Child's Play (game show)
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| Child's Play | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game show |
| Created by | Mark Goodson |
| Presented by | Bill Cullen |
| Narrated by | Gene Wood |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 258 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | CBS |
| Original run | September 20, 1982 – September 16, 1983 |
Child's Play was an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson Production series aired on CBS from September 20, 1982 (the same day The $25,000 Pyramid returned, and aired immediately before that), to September 16, 1983.
Perhaps the first inklings of the format appeared on a 1967 episode of Goodson-Todman's earlier series I've Got a Secret, on which guest Woody Allen read children's definitions of words for the panel to guess.[1] Child's Play host Bill Cullen happened to be a member of that series' panel.
Contents |
[edit] Hosts and announcers
Child's Play was hosted by game show veteran Bill Cullen. This was Cullen's final game for CBS, and his last for Mark Goodson Productions, after 30 years emceeing game shows for the company. Gene Wood was the primary announcer for the entire run, with Johnny Gilbert, Fred Saxon, and Bob Hilton (who also announced on the pilot) filling in on occasion.
Cullen first plugged the show during his only appearance on Bob Barker's version of The Price Is Right (Cullen hosted the original version of Price from 1956-1965, although this was not mentioned in his appearance with Barker).
[edit] Main game
Two contestants competed. The object of the game was to correctly identify words based on videotaped definitions given by elementary school-age children (ages 5–9). The game was played in two rounds.
[edit] Round 1
In the first round, a word was given to the home audience, and a video clip of a child defining that word was played. (For example: "It's when you run around and wave your arms back and forth." Answer: Arms race.) Any incriminating words (including the word itself) were censored.
Once the clip ended, the contestant had a chance to guess the word; a correct response earned one point. If the contestant was incorrect, their opponent viewed a clip of another child defining the same word. If the opponent was wrong, control passed back to the first contestant, who saw one final clip (usually of an older child, and the answer usually not that hard to guess by this point). If the contestant was still wrong, Cullen announced the correct answer and no points were awarded.
The first round continued, with the players alternating control on words (originally the winner of the previous word played first on each new word), until the first commercial break.
[edit] Round 2: Fast Play
The second round was known as the "Fast Play" round. Both contestants were given the opportunity to guess what word the child was defining by hitting a buzzer to interrupt the video clip and guess the word. If the contestant was correct, they received two points; if incorrect, the rest of the clip was played and the opponent was given a chance to guess. When the school bell rang, the game was over. If there was a tie at the end of the game, a tie-breaking word would be played. If a contestant buzzed in with the right word, they won the game; if the contestant gave a wrong answer, the contestant was locked out, and their opponent got a chance to listen to the entire description of the same child, before taking a free guess.
Notes: In the first three episodes, correct answers in "Fast Play" were still worth one point. After the school bell rang the first time, correct answers were worth double, or two points. Also, upon stealing, the stealer would see the whole clip rather than start from where it left off. This rule was discontinued in favor of the rules above.
The contestant with the highest score when time expired won $500 and played the bonus round.
[edit] Bonus round
Two different bonus round formats were played during the year-long run of Child's Play, but they both offer a grand prize of $5,000 and a time limit of 45 seconds. Each is described below:
[edit] Format 1: Triple Play
The contestant must guess six words correctly. Each word had three written definitions by three different children ("Child A", "Child B", and "Child C"). The contestant must choose one of the three children, and after seeing the definition, supply a guess or chose another child. If, after seeing all three definitions, the contestant cannot identify the word, they must say "pass" to move on to another word.
Each correct guess was worth $100, while getting six before time expired won $5,000.
[edit] Format 2: Turnabout
The second bonus game format was instituted on April 25, 1983. Five children who regularly appeared in the film clips were brought into the studio, and the contestant had to describe seven words to the children within 45 seconds or less. The contestant won $100 for each word that a child guessed correctly and the children won the same amount collectively. Getting all seven words won $5,000 and the children won $1,000 collectively. As in the previous bonus round format, the contestant can pass a word and come back to it if time permits; however, if the contestant gave an illegal clue (such as giving away the word) or a part of the word in the clue, it was out of play and the chance at the $5,000 was lost. The contestant could still try for the other words at $100 each if any were left in the game.
Champions returned until they were defeated or had been on the show for 5 days, or had exceeded CBS' original $25,000 limit.
[edit] Episode status
The series is intact, and has been seen on GSN at various times.
[edit] Future celebrities
Several celebrities appeared on Child's Play before they became famous: Jeff Cohen, Breckin Meyer, Masi Oka, Brock Lesnar, and Tara Reid were all featured children on the show. In addition, Anne-Marie Johnson appeared as a contestant.[citation needed] Also, Sugar Ray Robinson appeared in the audience of the July 4, 1983 episode, and Bill Cullen introduced him as the boxing coach of one of the Child's Play kids participating in the Turnabout game.
[edit] Spanish Version: Dame la Pista
On September 15, 2008 FremantleMedia, owners of the Goodson-Todman catalog of games, revived Child's Play in the Spanish-speaking market as Dame la Pista ("Give Me a Clue") hosted by Alessandra Rosaldo on Univision-owned TeleFutura. The show has been cancelled for unknown reasons as the show's page has been taken down from the TeleFutura website.
[edit] UK Version
[edit] References
- ^ I've Got a Secret, February 27, 1967. Date sourced from Kinescopes.com
