Chain Reaction (game show)

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Chain Reaction is an American game show, where one word leads to another. There have been three incarnations of the series: Bill Cullen hosted the original series on NBC from January 14, 1980 - June 20, 1980 save for two weeks, when Geoff Edwards subbed while Cullen sub-hosted Password Plus. The second version aired on the USA cable network from September 29, 1986- December 27, 1991 and was hosted by Blake Emmons and later Edwards. Dylan Lane hosts a new version currently airing on GSN, which premiered on August 1, 2006; it currently airs Tuesdays through Saturdays at 10:00 p.m. ET. The series was created by Bob Stewart. The GSN version is from the producers of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?.

The current version of the show was renewed for a second season, which commenced on March 13, 2007.

Contents

[edit] Overview

At the crux of the game was a word chain. In the chain, each of eight words (seven starting in 1986) was connected to both the word above it and the word below it in some way. By making inferences based on the revealed words and the revealed letters in incomplete words, contestants tried to fill in the word chains to score points (dollars on GSN). The team or player that reached the point/money goal first would win the game and play the bonus round, which was completely different depending on the series.

[edit] NBC

The first version aired for 23 weeks, from January 14 to June 20, 1980 on NBC and was hosted by Bill Cullen. The announcer was announcer Johnny Gilbert. The theme song (which carried over to the USA version) was composed by Bob Cobert and was once used as background music for the NBC series Supertrain. Repeats of this version aired for several years on cable, first on the CBN Cable Network (now ABC Family Channel) from 1982 to 1984, then later on the USA Cable Network from 1985 to the debut of the new version that originated from Canada, and GSN from 1997-98.

[edit] Main game

Two teams of three competed in each game. A team consisted of one contestant and two celebrity guests. The teams were shown the beginning and ending words of an eight word chain. Each word somehow related to the word above it and below it. A sample chain could be:

CHAIN
GANG
FOUR
SQUARE
DANCE
PARTY
TIME
FLIES

The team with the challenger goes first to begin the game (in the event of two new players, a coin toss determined who went first). The challengers were the blue team, and the champions were the gold team (sometimes it's the other way around).

As the game continued, the words would be revealed. A player's turn consisted of calling for a letter in the next word above or below one of the words, and then guessing the word (note that the last letter of each word is not revealed). A correct response won one point for each letter in the word (two if the word had a '+' mark next to it) and that team kept control of the board. If the player in control was incorrect, or gave no guess, control went back to the other team. The game continued until either one team scored 50 points, or the chain was finished. If that happened, another chain was put up and the game continued until one team reached the goal of 50 points (any letters exceeding 50 points are not included to the player's score). That team's contestant won the game, $250, and the right to play for $10,000 in the bonus round. The losing player got $5 a point for playing.

Normally it would take two chains of words to complete a game, but three chains have been played a few times.

[edit] Instant Reaction

In the bonus round, the team had 90 seconds (originally 60) to get the contestant to guess a series of words or phrases. The catch was that the two celebrities had to construct a question for the clue word, and they could only contribute one word at a time. After the celebrities finished the question, they prompted the contestant to guess by hitting a plunger (which sounded like a high-pitched bell). A correct answer moved closer to the grand prize $10,000, an incorrect answer or a pass cancelled that word and they had to move on. At any time a celebrity used more than one word, formed an unacceptable question or used part of the answer, a cuckoo sound would be signaled, cancelling that answer and moving on to the next one. There were four different scoring formats used, in order:

  • Format 1: 60 seconds, start with $1, each answer was worth a "half-zero", 8 answers won $10,000 (only full zeroes count).
  • Format 2: 90 seconds, first correct answer won $1, next three answers worth a zero, up to $1,000, next four worth $1,000, 9th answer worth $5,000 for a total of $10,000.
  • Format 3: 90 seconds, first nine answers worth $100, 10th answer brings the total to $10,000.
  • Format 4: 90 seconds, start with $100, first eight answers worth $100, 9th answer brings the total to $10,000.

[edit] Celebrity players

Among the many celebrity players who appeared frequently on Chain Reaction included Nipsey Russell, Joyce Bulifant, Jay Johnson, Anita Gillette, Robert Mandan and Vicki Lawrence. Russell appeared the most, guesting in six weeks of episodes, followed by Robert Mandan, Jay Johnson and Anita Gillette, all appearing in five weeks.

