Half-naked men, gobs of pudding, buckets of vomit and crisp $20 bills were all sights UCSD was treated to by MTV’s new game show, “”I Bet You Will,”” which invaded Library Walk on May 6 to record an upcoming episode.
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The television show, originally conceived in New York, dares people to do things in exchange for money.
“”You would be surprised at what people will do for money,”” said Peter Yango of MTV. “”You never know what people will be addicted to next, but they are talking about this show. The early chatter around the box is that people are saying, ‘I would have done that for less.’ That’s what this show is about.””
The day’s first bet was taken by Thurgood Marshall College sophomore Jon Gore, who agreed to dump pudding in his pants for $60. At the time, only a small crowd of about 10 people watched the stunt. However, soon there were over 100 people gathered around the taping.
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While some might question Gore for filling his britches with a dessert, he said it was well worth it.
“”It’s a little wet and squishy,”” Gore said. “”But hey, I just got 60 bones for puddin’ down my pants.””
The next bet pitted Marshall sophomore Jordan Meyer against Marshall freshman Mark Tate in a drinking contest. Rather than alcohol, the beverage involved was wheatgrass, a thick, green, healthy concoction.
Whoever took the most shots of the substance without vomiting took the prize of $50.
After 26 shots, Meyer couldn’t stomach anymore and spit shot number 27 into the official “”I Bet You Will”” puke bucket.
“”[The wheatgrass] was awful,”” Meyer said. “”It was all right at first, but it got really bitter. It stung me weird in the back of my throat. I’ve never had wheatgrass before. I can’t imagine drinking it again the way I feel now.””
Tate took his $50 prize, but was tempted by the show’s host, Morgan Spurlock, to try to down 10 more shots for an additional $50. Tate only made it through four more shots before making a deposit in the “”puke bucket.””
“”It was rough, but definitely worth it,”” Tate said.
One of the most popular bets of the day was taken by Marshall junior Justin Kent, who donned an “”I Bet You Will”” thong and barked like a seal for sardines being tossed to him.
For each sardine that Kent caught in his mouth and choked down — at times quite literally — he got a splash of cold salt water and $25. Kent consumed nine fish and gained an additional $25 for a total of $250.
“”That was definitely an experience — more notable than most, probably,”” Kent said. “”[The sardines] were horrible. The crowd really helped me, though. I probably wouldn’t have gotten past five without them.””
The most expensive bet of the day went to student B.J. Min who took $500 to let the show give him a tattoo on his arm. The only catch was that Min couldn’t know what it was until it was revealed to the audience on camera. He took the bet.
Other bets included people eating chicken prepared in their undergarments and eating large amounts of tuna.
UCSD is just one stop on the show’s tour, during which MTV is gathering footage for the June 10 start date. The “”I Bet You Will”” crew was filming in Pacific Beach on May 3 and May 4, and will continue in Los Angeles later this week.
According to Yango, UCSD was a great location for the show to film.
“”We came in for a scout of the location and really liked it,”” Yango said. “”We tried to gauge the atmosphere. This place has nice weather, good people who are educated and fairly open-minded.””
The show was originally conceived by Spurlock.
“”The show was really low-budget to start with,”” Yango said. “”It just started gathering a crowd on its own. We just got people.””
Previous tapings of the show featured guest hosts Willa Ford, Jive Jones and Gilbert Godfried.
