Executive Producer Noah Bonnett first moved out to LA during the Survivor-induced reality TV craze, and worked as an assistant to the Senior VP of Reality and Non-Scripted Programming at Sony Pictures Television. After working on a variety of television game shows – mainly with production company Endemol on shows like Deal or No Deal – Noah decided to hit the web with 88 Slide, a one-minute game show for the masses. Noah works with a small crew of 4 or 5 producers, editors, art directors, and writers while Rachel Rhodes, the attractive and outgoing host, and Blaine Rucker, the site’s announcer, are the main faces of the program. 88 Slide operates with various sponsors that provide prizes to randomly selected winners who correctly answer the daily trivia question. While the show has been in hibernation since November 20, 2006 – apparently retooling for a bigger, better version – check out the archives to see shows dating all the way back to the site’s launch on February 6, 2006.
Each weekday, Rachel asks viewers a simple multiple choice trivia question in the one-minute video. The themes vary and the locations, props, and costumes often match the topics broached – everything from National Pi Day and Gay Rugby to mashups with Ty Paddington of ShowbizNewsyNews. The format is the same each time: Rachel gives some facts, asks a question, displays the possible choices, reveals the prize, answers the question from the previous day and then Blaine announces the winner. The prizes range from the not bad – a $10 gift certificate to iTunes or Nintendo Game Boy Advance – to the pretty good – a 19” LCD monitor or a year’s subscription to Netflix. Often, the better prizes are outed in advance on the blog, but the question isn’t any more difficult on days when this happens. Viewers have until 12 midnight EST to e-mail or text 88Slide with their answer, and winners are randomly selected from a drawing of correct entries. Also, on the weekends 88Slide releases a clip reel with outtakes and bloopers from the previous week.
Rachel is an adorable host, but the site doesn’t succeed on that alone. The editing and videography are top-notch and the writing is succinct and fresh. Although Rachel and Blaine are both highly competent, they do occasionally screw up, and this footage is gathered at the end of each week and posted on Saturdays in the weekly Outtakes and Bloopers. Rachel will also sometimes offer up her hosting responsibilities to others, as she did when Messy Stench – the result of a craigslist search for “interesting” people – hosted the show in her apartment. The videos are short and sweet, and considering the quality of the prizes, you really have nothing to lose by checking out 88 Slide each day.
