Jackpot
Host: Geoff Edwards, Mike Darrow
Premise: Sixteen contestants answer riddles to build a cash jackpot that can climb to $50,000. The contestants compete for five shows.
Rules: One contestant is randomly chosen to be "King/Queen of the Hill." The other 15 contestants take their seats numbered 1-15. The KotH then calls upon one of the seated players to stand up. Each player has a wallet with a money amount and a riddle. The money amount is added to the Jackpot if answered correctly. The Jackpot begins at $100. If the KotH answers the riddle correctly, the player sits down and another number is called. When the KotH misses a riddle, the two swap places, and the game continues. One of the fifteen players has the "Jackpot" riddle. When uncovered, the KotH may decide to try it to collect the jackpot, or come back to it later and try to add more to the jackpot. The danger in this was that if the KotH missed, everyone knew where the jackpot was. If the Jackpot riddle was answered correctly, the two plaayers swapped places.
Super Jackpot: At the beginning of the game, Geoff revealed the Target number of the day (always a multiple of $5, since all riddles had values of $5 increments.) If any player brought the last three digits of the jackpot to match the target, the KotH could attempt a Super Jackpot riddle, and if correct, split the Jackpot with the last player called. The target number was multiplied by a number from 5 to 50 to create the value. If the target was 995, and 50 was picked, the producers added $250 to bring the jackpot to the $50,000 maximum.
1980s changes: Mike Darrow became the host, and some bonuses were added:
Any player who could run the board by answering fifteen straight riddles won a new car.
If a player found the Jackpot riddle last (not by coming back to it) and answered correctly, that player won an additional $1000.
The Super Jackpot idea remained the same, but the Jackpot was reduced to closer to $5000.
One riddle during some games was the $50,000 Riddle. If the KotH answered a difficult riddle correctly, the player called and the KotH divided a bonus $50,000 and traded places.
Bonus prizes were sprinkled throughout the games liberally.
The player who answered the most riddles correctly won an additional $10,000.
INSTANT TARGET MATCH: This rarity allowed the jackpot to jump up to the next Target value.
RETURN TRIP: The contestant who answered this one successfully could return the next week to have another chance at more money.