Probably, but if it was comon knowledge then who ever did it would be drawn and quartered in public so if it has happened, you will never hear about it.

Absolutely, game shows have been cheated. In 1984, a Press Your Luck contestant named Michael Larson memorized the patterns of the game board to help him stop the board where wanted. He spun over 40 times without hitting a "Whammy". As a result, he earned $110,237 in cash and prizes. What Larson did was not technically cheating, and CBS gave him the money. Probably the most famous instance of outright cheating took place on the NBC quiz show "21". The format of the show had two contestants, one the champion from the previous episode, and the other a challenger. The two were placed in separate sound proof booths. The sound would be turned off to one booth, while the contestant in the other booth would answer questions . The contestant could pick how many points to play for (1-11), with the questions getting harder as thier point values increased. A correct answer would add points, while an incorrect one took them away. When one player finished a question, the other would be given the same choice, with questions in the same category. The object was to reach 21 points, or get closer than your opponent. After two rounds of play, both booths were opened and either player could stop the game at that point.. If either player chose to do so, no matter which one, the player in the lead at that point would win. If the challenger reached 21 points first, the champ was given one last chance to catch up and tie. Champions prizes were based on the difference in scores. Prizes started at $500 for each point difference (for instance, if a player won by 5 points, they would get $2500, with the amount increasing by $500 each time the players went to a 21-21 tie. After each win, the champion would learn a little bit about his/her next opponent and given the option to walk with their winnings. The risk was, if the champ was defeated the next day, the new winner's first day prize money would come off of the old champions total winnings. The first brodcast of the show went terrible, with the contestants failing miserably (apparently the questions were too hard). The show was sponsored by Geritol, and after the disastrous first episode, they decided to rig the outcome of the show. The contestants were told the answers, and were told which ones to answer right, and which ones to miss. The scandal which would ultimately become the basis of the movie "Quiz Show", started when contestant Charles Van Doren, a college professor, appeared to challenge the current champion Herbert Stempel. The two played in a number of games that ended in a tie, and the show's poularity soared. Finally, Stempel was ordered to miss aquestion, making Van Doren the champion. Van Doren went on to complete one of the longest winning runs in TV Quiz show history, winning a total of $129,000 before finally being beaten on March 11, 1957, by a woman named Vivian Nearing. Stempel was upset over the fact he was ordered to "take a dive," and attempted to blow the whistle on what was going on at Twenty One He had a federal investigator look into the show. These investigations ultimately led to Senate hearings, in which Van Doren confessed to being given the answers to all of his questions before each show, and led to legislation barring the rigging of television game shows. Twenty One was cancelled on October 16, 1958.

There was a famous case in the UK quite recently on "Who wants to be a millionaire" where someone made the £1000,000 by answering each answer following a cough. Whenever the right answer was mentioned, a cough was heard so the the contestant knew which option to go for. He was hung drawn and quartered by Joe Public... but like all good TV, he became a celeb because of it. Go figure.

If someone cheats successfully, it usually means that they do it without being caught. And if they aren't caught, then it usually follows that nobody will know about it. It depends on your definition of 'cheating successfully', really. Personally, I think that if one cheats successfully, it means that nobody finds out about the wrongdoing, and so theoretically it is indefinite as to whether or not anybody has ever successfully cheated on a game show. However, the number of times that people have been *caught* cheating, probably indicates that there *are* those who have got away with it. (just my personal opinion)

yes that guy on the press your luck did. well i guess it is not really cheating if you memorize the patterns.

There have been successful cheating attempts on The Price Is Right; Bob Barker usually lets them get away with it. Here are two examples: * A contestant playing Pathfinder briefly tapped a square with his foot, making it light up as if he was to go there. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathfinder_%28pricing_game%29 * On Flip Flop, a contestant pressed the button that reveals the final, correct price, rendering the game results moot and awarding the contestant the prize. More info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Flop_%28pricing_game%29 Other games that have been used for cheating: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_Game_%28pricing_game%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Strikes_%28pricing_game%29