Wipeout
Host: Peter Tomarken
Announcer: John Harlan, Bob Ridgely, Jim Hackett
Premise: Three players try to find the right answers without finding the Whammies, er...Wipeouts.
Play: The board is set with 16 answers, eleven of which pertain to the question. The first player (champion or winner of the coin toss) chooses an answer. A right answer wins $25 and keeps control. A wrong answer is a Wipeout, and all money earned so far is lost. After choosing a right answer, the player may elect to pass control to the next player in line. Control also passes when a Wipeout is hit. When the board consists only of right answers, wrong answers, or it's pointless to continue (the third place player can't catch the second place player), the round ends, and the two top scorers move on.
One correct answer in round one has the "Hot Spot" behind it. Peter would then bring over a marker, which was worth a nice prize if the player won or got second place. If that player wiped out later, the Hot Spot went behind another answer.
If there was a tie for second (usually at zero dollars) a board with eight right answers and four wrong ones was displayed. The players alternated picking, and whoever wiped out was eliminated.
At this point, Peter would inform the remaining players that their round one winnings were safe. The first player to win two rounds would win the game, and play for the car. The 8-4 board was used again, and players bid back and forth until someone challenged the opponent, or bid eight. The challenged player had to give the bid number of answers, or the opponent could win the game with one right answer. If the opponent could not find a right answer, the bidder could continue to try and fill the contract.
Eventually, someone won two boards, and won a trip worth about $3500. That player also went to the all-or-nothing at all bonus round. A board with six right answers and six wrong answers was displayed. This time, the champion ran over and touched the rim of the screen, and it lit up. After choosing six answers, that player ran back to the podium to find out how many were right. If anything less than six, the player could run back and make changes, and so forth until all six were found, or more likely, sixty seconds ran out. Champions retired after winning the car, or winning three days.
TRAVIS' REVIEW:
Cast: Peter Tomarken was competent as usual, and shows that he still has what it takes to host a game show. The announcers were passable as well.
4
Set: The set was average; they had 16 computer screens for the board, a moving flat to hide the car until the bonus round, but the best thing was a neon tube that lit up behind whoever had control of the game. 4
Music: The music package was merely average; I can't remember the opening theme, or prize cues, but the bed for the bonus round was exceptional, giving this rating a...
4.
The Game: What would otherwise be a simple multiple choice guessing game was made interesting with the idea of risking all your winnings, or the round, on a wrong answer. The only bad thing was in the bonus round, neat as it was, at least one contestant figured out a way to 'hack' the game, and win no matter what the board was.
3