Ben Bailey’s fame meter has been given a jolt — and he hopes he can hack it.
Bailey, a standup comedian who’s won two Emmys and a rabid fan base driving Discovery’s “Cash Cab,” has hit the TV jackpot.
On Dec. 19, he’ll begin his week-long run hosting NBC’s new prime-time game show, “Who’s Still Standing” — followed, the next night, by his Discovery special, “Best in the Business.”
“ ‘Cash Cab’ has changed my existence completely, and I’m a little worried that [with] jumping to a network like NBC there will be an explosion of more visibility,” says Bailey. “It’s gonna be, ‘Oh my god, this is insane.’
“So I’m kind of bracing myself,” he says. “I already can’t go anywhere without people pointing to me and saying, ‘You’re the ‘Cash Cab’ guy,’ but this is network TV.
“We might get 1.5 million people watching ‘Cash Cab,’ but we could get 15 million people watching this show on NBC,” he says.
“It’s bound to have an effect on my walking out on the street. But I love this new show and I’m really pumped about it. I’ve had calls and offers the last few years, but this is the first project I really liked — and I dropped everything and went out to LA and put a month into the episodes we’ve made.”
In “Who’s Still Standing,” based on an Israeli game show, one main competitor takes on 10 challengers in a trivia challenge worth up to $1 million. The catch? Anyone who answers a question incorrectly is literally dropped through a trap door.
“They drop probably about 10 feet, but it’s controlled by hydraulics,” Bailey says. “When the door opens, the floor is just gone and they fall so quickly.
“People who are playing the game feel that anticipation the whole time they’re standing on that door — one wrong answer and down you go.”
Bailey, who’s also spun his “Cash Cab” success into an acting career — he’s appeared on “30 Rock” and “Law & Order: SVU,” among others — says he’s been approached to host other game shows that were mostly reality/competition series “way too extreme” for his tastes.
“For ‘Who’s Still Standing,’ they seemed to really want me and I really liked the format. This show has a lot of cool stuff, including super-slow-motion shots of people when they just drop through the floor.
“It’s awesome.”
“Who’s Still Standing” airs Monday through Thursday, Dec. 19-22 (8 p.m./Ch. 4), then returns Dec. 26 and airs through the end of January.
Discovery’s “Best in the Business,” airs Dec. 20 (10 p.m.) — pitting “the creme de la creme of the American workforce” (oyster shuckers, excavators) in competitions.