Child's Play (game show)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Child's Play | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game show |
| Created by | Mark Goodson |
| Starring | Bill Cullen Announcer: Gene Wood |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 20, 1982 – September 16, 1983 |
Child's Play was an American television game show where adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson production aired on CBS from September 20, 1982, to September 16, 1983. This was the first game show ever to be billed as "A Mark Goodson television production," three years after the death of Goodson's business partner, Bill Todman.
Contents |
[edit] Hosts and announcers
It was hosted by game show veteran Bill Cullen. This was Bill Cullen's penultimate network game show (his last one was Hot Potato, after which he did The Joker's Wild to accommodate for the death of Jack Barry), his final one for CBS, and his last for Mark Goodson Productions, after 30 years emceeing game show for the company. Gene Wood was the primary announcer for the entire run, with Fred Saxon, Johnny Gilbert, and Bob Hilton (who also announced on the pilot episode) filling in on occasion.
[edit] Main game
Two contestants competed. The object of the game was to correctly identify words based on videotaped definitions given by elementary school-age children (ages 5-9). The game was played in two rounds.
[edit] Round 1
In the first round, a word was given to the home audience, and a video clip of a child defining that word was played. (For example: "It's when you run around and wave your arms back and forth." Answer: Arms race.) Any incriminating words (including the word itself) were censored.
Once the clip ended, the contestant had a chance to guess the word; a correct response earned one point. If he/she was incorrect, his/her opponent viewed a clip of another child defining the same word. If the opponent was wrong, control passed back to the first contestant, who saw one final clip (usually of a younger child, and the answer usually not that hard to guess by this point). If he/she was still wrong, Cullen announced the correct answer and no points were awarded.
The first round continued, with the players alternating control on words (originally the winner of the previous word played first on each new word), until the first commercial break.
[edit] Round 2: Fast Play
The second round was known as the "Fast Play" round. Both contestants were given the opportunity to guess what word the child was defining by hitting a buzzer to interrupt the video clip and guess the word. If the contestant was correct, he/she received two points; if incorrect, the rest of the clip was played and the opponent was given a chance to guess. When the school bell rang, the game was over. If there was a tie at the end of the game, a tie-breaking word would be played. If a contestant buzzed in with the right word, he/she won the game; if he/she buzzed in and gave a wrong answer, his/her opponent won.
Notes: In the first three episodes, correct answers in "Fast Play" were still worth one point. After the school bell rang the first time, correct answers were worth double, or two points. Also, upon stealing, the stealer would the whole clip rather than start from where it left off. This rule was discontinued in favor of the rules above.
The contestant with the highest score when time expired won $500 and played the bonus round.
[edit] Bonus round
Two different bonus round formats were played during the year-long run of Child's Play, but they both offer a grand prize of $5,000 and a time limit of 45 seconds. Each is described below:
[edit] Format 1: Triple Play
The contestant must guess six words correctly. Each word had three written definitions by three different children ("Child A," "Child B," and "Child C"). The contestant must choose one of the three children, and after seeing the definition, supply a guess or chose another child. If, after seeing all three definitions, the contestant cannot identify the word, he/she must say "pass" to move on to another word.
Each correct guess was worth $100, while getting six before time expired won $5,000.
[edit] Format 2: Turnabout
The second bonus game format was instituted in spring of 1983. Five children who regularly appeared in the film clips were brought into the studio, and the contestant had to describe seven words to the children within the time limit. The contestant won $100 for each word that a child guessed correctly and the children won the same amount collectively. Getting all seven words won $5,000 and the children won $1,000 collectively. As in the previous bonus round format, the contestant can pass a word and come back to it if time permits; however, if the contestant gave an illegal clue (such as giving away the word), he/she lost the chance at the $5,000.
Champions returned until they were defeated, had been on the show for 5 days, or exceeded the CBS winnings limit (at the time) of $25,000.
[edit] Episode status
All episodes of Child's Play exist, and reruns have aired on GSN. The show returned to weekends on GSN on November 4, 2006.
[edit] Set info
The show's logo was initially designed in a childlike script with the "s" written backwards, as was the original "Fast Play" logo displayed in the studio. Starting in late-1982, the "s" was reversed for unknown reasons.
[edit] Future celebrities
Jeff Cohen, Anne-Marie Johnson, as a contestant,][citation needed], Breckin Meyer, Masi Oka and Tara Reid were featured on Child's Play and later became famous as actors in movies and television.
