Lingo (US game show)
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| Lingo (US) | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game Show |
| Created by | Harry de Winter |
| Starring | Chuck Woolery (2002 - present) Stacey Hayes (2003 - 2004) Shandi Finnessey (2005 - present) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 325 |
| Production | |
| Running time | approx. 22 minutes (per episode) |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | GSN |
| Original run | August 5, 2002 – present |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Lingo (UK version) |
| External links | |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
Lingo (US) is an American television game show currently being produced for GSN. It combines a variant of the skill-based word game Jotto with a form of Bingo. Versions of Lingo have also existed in other countries.
Contents |
[edit] Broadcast history
The first US attempt at airing Lingo was in 1987. It was produced by Ralph Andrews (in association with Bernstein/Hovis Productions) in Canada for syndication by ABR Entertainment in the US. This version of the show has become somewhat controversial, with allegations that the cash-strapped producers did not pay some winning contestants their prizes. Despite the show's checkered run, versions of Lingo were subsequently produced in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Quebec (see Lingo (Quebec game show)), France, Norway, Sweden, Poland and The Netherlands.
On August 5, 2002, Game Show Network started airing the first episodes of its version of Lingo. The first 20 episodes were recorded in the Netherlands, on the set of its Dutch counterpart; subsequent episodes were produced in the U.S. Five more seasons, filmed in Los Angeles and each consisting of 65 episodes, began in December 2002, December 2003, August 2005, April 2006 and April 2007, respectively. GSN held back five unaired Hawaiian-themed episodes from the fourth season, but these episodes aired as part of a New Year's Day marathon on January 1, 2007. Lingo began its sixth GSN season on April 2, 2007. The 300th GSN episode aired on April 7, 2007.
[edit] Hosts and co-hosts
The host for the 1987 version was Michael Reagan, son of then-U.S. President Ronald Reagan, with Dusty Martell as co-host. The host for the last five weeks was executive producer Ralph Andrews with a new co-host, Margaux MacKenzie.
The host for the current version is game-show veteran Chuck Woolery. Co-host Stacey Hayes joined the show in the third season; in early episodes of that season, there was a second co-host known only as Paula, but that role was quickly eliminated.Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA 2004, took over the role as co-host since the start of the fourth season. Randi Thomas, a female announcer known for doing Hooked on Phonics ads, was the offstage announcer in the second season, with Hayes acting as announcer in the third season. In the fourth season and beyond, contestants introduce themselves in the intro, and Shandi offers the "welcome back" before the beginning of round 2.
Note: Stacey Hayes made her premiere on a "special" California elections episode.
[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Original 1987 version
[edit] Main game
| B | A | R | E | S |
| B | R | I | N | K |
| B | R | A | S | H |
| B | R | U | S | H |
The game is played between two teams of two players each. At the start of the game, each team is given a "Lingo" card with 25 spaces on it. The champion team's card contains even numbers, and the opponents' contains odd numbers. Seven numbers on each card are automatically covered at the start of the game (the opponents' numbers are covered by red circles, while the champions' numbers are covered by blue circles). The team in control (beginning with the challengers) is shown the first letter of a five-letter mystery word (randomly selected by the show's Amiga computer), after which one team member must try to guess the word and spell it out. After each guess, a red square is placed around letters that are in the correct position, and a yellow circle is placed around letters that are in the word but not in the correct position. If the team in control guesses the word on the first try, they win a $1,000 bonus. Otherwise, the other team member takes a guess, then the first team member takes the third guess, and so on. If the team fails to identify the word within five guesses, fails to answer at any time within the five-second time limit, or gives a misspelled or nonexistent word, the other team gets a chance to guess. If there is more than one letter unrevealed, one of those letters is revealed, and the team is given five seconds to make a guess. If there is only one unrevealed letter in the word, it is not revealed, but during the five seconds of thinking time, the team is allowed to confer. (This is the only time when conferring is allowed.)
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The team that correctly guesses the mystery word then gets a chance to pull two Lingo balls out of a hopper in front of them. Eighteen of the balls are labeled with numbers corresponding to the numbers on their Lingo board; when a numbered ball is drawn, the corresponding space on the Lingo card is covered. Also in the hopper are three prize balls: One is worth $250 in Traveler's cheques, another is worth a trip, and the third is worth a jackpot, which starts at $1,000 and increases by $500 every game the jackpot isn't claimed (later in the run, there were two "jackpot balls", and a team had to draw both of them in order to activate it). Prizes can only be claimed if the team wins the game. Normally, after drawing their balls, the team keeps control and may guess at the next mystery word. However, the hopper contains three red balls as well; a team drawing one of these balls must immediately stop drawing, and loses control (the opposing team gets to guess at the next mystery word). Once balls are drawn, they are discarded (prize balls are placed in a stand on the team's podium as a reminder that the prize is in play), so the same ball cannot be drawn twice in one game.
