The Mole (U.S. Season 5)
| The Mole (U.S. season 5) | |
|---|---|
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| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | June 2 – August 11, 2008 |
| Season chronology | |
The fifth season of the US version of The Mole began airing on ABC on June 2, 2008, after being pushed back a week by ABC. Casting information was announced online.
After the fourth season in 2004, ABC declined to pick up The Mole, and Stone Stanley Entertainment lost the rights to the show from Belgian company TTTI. In August 2007, Scott Stone of Stone & Co. Entertainment (the new name for Stone Stanley Entertainment after David Stanley left in 2004) re-secured the rights to the program, and with ABC in January 2008, announced the show's return to U.S. television.
The show returned to its original civilian format for the fifth season. The winner could win a maximum of $500,000 (compared to $1,000,000 of the first two civilian seasons), and the total offered in all of the missions exceeded $850,000, although the team only earned $420,000.
Jon Kelley was hired as the new host, and filming began the week of March 23, 2008 in Chile.
Over the Falls: The players were asked, by secret ballot, who they thought the Mole was based on first impressions. Marcie was chosen and it was revealed that she would have control over the upcoming game. While wearing a safety harness, the remaining players each rode a raft over Laja Falls and had to try to grab a bag hanging over the edge of the falls. Of the eleven bags, six had real money, while the other five had worthless paper. It was Marcie's task to secretly assign which six players would be jumping for real money. Each bag of real money grabbed added $10,000 to the pot. Of the six players who successfully grabbed a bag, only two had real money, so $20,000 was added to the pot. Marcie then had to choose four players to sleep outside, rather than in a cabin with the other eight. Nicole, who was chosen to sleep outside, complained about the decision, and decided to stay awake all night inside the cabin to avoid breaking the rules.
Robinson Crusoe: The players were taken to a beach and told the story of Alexander Selkirk, who was stranded in Chile in 1704, and inspired Robinson Crusoe. The goal of this mission was to find five items that Selkirk had with him. Nicole, who was voted the "whiniest" player, divided the remaining players into three groups: six "scavengers" who searched the beach for as many of 45 hidden items as they could find, a group of three "appraisers" who decided which of the found items were correct, and two "timekeepers" who could give the others more time by refilling a giant hourglass with sand as it ran down; when it was empty, the mission ended. The appraisers were allowed three guesses at the five items, and were told after the first two guesses how many items were correct, but not which ones. For each correct item found, $5,000 was added to the pot. Three correct items were found for a total of $15,000. Nicole, as "whiniest", was then "stranded" on the beach while the remaining contestants went to their hotel. This caused her to be exempt from execution, as she could not take the quiz while she was "stranded".
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