Fun House (U.S. game show)

Fun House is an American children's television game show that aired from September 5, 1988 to April 13, 1991. The first two seasons aired in daily syndication, with the Fox network picking it up and renaming it Fox's Fun House for its third and final season.

Similar in format to the popular Double Dare airing at the time, Fun House saw two teams competing against each other answering questions and taking part in messy games with the winners running through an obstacle course (the titular "Fun House") at the end of the show.

Fun House was hosted for its entire run by J. D. Roth. He was assisted by twin cheerleaders Jacqueline "Jackie" and Samantha "Sammi" Forrest, who each cheered on one of the teams, and the show's announcer. John "Tiny" Hurley announced for both syndicated seasons and actor/breakdancer Michael Chambers, referred to on air as "MC Mike", replaced him when the show moved to Fox in 1990.

Fun House was created by game show producer Bob Synes, who served as executive producer of the series with his partner Scott Stone for the first two seasons. When Synes died in 1990, Stone paired with David Stanley and what was previously known as Stone Television became known as Stone Stanley Productions. Fun House remained a Stone Stanley production until its final episode in 1991. Stone's initial co-producer and distributor was Lorimar-Telepictures, which produced the series for much of the first season. Beginning in 1989, Lorimar Television assumed co-production duties and Warner Bros. Television Distribution became the distributor.

A year after Fun House premiered, a spinoff series called College Mad House was created. Premiering in 1989 and running in weekly syndication for one season, it was hosted by Greg Kinnear and featured teams of college students from various universities around the United States competing against each other.

Game play

As noted above, Fun House was played with two teams, each comprising a boy and a girl. One of the teams wore red uniforms and the other gold.

Stunt rounds

Three stunts/games were played on each episode. One involved the boys, one involved the girls, and the third involved all four players. Several games, such as "Pinhead" and "Dump-O", were races to answer a certain number of questions first, with the losing player being covered with disgusting materials (slime, garbage, etc.) by an unusual contraption. The team who won each stunt earned 25 points. If the stunt ended in a tie, both teams received the points. After each stunt, play moved to a podium at center stage where a toss-up question relating to the stunt was asked for 25 points.

Grand Prix race

The Grand Prix race was played as the fourth and final round and involved both teams racing around a track that circled the studio for two laps, with 25 points going to the winning team.

The races themselves were conducted one of two ways. Some involved vehicles that both teammates had to operate, with one pushing and the other sitting in the cockpit and switching positions and lanes for the second lap. The others were run as a relay race, with both teams having one player run each lap. Small challenges were usually set up around the track that each team had to complete during the run, such as gathering each of several food items, running through tires, or hitting targets with a seltzer bottle.

Along the course, there were multiple areas where the teams could grab scoring tokens. Two different colored tokens (white and blue) were available and each station offered either two or three tokens. While grabbing the tokens was never required, the teams were encouraged to take as many of them as possible because they played a more significant role in determining a winner than taking the checkered flag in the race did and enabled a team that went into the race trailing by a significant total to catch up and potentially pass the leaders and win the game. White tokens were worth ten points and blue tokens were worth twenty-five. A total of 300 points in tokens was available to each team if they decided to grab them all. In the second season a Token Bank was put on the track for each team in the second lap of the race, with up to 250 points in tokens for the teams to grab.

Each team had a small bag to place the tokens in. If the race was run in a vehicle, both players had a small bag that was worn like a satchel. If it was run as a relay race, the player that ran the first lap had to give the bag to their teammate before they ran the second lap. The key was to keep the tokens from hitting the floor. As long as they remained in the bag or in the vehicle in cases where those were used, they were in play. If any tokens fell onto the floor, they were taken out of play and neither team could pick them up off the floor.

After the winning team completed the race, play moved back to the podium where that team received their 25 points. The teams' tokens were then retrieved and Roth counted the trailing team's first beginning with the white tokens. Each token was dropped into a chute built into the podium, and as they were the corresponding points were added to the team's score. The leaders were then counted, with the trailing team's new total becoming the score they now needed to surpass in order to retain the lead and win the game. Roth began counting again, stopping when one of these two things happened:

• the leaders accumulated just enough points to regain the lead (even if there were still tokens to count), winning the game and the right to enter the Fun House
• the leaders ran out of tokens without having reclaimed the lead, meaning the opponents won the game and entered the Fun House

If after the tokens were counted the scores were even, a toss-up question was asked to break the tie. The first team to buzz in and answer correctly won the right to enter the Fun House.

The Fun House

Inside the Fun House were a series of tags with prizes and cash amounts on them. There were a total of twelve tags, with six displaying the names of prizes and six displaying cash amounts from $50 to $300. The red prize tags were found in a different room, while the six green cash tags were scattered around in various areas. One of the tags had a special bonus attached to it called the "Power Prize", which gave the team a bonus vacation if one of them found it. If it was found, an alarm would go off to indicate to the player that he/she did so.

