People who win money/vacations on game shows..

When I was a kid, my friend's father went on "Let's Make A Deal" with Monty Hall and Carol Merrill. He won the "Big Deal of the Day" and instead of the prizes, received a check for $8,500. That was a pretty hefty sum for the early 1970s. The family was very happy; my friend even showed me a mimeographed copy of the check. So in their case, at least, it worked out great for them.

A friend of mine is a producer for Warner Bros TV. He says that a lot of those winners can’t even claim their stuff because you have to cover the related taxes before claiming it and getting it shipped to you. A lot don’t have the $$ to cover the upfront tax bill on the washer dryer/RV/kitchen set etc.

I knew someone who won money on a game show. They were an insufferable cunt before and pretty much the same after, just, you know, $5K richer.

I won some money on Jeopardy but it wasn't really enough to change my life. I took a nice vacation with it and that was it

I paid for grad school and bought a new car off of my game show winnings. It made me very happy.

R2 - I think that's why they're doing cash supplemental prizes.

Aren't material prizes taxable like income? I don't know for sure about this. It would suck to win a $10k vacation and then have to pay $3k in order to take it.

Yes, R6, the material prizes are taxed as ordinary income. The presumed value is the manufacturer’s suggested retail price. However the taxpayer can obtain appraisals and other evidence to establish a different taxable value.