Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThe contestant, Terry Kniess, was never shown to have broken a rule. He bid exactly $23,743 on his Showcase at a September 22, 2008 taping, and he won the Showcase with that bid. The “cheating” accusation centers on a different man, Ted Slauson, a longtime audience member who had tracked the show’s prizes and prices for years and who later said he believed he had helped Kniess. Kniess has said he worked out the number himself. The reporting supports describing this as a controversy and an allegation. It does not establish a rule violation.
Two men, two roles
Headlines about the episode often blur the two men together, and that blurring is why the story keeps getting retold as a cheating case with a single villain. Kniess was the contestant on stage. Slauson was seated in the audience. The accusation was never that Kniess cheated by looking something up or breaking a rule in front of the cameras. It was that a fan with a detailed price catalog may have signaled numbers to a contestant, and that the exact bid made that possible explanation hard to ignore.
What happened on stage
Kniess and his wife, Linda, had recorded and watched the show for about four months before their taping. They looked for repeated prizes and for patterns in how prices were set. That preparation helped them recognize merchandise they had seen before. Kniess won a Big Green Egg grill with a perfect $1,175 bid on Contestant’s Row, which put him through to the final Showcase.
The Showcase package included a karaoke machine, a pool table and a camper. Kniess bid $23,743, which Esquire reported as the package’s actual retail price. His opponent’s package was valued at $31,019, and she bid $30,525. Kniess won the Showcase, and Esquire reported his total winnings as $56,437.41. These are figures from Esquire’s 2010 reporting on the taping, not from official show records.
Windows Errors? Fix Them Before They Spread
Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallOutdated Drivers Are Slowing You Down
One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware match#1 Best Overall
- Legendary Game
- autographed
- signed
- autograph
- memorabilia
Kniess’s explanation of the bid
Kniess later said he knew roughly what the showcase items cost because he had seen them before. He estimated the package at about $23,000 and then chose the last three digits, 743, because he and Linda used that number in PINs and other personal codes. He connected it to their wedding date and to her birth month. He also said he had misheard the camper’s length, so his final figure was not a clean item-by-item calculation. In other words, the exact match was partly a product of estimate and personal habit, not a verified total.
Kniess said he could not hear Slauson from where he was standing and that he was looking toward Linda. He said she confirmed part of his estimate with hand signals. NPR’s 2010 report records Kniess’s insistence that he acted alone.
Rank #2
- 52 Illustrated trivia questions about 1971
- Separate answer key card
- Jokers with additional sports trivia
- Full 52 card regulation playing deck
- Shrinkwrapped in hard plastic jewel case
Slauson’s account
Slauson had been attending tapings for years. He noticed that the same products came back again and again, recorded their prices and built a large catalog. By the September 22, 2008 taping he had attended 37 tapings, according to Esquire and a 2018 San Antonio Express-News profile by Richard A. Marini. Slauson told Esquire that he believed he had helped contestants from the audience, and Esquire describes him signaling prices to other contestants on earlier occasions.
Slauson’s belief that he helped is a claim about his own role. It is not independent proof that he signaled Kniess’s bid, and Kniess disputes that Slauson supplied it.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Rank #3
Why the bid looked like cheating
The bid was unprecedented in the show’s then 38-year history of Showcase bidding, as NPR and Esquire both reported in 2010. The show’s host, Drew Carey, later recalled that the staff’s first reaction was suspicion. He said, “Everybody thought someone had cheated.” The episode aired in December 2008, so the question of whether the bid was legitimate was not resolved behind closed doors before broadcast.
Three details made the moment look suspicious: the exact match to the retail price, the audience member’s long price catalog, and the fact that the contestant was seated where an audience member could plausibly see or signal. Each of these is documented. What the reporting does not do is show that a signal was sent and received at the moment of the bid.
Rank #4
- Henry McGee Original LWT TV 8x10 Portrait Photo Game Show The Pyramid Game snipe Near Mint - This item is an ORIGINAL 8x10 photo from the historic archives of Silver Screen Mementos. This original photograph was made in the actual year the film, television show or event was produced.
- The movie studios produced publicity photographs for distribution to the press, photo agencies and publicity departments to advertise the film/tv show or event. Very often original photos have press release information on the reverse of the photo - movie credits, description of the scene, event and people involved. This is a historic piece of cinema art and is being offered from one collector to another, no rights given or implied.Â
The competing accounts compared
| Question | Kniess and Linda’s account | Slauson’s account |
|---|---|---|
| Who supplied the number? | Kniess, from prior viewing and an estimate near $23,000, with the final digits from a personal code | Slauson says he believed he had helped; he describes signaling prices to contestants on earlier occasions |
| What could each person see or hear? | Kniess says he could not hear Slauson and was looking toward Linda, who confirmed part of the estimate with hand signals | Slauson says he was positioned to help audience contestants; the reporting does not establish what he could see from his seat |
| Is the account documented or corroborated? | Documented in interviews and in Esquire’s reporting; the misheard camper length is his own admission | Documented in interviews and his price catalog; a signal at the moment of the bid is not independently corroborated |
What is and is not established
The record establishes four things: Kniess bid $23,743 on an item that was worth that exact amount; the Kniess couple prepared by studying the show; Slauson kept a detailed price catalog and believed he had helped other contestants; and the bid was suspicious enough that the show’s staff initially questioned it. The record does not establish that Slauson signaled the bid, that Kniess cheated, or that any official finding was made.
The sources also have limits. NPR’s July 13, 2010 report is a concise account and notes that the method remained unclear. Esquire’s July 12, 2010 feature by Chris Jones has the most detailed interviews and both men’s versions. The Express-News profile from June 8, 2018 adds Slauson’s background, his spreadsheet and a documentary about him. None of these is a broadcast transcript, a show investigation or a ruling.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
Best Value
- Cards are in Nrmt condition, see pictures.
Watching the documentary
The documentary Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Knew Too Much is about Slauson and this controversy. The 2018 Express-News report said it was then available from Amazon, iTunes and Vudu. That was availability at the time of that report. Current streaming or rental options, and the format on each, should be checked directly before you rely on them.
Quick Recap
Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.
