Action Réaction

Action Réaction is a French Canadian game show, an adaptation of the American game show Chain Reaction, in which players compete to form chains composed of two-word phrases. It aired on TQS from 1986-1991, with Pierre Lalonde as host, and was taped on the same set as the then-concurrent US version.

Main game

Two teams comprising a celebrity & civilian faced a seven word chain. Each team member was given one responsibility. One teammate was the letter giver, and decided whether to give a letter to his or her partner or to other team's word guesser. A correct response was worth points and control of the board. In Round One, each word guessed was worth 10 points, but the final word guessed in that chain was worth 20 (changed to 15 in season two). In Round Two, these values escalated to 20 points each, and 40 points for the final word. In the event that a fourth chain was needed to decide the game, the point values were 40 points per word and 80 for the final word.

Bonus chain

The winning team could collect a cash jackpot by completing one last word chain. The team was shown the first word in a chain, and the initial letter of the other words. One at a time, the players would guess at the next word in the chain. For each wrong guess, the next letter would be filled in, and a letter deducted from their account. If the team could finish the chain before running out of letters the civilian won the cash jackpot. If not, he/she won $100 per word, including the one at the top. The jackpot began at $1,000; and $500 was added each day it was not claimed.

Champions remained on the show until they were defeated or held their title for five consecutive days.

Format abroad

The original American version, called Chain Reaction, aired on NBC in 1980 with Bill Cullen. This was followed by The New Chain Reaction, which aired on the USA Network from 1986 to 1991, with Blake Emmons as host for the first few months, followed by Geoff Edwards (who also filled in for Cullen on the original NBC version). The most recent version aired on GSN from 2006 to 2007, and was hosted Dylan Lane.

A British version of the series aired on ITV from 1988 to 1993 under the title of Lucky Ladders, hosted by Lennie Bennett.

An Indonesian version of the series called Kata Berkait originally hosted by Nico Siahaan followed by Taufik Savalas aired on RCTI from 1995 to 2001.

A version of the series has aired in Italy since 2007 every summer with the title Reazione a catena - L'intesa vincente, originally hosted by Pupo from 2007 until 2009, followed by Pino Insegno from 2010 until 2013. Currently, Amadeus (not to be confused with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart) hosted the series since 2014. Airs every day in the summer on RAI 1.

A Turkish version called Kelime Zinciri hosted by Kâmil Güler airs on Samanyolu TV since 2012.