The first team to cover numbers on their board that form a Lingo – five numbers in a vertical, horizontal or diagonal row – wins the game, $250 (along with the prizes from any prize balls they drew), and the right to play in the "No Lingo" bonus round. Later in the show's run, the prize was $500 for a vertical or horizontal Lingo, $1,000 for a diagonal Lingo, and $2,000 for a Double Lingo (two lines completed with the same ball).
[edit] No Lingo
| L | I | N | G | O |
| 16 | 56 | |||
| 4 | 70 | |||
| 44 | ||||
| 14 | 72 | |||
| 18 | 54 | |||
| L | I | N | G | O |
The winning team plays a bonus round called "No Lingo." The team is shown another Lingo card filled with even numbers. Sixteen numbers are covered before the start of the round, arranged in a star shape along the diagonals, middle row and middle column; the center space, where the free space is on a normal bingo card, is left uncovered. The hopper is loaded with 37 numbered balls (all the even numbers from 2 to 74 -- this is unlike the main game, in which only the numbers that actually appear on the Lingo card are loaded into the hopper), plus one gold ball. The contestants are given $500 to start. They can choose to simply take this $500 and stop, or risk it by continuing on. The team is shown a five-letter mystery word with the first letter and one of the other four letters shown. The team is given the usual five chances to guess the mystery word; for each guess they use, they must draw one Lingo ball. If they fail to guess the word in five tries, they must draw an extra two balls, for a total of seven balls. If the team draws a numbered ball that appears on the board, that board space is covered and the ball is discarded, just like it would be in the normal game; if this forms a Lingo, the team immediately loses the bonus round and the prize money. If the team draws a numbered ball that does not appear on the board, nothing happens; the ball is simply discarded. (This is good for the players, since the object of the round is to avoid forming a Lingo.) If the team draws the gold ball, they are immediately allowed to stop drawing, and the gold ball is returned to the hopper. If they manage to draw the required number of balls (or draw the gold ball) without completing a Lingo, they double their money to $1,000. The team can then take that $1,000 and quit, or try to double their money again by guessing another mystery word using the same rules. (The Lingo board remains as it was, and any previously drawn numbered balls are still out of play, so the risk of forming a Lingo increases as time goes on.) The team can try up to a total of five words, with the prize money doubling after each word; so the team can win $16,000 by trying all five words.
If the team wins the main game a second time, they start their second attempt at the "No Lingo" round with $1,000, so they can win a total of $32,000 by surviving all five words. If the team wins the main game a third (and final) time, they start the "No Lingo" round with $2,000, and can increase it to $64,000 by surviving all five words. Teams during that time can win more than $112,000.
Later in the show's run, when the prize structure was changed for the main game, that main game prize was the opening "stake" for the bonus round. Up to five words would be played, which made the top prize of $16,000 after making a horizontal or vertical Lingo in the main game, $32,000 after making a diagonal Lingo in the main game and $64,000 if the main game was won with a Double Lingo. Six balls (instead of seven) were drawn if a word was not guessed in five tries. Additionally, teams were not limited to three wins, or eliminated by a single loss; they played until they were defeated twice in the main game.
[edit] Current GSN version
[edit] Main game
[edit] The Lingo Round
The main game play is nearly identical to the original version's, except that the object is to score the most points instead of being first to get a Lingo. A correct guess scores 25 points. The team has five guesses at the word, though if the team does not guess correctly, the opposing team is given control of the word and is granted a bonus letter. Control of the word is also given to the opposing team if any of the following situations occurs: the team runs out of time, does not spell a legitimate word, does not guess a five-letter word, guesses a word that has already been tried, does not start their guess with the established first letter, or guesses a word that can only be a proper noun. (Proper nouns that are also ordinary words are acceptable.) A bonus letter will not be given if four of the five letters have been identified, as this would reveal the entire word. If both teams miss a word at the point where a word only has one missing letter left, the word is thrown out and a new one is played (to date, it has only happened once).
The all-time record for most points in the first round is 300, set by contestants Danny and Katherine in an episode airing May 23, 2007.
