Debt (game show)
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Debt was an American ground breaking game show hosted by Wink Martindale which aired on Lifetime from 1996 to 1998.
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[edit] Gameplay
Three contestants are introduced which the amount of debt they have. After introductions, the debt of the three contestants was averaged to level the playing field. The scores were shown in negative amounts to reflect the debt of each contestant.
[edit] Round 1 (General Debt)
[edit] First season
The first round was a Jeopardy!-like round in which the contestants faced a 5x5 game board with five categories, each with negative dollar amounts ranging from -$50 to -$250. On a player's turn, he or she chose a category and value, after which a "Who am I?" type question was revealed. The first contestant to buzz in was allowed to answer. Contestants were required to start their answers with either "You are..." to get credit (the contraction "You're..." was also accepted). A correct answer subtracted the chosen amount from the player's debt. A wrong answer, failing to start the question with "You are", even though it is the correct answer, or running out of time put the player that much further in debt.
One of the questions in the round was a special question called "The Debtonator" (which is pronounced Detonator). This was the game's most difficult question in the producer's opinion, and it was worth a potential $500 off a contestant's debt.
At the end of the General Debt round, the player with the highest debt was eliminated and received a $200 Savings Bond, along with a Debt piggy bank.
[edit] Second season
This round underwent a few format changes between seasons:
- Before round one (and after the averaging of the debts), the game started out with an opening question worth -$1 and the right to select the first category.
- Contestants were no longer required to begin their responses with the phrase "You are..." at any point in the game.
- Contestants choise an entire category, not individual questions from a category. Due to this change, "The Debtonator" now represented an entire category with all values being doubled in that category (-$100 to -$500).
[edit] Round 2 (Gambling Debt)
After revealing the category, each contestant announced how many out of five questions he/she could answer to win the money for that category. At the beginning of the round, the player with the lesser amount of debt placed the first bid; his or her opponent then had the opportunity to increase the bid. Bids were exchanged until (a) the maximum bid of five was made, or (b) a contestant directs their opponent to "Prove it!," forcing them to fulfill the contract. If the controlling player completed the contract, the money was subtracted from that player's debt; otherwise the other player's debt was reduced. The winner of each category earned the right to place the first bid for the next. Five categories were played in this round, with values of -$300, -$400, -$500, -$750, and -$1,500, respectively.
The player with the higher debt was eliminated at the end of the round and received a $500 Savings Bond, while the player with the lower score won and advanced to the bonus round. If at any point in the round it became theoretically impossible for a player to catch up, even if he/she were to win every remaining category, that player was "mathematically eliminated" and automatically received the consolation prize.
[edit] Bonus round
The show's bonus round had two stages, "Get Out of Debt" and "Bet Your Debt".
[edit] Get Out of Debt
The winning player was given 60 seconds to answer questions in a particular category. If the player was successful, their entire original debt (before the averaging of debts from the main game) was eliminated. If the player was unable to answer 10 questions before time expires, the player kept whatever money they earned in the first two rounds.
[edit] Bet Your Debt
After the first part of the bonus round, the player was given the option to "Bet [their] debt." A category selected by the contestant (prior to the show) on their particular favorite subject in the pop culture world was presented as a one-question double-or-nothing gamble. The player could elect to keep what they had won up to that point, or risk all of their winnings to add an amount in cash equal to (a) their original debt or (b) their main game winnings, based on how well they fared in the first part of the bonus round.
Should the contestant elect to bet their debt and fail to answer the question correctly, he or she received a Savings Bond worth $1,500 (if they won the first part of the bonus round) or $1,000 (if they failed to win the first part of the bonus round).
[edit] Notes
- To date this is the last game show hosted by veteran game show host Wink Martindale.
- Debt won a CableACE Award for best game show.
- Two game show hosts appeared as contestants on Debt: Larry Toffler, who had hosted the syndicated version of Finders Keepers in the late '80s, and Frank Nicotero, who later went on to host Street Smarts.
- This buzzer sound effect was used when running out of time to answer the question during the game, and this ring-in sound was used when answering the question. They were carried over to Win Ben Stein's Money.
