Rodeo Drive (game show)
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Rodeo Drive was a cable game show that aired on the Lifetime Cable Network from February 5, 1990 - August 31, 1990. It was hosted by Louise DuArt, and announced by Burton Richardson. This show pitted three contestants against each other in a game based on the world famous street of the same name.
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[edit] Main Game
[edit] Round 1
This round was reminiscent of the game show Talk About. To start, a game board on a monitor behind the contestants was revealed. On the board was a list of 7 hidden words connected to a famous celebrity. On his/her turn, the contestant chose a number from 1 through 7. The word was revealed to the home audience as well as his/her two opponents, after which the opponents secretly predicted whether the describing contestant would say the word. The first contestant received 15 seconds to talk about the celebrity. If the contestant said the chosen hidden word in the 15 seconds, he/she won the hidden amount associated with that word (anywhere from 100-250 points according to the difficulty of the word). If not, the contestant instead received five points for each of the remaining six words he/she did say. After the 15 second talk, the other players' predictions were revealed. If the prediction was correct, that contestant won 50 points; if not, the player received nothing. Play continued until all 3 contestants had described one celebrity and predicted twice.
If two players were tied at the end of the round, a toss-up statement was read. The first player to buzz in and answer correctly scored one point (preventing any further ties) and the advantage in round 2. Otherwise the opponent automatically earned the point and the advantage.
[edit] Round 2
In this round, the contestants were seated from left to right in order of how they finished the first round. They were now given statements posed by host Duart, each one being either a fact or a rumor. Play started with the player in the lead after round 1. He/she was given a statement, and a correct answer earned that player 100 points. An incorrect answer passed control of the round to the second place contestant. If that player missed, the third place player took a turn, with an incorrect answer resulting in the first player gaining control again. The game lasted for approximately 7 minutes. Two bells indicated a two-minute warning, and when more bells rang, the round and the game ended. The player in the lead at this point won the game, $500 cash and a chance to "stroll down Rodeo Drive". If the game ended in a tie, a tiebreaker similar to that used in Round 1 was used to break it.
Before the bonus round, the winning player had an opportunity to increase the amount of money in the bank on Rodeo Drive (see below) by answering 5 questions. The contestant was given two celebrities and a statement. The statement could be about either celebrity A, celebrity B, or both celebrities. Each correct answer added $200 to the Rodeo Drive bank.
[edit] Rodeo Drive Bonus Round
The bonus round was reminiscent of the Gauntlet of Villains from Whew!. The object of the round was to pass four stores and the bank. For each store, the player had to identify a celebrity by overhearing a conversation about that celebrity. Each time a celebrity was correctly identified, the contestant advanced to the next store and listened to gossip about another celebrity. If the contestant identified all 5 celebrities in 60 seconds or less, he/she won a prize associated with each store, plus the entire contents of the bank. The bank started at $1,000 and $200 was added to it for every correct answer a contestant gave to the 5 questions before the bonus round started. If a contestant failed, the contents of the bank would be carried over to the next show until somebody won it. If time ran out, the contestant was allowed to choose one of the prizes associated with a successfully passed store as a consolation prize.
[edit] Notes
- The show premiered on the same day as another Lifetime game show Supermarket Sweep.
- As Rodeo Drive was a Jay Wolpert production, it employed several quirks typical of his productions. These included:
- A mini-game before the bonus round to increase the potential bonus payoff (Shopping Spree)
- Rather unusual "losing horns" (in later episodes) if the bonus was lost (Wait 'Til You Have Kids, Blackout, Shopping Spree, among others)
- Loud bells signaling a correct guess in the bonus round, with a series of the bells sounding for a bonus win (Whew!, Shopping Spree, Blackout), while the bells from the main game are the same ones from The Price is Right.
- The pilot for Rodeo Drive was taped in 1981 with Peter Tomarken as host.
[edit] Episode Status
All episodes exist, but no reruns have aired anywhere else after it's cancellation, GSN doesn't have the rights to this show.
