| Hit Man | |
|---|---|
Hit Man opening logo. |
|
| Format | Game show |
| Created by | Jay Wolpert |
| Presented by | Jay Wolpert (pilot) Peter Tomarken (series) |
| Narrated by | Rod Roddy |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 65 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | NBC Studios Burbank, California |
| Running time | approx. 25 Minutes |
| Production company(s) | Jay Wolpert Productions Metromedia Video Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | January 3, 1983 – April 1, 1983 |
Hit Man is an American television game show that ran from January 3 to April 1, 1983 on NBC. Peter Tomarken hosted this Jay Wolpert production in association with Metromedia Video Productions, while Rod Roddy was the announcer.
Contents |
Each game of Hit Man began with three contestants watching a 3-minute film, narrated by Tomarken, about a specific topic (with the returning champion also doing so from offstage). Peter then read questions pertaining to that story once it was finished. The object of this round was to climb a ladder by answering five questions correctly. Contestants buzzed in to answer questions; each right answer moved the contestant up one step while a wrong answer eliminated that contestant from the next question.
The first contestant to come up with five correct answers won $300 and the second player to do so won $200. Both players advanced to the next round while the third player was eliminated from the game, leaving with only parting gifts.
The two remaining contestants competed against the show's returning champion in this round. A short story about a different topic was presented. After the story, each player was given a number of "hit men" to defend. The champion was given seven hit men, the first contestant to reach the top of the ladder in the first round was given four, and the second contestant to reach the top was given three. The object for the challengers in this round was to eliminate all of the champion's hit men, while the object for the champion was to eliminate both challengers' hit men.
The champion competed against one of the other two challengers in each question during this round. The first challenger to reach the top of the ladder in the previous round had the option to go against the champion first or allow the other challenger to go first. Once that decision was made, Tomarken started asking questions pertaining exclusively to the second story. If a player answered a question correctly, the opponent lost a hit man. If a challenger answered incorrectly or failed to reply, he/she lost a hit man and lost control to the other challenger.
The champion defended his or her title by eliminating both of the opponents. If the champion lost all of his/her hit men first, the challenger who was in control when the champion's last hit man was eliminated was declared the winner.
The winner of the game played the "Triple Crown" bonus round. The contestant had their back to a board with eight randomly-placed columns: one column contained one circle, two columns contained two circles, two columns contained three circles, two columns contained four circles, and one column contained five circles. The contestant had to fill each circle with a "money man" by correctly answering questions about either of the short stories that were presented during that episode (this is why the returning champion was allowed to hear the first story, despite not participating in that round).
The contestant was given 60 seconds to fill three columns with "money men". A completed column was indicated by a crown lit above it. The contestant, not knowing how many spaces are in each column, called out a column and was asked questions alternating between each subject. If a contestant answered any question incorrectly or passed on a question, a new column had to be started, and if they returned to the column they missed on, they had to start it over from the beginning. The contestant won $1,000 for each of the first two columns filled. If three of the eight columns were filled within 60 seconds, the contestant won $10,000.
Hit Man ran at 11:30 AM EST following Wheel Of Fortune on NBC with CBS's ten-year-old The Price is Right and ABC's The Love Boat repeats as its main competition. However, Price was taking America and daytime television by storm. Hit Man left the airwaves after 13 weeks and was replaced by the Bob Eubanks-hosted Dream House. Just Men!, which aired right after Hit Man, got cancelled that same day while Wheel and Sale of the Century would stay on NBC's schedule until 1989. Peter Tomarken would gain greater fame five months later with what would be his best known game show, Press Your Luck which ran for three years. Rod Roddy would earn greater fame in 1986, when he became Johnny Olson's permanent replacement as announcer on The Price is Right.
The series finale had Gene Kelly and United States Vice Presidents as its subjects. Future game show announcer Randy West defeated then-champion Sheila and won $1,000 in the Triple Crown.
After the final commercial break, Roddy substituted the traditional contestant plug with "If you would like to be a contestant on Hit Man, forget it! And now, back to Peter Tomarken!" Afterward, Tomarken gave a speech explaining what Roddy just said. The program has not been rerun since its cancellation.
Hitman (TV series), the British version of this show.