The team was given two minutes inside the Fun House to grab as many of the tags as possible. Each player could only grab three tags at a time, and once one of the players had three he/she had to exit the Fun House and tag the other player, who would go in and do the same thing. For each prize tag grabbed, both team members received the prize attached to it. For each cash tag, they both were awarded the cash.

When Fun House moved to Fox for season three, a large alarm clock called the Glop Clock was hidden in the Fun House and if the team found it, they were given fifteen extra seconds after the initial two minutes to search for tags.

The team got to keep any prizes and cash from the tags they found within the time limit, even if one of them was still in the Fun House when time ran out. Many of the prizes were valuable, especially the Power Prize, and it was possible for teams to accumulate thousands of dollars in cash and prizes.

The winning totals on Fun House were usually much higher amounts than were available on other children's game shows of the time such as Nickelodeon's Double Dare or Finders Keepers, where the typical prize package was usually at least half of what was available on Fun House; a team on either of those two shows could usually walk away with approximately $2,000-$3,000 in cash and prizes while a team on Fun House could often win cash and prizes that often topped $5,000. It should also be noted that while the main game of Fun House was played for points, both of the Nickelodeon shows mentioned saw their main games played for money.

Rooms

First season

• Balloon Lagoon (a small pool filled with water and balloons; tag is hanging above pool; players could enter the Fun House through the Lagoon from a set of stairs leading into it, but could only exit it through ladders at either side)
• Fundromat (a giant revolving tunnel filled with clothes)
• Tiny's Room (two closets, one of which had Tiny in it with a seltzer bottle and the tag)
• The Shower Room (a series of connected shower stalls with seven doors, only one of which was unlocked)
• The Dump (Ballroom covered with trash cans and trash bags; tag is hidden in one of the cans)
• The Swamp (Small lake with the tag in the mouth of an artificial alligator)
• Small Tall Hall (5 doors, with the doors going from small to largest)
• Icecave/Batcave (cave "inside" Mt. Fun House which connects both the tunnel and the Pressure Cooker/Chompin' Chompers; prize/cash tag hanging on cave wall)
• Chomping Choppers (Pressure Cooker with eyes and teeth)
• Windchimes (Large wind chimes close together)
• Wrong Way Street (a reverse treadmill; pilot version only)
• Booby Trap (eight small foot holes covered by thin paper; replaced by the Small Tall Hall midway through the 1988–1989 season)
• Swimmin' Hole (small pool with the tag hanging from a small pole; replaced by the Balloon Lagoon midway through the 1988–1989 season)
• Tubular Tunnel (spinning tunnel that connected between the Ballroom and the Cave; replaced by the Fundromat midway through the 1988–1989 season)
• Boiler Room (a twisted maze of pipes leading to the next floor, cash tag hanging on one of the pipes)
• Prize-O-Mat (a vending machine with candy in all five slots, one of which also contained the tag)
• Mount Fun House (stairs leading to a peak (sometimes had a condor's nest at the peak) that led to a small room that led to two slides; later, also had a bridge connecting it to The Dump)
• Weather Room (a small drizzle rained on the contestant; the tag was attached to a high balloon)
• Wallpaper Room (peel the wallpaper and find the tag)
• Windowsill (a flower with 8 "petals", one of which is the tag, standing in the windowsill)
• Drawbridge (a small bridge hanging over the first slide in Mt. Fun House; if it is up and the player is coming from the pool, there is an actuator that can lower it)
• Spider's Web (The drawbridge covered with cobwebs, and a spider hanging down with the tag attached; pilot version only)
• Shaky Quaky Room/Forest (trees and/or buildings on top of a waterbed)
• Box Room (Boxes stacked on top of one another, with one box containing the tag)
• Punch-Out Panel (a series of holes covered by tissue paper, one of which has the tag inside, the others being empty or having various junk)
• The Hanging Bridge (a suspension bridge hanging over a small pool which can erupt water; the tag is found on either side of the bridge)
• Car Wash Rollers (a pair of fast moving car wash rollers with

Second season

• Turntable (spinning turntable found at entrance)
• Moon/Rainbow Bridge (arch that spanned the end of the water slide)
• Fun Bank (a fake brick wall guarding a safe which housed the tag)
• Pirate Ship (whack the right pirate for the tag)
• Main Ship Deck (spin the ship's wheel to lower the tag)
• Earthquake Bridge (a bridge that swayed front to back)
• Soda Can (A gushing soda can with a tag hanging near the tab)
• Cuckoo Clock (placing both hands on 12 made Tiny pop out, who handed the contestant a tag and sprayed him or her with a seltzer bottle)
• The Vines (tall vines filled this area, one of which held the tag)
• Telephony Room (tag was hidden under the ringing telephone)
• Prize Cage (a birdcage with the tag toward the top)
• Rainbow (pull down the cords which dropped down colored slime and a tag)
• Tree House (Climb up the ladder and grab a tag hanging from one of the branches)
• Cave (a cave hidden in the falls)
• Tubular Tunnel (Tunnel that spins around)
• Exit (small skateboard going down a ramp; no tag here)
• Avalanche Room (rocks tumbled toward the contestant upon entry, revealing a tag)
• Rocket (hit the switch to blast off and grab the tag)
• Haunted House (Two coffins were in here, one filled with blood, the other with Tiny with a seltzer bottle; either coffin contained the tag)
• Coconut Tree (palm tree with tag hanging under one of the leaves)
• Stew Pot ("boiling" pot with tag hidden in the stew)
• Pirate's Cove (two areas: a pole and a pirate's room with a tag inside)
• Paddle Wheel (a running wheel on the side of the ship with a tag attached)
• Fridge Raiders (Huge fridge where tag lies in waiting)
• Crazy Cottages (Two small sheds with an open window connecting the two, tag is in 2nd/top room)
• Big Mouth (a head with a large tongue, where a tag was located)
• Treasure Island (located in the pool, where there is a small chest with the tag inside)
• Hurricane Alley (much like the Earthquake Bridge, except covered with palm trees)

