History Main / Zonk

** It looks like they tried to avoid this for a while on the Brady version, as almost anything given away as a Zonk during the first season, even the large amounts of food, was usually spray-painted, smashed, or otherwise defaced to render it worthless. This practice now seems to be abandoned for the most part, to the point where certain Zonks contain things like DJ mixers and old-style TVs that appear to be in perfect condition and often even ''shown to be working''.

* During the final round of ''Main/{{Distraction}}'', your legitimate prizes might be ''turned into'' Zonks if you get the questions wrong. Same goes with ''Series/{{Downfall}}'', except they tell you straight up that the prizes up for destruction are fake.

* Subverted in [[http://xkcd.com/1282/ this]] {{xkcd}} strip, where [[{{Buttcuckoolander}} Beret Guy]] welcomes his goat prize.

* Music/{{Weird Al Yankovic}}'s local UHF station in ''Film/{{UHF}}'' had ''Wheel of Fish'', in which the prizes were ''all'' Zonks (namely different kinds of fish). The contestants could also choose the contents of a Mystery Box; the one time we see it chosen, it's chock full of [[spoiler: NOTHING! YOU SO STUPID!]]

** It looks like they tried to avoid this for a while on the Brady version, as almost anything given away as a Zonk during the first season, even the large amounts of food, was usually spray-painted, smashed, or otherwise defaced to render it worthless. This practice now seems to be abandoned for the most part, to the point where certain Zonks contain things like DJ mixers and old-style TV's that appear to be in perfect condition and often even ''shown to be working''.

* There was an episode of ''RockosModernLife'' that played with this. Rocko's kitchen gets destroyed (don't ask) and he goes on a game show to win a new one. He wins, but it turns out he only won a single spoon and has to keep winning every day for the rest of the Summer to get the whole kitchen...which in fairness is basically ''DreamHouse'' on a much smaller scale with a lot more effort required.

** During the days of Door Number 4 on "The All-New Let's Make a Deal", the "Zonk" space on the wheel was always awarded as a red T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "I was Zonked by Monty Hall!"

* Subverted in [[http://xkcd.com/1282/ this]] {{xkcd}} strip, where [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Beret Guy]] welcomes his goat prize.

* Parodied on an episode of Series/''GoodLuckCharlie'': Teddy enters a radio contest to win a new car after singing the National Anthem at a sporting event. Said car turned out to be a child's toy.

* Subverted in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon "The Million Hare". WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck barely beats WesternAnimation/BugsBunny in a race to a radio station, but is told that his prize wasn't a million bucks, but "The Million Box": a crate containing a million little boxes. Daffy "graciously" gives the prize to Bugs, but finds out that each of the little boxes contained a $1 bill.

Not to be confused with the ''VideoGame/AirZonk'', a SpinOff from ''VideoGame/{{Bonk}}''.

* The producers did make a mistake on this once, which, if they had been caught, would have been expensive. One of the 'zonks' offered was an oil derrick. At that time, an oil derrick, even on the used equipment market, was worth about $6,000, and would have been worth more than the highest prize on that show. The contestant [[WorthlessYellowRocks didn't know this]], of course, and took the consolation prize.

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* Subverted in [[http://xkcd.com/1282/ this]] {{xkcd}} strip, where [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} Beret Guy]] welcomes his goat prize.
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* Even the foreign versions played along. The German ''Geh aufs Ganze'' had Zonks known as "Zonks", grey-red, fox-like plush animals] On the Polish version ''Idź Na Całość'', Zonk was a red plush cat in a black bag (the original "pig in a poke" being a cat you couldn't see passed off as a young pig). In Polish slang, 'zonk' today means 'something unexpected'.

* In Bally's ''[[Pinball/DrDude]]'', one of the random prizes available from the Bag O' Tricks is a measly 10 points.

* ''Series/LetsMakeADeal'': The trope namer, the show was famous for offering such booby prizes: animals, absurd amounts of food, old and broken motor vehicles, etc. If the Zonk was an animal, it was usually a goat (or goats) or a cow, although the 2009 revival has also offered other farm animals, and even a "[[JustForPun Zonkey]]" (A donkey painted with zebra stripes). The practice was discontinued in the middle of the first season when [=PETA=] (naturally) complained about it.
** You can buy most of those food-type Zonks at Sam's Club nowadays.
** The producers did make a mistake on this once, which, if they had been caught, would have been expensive. One of the 'zonks' offered was an oil derrick. At that time, an oil derrick, even on the used equipment market, was worth about $6,000, and would have been worth more than the highest prize on that show. The contestant [[WorthlessYellowRocks didn't know this]], of course, and took the consolation prize.
** Winners of Zonks on ''Let's Make a Deal'' also have an option to sign a certificate of forfeiture after the show. If they did so, they would receive another prize of equal value to the Zonk; that's why some of the Zonks were risky for the producers.
*** It looks like they tried to avoid this for a while on the Brady version, as almost anything given away as a Zonk during the first season, even the large amounts of food, was usually spray-painted, smashed, or otherwise defaced to render it worthless. This practice now seems to be abandoned for the most part, to the point where certain Zonks contain things like DJ mixers and old-style TV's that appear to be in perfect condition and often even ''shown to be working''.
*** During the days of Door Number 4 on "The All-New Let's Make a Deal", the "Zonk" space on the wheel was always awarded as a red T-shirt emblazoned with the phrase "I was Zonked by Monty Hall!"
** Even the foreign versions played along. The German ''Geh aufs Ganze'' had Zonks known as "Zonks", grey-red, fox-like plush animals] On the Polish version ''Idź Na Całość'', Zonk was a red plush cat in a black bag (the original "pig in a poke" being a cat you couldn't see passed off as a young pig). In Polish slang, 'zonk' today means 'something unexpected'.
** On the Wayne Brady version, the Zonk logo is used in some games (particularly ones that involve a luck-based challenge, such as "Movin' On Up") in situations where they function more like a {{Whammy}} rather than a joke prize.
*** The Wayne Brady version of Zonks are also often completely ridiculous (which makes them funny), such as a "mobile phone" (an RC car shaped like a telephone) or "literal slippers" (shoes shaped like [[BananaPeel banana peels)]].
* These gag prizes also appeared on ''{{Concentration}}'', which was part of the reason for the "Forfeit One Gift" cards.
** One such gag prize was a brick wall. The contestant surely wouldn't want a brick wall, would he? Oh yes, he would, and the producers were forced to build a brick wall around the contestant's house for several thousand 1960s dollars. Since then, such gifts have been described more carefully (usually as something like "[X amount] of brick wall").

