Hot Potato (game show)
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Hot Potato was a television game show broadcast on NBC in the United States from January 23, 1984, through June 29, 1984.
Bill Cullen was the show's host and Charlie O'Donnell was its announcer. The series was produced by Barry & Enright Productions, its only post-scandal series produced by NBC under the Barry & Enright logo, and the last network game show produced by B&E. Another NBC game show, Blank Check aired nine years earlier, which was produced by Jack Barry Productions before Dan Enright's partnership with Jack Barry resumed.
The show featured an orange-and-red logo which emitted smoke (accompanied by a sizzling sound) at the beginning and end of each episode. This effect always occurred just after Charlie would say the word "hot" in the show's title, after announcing the contestants and again during the ending credits.
Although this show is often referred to as a variation on Family Feud (mainly due to the questions with multiple answers and the penalty for giving three wrong answers), it did have some notable differences. The main difference was that the questions were often general knowledge instead of surveys, and no system of ranking the answers was used. The ability of a contestant to pass to a player on the other team was also unique to this show.
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[edit] The Main Game
During the main game, two teams of three players, each sharing a common bond (occupation, mothers-to-be, etc.) compete. Cullen read a question with seven or more possible answers. One member of the champion team started the round by either giving an answer or challenging an opponent to answer. If a correct answer was given, control passed to the next member of that team in line. Otherwise, that player was eliminated from the round, sent to the bench behind them, and the other team took control.
[edit] Challenge
Upon a challenge, if a wrong answer was given, that player is benched and the challenging team retains control. Otherwise, the player that made the challenge was knocked out, and the other team took control.
[edit] Winning the Round/Game
Teams could win one of two ways: by giving the seventh correct answer in the question or by eliminating all three of their opponents. To win by the former method, it was not necessary to have given a majority of the correct answers; the team providing the seventh correct answer won regardless of who gave the first six. Two out of three rounds won the game, $1,000 and advanced to the bonus round. Partway through the run, a "Seven Straight Jackpot" (which started at $500 and grew by that amount every game if not won) was offered to any team that could get seven correct answers in a row. This bonus was discontinued when the show became Celebrity Hot Potato.
[edit] The Bonus Game
During the end game, the winning team was now given a subject of comparison followed by the question (which weighs more, which group has more members), and shown two possible choices. The team debated for a while and then made their choice. If correct, they won $500 and continued. The team could stop at any time and take the money, and they could pass on one question if they wished. Missing one choice ended the round and lost all accumulated money therein; getting 5 correct answers won a jackpot that started at $5,000 and went up $5,000 each game until won (although new champions always started at $5,000).
[edit] Celebrity Hot Potato
On April 23, 1984, in an attempt to boost ratings, the show became Celebrity Hot Potato; the third game show in five years to add Celebrity to its title. From that point until the show's cancellation, teams consisted of one contestant and two celebrity players. Each set of four celebrities appeared on the show for one week, and the team assignments of the celebrities were shuffled after each game in order to maintain variety (usually, one celebrity from each pair would remain on the champion's team, while the other switched places with one of the celebrities on the challenger's team). A few weeks were played where all three players on a team were celebrities (usually with some theme employed, such as comedians or stars of a particular TV series), with their winnings going to various charities.
[edit] Demise
The show suffered from being in the noon eastern time slot, as many NBC affiliates preempted Hot Potato in favor of local newscasts. Also being the fact that the show faced against Family Feud on ABC and on some stations The Young And The Restless on CBS. The same reasons caused the demise of Hot Potato's predecessor in that time slot, Go.
[edit] Episode Status
The series is completely intact, and repeat episodes have aired on USA, GSN and CBN.