[edit] Lingo board
Play is again similar to the original version, except that ten numbers instead of seven are marked off for each team at the start of the game. (The 10 pre-marked numbers are chosen in such a way that no more than three spaces are marked off on any row, column or diagonal.) When a team forms a Lingo on their board, they score 50 points, and immediately receive a new Lingo card (with 10 numbers marked off) and a new hopper of balls. (This is unlike the original version where scoring a Lingo won the game outright.) The other team then gets control of the next mystery word. Like the original version, red balls cause the team to immediately stop drawing and lose control; the red balls are now often called "stoppers," perhaps owing to Chuck's Scrabble experience. Unlike the original version, there are no prize balls.
[edit] Second round
After time runs out for the first round, the second round begins. Lingo cards carry over from the first round. The team in control is the one which has the lower score. If the teams are tied, the team that did not begin the first round is in control. Point values are doubled, meaning a correct word guess is worth 50 points, and a Lingo is worth 100 points. Also, three "question mark" balls are added, and they can represent a number of the team's choice. After the second round is over, the team with the most points wins the game and advances to Bonus Lingo.
The all-time record for most points in the second round is 600, set by contestants Dawn and Stephanie in an episode airing August 24, 2005.
The all-time record for most points overall is 675, set by the team of Dan and Joe.
On at least one occasion, a team was shut-out (didn't score any points). They were given donuts as consollation prizes.
[edit] "Seven Letters" tiebreaker
If there is a tie at the end of the second round, a tiebreaker called "Seven Letters" is played. A mystery seven-letter word is shown, and the first and last letters are displayed, similar to the Speedword on Scrabble. To advance to the Bonus Lingo round, teams must ring in (with a red button on their podium) with the correct word. An incorrect guess locks out the team and gives a free letter to the opposing team. If that team does not know it, their opponents are unlocked and anybody can guess. If nobody knows what the word is, another letter is revealed; this continues until a team figures out the word. If the word is still an incorrect guess (the score is still tied), another tiebreaker is played.
The main game rarely ends in a tie, however. This has only happened three times in the series.
[edit] Bonus Lingo
| 5 | 37 | 65 | ||
| 25 | 51 | |||
| 15 | 63 | |||
| 23 | 43 | |||
| 4 | 31 | 74 |
In Bonus Lingo, the winning team tries to guess as many mystery words as possible within two minutes. In each mystery word, two letters are initially revealed – the first letter and one of the remaining four letters, just like in the original version's endgame. If the team fails to guess any word in five tries, the word is revealed, and the team moves on to the next word.
In the first season, a Lingo card was then revealed with 13 numbers marked off, and the hopper contained 12 balls (one for each uncovered space on the card). The team was allowed to draw one ball for each mystery word successfully guessed; forming a Lingo won a $4,000 prize package consisting of an Argus digital camera, a Borders gift card, a Croton watch, and a Cassiopeia EM-500 Pocket PC. Win or lose, the team won $100 for each correctly guessed word. (However, there was a first-season team that guessed no words correctly and thus won absolutely nothing.) The highest amount won in the season was $4,600, which happened twice.
In the second and later seasons, during the two-minute speed round, the team could now use bonus letters. When a team member called out "bonus letter", the first unknown letter of the mystery word was immediately revealed; this does not count as one of the team's five guesses for the word. The team received one bonus letter for winning the game; also, beginning in the fourth season, celebrity teams received an additional bonus letter (because they were playing for charity), plus one for each Lingo they completed during the game. Also, the draw was changed. Twelve spaces, instead of thirteen, were marked off the Lingo card (so there were now thirteen balls in the hopper); the twelve premarked spaces were chosen so that there would always be exactly one row, column or diagonal with four spaces marked off, so that a Lingo could be formed with the first drawn ball (called a Super Lingo).
| 4 | 24 | 34 | 48 | |
| 14 | 42 | |||
| 50 | 62 | |||
| 52 | ||||
| 10 | 16 | 32 | 60 |
Beginning in the second season, the prize for forming a Lingo was $5,000 cash, but a Lingo on the very first pull would award a grand prize. If the team formed a Lingo on the first draw, the team won the $5,000 plus a trip. For season 2, the prize was a pair of $5,000 Jamaican vacation packages, for a total value of more than $15,000. For Season 3, a trip to Harrah's Entertainment in Lake Tahoe plus $5,000 was at stake. For Season 4 the prize for a first-draw Lingo was changed to $10,000 cash. A team that failed to form a Lingo still won $100 per word successfully guessed. On celebrity episodes, a first-draw Lingo won $25,000, a regular Lingo win $10,000, and $2,500 was awarded for no Lingo. However, on some episodes this varies; one episode in the show's 4th season saw Trista Sutter and Rachel Hunter awarded $30,000 for getting a bonus-round Lingo. Typically the consolation prize for a losing celebrity team is $2,000, but in the above mentioned ep., the losing team of George Wallace and George Wendt received $5,000.
