Season Three | ||
---|---|---|
General information | ||
Host | ||
Country | ||
Language | ||
Season information | ||
Number of contestants |
16 | |
Teams | ||
Winner | ||
Production and broadcasting | ||
Production company | ||
Channel | ||
Run |
August 9, 2011–October 25, 2011 | |
Status |
Concluded |
- "The challenges are not only going to be rigorous, they'll be downright torturous. In Season Three, the gloves are coming off."
- ―Colby Donaldson[src]
Season Three of Top Shot premiered on August 9, 2011 and concluded on October 25, 2011. The season contained 13 episodes which aired on Tuesday nights. The winner of the season was self-taught shooter Dustin Ellermann, who was originally from the Blue Team.
Season Three was released on DVD in the U.S., with the subtitle of The Gauntlet, on April 24, 2012.
Production[]
History Channel requested auditions for a third season. Potential contestants were required to fill an application form and send an audition video. After the audition process, 50 contestants were selected and auditioned personally. Finally, the sixteen contestants were selected.
The third season of Top Shot was filmed over the course of 35 days, in Santa Clarita, California. The season premiered on August 9, and concluded on October 25, 2011.
The entire season was released on DVD on April 24, 2012.
Rules[]
The rules of Season Three were similar to those of the previous seasons, retaining the same rules for the Team Challenges, Practice Sessions, Individual Challenges, and Elimination Challenges. However, in the beginning, a Preliminary Challenge took place; those who became victorious joined the Blue Team, while the unvictorious joined the Red Team. During the individual portion of the competition, instead of being given the chance to vote for anybody not immune, such as in Season Two, the three worst performers of each challenge were eligible to be nominated for elimination.
This is the first season in which an individual of the Green Team withdrew themselves from the competition, and according to rules, the individual eliminated before him took his place in the Elimination Challenge that he would have competed in, for a chance of reentering the competition.
Contestants[]
- "Every single marksman that shows up on Season Three has something to prove."
- ―Colby Donaldson[src]
For Season Three, just like Season One and Season Two, sixteen contestants were chosen for the show after the producers viewed their audition videos and read their application forms. However, for the first time, the contestants were announced to the public before the first episode of the season was aired, with a slight introduction of each in Season Two's "Behind the Bullet". The contestants chosen to compete were:
Contestant | Original Team | Merged Team | Eliminated | |
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Amanda Hardin 33, Birmingham, AL |
Red Team | 16th Place | ||
Sara Ahrens 38, Roscoe, IL |
Blue Team | 15th Place | ||
Drew Shprintz 27, Boca Raton, FL |
Red Team | 14th Place | ||
Mark Schneider 45, Tierra Verde, FL |
Red Team | 13th Place | ||
Jarrett Grimes 42, Atlanta, GA |
Blue Team | 12th Place | ||
Paul Marinaccio 31, Fairfield, NJ |
Blue Team | 11th Place | ||
Billy Rogers 33, Calabasas, CA |
Blue Team | 10th Place | ||
Michael Marelli 28, Long Island, NY |
Red Team | 9th Place | ||
Cliff Walsh 40, St. Petersburg, FL |
Red Team | 8th Place | ||
Jake Zweig 39, Barrington, NH |
Blue Team | Green Team | 7th Place | |
Phil Morden 25, Milford, MI |
Red Team | 6th Place | ||
Alex Charvat 38, Conifer, CO |
Blue Team | 5th Place | ||
Chris Collins 26, Collinsville, OK |
Red Team | 4th Place | ||
Gary Quesenberry 40, Cleveland, OH |
Red Team | 3rd Place | ||
Mike Hughes 38, Maple Falls, WA |
Blue Team | 2nd place | ||
Dustin Ellermann 28, Zavala, TX |
Blue Team | Winner |
Episodes[]
Elimination[]
# | Contestants | Episodes | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | |||||||||||||||||
1 | Dustin | WIN | NOM | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | BTM2 | WIN | WINNER | |||||||||||||
2 | Mike | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | NOM | SAFE | WIN | WIN | OUT | IN | NOM | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||
3 | Gary | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | NOM | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||
4 | Chris | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | NOM | SAFE | WIN | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||||
5 | Alex | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||||
6 | Phil | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||||||
7 | Jake | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | NOM | WIN | WIN | WIN | LEFT | |||||||||||||||||
8 | Cliff | SAFE | WIN | NOM | SAFE | WIN | WIN | NOM | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||
9 | Michael | SAFE | WIN | SAFE | NOM | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||||||||
10 | Billy | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | SAFE | LEFT | ||||||||||||||||||||
11 | Paul | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||||
12 | Jarrett | WIN | SAFE | WIN | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | Mark | NOM | WIN | SAFE | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | Drew | SAFE | WIN | OUT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | Sara | WIN | OUT | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | Amanda | OUT |
- The player's team (episodes 1–8) won the challenge.
- The player(s) won individually in the challenge.
- The player's team lost the challenge, but the player was not nominated for elimination (episodes 1–8); or the player did not finish a challenge at the top or bottom of the group (episodes 9–10).
- The player was nominated for elimination, but won an elimination challenge (episodes 1–8); or the player finished a challenge at the bottom of the group, but won a tiebreaker (episodes 9–10).
- The player lost an elimination challenge and was eliminated. (In episodes 9 and 10, every challenge ended in one or more automatic eliminations.)
- The player voluntarily withdrew from the competition.
- The player won a challenge to re-enter the competition.
- The player won the $100,000 grand prize.
Broadcasting[]
On July 11, 2011, the first commercial for Season Three was aired. At 10/9c on August 9, 2011, the season premiere, titled "The Gauntlet", was broadcasted. It was aired on the History Channel until its conclusion on October 25, 2011. The third season was filmed over a period of 35 days in Santa Clarita, California.