestants could trade their winnings for a mystery prize kept where in the taxi?

The boot held prizes worth far more or far less than the cash, in a gamble called The Loot or the Boot. Choosing it reset the winnings to zero.

Which earlier job, alongside stand-up comedy, helped the American Cash Cab host land the role?

Limo driver was already on his CV when he was cast, and he went on to qualify as a real cabbie. The cab on screen is a genuinely registered one.

What trails the American Cash Cab through traffic, carrying producers and a camera crew for the street shots?

A support van follows close behind, and its camera crew is already waiting on the pavement to film losing players as they are put out. That is how riders are caught climbing in, too.

Which Apple gadget is wired to the American Cash Cab's stereo to trigger the fanfare when contestants climb in?

An iPod is hooked to a switchboard and the car stereo, so one press sets everything off the moment the host reveals the game.

Which NCIS franchise lead rode along to help surprised passengers in a celebrity edition of the American Cash Cab?

Scott Bakula, then starring in NCIS: New Orleans, joined riders who had no idea a famous face was coming. Comedian Gilbert Gottfried helped out in another ride shown the same night.

Which Oscar-nominated Sideways actor played for charity in an early celebrity edition of the American Cash Cab?

Thomas Haden Church rode for a charity of his choice, and the network matched whatever the famous players won. A CBS news anchor took a turn in the same episode.

Which rival presenter did the American Cash Cab host jokingly vow to run out of the game show host Emmy race?

Steve Harvey, the Family Feud host, had been collecting the trophy while the taxi quiz was off the air. The joke came as the cabbie returned to television after five years away.

According to the American Cash Cab host, what did some eager fans abandon on Third Avenue just to play?

Their own car was left double-parked in Manhattan so they could jump in the taxi instead. When the ride ended, nobody knew what had become of it.

Which American cable channel picked up reruns of the original New York Cash Cab and aired them into the 2020s?

GSN, the Game Show Network, ran the old episodes for more than four years, dropped them, then brought them back less than a year later.

In which state did the American Cash Cab host grow up, in the borough of Chatham, and later settle in Morristown?

New Jersey is where he was raised and later made his home. He met his future wife in a Morristown pub in the 1990s.

Which discount supermarket chain hired the American Cash Cab host to front an advertising campaign?

Aldi sent him into its stores to get shoppers to say what they loved about them. He has also fronted adverts for a Michigan energy company.

The American Cash Cab host's 2011 stand-up special paired Accidental Ornithology with which other title?

Road Rage was a fitting title for a comedian famous for steering a taxi through Manhattan traffic. His first Comedy Central special had aired five years earlier.

Which Virginia university did the American Cash Cab host leave a semester before graduating to move west?

Old Dominion in Norfolk was where he studied liberal arts until 1993, when he quit one semester short of a degree and headed for Los Angeles.

Which 2006 sporting event led ITV to shelve most of the British Cash Cab's second series?

The FIFA World Cup bumped the quiz whenever a match was on, so only two of sixteen leftover episodes aired. The rest surfaced on a different channel the following spring.

How were the questions put to contestants riding in the original British version of Cash Cab?

By a woman's voice-over, supplied by Annabel Raftery, rather than by the cabbie at the wheel. In the American version the driver asks every question himself.

Which common taxi mishap did the American Cash Cab host say in 2017 had surprisingly never happened in his cab?

A passenger vomiting is something people often ask him about, and he said it had never occurred. The worst he saw was the occasional sore loser.

In which city was the French-language Canadian version of Cash Cab filmed?

Montreal is home to the French-language version, even though its comedian host, Alexandre Barrette, was born in Quebec City.

A third lifeline added to Canada's Cash Cab in season two let contestants do what with a top-value question?

They could swap it for a new one, supplied by the show's dispatcher, once they reached the highest-paying tier. The original two lifelines stayed in play as well.

What full-time job did the host of Canada's Cash Cab hold before he switched to stand-up comedy and television?

Morning DJ was his day job on the airwaves before comedy took over. He later turned his fame behind the wheel into a trivia stage show.

Before filming began, what did the comedian chosen to host Canada's Cash Cab have to complete?

Taxi school turned him into a properly licensed cabbie before the cameras rolled. He had won the job at an audition after moving to Toronto.

The Australian Cash Cab left the east coast for its third season to film in which city?

Perth hosted the third run after two seasons in Melbourne, with a stand-in presenter at the wheel. The Gold Coast took over for the fourth.

Which comedian and former co-host of The Project drove the Australian Cash Cab for its third season only?

Charlie Pickering stepped in while regular presenter James Kerley was away fronting a dating show. Kerley was back in the driver's seat the following season.

Where the American Cash Cab counts strikes, what does a wrong answer cost players on Germany's version?

A life is lost with each mistake or silence, and the host puts players out on the spot once the last one is gone.

A lifeline added to Germany's Cash Cab in 2023 gives passengers a few seconds to do what on their phones?

They may search the internet for the answer against a short countdown. The same revival moved the quiz into a seven-seat Volkswagen bus.

Why does a second car, steered by a local cabbie, travel ahead of the taxi while Germany's Cash Cab films?

To show the route, so that the quizmaster never gets lost mid-question. With another vehicle following behind, the taxi always travels in a small convoy.

At the height of Cash Cab's fame, what did its American host switch off to avoid being chased by fans?

The interior lights gave the game away, so he kept the colourful display dark and even hid from approaching passengers.

On Germany's Cash Cab, players could win back a used lifeline by describing words with what in their mouths?

A plastic ball made every word a mumble in a mini-game played at red lights, which could also involve miming or drawing. Success handed back a lifeline the team had already spent.

Japan's Cash Cab offered a third lifeline that sent the taxi straight to the nearest what?

A bookshop stop gave players five minutes to hunt for the answer. The fourth edition allowed just one book, bought without peeking inside.

Danish cabbies reported their country's version of Cash Cab to police partly because the fake taxi lacked what?

Proper licence plates were missing: the car wore ordinary white ones instead of those Danish law requires for cabs. Drivers also accused the quiz of poaching their customers.

Besides German cities, Germany's Cash Cab occasionally picked up passengers on which Spanish holiday island?

Mallorca hosted occasional rides, as did the Austrian ski resort of Kitzbühel. Most episodes stuck to cities such as Berlin, Munich and Cologne.

Which comedian and Curb Your Enthusiasm director was announced as executive producer of Cash Cab's revival?

David Steinberg, a veteran stand-up, was attached when the comeback was announced, before any driver had been named. Famous guests were even expected to take the wheel.