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Farewell: Temptation

The last Temptation....Nine's long-running game show bows out quietly on Friday morning. Thanks for the good times Ed & Livinia!

Friday marks the last ever episode of Temptation, the game show that has, in two formats, been a part of Channel Nine for many years.

Temptation revived the Sale of the Century format in May 2005 with Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon. After many years with Tony Barber, and subsequently Glenn Ridge, it was a risky move. But viewers warmed to the chemistry between Phillips and Nixon, who had previously done radio together.

Last year the show’s return was delayed following the on-going success of Two and a Half Men. Production of the FremantleMedia show by Nine was reduced, leaving two months of episodes in reserve, which have aired over summer.

In television most things are cyclical. There is every possibility the show could be revived one day, but unlikely to be in the format that we know. Sale of the Century, which aired from 1980 – 2001, was itself a remake of Temptation / Great Temptation which screened on Seven between 1971 – 1976.

The final episode with Ed Phillips, Livinia Nixon, Scott McGregor and Chelsey Butler airs 11:30am Friday on Nine. Here are some recent photos as a way of acknowledging its quizical fun.

TV Tonight can’t help but wonder… what if the champ turns down the prizes and says they want to “play on?”

50 Responses

  1. Bring back the original sale of the century ( not temptation) and I like the host of sale of the century to be Ed Phillips. Because I miss sale of the century when it is not on. Anymore on the game show they should give away 2 cars on the show and for the cars to give away should be Toyota, Mitsubishi, ford, BMW. I like the (1980-1999) style for the show & (not temptation) they should the fame game board & the board game to give away and on the fame game what is my name & who am I on the fame game board bring back the $20 on the fame game with the cash card harts,spades,dimonds,clubs,on the cash card at 7:00 pm on Monday-Friday I like the same musical for the show bring back the original sale of the century (not temptation) we want sale of the century. Bring it back on in 2011

  2. I am old enough to remember the days of the old Sale of the Century and for as long as I can remember 7pm in our house was always Quiz Show Time.
    Nine used to known as the Sale of the Century,Humphrey Bear and Channel Niners Network Today Replace That with 2.5 men 20 to 1 and csi

  3. Nathan Rees is a F***** idiot for axing Temptation – I Like That Game Show
    You bankrupt millions and f***loads of diamonds

    F*** you Nathan Rees you killed Nine!!!!

  4. I am not the only one disgusted at what Channel Nine has done to it’s gameshow timeslot.
    Who here isn’t already sick to death of those two and a half men.Though It could be worse they dump Days Of our Lives Episodes to 7pm weeknights

  5. I agree those two and a half men repeats won’t last forever.

    They could do the obvious and move that to 5;30pm and put Hot Seat Millionaire on at 7pm.It could do wonders also off the topic a little for the ACA ratings.

    I mean using A Current Affair as a lead in show to a comedy for the younger generation.What Drugs are Channel Nine on and who in their right mind under 40 watches Current Affairs Shows or in some cases cares for Politics and what goes on in our state.

  6. I can’t stand 2.5 men now that they pulled the plug on temptation for 2009 I will do what any sane person would do on my days off work and switch to Home and Away.At least It’s not an American Repeat that has been done to death many times over.

  7. I was a contestant on the Wednesday of the last week of the series. All five shows were filmed in one day so we knew the outcome. We were all specifically told that the winner of show 5 (Friday) will not be asked back as there will be no more Tempation, and that the winner on Friday must accept the prize no matter what.
    I was lucky enough to be in the lead every time there was a gift shop or the vault on offer so I just bought bought bought because I knew that the best I would have ever got was some holiday. The car and the cash jackpot would have been impossible no matter how intelligent I was. I left myself with just too much to do to catch up in the last round but had a ball and came away with $12000 worth of cash & prizes…..and asked the most dumb question ever asked on TV! When Ed offered me the Home Theatre System I said “Can you play music through it?” I meant CDs not music but I hoped the ground would open up and swallow me when I watched it on national TV.
    And I got to walk out onto the set with the stunning Chelsea twice! We had to retake the first one due to some technical hitch. It’s a tough job but someone had to do it!

  8. They finally got it right with Ed & Livinia. Ed didn’t mangle questions (like his predecessors) & Livinia was bright as well as pretty – they had great rapport, and the show’s format was the best ever. I agree that another time slot surely could have made it work. Channel 9 has no respect for viewers at all – it was shocking the way it disappeared. Thank heavens for Foxtel & Jeopardy. (Who would bother watching channel 9).

