Friend or Foe (TV series)

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.
"Trust me."
—The only words in the title music.

GSN Game Show described by its host (Lisa) Kennedy (Montgomery) as "the test of knowledge and trust". Three teams of two had to agree on a correct answer to a multiple-choice question to build up their Trust Fund. It was mostly seen as GSN's answer to The Weakest Link.

The game is set up in three rounds. After each round, one team must go to the "Trust Box" to determine how the money was given to the two members:

  • Friend-Friend: Each member gets half of the Trust Fund.
  • Friend-Foe: Foe takes the entire Trust Fund, Friend leaves with nothing.
  • Foe-Foe: GSN doesn't have to write any checks.

Everyone "looking out for Number One" is a policy that hurts everyone; in order for at least one in a pair to get any cash, someone has to be at the other's mercy...but choosing "Friend" won't maximize a contestant's payout. This is based on a well-known example of Game Theory called the (iterated) Prisoner's dilemma.

The following Game Show tropes appear in Friend or Foe (TV series):
  • All or Nothing: When someone says "Foe", this comes into effect for that person only.
  • Bonus Round: "Right or Wrong?", a chance for the last team standing to add to their Trust Fund before going to the Trust Box themselves.
  • Personnel:
    • Game Show Host: (Lisa) Kennedy. Mark L. Walberg guest-hosted on April Fool's Day 2003.
  • Sound Proof Booth: Three of them, one for each team. All were wired so the teams could only hear Kennedy.
  • Whammy: The Trust Box, depending on the situation (to the Friend in Friend-Foe decisions, to both in Foe-Foe).
Tropes used in Friend or Foe (TV series) include:
  • Cluster F-Bomb: One player who got "Foed" took it rather hard and let loose with one during the credits.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Mark L. Walberg hosted the show during GSN's April Fool's 2003 host switcharound...which also happened to be the show's last first-run episode.
  • Deadpan Snarker: This is Kennedy we're talking about here, folks!
  • Downer Ending: Whenever the last team of the day went Foe-Foe.
  • Dueling Shows: Similar to The Weakest Link, and went out the door at around the same point.
  • Epic Fail: If all three teams went Foe-Foe, it was a $0 giveaway day for GSN. Inverted if all three teams went Friend-Friend.
  • Unwinnable by Design: If one player voted Foe, the other always left empty-handed.
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