Shop 'til You Drop

Shop 'til You Drop
Genre	Game show
Directed by	Jeff Goldstein (1991-1992) Bob Loudin (1992-1994, 1996-1997) Steve Grant (1997-1998, 2000-2005)
Presented by	Pat Finn (1991–1994, 1996–1998, 2000–2002) JD Roberto (2003–2005)
Narrated by	Mark L. Walberg (1991–1994) Jason Grant Smith (1996–1997) Dee Bradley Baker (1997–1998, 2000–2002) Don Priess (2003–2005)
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	9
No. of episodes	980
Production
Executive producer(s)	Scott A. Stone David G. Stanley
Running time	22–26 minutes
Production company(s)	Stone Stanley Entertainment
Broadcast
Original channel	Lifetime (1991–1994) The Family Channel (1996–1998) PAX (2000–2005)
Original run	July 8, 1991 (1991-07-08) – May 27, 2005 (2005-05-27)

Shop 'til You Drop is an American game show that aired on various broadcast television networks from 1991–2006. The series was hosted by Pat Finn from 1991–2002, followed by JD Roberto from 2003–2005. Co-hosts/announcers included Mark L. Walberg (1991–1994), Jason Grant Smith (1996–1997), Dee Bradley Baker (1997–2002), and Don Priess (2003–2005).

Original format (1991–2002)

From its premiere through 2002, the backdrop of Shop 'til You Drop was a 14-store, two-story shopping mall.

Stunt rounds

Two teams of two contestants (almost always male-female; married, engaged, dating, siblings, or best friends) competed. Nearly all of the stunts were mini-games played in a one-minute time limit, which tested popular culture and consumer knowledge.

A coin toss backstage before the show determined which couple would have the option of playing the first stunt. The host described the first of two stunts and the team who won the toss chose to play or pass to the other team. Stunts varied widely through the years, but more or less involved the host announcing a category and the team answering questions appropriate to the topic or various other games based on item pricing. In earlier years, stunts similar to those on Beat the Clock were also played (such as the female partner stuffing three balloons in her husband's pair of oversized trousers without breaking any). Most stunts had a 60-second time limit, however some early stunts were played with a 30-, 45-, or rarely 90-second time limit.

Successfully completing the stunt earned points and allowed the team to pick a prize from one of the seven stores of the lower floor of the mall. One of the stores also hid a mini vacation dubbed the "Shopper's Special".

Two stunt rounds were played, with stunts in the first round worth 100 points and 200 points in the second round. Whichever team did not have the choice of playing or passing the first stunt in round one had the option in round two.

List of stores

Many of the stores are named after people who worked on the show and for Stone Stanley Entertainment.

• 24 Karats
• Art Attack (later Andrea's Art Attack)
• Andrea's Art Mart
• Baby Land
• Back to Nature
• Beauty Secrets by Tania
• Bed Bath and Beyond (based on the actual store chain)
• Brendlinger's Bed & Bath (later Birkeland's Bed & Bath)
• Bob's Camera Shop
• Bob & Steve's Camera Shop
• Brighten Up!
• Chez Gourmet
• Chuck's Department Store
• Circuit Center
• Cosmetics Plus (based on the actual store chain)
• Dave's Home Furnishings
• Decker Marcus Department Store
• Decorators Showcase
• Denny's Hardware
• Downtown Designs
• Food Gloria's Food
• Fun & Games
• Gadgets & Gizmos
• Gary's Gadgets
• Gifts Galore
• Global Wonders
• Good Sports
• Good Time Charli's Clocks
• Harris' Bootery
• Harry's House of Music & Video
• Heidi's Healthy Living
• Heidi's Housewares
• J&B's Sports of All Sorts
• Jerome's Leather and Luggage Store
• JJ's Fashion Fair
• Justin Time
• Kanthony's Furniture Mart
• Leather & Luggage Rack
• Leslie's House of Music (on at least one episode from 2000, the store is simply House of Music)
• Linens 'n Things
• Lots O' Fun
• Melenie's Fashion Fair
• Mister Gadget
• (Levy's) Outdoor Explorer
• Odds & Ends Novelty Shop
• RCA/BMG Music and Video
• S&S Clothiers
• Sabrina's World Of Wonders
• Sally's Bedding and Beyond
• Shoes by Sergio
• Shutter Bug
• Sleep On It
• Stephanie's Luggage Rack
• Sue's Book Nook
• Sweet Sensations
• The Book Nook
• The Green House
• The Greenery
• Top Chef Kitchen Accessories
• Von Schiffendecker's Furniture
• World of Discovery

Shopper's Challenge Round

Round 3 was the "Shopper's Challenge", a 90-second series of rapid-fire multiple-choice questions, again related to entertainment and shopping. Correct answers were worth 50 points each and an incorrect answer gave the other team a chance to respond. The male and female halves switched places after each question.

The team with the most points at the end of the round won the game and advanced to the bonus round. If a tie occurred, a final question was asked. If the player answered correctly, they went to the bonus round. If the player answered incorrectly, the opposing team automatically went to the bonus round.

