On The Cover (game show)
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On the Cover is a short-lived game show that premiered on PAX TV (now called the "i" network) on May 17, 2004. Hosted by Mark L. Walberg whom previously hosted Russian Roulette.
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[edit] Premise
Three contestants compete in a game of identifying people, places & things on covers of magazines, CDs, DVDs, etc. & answering pop culture questions.
[edit] The Main Game
[edit] Round One
In round one, each contestant gets 15 seconds to identify celebrities on a series of covers. Each correct answer is worth 100 points.
[edit] Round Two
In round two (referred to on the air as the "On the Cover Round"), three covers are displayed on the board. Each one is assigned a point value which starts at 250 points. The player in the lead chooses a cover and then a question concerning with what's on that cover in someway was asked. The first player to buzz-in gets to answer the question, and a correct answer gets the points & control of the board; but an incorrect answer gives the other players a chance to answer. After each question, a new cover replaces an old cover and is assigned the 250 points while the value unchosen covers increases by that amount until chosen. The round is played in an unmentioned time limit.
[edit] Round Three
In round three, three parody covers are displayed on a "rack" on the board. The answers to questions are the celebrities on those covers. Each correct answer on the first rack is worth 500 points. After an unmentioned number of questions, a new rack of parody covers is introduced but the value of the questions is now worth 750 points. The question on the last rack of covers are worth 1,000 points. When the round is over, the player with the most points wins the game. If the game ends in a tie, one last question using the third rack was asked with the player whom answered correctly winning the game.
[edit] Bonus Round (Mystery Cover)
In the bonus round, the winning player was shown a grid of nine squares with numbers arranged in random order. Behind those squares is a mystery cover that the contestant must identify. To remove those squares, the winning contestant must identify what's on nine covers in 20 seconds (30 on some episodes). Each correct identification reveals a square that corresponds to the identified cover. When time is up or if all nine covers were played, a category to the mystery cover is revealed, then the numbered squares are then revealed and if the winning player can identify what's on the mystery cover, he/she wins a grand prize trip while failure wins a consolation prize.
[edit] Format One
When the show premiered, the format was different. Here are the differences:
- Point values were lower
- Round 1 - 25 points per cover
- Round 2 - 50 points (plus 50 for each time the cover was unchosen)
- Round 3 - 1st Rack = 100 points, 2nd Rack = 200 points, 3rd Rack = 300 points
- Contestants stood next to the host during round one, as opposed to standing at the podiums in version two
- The parody covers have pun-related answers above them
- The winning player won a prize for winning the game
- The bonus round allowed the contestant to answer four questions to solve the mystery cover. Each answer was a clue to a puzzle
[edit] Notes
- The show was originally piloted for NBC, and then for The New TNN (now Spike TV) during the big-money quiz show era.
- The show was cancelled after two days only to come back weeks later with a new format & set, premiering a week after then new game show "Balderdash" with Elayne Boosler premiered.
- The buzzer sound effect was used similar to Wheel of Fortune's Bonus Round when a contestant guesses the cover incorrectly or ran out of time during the first round or the bonus round.