* This caused significant problems in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when Bart opted for the gag prize over the cash sum; not only did the radio station not actually have the gag prize available to give away, but when they did eventually get it, the beast caused untold carnage lasting for approximately the duration of the episode. ("Bart Gets an Elephant", of course.)

** Not strange, considered that ''3-2-1'' is a version of a previous Spanish game show, appropiately named ''1,2,3''. In the final Auction Round, the contestants "bought" up to three objects offered by the host. The objects were usually worthless, but they had a card attached with the real prize that could be either something big or a joke item, like the show's mascot. About 99% of the time, getting that meant that you just got a toy pumpkin. But sometimes the pumpkin [[EarnYourHappyEnding had attached a card of its own...]]

* The Japanese game show ''TokyoFriendPark2'' is fond of offering a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tawashi tawashi]] (Japanese kitchen scrubbing brush) as its trademark zonk.
** Tawashi are common zonks on many Japanese game shows. One, ''Shinkon-san Irasshai!'' (a ''Concentration''-type game between newlywed couples) often ends with a bonus round featuring either a honeymoon in Hawaii or a tawashi.
* Brazilian variety program ''Domingo no Parque'' had the "Foguete" ("rocket") game - throughly copied throughout the years by other TV shows - where kids entered a rocket-shaped booth with acoustic sealing. Without listening to anything, they had to deafly respond with "yes" or "no" if they wanted to trade a prize for another - leading to things such as "do you trade this new bicycle for a match box?"

* Bidders on ''Series/StorageWars'' can end up being Zonked if they spend a lot of money on a locker that ends up containing nothing but worthless garbage.
** In at least once, the auctioneers were the ones who got Zonked. In the episode where the auctioneer's wife was filling in, she talked up a certain locker, only for it to contain nothing but useless trash (and not even very much, at that).
* Parodied in the ''Series/DrakeAndJosh'' episode ''Peruvian Puff Pepper'', where Megan orders the eponymous condiment for her salsa which she will enter in a salsa-making contest where Drake and Josh are one of her rival competitors. This pepper ensures her victory in the contest. The brothers manage to steal the pepper from her, much to her anger for being unable to retrieve it from her denying brothers. When the brothers had used the pepper for their salsa and won the contest, Megan tricks them to reveal the "secret ingredient" of their salsa. It is then revealed that the pepper is illegal due to causing kidney failure and chapped lips, thus disqualifying the brothers' salsa. Since Megan is in second-place, she gets the first prize plasma TV instead.
* Subverted in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon "The Million Hare". WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck barely beats WesternAnimation/BugsBunny in a race to a radio station, but is told that his prize wasn't a million bucks, but "The Million Box": a crate containing a million little boxes. Daffy "graciously" gives the prize to Bugs, but finds out that each of the little boxes contained a $1 bill.

* The ChuckBarris versions of ''[[TreasureHuntUS Treasure Hunt]]'' hosted by Geoff Edwards called these prizes "Klunks", which Edwards named himself.

* Subverted in the WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes cartoon "The Million Hare". Daffy barely beats Bugs in a race to a radio station, but is told that his prize wasn't a million bucks, but "The Million Box": a crate containing a million little boxes. Daffy "graciously" gives the prize to Bugs, but finds out that each of the little boxes contained a $1 bill.

* Parodied on a ''KidsInTheHall'' sketch: The winner of the [[AsLongAsItSoundsForeign apparently]] Dutch game show ''Feelyat!'' happily goes home with a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig.

* During the final round of ''Series/{{Distraction}}'', your legitimate prizes might be ''turned into'' Zonks if you get the questions wrong. Same goes with ''Series/{{Downfall}}'', except they tell you straight up that the prizes up for destruction are fake.

* During the final round of ''Seires/{{Distraction}}'', your legitimate prizes might be ''turned into'' Zonks if you get the questions wrong. Same goes with ''Series/{{Downfall}}'', except they tell you straight up that the prizes up for destruction are fake.