[edit] USA

The USA network had "Chain Reaction" become their third original game show (Love Me, Love Me Not and a revival of Jackpot! were aired earlier) due to the popularity of reruns of the original Chain Reaction. Blake Emmons, a former contestant on The Joker's Wild in 1985, hosted the show for a few weeks before being replaced by Geoff Edwards. Rod Charlebois was the co-host/announcer, who presented the "home game" for the viewing audience. Rod was a local radio and TV personality at CFCF Radio and Television in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where Chain Reaction was taped (it was a production of USA Network and CFCF's wholly owned Champlain Productions division). He was given an on-air role because all Canadian television programs must employ a percentage of Canadians both on and off air in order to qualify as both Canadian content, and to receive government funding (where applicable, Chain Reaction did not apply). Edwards had no ties to Canada and was not Canadian, thus Charlebois was given the co-hosting duties.

This version used a recorded audience track (a commonplace for many game shows during the 1970s and 1980s) instead of a live studio audience. According to Edwards, most of the production staff spoke French for the most part, but a few did speak English.

[edit] Main Game

The chains now had seven words. The teams were now two civilian players each, and each was given one responsibility. One teammate was the letter giver, and decided whether to give a letter to his/her partner or to other team's word guesser. As before, a correct response was worth points and control of the board. In Round One, each word guessed is worth 10 points, but the final word guessed in that chain is worth 20 (changed to 15 in season two). In Round Two, these values escalate to 20 points each & 40 points for the final word. In the event that a fourth chain was needed to decide the game, the point values were 40 points per word and 80 for the final word.

The first team to score 200 points won the game. That team played the bonus game, and returned on the next show.

During the run, two methods of earning bonus money were used. In the first season, the middle word of the second chain was also a bonus word (designated by a dollar sign) worth $250 for the team that guessed it. For seasons two to four, the players played a Missing Link. The team in the lead would be shown the first and last words of a three-word chain. If they could guess the word in between with no letters revealed, the team received $500. Every wrong guess added a letter while taking away $100 from the potential payoff.

For seasons three and four, only solo players participated, and it took 300 points to win.

[edit] Bonus Chain

The winning team/player could collect a cash jackpot by completing one last word chain. The team/player was shown the first word in a chain, and the initial letter of the other words. One at a time, the player(s) would guess at the next word in the chain. For each wrong guess, the next letter would be filled in, and a letter deducted from their account. If the team could finish the chain before running out of letters the team won the cash jackpot. If not, they (or he/she) won $100 per word, including the one at the top. The jackpot began at $3000 ($2000 with the solo players); and $1000 was added each day it was not claimed. The highest pot was $14,000. While Emmons was host, the account was nine letters, when Geoff Edwards took over, it was lowered to seven.

The bonus chain was removed in season five, because the end of season four had an elimination tournament of champions, where the 16 top winners of seasons three and four returned in an NCAA-Basketball like tourney (one loss and the player was eliminated). 16 players reduced to 8, down to 4, and then down to 2. The final winner of the final game won $20K. Games were all played to 500 points.

[edit] The $40,000 Chain Reaction

On New Year's Eve 1990, the show was revamped with a tournament format, featuring one hundred twenty-eight players competing for $40,000. The game was just like before, but there was no bonus chain, and two new players competed each show. The values for each chain remained the same, but if a fifth chain was needed, the point values were 50 points per word and 100 for the final word.

Eight players played for the first four shows. After four days, those four winners played two each for the next two days. Those two winners played on the 7th day and the winner of that game won $7500.

The player who led after the second chain got to play a Missing Link for $300. The Missing Link changed then too: First letter of middle word given. Word worth $300, each additional letter reduced the bonus by $100.

After 16 $7500 tournaments were played, those 16 players played in a single-elimination tournament. The semi-finals was double-elimination, and the two players remaining played one game for $40,000.

[edit] Home game

Each day, before closing the show, Rod would present the answer to yesterday's home game, and the current game. The home game consisted of a Missing Link. Sometimes Rod would reveal the first letter of the missing link, sometimes he wouldn't.

All cash values for the USA Network version are in Canadian dollars, meaning the money they earn in this version, is tax free.

[edit] GSN

A new version of the show debuted on August 1, 2006, on GSN. This version is hosted by Dylan Lane, and produced by Michael Davies' production company Embassy Row. It is being taped in New York City. GSN began airing the second season on March 13, 2007.

[edit] Opening

The opening theme then plays and essentially explains the rules of the game, while on screen the viewer can see it explained visually:

"It starts with "word", there's a "G" underneath. Guess the word "game" and you're right; the word "game" starts a chain. Get your letter, take a guess, connect the chain, win some cash. It's guys against girls right now on Chain Reaction."

