Moolah Beach
| Moolah Beach | |
|---|---|
| File:Moolah Beach Logo.gif Show logo | |
| Created by | Todd Nelson J. D. Roth |
| Starring | (See Contestants) |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 or 60 minutes (incl. commercials) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Fox Kids/Fox Family (now ABC Family) |
| Release | September 8, 2001 – December 1, 2001 |
Moolah Beach was a reality show in the vein of Survivor but with teenagers competing in competitions in order to not be exiled from the beach and ultimately win $25,000. It aired on Fox (as part of its Fox Kids lineup) as a 30-minute show and Fox Family (later shown on ABC Family) as an extended 60-minute show in the summer/fall of 2001 for 13 episodes and is the predecessor of the current show Endurance on Discovery Kids.
Contestants
The 12 contestants were divided up into 6 different teams, each one containing one boy and one girl.
| Team color | Boys | Girls | Eliminated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue | Xavier Yepez | Chasati Allen | 6th Place |
| Orange | Jacob Capito | Chloe Levenson | 5th Place |
| Yellow | A.J. Johnson | Brittany Harris | 4th Place |
| Red | Drew Luna | Nancy Diaz | 3rd Place |
| Green | Kyle Searles | Shari Lee | 2nd Place |
| Purple | Clark Harrison | Summer Borden | Winners |
Show format
Beginning
At the beginning of the game, the 12 kids are paired off into six teams of 2 (each composed of a boy and girl). This is determined by a challenge in which the winner gets the partner of their choice. At this point J.D. presents the to players "Idol Village" which is composed of 13 idols, each one representing one of the gods of Hawaii. Inside one of the idols is the $25,000 grand prize.
Missions
Like on Endurance, they are two type of challenges: the Idol Missions, and the Kahuna Missions.
Idol Missions
Idol Missions are usually based on physical strength/endurance. The team that wins the challenge wins the right to claim 2 of the idols in the game that have not been chosen yet. In addition, they also gain a clue that hints at an idol that does NOT have the grand prize. There are 4 clues in all.
Kahuna Missions
The Kahuna Mission is where the six teams compete in a game of skill to win offerings (colored markers) that help keep them on the beach. The first team to finish this game earns 10 offerings to the Great Kahuna, the second-place team earns 5, and each team after that receives one less.
Great Kahuna
The night after a Kahuna Mission the teams visit The Great Kahuna and bring the offerings they won. Once the offerings are put inside The Great Kahuna, the offerings are shuffled and one is drawn. If a team's offering is drawn, that team remains in the game, and their remaining offerings are removed from the Great Kahuna. This process is repeated until one team has not been drawn, and this is the team eliminated from the game. Should the eliminated team own any of the 13 idols in the village, they get to choose which team will inherit them.
Finale
Once the 13 idols are split between the final two teams, J.D. will offer the team that owns the majority of the idols a bribe to give up some of their idols to the other team. J.D. will continue to add more prizes to the bribe until either 5 prizes have been offered or the leading team accepts. If the leading team flat out refuses, the trailing team is given the same offer with the prizes the leading team turned down, possibly adding even more prizes to the bribe, and having to give up fewer idols, since that team is trailing. Note that the team that accepts the bribe gets to keep the prizes even if they do not win the $25,000, and the prizes in the bribe get more expensive should more prizes need to be added.
Once the bribe is accepted or both teams refuse, J. D. Roth reveals the answers to the four idol clues, then starts to reveal the other idols that do not have the $25,000. Once one idol is left in play for each team, they go up to the Great Kahuna for the keys to the two remaining idols. The two idols are opened at the same time, and the team that owns the idol that hides the $25,000 wins the money.
The bribe that was accepted in the only season of Moolah Beach was accepted by the Green Team of Kyle Searles and Shari Lee. The prizes in the bribe were the following:
- Playstation 2 game console and a collection of games
- McDonalds free food for 1 year
- Skiing and Snowboarding equipment
- A Trip to watch the Daytona 500 and meet the drivers
- Waverunner
The Purple Team of Summer Borden and Clark Harrison who owned a majority of the idols refused this bribe. Kyle and Shari was offered the bribe with the additional prize of an ATV. It was at this point that they accepted the bribe. Kyle and Shari each got all the prizes in the bribe, so the team did not have to decide which member would win what.
Also note that Kyle and Shari never had possession of the winning idol (the winning idol was HULA). Summer and Clark received the winning idol by inherit, when the Red Team of Nancy Diaz and Drew Luna was eliminated. When Summer and Clark were asked which idols would they have given up if they had taken the bribe (Summer and Clark would have had to give Kyle and Shari three of the idols to accept) none were HULA.
Idols
Koa (Warrior)
Lua pele (Volcano)
Papi'o (Fish)
Makani pahili (Hurricane)
Ikaika (Strength)
Moana (Ocean)
Kahakai (Beach)
La' (Sun)
Hekili (Thunder)
Mano (Shark)
Mea wa'a (Canoe Building)
Ahi (Fire)
Hula (Dance)
Trivia
- J. D. Roth, being host/producer of Moolah Beach, knew from the beginning which idol hid the money.
- Clark, of the purple team, was the guitarist for the now defunct band October Fall.
- Drew Luna from the Red Team, is currently in the Police Academy in Central Florida.
- Kyle Searles of the green team, has had acting jons & has recenty completed the broadcast network cycle in this order; Fox (Moolah Beach), WB (Dawson's Creek), NBC (American Dreams), ABC (George Lopez), UPN (Veromica Mars) & CBS (Swingtown).