Beginning in the show's fifth season (April 2006), a cash jackpot was added to the bonus round, won if a Lingo was made on the first draw. The Progressive Jackpot started at $10,000 and went up by $1,000 for each show on which it wasn't won. It took only two episodes for the jackpot to be won for the first time, at $11,000. The jackpot has been won only three times in the season; the other two times were on May 3, 2006 (during Fiesta Week) for $31,000 and for $35,000 on June 9, 2006.
The jackpot has been won five times in season 6. On April 24, 2007, contestants Amy and Laura Kelly (last name revealed according to Grand Slam) won the biggest progressive jackpot in this version of Lingo to date, sharing $41,000. On May 10, 2007, contestants Luc and Bay won $21,000; on May 23 a father/daughter team won $17,000; and on May 31 a team won $16,000. The fifth jackpot win of the season came on June 8, worth $15,000.
Given that there is only one way (not counting rotations and reflections) in which 12 of the 25 numbers are marked off at the beginning of Bonus Lingo, the expected number of draws before a Lingo is achieved can be easily calculated to be 3.86. Since many players earn 5 or more pulls during bonus play, winning Bonus Lingo is quite common. The probability of winning Bonus Lingo after earning N pulls is shown in the chart below.
| N | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 or 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pr(Win) | 7.7% | 23.1% | 43.4% | 64.6% | 82.6% | 94.1% | 98.9% | 99.9% | 100% |
On the third episode of Hawaiian Week (first aired on January 1, 2007), the winning team (Robert McKee of Fort Worth, Texas and Heather Gunn of Thousand Oaks, California) solved ten puzzles, thus ending the game with 12 seconds left, and went on to pull the winning Lingo ball on the first draw, winning $10,000. This happened a second time in the first episode between the on-air winners and the online champs (first aired on May 22, 2006), completed with one bonus letter remaining unused. However, this rule is new, as seen in one of the fourth-season episodes when a team got ten words correct in Bonus Lingo, but the first two letters of an eleventh word appeared as time was called. Contestants are now told that earning 10 balls is the maximum rather than the record, and that they are thus guaranteed at least $1,000 (at $100 per ball). Left unsaid is the guarantee of $5,000, given the odds explained above.
[edit] Unusual situations
A variety of unusual situations can arise during a game. For example, when a question-mark ball is drawn and no Lingo is possible, the contestant chooses a number to cover. When this occurs, the wild-card-replaced number is not removed from the hopper; if it happens to be drawn later, the draw is ignored (for the purpose of game play) and edited out of the show before it is aired.[1]
If, during Bonus Lingo, the staff member entering words makes a mistake while typing and time is lost, the lost time is restored and the mistake is edited prior to airing.
The board layouts for Bonus Lingo are not random, but chosen from a set of recurring arrangements. In several of the arrangements used in the 5th and 6th seasons, one or more of the numbers on the on-screen balls appears twice; however, one of the duplicates is always covered when the initial set of 12 numbers are marked off. This situation seems never to occur during the two-team portion of the game.
Sometimes unusual or obscure words are used as correct answers or contestant guesses. The word "LINGO" is frequently guessed, and has been the correct answer more than once. Words of a sexual nature are rarely correct, but they have been guessed by several contestants. On a 3rd season celebrity episode featuring Playboy playmates, the word "boobs" was a correct word. The word "NAKED" was the correct answer at least once (Jeny and Jessie, rerun 29 May 2008).
Off-color remarks by the contestants can make it onto the air. Brian (of Brian and Jason, rerun on 19 May 2008), while drawing after a successful guess, mused that "This is the only time I actually want blue balls". Accompanied by a wry grin, this generated laughter from the co-hosts and the audience laugh track. At the beginning of the second round, Shandi ordinarily holds up a question mark ball and Chuck explains its function as a wild card. In this episode, however, Shandi held up two of the question mark balls, touching, and grinned broadly. There was no mention whether or not this departure from custom was inspired by Brian's previous comment.
