Double Talk
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- For the article about language that deliberately contorts its actual meaning, see doublespeak
Double Talk was an American game show seen on the ABC network in 1986. Henry Polic II hosted this word game created by Bob Stewart, which was a remake of Shoot For The Stars. Bob Hilton was the first announcer, later replaced by Johnny Gilbert.
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[edit] Main Game
The game was between two teams, each with a contestant and celebrity. The object was for the team to work together and decipher puzzles that are written in "In Other Words" style. For example, "Twice / Speak" would be "Double Talk" for the show's title. The slash represented a break in the puzzle, and each partner had to solve 1/2 of the puzzle to score. The game board has four hidden puzzles on it, each worth 10 points if correctly solved by the team in control. The controlling team could continue to solve puzzles until they clean off the board, or mess up. If either partner cannot solve their half, control went over to the other team. The opponents can score five points for the steal, and end the first team's half of the round.
Round one ends after both teams play one board. Round two gave each team a chance to play one more board, this time with puzzles worth double or 20 points, but still 5 for a steal.
The team that scored more points won the game and played the bonus round for $10,000. If there was a tie, the game shifted to a 'buzz-in' format. The scores would be set to zero, and a puzzle shown. The team that buzzes in tries to solve it for 10 points, but a wrong answer gives 10 to the opponents. 20 points (two puzzles) wins the game and a shot at $10,000 cash.
[edit] The Jackpot Puzzle
If a team manages to solve all four puzzles on the board (later three), they get a chance at the "Jackpot Puzzle" in the center. If they can solve a harder puzzle, the contestant wins a cash prize that starts at $1,000; and increases by that much each day until claimed.
Later in the run rules were altered so that a team would earn a chance at the jackpot by solving the maximum of 3 puzzles in a row, also steals no longer ended the round but denied the team a chance at jackpot for that board.
[edit] Bonus Round
The winning team now has a chance to win $10,000 in sixty seconds. The celebrity sees nine phrases & names on a monitor, while the contestant is shown only the initial letter for each word. The celebrity must come up with an incomplete sentence, such that the ending is the desired phrase. For example: If the phrase began with G________ C_________ & the answer was George Carlin, the celebrity would say, "He's a comedian who listed the seven words you can't say on television, and his name is..." and then the contestant could say George Carlin.
Standard rules applied, similar to The $25,000 Pyramid:
- No use of the hands
- No using part of the answer
- passing is legal
- and so on
Each correct answer revealed a letter to the show's title which is "DOUBLE TALK," with the "D" trilon given for free. If the team could get all nine phrases in under 60 seconds (thus revealing the other nine trilons to spell DOUBLE TALK), the contestant won the $10,000; otherwise $100 per revealed letter was won.
The contestant had the option of giving or receiving in the bonus round.
Like its parent, The $25,000 Pyramid, there was no straddling, and two games were played per episode. The contestants played the entire program, swapping partners in game two, and the contestant who earned the most money in the winner's circle or won both games returned on the next program. If there was a tie, both players returned the following day.
[edit] Trivia
Near the end of its run, the show was retitled "Celebrity Double Talk", despite the fact that no additional celebrities were added to the show. The theme music to Double Talk was also used on an earlier Bob Stewart game show, Blankety Blanks.
Double Talk would be Bob Stewart's last game show to premiere on network television (The $25,000 Pyramid was still in production in 1986). After Double Talk was cancelled, besides The $25,000 Pyramid, all of Bob Stewart's shows were either produced for Syndication or the USA Network, the latter of which were produced in Canada.
On the final show Henry prsented the staff with a gift of 100 white roses, and the final bonus round featured a couple of appropriate puzzles such as "Last Time" and "That's all Folks"
The first main game puzzle ever on the show was: Panhandlers can't / be pickers (answer: beggars can't be choosers)
The bonus game had been previously used on an unsold pilot called "$50,000 a Minute" and a similar format was used in 1984 as the bonus round for an unsold pilot for Jackpot, all of which were Bob Stewart creations.
