Rodeo Drive (game show)
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Rodeo Drive was a cable game show produced by Jay Wolpert that aired on the Lifetime Cable Network from February 5 to August 31, 1990. It was hosted by comic/impressionist Louise DuArt, and announced by Burton Richardson. This show pitted three contestants against each other in a game based on the world famous street of the same name.
The original pilot was taped in 1981, with Peter Tomarken as host (he later went on to host another Wolpert game show, Hit Man).
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[edit] Main game
[edit] Round 1
To start, a game board on a monitor behind the contestants was revealed. On the board was a list of seven hidden words connected to a famous celebrity. On his/her turn, the contestant chose a number from 1 through 7. The word was revealed to the home audience as well as his/her two opponents, after which the opponents secretly predicted whether the describing contestant would say the word. The first contestant received 15 seconds to "do a little gossiping" - that is, to describe the celebrity as much as possible. If the contestant said the chosen hidden word in the 15 seconds, he/she won the hidden amount associated with that word (anywhere from 100 to 250 points according to the difficulty of the word). If not, the contestant instead received five points for each of the remaining six words he/she did say. After the 15 second "gossip session", the other players' predictions were revealed. If the prediction was correct, that contestant won 50 points; if not, the player received nothing. Play continued until all three contestants had described one celebrity and predicted twice.
If two players were tied at the end of the round, a toss-up statement about a celebrity was read. The first player to buzz in and correctly classify it as a fact or rumor scored one point (preventing any further ties involving that player) and the advantage in round 2. If incorrect, the opponent automatically earned the point and the advantage.
[edit] Round 2
In this round, the contestants were seated from left to right in order of how they finished the first round. They were now given statements posed by host DuArt, each one being either a fact or a rumor. Play started with the player in the lead after round 1. He or she was given a statement, and a correct answer earned that player 100 points. An incorrect answer passed control of the round to the second place contestant. If that player missed, the third place player took a turn, with an incorrect answer resulting in the first player gaining control again. During this stage of the game, Louise DuArt would also do her famous voice impersonations, appropriate to that question's subject, more often if the answer was wrong. The game lasted for approximately seven minutes. Two bells indicated a two-minute warning, and when more bells rang, the round and the game ended. The player in the lead at this point won the game, $500 cash, the right to return on the next show, and a chance to "stroll down Rodeo Drive". If the game ended in a tie, a tiebreaker similar to that used in Round 1 was used to break it.
[edit] Rodeo Drive bonus round
Before the bonus round, the winning player had an opportunity to increase the amount of money in the bank on Rodeo Drive (see below) by answering 5 questions. The contestant was given names of two celebrities and a statement. The statement could be about either celebrity A, celebrity B, or both celebrities. Each correct answer added $200 to the Rodeo Drive bank.
The player then got the chance to "Stroll down Rodeo Drive," which included four stores and the bank. For each store, the player had to identify a celebrity by overhearing a conversation about that celebrity. Each time a celebrity was correctly identified the contestant advanced to the next store and listened to gossip about another celebrity. If the contestant was able to identify all five celebrities in 60 seconds, he/she won all the prizes on Rodeo Drive plus the entire contents of the bank. The bank value carried over to the next show after an unsuccessful bonus round and was reset to $1,000 after it was claimed.
If a player ran out of time they were allowed to choose a prize to keep from one of the stores they successfully passed.