  9. i agree about the chemistry between ed and livinia. the questions were really good to and the players sharper than ever. a lot of people like trivia. at least temptation had an air of crediblility about it. heaps better than millionaire and maguire was just a bit too yuppie for me. come to think of it, temptation was the only free to air tv show i watched. channel 9 appears to be in free fall at the moment. they should sell the temptation franchise to channel 7.

  10. This is digusting, there is nothing else on at 7.00pm worth while watching and as for 2 1/2 men, it is pathetic. Talk about flogging a dead horse, wake up to yourselves.

    Livinia & Ed are fantastic and they are Australian not American.

    Surely Channel 9 need to consider viewers opinions and not their so called “marketing” gurus.

  11. I have just read all the comments in regards to the axing of Temptation and would like to express my disgust and disappointment with Channel 9 in their decision.

    I agree with the comments from Jill, “wake up to yourselves”, and consider viewers opinions.

  12. This is digusting, there is nothing else on at 7.00pm worth while watching and as for 2 1/2 men, it is pathetic. Talk about flogging a dead horse, wake up to yourselves.

    Livinia & Ed are fantastic and they are Australian not American.

    Surely Channel 9 need to consider viewers opinions and not their so called “marketing” gurus.

  13. The loss of Temptation is poor judgement on behalf of Nine. Two and a Half Men, although originally funny can become boring with many episodes being repeats that are shown over and over again. Bring back Temptation now before it gathers too much dust. It is one of the only game style shows I watch and is much more entertaining than the replacement. Ed and Livinia did a great job and showed apparent and obvious joy in presenting the show and they will be missed.

  14. The final show aired Saturday afternoon at 1pm where I live and I missed it, because I went out with my parents to run some errands and due to heavy traffic we get back home just as the afternoon movie that followed it starts. ):

    It was the one show that my dad and I watched together.

    My dad has had a rough time recently as his father passed away. Now that Temptation has ended he is really upset.

    If they are no more episodes to be made, then repeats would be just as good.

  15. Game shows are filmed and commissioned in “blocks.”

    At the time these were filmed (May) the show had not been on air all year and there was no certainty about any airdate. Effectively they knew “this is it for now but hopefully we get the call” hence a nod to possible “next series.” I expect this would have been related to the winner on the day…

  16. Yeah I agree with Ellis in that that ending was a bit sudden, as it was not mentioned throughout the show. However, I think Ed and Livinia expected to be back next year (or this year) as they asked the guy if he wanted to come back. They said it was the end of the series, but they were probably meaning the end of the season.

    Ed and Livinia hugging at the end was the best part of the show. The hug looked so genuine and real – like they actually meant it. It’s sad to see two people with great chemistry not being in the same show anymore. I will guess that Temptation will be back soon, and I really hope they rehire Ed as he was a fantastic host, along with Lavinia.

    I will miss them both.

  17. Whats’ even more disgusting is that ch9 did not even promote it would be on at a different time leaving many viewers lost and confused as can be seen by many of the above comments.

    Ch 9 has absolutely no respect for viewers and their 2009 line up offers nothing of substance apart perhaps from Underbelly.

  18. I just watched the final as well. The ending looked suss as well. The ‘champion’ got 130 points (the 2nd highest score in Temptation era) and took the jewelery for his ‘mother’.

    I will miss this show 🙁

  19. at the end it sounded as if they new it was the last ep cause ed said this is the last episode of the series and also cause they keeped talking about how much money has been given away throughout the series, but then he said see you next series. wonder what would have happened if the contestant said he would come back, im guessing they would have gave him the jewellery when they decided not to continue the series ( at least that would be the fair thing to do) worked out good as a last episode with the contestant getting the second highest score ever.

  20. I have just finished watching the final episode. One of the challengers Mark managed to defeat the returning champion Andrew. At the end of the episode Ed said that this was the final episode of the series and then asked if Mark wanted to come back and play on. Mark looked like he was seriously thinking about it but decided that he wouldn’t even though he had finished on $130 (the second highest score in Temptation history) and won by something like $60 to $70.

    Ed then said after 535 episodes and over $13 million given away that he hoped to be back tempting next season.

    But alas as we know it is not to be. Farewell Ed and Livinia. Farewell Temptation.

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