Game show filmed aboard Allegiant Air flights to debut Saturday

Allegiant Air is hoping for sky-high ratings but will settle for a lift in exposure with the Saturday debut of a television game show filmed aboard some of its flights.

The first episode of a “The Game Plane” will air locally at 12:30 a.m., on KVVU-TV, Channel 5, Southern Nevada’s Fox network affiliate.

The production is a collaboration between the Las Vegas-based airline and Alpine Labs, Los Angeles. “The Game Plane” production company and Allegiant are subsidiaries of Allegiant Travel Co.

The show will appear on 143 stations representing more than 75 percent of U.S. television markets.

Producers already have filmed 40 shows and the companies are in talks to film a second season.

Allegiant is in it for the publicity. The airline specializes in transporting residents of small cities to resort destinations, including Las Vegas, Florida and Hawaii.

Most of the initial shows were filmed on flights to Las Vegas on one of Allegiant’s Boeing 757 jets, the largest plane in the airline’s fleet. On some lengthy flights, two episodes were filmed.

“‘Game Plane’ came to us with their ideal production schedule and we found flight times that worked for them,” Allegiant spokeswoman Jessica Wheeler said. “We did a few practice runs with their production team, made sure they understood our safety guidelines and then pretty much turned the plane over to them when we reached our cruising altitude.”

Passengers flying on Allegiant flights on which “Game Plane” is played get giant playing cards. If their card is called, they get to be a contestant on the show.

The show begins when the plane reaches cruising altitude. Host Mark L. Walberg, who started his career as an assistant for Dick Clark Productions and hosted “The Moment of Truth,” sports magazine show “Burnt Toast” and home-improvement shows “The Mansion” and “House Rules,” engages passengers in trivia games and putting contests for cash and prizes.

There are also special “turbulence games” as part of the show.

Winners of the various games get to play the final round, “The Big Deal,” and are eligible for grand prizes at their destinations.

Allegiant views “The Game Plane” as an extension of the company’s brand to make travel a fun experience.

“We want the public to associate Allegiant with fun and we benefit from the exposure in a number of places where the people don’t know us,” Wheeler said.

The airline’s contribution is providing seats and room for the production crew on flights where the games are played. There are no other financial terms to the agreement, she said.

Kevin Abrams, a co-founder of Ketchum Labs, which rebranded as Alpine Labs earlier this year, said his company’s goal is remind viewers how much fun it is to go on vacation. It was Abrams who suggested putting a game show on an airplane and it’s believed to be the first of its kind shot exclusively on commercial flights.

Contact reporter Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.