Shop 'til You Drop Round

The bonus round was a shopping spree where the team tried to build a prize package of at least $2,500 in 90 seconds. One of the team members was the shopper (usually, but not always the female) while the other team member was the runner (usually, but not always the male). One of the stores in the mall contained a prize worth at least $700.

One at a time, the team opened one of six boxes on a table, each concealing a prize, and the shopper decided whether to keep or exchange each one. For an exchange, the runner had to carry the box to a store and bring back the one waiting there without opening it. In either case, the runner had to take the item or box to a table on one side of the set and hit a bell before the shopper could open another box.

After all six boxes had been exchanged/kept, or if the 90-second time limit expired, the host and announcer described the prizes and added up each item's retail price. The couple kept everything they selected (including any prizes from the first two rounds and the "Shopper's Special" if won), but if they met or exceeded the $2,500 threshold, the couple won a trip.

During the show's first season, the team only needed to obtain $1,000 in prizes. In the first season with the $1,000 quota, there was always at least one prize that was worth $300 or more. In addition, some of the boxes in the first season contained gag gifts (related to the store, with no photos of them shown during descriptions as was the case with the larger prizes), which if selected only added less than $50 to a team's total. The gag gifts were eliminated when the required money amount was raised.

Celebrity Christmas Special

On December 19, 1993, to commemorate the holiday season, a one-hour Christmas special aired, featuring celebrities playing for charity.

The basic format remained the same, but four teams competed (three teams of two and one team of three), there were higher-priced prizes, and cash was used instead of points, and the celebrity teams picked a prize from one of the 14 stores in both the upper and lower floors of the mall. Also, the two low-scoring teams were eliminated before the "Shopper's Challenge", in which all questions were related to entertainment and shopping, including the holiday season and each correct answer was worth $500, and the time limit in Shopper's Challenge Round was changed to two minutes. All teams won at least $2,500 for their charities. Finally, in the bonus round, the target was raised to $5,000, and reaching or exceeding that goal won an additional $10,000. All told, the four charities represented on the show earned a total of $48,554.

New format (2003–2005)

In the new version, two pairs competed (regardless of marital status). The show was now set in a 14-department warehouse store (similar to stores like Costco, Sam's Club, and BJ's).

Main game

Stunts were replaced by a question/pricing round played via a computer screen, with the choices being given in pun-laden categories. After choosing a category, host Roberto let the contestants know what the category entailed, and then gave the play-or-pass option to the team. Whichever team played the chosen category chose one player to play the category.

Like the stunts in the previous version, the questions dealt with pricing items or knowledge of celebrities. The team was given one minute to come up with a set number of correct answers. As in the original version, completing the challenge earned 100 points in round one, 200 in round two.

Unlike the previous version, where teams verbally chose a store in the mall, the other member of the team went into the store to grab a gift box from any department that had a flashing light, then ran back to host Roberto, who opened the box and revealed their prize. As before, there was also a "Shopper's Special" which earned the team a bonus trip for finding it.

Round three, the "Shopper's Challenge" round, was played exactly the same as in previous versions.

List of departments

• Electronics
• Grocery
• Appliances
• Housewares
• Sporting Goods
• Music & More
• Big Savings
• Health & Beauty
• Home & Garden
• Bed & Bath
• Furniture
• Toys
• Jewelry
• Gifts

Shop 'til You Drop Round

Contestants now took turns buying/exchanging gifts in order to reach the goal of $2,500 in prizes. One opened the gift box and the other handed off the item to their partner, who then kept it or exchanged it for any prize in a department with a flashing light. The partner took the box to the check out table, rang the bell, then came back to the table and handed off the next item to the first player, who repeated the process. Again, the contestants had 1:30 to complete the task.

Broadcast history

The show ran on Lifetime from July 8, 1991 to September 30, 1994, with reruns aired until May 31, 1996. After four months, the show moved to The Family Channel as The New Shop 'til You Drop, where it ran from September 30, 1996 to August 14, 1998.

PAX (now ION) reran episodes of The Family Channel version from April 19, 1999 to October 29, 1999, followed by the final Lifetime season from November 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000. On April 3, 2000, PAX launched a new mall-based Shop 'til You Drop series and continued until May 24, 2002. A new warehouse store-based version began airing on PAX on October 6, 2003 and aired until May 27, 2005; reruns of that series continued until August 11, 2006.

A PAX episode from 2000 aired as part of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time series on Game Show Network (GSN), featuring a 950-point total by a winning team. The network purchased the rights to the one episode and does not currently own rights to any reruns.

Merchandise

A mobile game based on the short-lived 2003-2005 "warehouse store" format from the PAX era was released by Reaxion, which has now been discontinued since 2010.

A video slot machine game, that was "semi-based" on the show was released to north american casinos nationwide by WMS Gaming in 2006.

External links

• Shop 'til You Drop at the Internet Movie Database
• Official website of SYTD
• Official website from Reaxion, which created the STYD mobile game (via the Internet Archive)
• Official website from WMS Gaming, which created the SYTD video slot machine