[edit] Main game

There are four chains in the main game of seven words. Gameplay is similar to the NBC version, except that the words in the chain are now always two-word phrases or compound words. In the first season, the final letter of a word would be revealed; though the fact that it was the final letter was not announced, and sometimes wasn't evident. At that point, if the team did not guess the word correctly, the word was revealed and neither team received money. Beginning with season 2, the last letter is not revealed, although a shuffling placeholder is shown in place of the last letter. If the word is not correctly guessed, the other team can guess that word but does not receive another letter.

Example of chain:
STUNT
DOUBLE
DOWN
TIME
LINE
UP
HILL

In round one each correct word is worth $100, round two words are worth $200, and words in round three are worth $300. Whichever team is behind going into a round starts the next round (in the event of a tie, the team who didn't start the last chain starts the next chain). In the fourth round, teams can wager between $100 and $500 of their bank before being given their letter. If correct, they win their bet, and keep control, if not, they lose the money and control. A team automatically loses if they go broke, and the game ends prematurely.

Each team consists of three people of the same gender; the style is "battle of the sexes".

In the event that the host makes a mistake in moving to the next player, the chain is thrown out, with the scores standing as they were before the mistake was made, and a new chain begins.

[edit] Speed chain

After each of the first three rounds, whichever team correctly identified the final word to complete the chain gets the opportunity at a speed chain. They have to complete a four word with the first letter of the middle two words given. An example could be:

HALF
B_______ (BAKED)
A_______ (ALASKA)
PIPELINE

The team has seven seconds to conference and come up with the two words. If correct, they win the same value as a single correct word in the previous round ($100-$300).

[edit] Tiebreaker

After four rounds, only the team with most money moves onto the bonus round. However, if the fourth round ends in a tie, the teams will be given alternating Speed Chains in a Sudden Death format. If one team does not solve their Speed Chain, the other team need only solve their next Speed Chain to win the game. Both teams keep whatever they earn, regardless of the game's outcome.

[edit] Bonus round

The team with the most money after the fourth round plays the bonus round.

The first two members must give clues by building questions, alternating one word at a time. If either clue giver gives more than one word in a row, builds a clue that is not loosely in the form of a question, or says part of the answer, a cuckoo sounds and they must move on to the next word. The third player cannot see the answers, but must ring in to guess the answer to the question his/her partners are constructing. Once the guesser rings in, no more clues may be given on that word. Any team member can also say "pass" as often as they want to throw out the current word.

[edit] Season 1-specific rules

In the first season, the team was given 90 seconds to go through as many as 10 words. The three players all have their hands over a small bell with the answer guesser blindfolded and standing between the clue-giving players.

In the first 30 episodes of the season, if a team got seven correct answers, they would double their money from the main game; if they got ten correct, they tripled it. For the following 35 episodes, the requirements were reduced to only five and seven correct answers respectively. The most money a team could theoretically win in this format was $17,700.

[edit] Season 2-specific rules

A new format was introduced for season two. The guesser sits in a chair with their back to the clue-givers, and holds a lockout buzzer to ring in. When the guesser rings in or a word is thrown out, the clock is momentarily stopped. The goal in this format is to get five correct answers within sixty seconds. If they succeed, they earn an additional $5,000, regardless of the winnings in the main game. If they fail to get five correct, they are given $100 for each correct answer. The theoretical maximum a team can earn is $10,900.

[edit] Visual Theme

Unlike the NBC and cable versions of the show that featured electronic display boards for the words in the chain, the GSN version of "Chain" is the first to use computer-generated graphics entirely - for the words in the chain as well as the on-screen toteboards for each team. The words are displayed using simulated "flip-card" displays - displays that were once common at airport terminals, train stations, and which were very popular in clock radios before the age of LCD and LED displays.

[edit] French-Canadian version

A french-Canadian version, titled Action Réaction, aired on TQS from 1986 to 1991. It was hosted by Pierre Lalonde and produced by Donald Lautrec. The rules of this version are mostly the same as in the USA version, except that two celebrity/civilian teams competed and there was no "Missing Link" game.

[edit] Recording locations

The 1980 NBC version was taped at NBC Studios in Burbank, CA. The 1986-91 USA version and Action Réaction were taped at CFCF Television's studios in Montreal, Quebec (Canada). The GSN version is taped at Sony Music Studios in New York City.

[edit] References

    [edit] External links

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