The New Treasure Hunt

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This article is about the American television game show. For the game show "Treasure Hunt" produced in the United Kingdom for Channel 4, see Treasure Hunt (UK game show).

Treasure Hunt (or The New Treasure Hunt) was a United States television game show that ran in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. The show featured contestants selecting a treasure chest or box with surprises inside in hopes of winning large prizes or a cash jackpot.

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[edit] 1950s version (Treasure Hunt)

The earliest version of the show first appeared in the US from 1956 to 1959, first on ABC, later on NBC. The original show was hosted and produced by comedian Jan Murray. It involved contestants playing a quiz, with the winner going on a "treasure hunt" with a select number of treasure chests with prizes including a grand prize.

[edit] 1970s version (The New Treasure Hunt)

Producer Chuck Barris bought the U.S. Treasure Hunt format in the 1970s and revived the game in weekly syndication in 1973. This version, called The New Treasure Hunt, involved women (the producers did not allow male contestants) competing to select one of 30 boxes (a/k/a "Surprise Packages"), with a top prize of $25,000 hidden in one of them.

Geoff Edwards hosted the 1970s and 1980s versions. Johnny Jacobs was the announcer for most of the 1970s/1980s versions until his death in 1982; Tony McClay, who had also worked on the 1970s run, replaced him for the remainder of the final season. Models on the 1970s version included Sivi Aberg (who would resurface after the 1970s version's finale on Barris' The Gong Show), Naome DeVargas, Jane Nelson and actress Pamela Hensley. For a number of reasons, the studio maintained extremely tight security, and thus did not allow cue cards.

If no contestant won the $25,000 by the end of the show (which was about 98-99% of the time), Edwards would ask a real-life bonded security guard, Emile Autouri, if he hid the check. Autouri's response would always be "Yes, I did". Autouri would then hand Edwards a slip of paper, and while Autouri went to retrieve the box which contained the grand prize, Edwards would open the slip of paper to reveal the number of the box. Finally, Autouri would bring the box to Edwards who would physically reveal the check inside the box, and then Edwards would replace the check in the box and Autouri would leave the set with the box.

The opening theme, closing theme, and the klunk cue were composed by Chuck Barris himself (Barris is an accomplished songwriter). However, the melodic closing theme of the 1970s Treasure Hunt, also occasionally used as a winners' cue, is formally credited to Elmer Bernstein, because of its resemblance to an instrumental passage Bernstein composed for True Grit. Some of Barris' other music used on previous game shows, such as the unsold pilot for Cop-Out, were recycled in order to save money; this was a common practice among packagers in the 1970s. Music from other sources used on the series include:

"Put It Where You Want It" and "Funny Shuffle" by The Crusaders; "The Boss Walk" by The Majestics; "American Sundae" by Mark Wirtz (N.B. sometimes this song is titled as "America Sundae" as suggested by the lyrics sung in the music)

Game Show Network reran episodes of the 1980s version for a time on their regular schedule, but no episodes are currently scheduled for broadcast.

[edit] Gameplay

To begin, 10 female members of the studio audience were given small gift boxes. Three of these boxes contained cards with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 inside them. As host Geoff Edwards instructed them to open their boxes, the three contestants with numbers came down to the center of the stage. These three women then picked one of three jack in the boxes, the contestant with the number 1 getting first choice. The one who chose the pop-up surprise earned the right to go on the Treasure Hunt, selecting one of the thirty boxes on display. Unlike the original 1950s version, the show did not use a question-and-answer method of determining contestants; much like the similar "Let's Make a Deal", "The New Treasure Hunt" did not require special skills or knowledge at all, with contestants relying entirely on luck.

Once the box was chosen and after a commercial break, the contestant had the option of taking a cash payoff (ranging from $500 to $2,000 originally; later in the run these could be worth up to $2,500), or keeping the box instead and winning whatever was inside. This could be a prize package, vacation, automobile, a check for anywhere between $5,000 and $14,000, or a worthless prize called a "klunk" (a word coined by Geoff Edwards himself, similar in meaning to that of zonks on Let's Make A Deal). One box contained a check for the grand prize of $25,000.

[edit] Skits

Upon making her selection, the contestant was not shown what she had won immediately; like most of the other Barris-packaged shows, the entire premise of this show was to capitalize on the female contestants' emotions. Host Edwards would engage the contestant in a comedic skit, usually using props, to intentionally mislead the contestant as to what she had finally won. Very often, a contestant would be shown a "klunk", only to have this lead to the actual prize, which could be just another "klunk", but was often much bigger.

Edwards, an actor aside from his hosting and radio work, had to memorize up to 30 skits per episode (66 on the 1980s version) due to the lack of cue cards; according to producers, he did so through the entirety of the two series without ever making a mistake. No skit was involved when the top prize was won, other than the on-set hysterics following the revealing of the check; shrill sirens went off, confetti and balloons dropped from the ceiling, and, on a few occasions late in the run, the contestant was swarmed onstage by Barris staff members and humorously given roses.