Because correctly located letters appear automatically in their correct boxes once contestants guess them, it is possible for all five letters to be filled in even though the word itself has not been guessed. For example, Ellen and John (episode rerun on 22 May 2008) guessed FIRST and FLING as they were working on a word which turned out to be FLINT. Because they had guessed every one of the five letters in their correct locations, on their last attempt they were given FLINT filled in. The rules state that even though the answer is obvious, contestants must pronounce and spell the word anyway.
[edit] Evaluation
Like many television shows, Lingo has its detractors, but reviews have generally been positive. Fans of the show say the cleverly designed gameplay offers much play-along value for the viewer, Woolery maintains a friendly atmosphere with touches of humor, and the competition often generates real suspense. Critics have derided the show's paltry prizes, the sometimes anticlimactic bonus round, the questionable judging (valid words such as "busty", "zesty", and "forts," which appear in any dictionary, have been rejected by the show's judges), and the introduction of Shandi as co-host in the third season.
[edit] Notes
The No Lingo scoring display had an Eggcrate "$" but not Eggcrate numbers.
Actor Larry Hovis was a producer for the original series. Hovis is best known for playing Sgt. Andrew Carter on Hogan's Heroes.
Rumors suggest that the controversy over contestants not being paid is what lead Michael Reagan to leave the show; not wanting to cause damage to his father's reputation. When Ralph Andrews began hosting himself he told viewers on his first day that Michael would just be away for a while on a book tour. However, no mention was made about what happened to Dusty Martell.
GSN reruns earlier seasons of Lingo extensively on its current schedule. There was a mini-game version of Lingo in GSN's late-night interactive series PlayMania (on which Finnessey is one of four hosts). Viewers try to guess a mystery word in a manner similar to the regular game. Each viewer gets only one guess, however.
In 2002, the scoring display for Bonus Lingo was Ferranti-Packard in the Netherlands (actually common on most game shows in Holland [and Germany]) and Vane in California.
ION Television included the original 1987 version of Lingo in the February, 2007 "viewers vote" on its Web site. Site visitors could vote for the show to be included in the network's schedule.
Many of the sound effects and graphics on the current version were taken directly from the Dutch version, as the show's 2002 revival started with 20 episodes taped on their set. The major change was using five instead of six letters, as the Dutch version uses.
Beginning midway through the second season, host Woolery would do his classic "2 and 2" line at the end of the first round before tossing to a commercial break. Starting early on in the 6th season, Woolery, after stating how much the jackpot was worth on that episode, would say "Welcome to my neck of the woods."
[edit] Special episodes
The original 1987 version had one special episode that actually wasn't planned. A sibling team had come on the show with the intention of winning enough money to pay for a trip to Australia to see their dying father. When the team didn't win, host Michael Reagan informed them the show would pay for the trip, anyway. Their reaction was understandably emotional.
GSN held a tournament of champions with particularly successful contestants from its second and third seasons. In the final tournament episode there was no bonus round. Instead the episode featured a third round where a correctly guessed word was worth 75 points and a "Lingo" was worth 150 points. The "question mark" balls from the second round carried over to the third round. At the end of the show, the team with the most points won a Suzuki Verona for each teammate.
A series of special competitions is now airing on GSN for the first time. Notably successful players from the fourth season face off against pairs of winners from the 2005 online Lingo tournament at GSN.com.
A special episode that aired on April Fool's Day in 2003 had the entire roster of GSN's 6 original show hosts together playing for charity. While Woolery hosted, Mark L. Walberg (Russian Roulette) and Marc Summers (WinTuition) played against Kennedy (Friend or Foe?) and Graham Elwood (Cram), with Walberg and Summers winning 500-0. The sixth host to take part was Todd Newton (Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck), serving as the show's announcer.
Lingo will often have theme weeks where the set is decorated, Shandi and the contestants dress in an outfit that fits the theme, and words pertaining to the theme are used.
[edit] Lingo Online
In 2008, GSN lost the rights to Lingo Online. this began online concern that the show might be cancelled.[2][3]
[edit] Hiatus
In early 2008, it was announced from Game Show site Gameshownewsnet.com, that GSN would not make any new episodes of Lingo in 2008. An executive at the network said "GSN opted not to make new episodes this year and will air all 6 seasons throughout the year. So far, GSN has only aired season 4-6 and still has not aired seasons 1-3. It is not known if they will air these episodes.
[edit] UK Version
[edit] References
- ^ According to a first-person account by a contestant (A Brush with The Chuck)
- ^ www.gsn.com
- ^ www.aol.com/games
