Go (game show)
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Go was a game show seen on NBC from October 3, 1983, to January 20, 1984. Two teams of five players created a series of questions one word at a time, hoping that a team member could guess a series of words and/or phrases being described. Kevin O'Connell was the host of this Bob Stewart production; Johnny Gilbert was the announcer (Jack Clark subbed for Gilbert for two weeks).
The concept of Go was based on the bonus round of the two versions of the Bob Stewart Game Show Chain Reaction, in 1980 on NBC, and currently on GSN. The format was tried earlier in a failed pilot called Get Rich Quick.
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[edit] The Main Game
The main game was played in either three or four rounds. To start the celebrity captain of one team would choose to play first or force the other team to play first (the team that plays first then goes down to the playing area). In each round, both teams played from a packet of words and phrases. The first team would pick from two choices, then begin their half of the round. Four players (one of them being the celebrity) would make up the cluegivers, and one would be the guesser. To begin, the first two cluegivers would look at the first word/phrase. They would construct a question, hoping to get the guesser to say that word. The trick was that each clue giver could only contribute one word at a time. Either cluegiver could ring a bell when the cluegivers had finished giving a question; the guesser would guess the word/phrase at that point. If the guesser was correct, host O'Connell would yell out "GO!", and the guesser would quickly move to the next pair of cluegivers; if not, the same two cluegivers would attempt the next word. (If a cluegiver used two words in a row, said part of the word being guessed, or if the cluegivers didn't construct a sensible English question, then a cuckoo would sound and the same two cluegivers would try the next word, just as if the guesser had guessed incorrectly.) To finish the round, the guesser had to correctly guess five words: one from the first two cluegivers, then one from the second and third, then one from the third and fourth, then back to the second and third, and finally back to the first and second. Meanwhile, a clock counted upwards from 0 seconds. As soon as the fifth successful guess was made, the clock stopped; the clock would also stop if the team took longer than 99 seconds. The second team would then try to complete five words, while the clock counted down from wherever the first team stopped it. If the second team completed five words before the clock hit zero, they won the round; otherwise, the round went to the first team.
Each round was worth more than the last:
- Round 1: $250
- Round 2: $500
- Round 3: $750
- Round 4: $1250
The first team to reach $1500 won the game, kept the money and won the right to play the bonus round. If a team pulled off a "clean sweep" -- winning the first three rounds, and thus winning the game without having to play the fourth round -- then the team got to play the bonus round twice, doubling the potential winnings.
[edit] Go for the Cash (Jackpot Round)
In the bonus round, the receiver of the winning team tried to guess seven words in 60 seconds or less. For the first word, all four cluegivers would take turns adding a word to the question, and any of the four could ring the bell to finish the question. When the guesser guessed the first word correctly, the fourth cluegiver would run off stage, and the remaining three cluegivers would build the question for the second word. When that word was guessed correctly, the third cluegiver ran off stage, and the first two cluegivers built the question for the third word. When that word was guessed correctly, the second cluegiver ran off, and the first cluegiver (the captain) would build the fourth question alone. (In other words, all he or she had to do is ask the question and ring the bell.) When the fourth word was guessed correctly, the second cluegiver ran back onstage, and the first two cluegivers built the fifth question; then the first three would build the sixth question, and all four would build the seventh. Each correct answer was worth $200; seven correct answers won $10,000. As mentioned, if a team won the front game in three straight rounds, they play the bonus twice, for a possible $20,000.
In the beginning, teams would stay on the show until they won five games or they were defeated. (Only one team survived five days.) Within a month, the format changed so that both teams stayed on for all five shows of the week, and thus had a chance to win over $100,000.
[edit] Episode status
All episodes of the series exist, and the series has been rebroadcast on CBN Cable Network (Now ABC Family) & GSN.