Two games were played per show, each involving one half of the studio audience (the two halves faced each other, similar to seating at a sporting event, and unlike most conventional television studios). If the check was found during the first half of the show, another was hidden for the second half; according to several fan sites, there was at least one episode in this version where the $25,000 was won twice.

At the end of each episode, if the top prize was not won, the box that had the check was revealed. But before doing so, Edwards would go on a monologue with the show's bonded security agent (in actuality, a studio security guard) named Emile Autouri in an attempt to strike a conversation with him, but to no avail. Eventually, Autouri did speak, only using the words "Yes I did" when Edwards asked him if he knew where the check was located.

[edit] Controversies

An often-talked about incident on The New Treasure Hunt concerned a contestant on the 1970s version who, upon being told that she had won a vintage Rolls-Royce convertible, fainted onstage. This incident was replayed on the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Producer Chuck Barris declared his pride in the occurrence, given the show's premise.

During the 1976-77 season, Barris wanted to make The New Treasure Hunt even more sadistic, including a skit in which he would instruct Edwards to tell a contestant that she won "a brand new... car windshield!". Edwards refused, and was initially fired, but was brought back soon thereafter; he missed no episodes as a result of his protest. Some have speculated that, ethical qualms aside, Edwards recoiled at this idea because, quite understandably given a contestant's hightened emotional state, he feared possible physical harm from an enraged husband, boyfriend, or father.

Despite Edwards' very brief walkoff, Barris ended production of the show in 1977, while it was still drawing strong ratings on local stations, in order to focus on his increasingly notorious "Gong Show" on NBC and to revive "The Newlywed Game" in daily syndication.

[edit] 1980s version (Treasure Hunt)

The New Treasure Hunt returned in daily syndication in 1981, with Edwards again as host; however, there were some notable differences. First, the title was shortened to the original 1950s name, Treasure Hunt. There were now 66 surprise packages on stage, and instead of a flat $25,000, there was now a growing jackpot that started out at $20,000 and increased by $1,000 every day that it was not won. Once the jackpot reached $50,000, it remained at this amount until someone finally won it.

Geoff Edwards returned as host. The model on the 1980s version was Jan Speck, who later had acting roles in several 1980s movies. Chuck Barris had no direct involvement in the 1981-82 version other than packaging it (he shared executive-producer credit with Budd Granoff this time around), and Edwards has stated in recent years that, because of Barris' abstinence from direct involvement, he enjoyed this version more than he did the initial 1973-77 version.

Again, two games were played per show, one with each half of the audience. In this version, the female members of the studio audience were given balloons. One of these balloons contained a card with a star on it. On Geoff's cue, the contestants popped the balloons; the lady with the star came down to center stage where she then faced the previous game's winner. There were now only two jack-in-the-boxes, with the challenger receiving the choice between them. As in the 1970s version, the contestant who had the pop-up surprise in her jack-in-the-box went on the Treasure Hunt.

In this version, probably due to it being shown as a five-day-a-week "strip" instead of once a week, the prizes were of significantly lesser value; however, winning the right to go on the Treasure Hunt also guaranteed a contestant the opportunity to play the next game for a chance to go on another one. The player selected from one of the 66 boxes, and again was given the opportunity to sell the box back to Edwards. However, the cash payoff was now only worth between $500 and $1,000. In addition, the extravagant prizes that characterized the 1970s version were gone. Winning contestants frequently only won one or two appliances, a trip, or a small room package; the cars were scaled back to inexpensive models (especially the Chevrolet Chevette); there were also no longer checks worth less than the grand prize. However, a 52-day cruise valuing over $18,000 was offered regularly, and was won at least once. The klunks, of course, remained.

[edit] Memorable contestants

At least four women in the 1980s version won the jackpot:

  • Diana Arispi, $23,000;
  • Becky Jacke, $20,000;
  • Rose Evans, $50,000;
  • Linda Sullivan, $21,000.

On one episode, when the jackpot was $46,000, a woman named Michelle Heron took the cash payoff instead, only to find out that her box contained the grand prize check for $46,000. This caused her husband, who encouraged his wife to take the sure thing, to walk out of the studio, upset. Several weeks later, a contestant passed up the $50,000 grand prize before it was finally won by a Jamaican contestant, Rose Evans. Upon hearing the news that she had won it, she proceeded to bear-hug Edwards and pick him up and down a few times in the excitement of winning the jackpot. Edwards had a similar situation occur years earlier in the 1970s version when another Jamaican contestant found the box with a check for $25,000.

[edit] Other memorable moments

At the end of the show, if the check was not won, Geoff again visited with Emile Autouri to find out where the check was hidden, and again Autouri remained speechless except for saying "Yes I did". On this version, Edwards would also bring small children up to try to get Emile to crack a smile, but still to no effect. Autouri, however, did play on to Geoff's teasing several times, once pretending to fall asleep while Geoff was talking to him. After a $20,000 win in the second game, he responded "Yes I shall" when Geoff asked him to get another check ready for the next show. Finally, Emile broke character and asked for a cue card, catching Edwards totally off guard (this might be an inside reference to the fact that cue cards were still not allowed on the set.)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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