College Mad House

As noted above, College Mad House was a spinoff of Fun House hosted by eventual Academy Award nominee Greg Kinnear that involved teams of college students playing against each other. The show aired in weekly syndication, mostly on weekends.

In place of cheerleaders, Kinnear was assisted by two referees, Richard McGregor and Donna Wilson. Voiceover artist Beau Weaver replaced Michael Chambers as the announcer.

As before, two teams competed. This time, there were four members of the team instead of two. Like on Fun House, there was an equal distribution of males and females.

This version featured much more risqué content and stunts than the children's version, often involving crude college gross-out humor and games that required lewd bodily movements among the participants.

Stunts were reworked to accommodate the larger teams. The first stunt featured the men, the second featured the women, and the third featured all eight players. Scoring remained the same.

The fourth round was the "College Mad House Finals", a ninety-second speed round of general knowledge questions. The two teams would stand in line behind the podium and each member of the team had a pie. Buzzing in with a correct answer won the team 25 points and the player got to hit the opponent with his/her pie. After two players played, they moved to the end of the line and the next two moved up to face each other. Play continued in this manner until time ran out, and the team in the lead won the game. If the teams were tied, one more question was played with the next two players in line. The tiebreaker was an all-or-nothing question, as buzzing in with a wrong answer resulted in an automatic loss. This game mechanic, minus the pies, was later used on the Stone-Stanley game show Shop 'Til You Drop, which premiered a year after College Mad House went off the air.

The winning team then got to run through the Mad House, which was laid out in the same manner as the Fun House except with rooms that were more centered on college life than children. One at a time, the winning team would run through the Mad House trying to collect as many of the prize tags and cash tags as possible. A player was not limited as to how many tags he/she could grab, but after thirty seconds elapsed that player had to freeze wherever he/she was and the next player in line was sent into the Mad House. Play continued until all four team members had taken their turn or until all of the tags had been found. There was no Power Prize in the Mad House; instead, the bonus vacation was awarded if the team managed to "clean house" by getting all of the tags before the last teammate into the Mad House ran out of time.

Merchandise

Board Game

Pressman (1988)

A board game was released by Pressman in 1988.

Travel Game

Tiger Electronics (1989)

A Klix Pocket Travel Game was released in 1989.

Video & Computer Games

Hi Tech Expressions (1989,1991)

Games released from the Commodore 64 & MS-DOS were released in 1989 while a version for the NES was released in 1991.

Exercise Videos

Warner Home Video (1990)

In 1990, two exercise videos were released under the Fun House Fitness collection hosted by Jane Fonda and J.D. Roth respectively. the first one was called The Swamp Stomp for kids ages 3–7 while its second and finale line of exercise videos was called The Fun House Funk for kids ages 7 and up. it was re-issued as part of Jane Fonda Collection DVD compilation in 2005.

Pilot

The format was basically the same as the show that eventually made it to air, but with some differences:

• The announcer was veteran voice actor Brian Cummings (also announcer of Let's Make a Deal in 1984, another Lorimar-Telepictures game show). Unlike Tiny and MC Mike, he did not appear on camera.
• Teams played for money rather than points. Each stunt earned $25 to the winners, with $1 per item for the runners-up (similar to how the "Key Game" worked in the British version).
• Instead of three stunts, there were four (two stunts for the boys, two stunts for the girls).
• The Grand Prix race also had red tokens in addition to white and blue. Red ones were worth $10, white, $25, and blue, $50. Winning the race also earned $50.
• In the Fun House, both teammates could grab two tags at once, and that was it. There was also a room that contained seven amounts-- $100, $200, $300, $400, $500, $1,000, and $2,000, the amount of which could be won by stopping a light at random. There were only seven tags in the house, and the Power Prize tag earned the team all the prizes, totaling over $25,000. The team still had two minutes to grab tags.
• The scoreboards used the classic eggcrate font, instead of the new eggcrate font which was used on the series.

British version

In 1989, a British version of Fun House was made by Scottish Television based on the American show and presented by Pat Sharp with twin cheerleaders Melanie and Martina Grant and Gary King as the announcer. It saw such success that it ran for 11 years, finally ending in 1999.

External links

• Fun House at the Internet Movie Database

References