History Main / LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened

* ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'': Happened in the event of a bailout, especially with the final question (Million-Dollar Question during the FOX era, 10× Bonus Question during the syndicated run).

OK, so you're on a GameShow, and you've won a substantial pile of cash and prizes. The host offers you the chance to walk away with your pile of loot, or go for broke and play one question for One Million Dollars. You elect to walk away, and the audience supports you. You're celebrating your cool collection, and the host congratulates you, reminding you that it's all yours to keep...''but'' he wants you to play out the final question anyway, because he has at least two more minutes of show to fill. Unfortunately, this can result in [[EpicFail extreme disappointment]] if you would have ''won''.

* Parodied in Music/WeirdAlYankovic's [[Music/WeirdAlYankovicIn3D "I Lost on Jeopardy"]], where in the song's bridge, Don Pardo announces all the prizes that Al didn't win upon fulfilling the song's title: twenty volumes of the Encyclopedia International, a case of Turtle Wax, a year's supply of Rice-a-Roni, his dignity, his family's dignity, a spot on the next episode, and the show's board game.

* ''Series/OneVersusAHundred'': If the player opts for the money over the Mob, both the correct answer and the number of Mob members who would've been eliminated are revealed. Inverted in the Xbox 360 era, as players were only offered Money Or Mob ''after'' the answer and eliminations were revealed.

Also known as a Proveout. For games that rely on the house's honesty like ''Series/DealOrNoDeal'', this is also used to demonstrate that it was in fact possible to win the big prize.

* ''Tipping Point'', a game show based entirely around a penny pusher, has a finale where the player must put a Jackpot counter into the machine, whereby they win said jackpot by pushing it back out again. They can answer questions to win counters to do so, but if they run out of questions and counters, they are allowed to gamble what they have earned already (£50 per counter pushed out throughout the course of the show) and buy 3 more counters in an all-or-nothing shot at the jackpot. [[note]]If it's unlikely that three counters will be enough to get the Jackpot counter into the win zone, it's assumed the player won't gamble their winnings, but they're still asked if they want to "take the trade."[[/note]] This trope is invoked when the player opts out of the jackpot and keeps their winnings - they still go for the three counters, but they can't win the jackpot. Usually accompanied by cheering or crying. [[note]] Although, given the inherently-random path the counters take down the baffles onto the machine's platform, it's more like a case of "COULD have happened", as there is no way of knowing if the 3 counters would have dropped the same way had the contestant wagered their earnings for real. [[/note]]

* ''Tipping Point'', a game show based entirely around a penny pusher, has a finale where the player must put a Jackpot counter into the machine, whereby they win said jackpot by pushing it back out again. They can answer questions to win counters to do so, but if they run out of questions and counters, they are allowed to gamble what they have earned already (£50 per counter pushed out throughout the course of the show) and buy 3 more counters in an all-or-nothing shot at the jackpot. [[note]]If it's unlikely that three counters will be enough to get the Jackpot counter into the win zone, it's assumed the player won't take the gamble, but they're still asked if they want to "take the trade."[[/note]] This trope is invoked when the player opts out of the jackpot and keeps their winnings - they still go for the three counters, but they can't win the jackpot. Usually accompanied by cheering or crying. [[note]] Although, given the inherently-random path the counters take down the baffles onto the machine's platform, it's more like a case of "COULD have happened", as there is no way of knowing if the 3 counters would have dropped the same way had the contestant wagered their earnings for real. [[/note]]

* ''Tipping Point'', a game show based entirely around a penny pusher, has a finale where the player must put a Jackpot counter into the machine, whereby they win said jackpot by pushing it back out again. They can answer questions to win counters to do so, but if they run out of questions and counters, they are allowed to gamble what they have earned already (£50 per counter pushed out throughout the course of the show) and buy 3 more counters in an all-or-nothing shot at the jackpot. This trope is invoked when the player opts out of the jackpot and keeps their winnings - they still go for the three counters, but they can't win the jackpot. Usually accompanied by cheering or crying. [[note]] Although, given the inherently-random path the counters take down the baffles onto the machine's platform, it's more like a case of "COULD have happened", as there is no way of knowing if the 3 counters would have dropped the same way had the contestant wagered their earnings for real. [[/note]]

* ''Series/RussianRoulette'': When a player won $10,000 in the bonus round, but decided not to go for the $100,000. They would pull the handle, step off the Drop Zone, and after finding out what would've happened walks off with Mark down the corridor as the credits roll.

* ''Series/AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'': Happened in the event of a bailout, especially with the final question (Million-Dollar Question during the FOX era, 10x Bonus Question during the syndicated run).

* ''Tipping Point'', a game show based entirely around a penny pusher, has a finale where the player must put a Jackpot counter into the machine, whereby they win said jackpot by pushing it back out again. They can answer questions to win counters to do so, but if they run out of questions and counters, they are allowed to gamble what they have earned already (£50 per counter pushed out throughout the course of the show) and buy 3 more counters in an all-or-nothing shot at the jackpot. This trope is invoked when the player opts out of the jackpot and keeps their winnings - they still go for the three counters, but they can't win the jackpot. Usually accompanied by cheering or crying. [[note]] Although, given the inherently-random path the counters take down the baffles onto the machine's platform, it's more like a case of "COULD have happened", as there is no guarantee the 3 counters would have dropped the same way had the contestant wagered their earnings for real. [[/note]]