The Phone premiered on MTV on April 21, 2009. This series is a competition that simulates what it would be like for viewers to be dropped into the middle of a thrilling adventure movie. The Phone is a groundbreaking game show whose blend of reality and cinematic action-adventure pulls its participants out of their everyday lives and thrusts them into a high-stakes labyrinth of engagement, suspense and intrigue as they race against time for a huge cash prize. Each week, the lives of four unwitting strangers are interrupted and changed forever by a phone call where a mysterious voice invites them to participate in the game. If they choose yes by pressing "one" on their cell phones, the now new contestants begin to trigger dangerous events that propel them into their adventure and the chance to win up to $50,000. The mysterious voice pairs the contestants up into two teams and instructs them to follow a movie-like drama that leads them through a series of mental and physical challenges from hanging off the edge of Seattle's Space Needle to racing into a burning building to save a mans life. The players loyalty, courage and morality are tested and their true nature is exposed when a surprise and shocking twist is revealed at the end of the game.