Wait 'Til You Have Kids
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Wait 'Til You Have Kids!! was a game show on the Family Channel. It was hosted by Tom Parks and announced by Burton Richardson. The show, produced by Jay Wolpert, premiered on September 30, 1996 and lasted until January 31, 1997 with two cycles of shows airing. It was based on The Parent Game, a Chuck Barris Production hosted by Clark Race that one of the producers of Wait 'til You Have Kids, Gary Jonke, had created.
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[edit] Premise
Three male/female couples (most of the time parents, but occasionally grandparents or couples without children) matched their own parenting styles with those of a professional parenting expert by answering questions dealing with a scenario involving a family's child or children in some way.
[edit] Main Game
A scenario question was asked to the three couples, with three possible responses by the parents given, labeled A, B, and C. One couple at a time, the parents selected the response they would most likely use in that situation by placing a block labeled "A", "B" or "C" on the top of the score table in front of them, and explain their rationale for choosing that response.
An example question and possible responses might follow along these lines:
Scenario: Your 17-year-old daughter gets grounded for her grades three days before prom. Do you:
- A - not let her go - no means no, she must stay home because she's grounded;
- B - make an exception for prom because it's a once-in-a-lifetime event, but make it clear she's still grounded beyond that;
- C - unground her altogether.
After all couples had explained their choices, the expert revealed the answer she thought best matched the situation. Any couple whose answers matched the expert's received a set amount of points.
Question 1 - 1 point
Question 2 - 2 points
Question 3 - 3 points
For the final question of the main game, the couples did not collaborate on an answer, but instead all six players chose an answer on their own. Each correct answer was worth 4 points, so 8 points were possible per couple for this question (for a possible grand total of 14 points for any couple at the end of the game).
After all four questions were played, the couple with the most points won the game and proceeded to a bonus round. If there was a tie, a toss-up question like the ones used in the bonus round itself (see below) was asked, with the winner advancing.
The "expert" for the first season was Dr. Ellen Winters. It was reported that she was not an actual parental expert; in fact, a notable number of her answers were called into question by viewers and professionals. The second counselor was radio and TV talk show host Marilyn Kagan, who held actual credentials.
[edit] Bonus Round
The couple was shown a graphic of a large house with seven windows and all the lights in the house turned out. Host Parks gave a mini-scenario (example: "Your two-year-old tries to eat crayons" or "Your 15-year-old wants to be a game show host"); the couple had to decide together whether the expert had determined that the scenario was considered a problem at that child's developmental stage, or OK (there was nothing necessarily harmful with the child doing that activity). The couple alternated turns, with the active player displaying his or her answer with a large, two-sided placard (one side is green and says "OK", and the other is red and says "Problem"). If the answer matched that of the expert, one of the windows was lit up. Each window was worth $100; however, lighting all seven windows in 60 seconds (termed "lighting up the house") awarded the couple the grand prize (usually a trip and $1,000 cash, but occasionally a Yamaha WaveRunner and towards the very end of the run a Geo Metro were awarded instead).
[edit] Set design
The Set - For most of the show's run, the set was a cartoon representation of a living room, made to look like it had been drawn by children. Most of the sound effects were cartoonish as well, and the theme song had a childlike undertone to it. For the final set of shows, the show was given a complete overhaul. The set was turned into a realistic living room setting, many of the sound effects were eliminated, and the theme song was changed completely to something with a more "upscale" feel to it.
The Bonus Round Podium - In the bonus round, the winning couple stood behind a podium with a monitor on it. When the bonus round was not in play, the monitor displayed a drawing of a family with the show's logo on it. When the bonus round was played, it showed a question mark. During the round, the correct answer was displayed on the monitor after the couple made their guess; if time expired, the monitor displayed "Time's Up" on a purple background. Also during the round, a super-imposed clock was shown under the monitor (on most shows it was shown in a digital eggcrate read-out; however, on very early episodes it was shown in an arial font read-out).
