Loog's bio  
Game Shows  
Video Games  
Loog's Writing  


Message Board  


Links  
E-mail Loog  
loogslair.com Is that your final answer?


VITAL STATS

Lifespan: December 1999 - February 2000
Host: Dick Clark
Announcer: Don Morrow
Produced by: Stone-Stanley Productions

Front Game Rules

The mass of 49 players answer race to answer a math problem49 players (yes, that's right; forty-nine) began the game, each having a number from 01 to 49 representing them. Host Clark read a mathematical word problem to the herd ("If each of the Brady Bunch kids hired an agent, a personal trainer, and a massage therapist, how many people will they be employing?") Each contestant typed their answer into a computer, and the player who got it right first advanced to the second round. This process was repeated a total of 6 times.

In the second round, Dick read another series of mathematical questions, the answers to which were one of the six representative numbers of the finalists. Players buzzed in as soon as they thought they knew what the answer was going to be. If a player answered correctly and the answer was his/her number, s/he stayed in the game. If a player answered correctly on another player's number, that player was knocked out. If a wrong answer was given, that player was eliminated. This continued until one player was left; that person won $2500 and went on to the Wonderwall. All the other finalists got $1000.


End Game Rules - "The Wonderwall"

Our champion faces the giant WonderwallThe player was now seated in front of three giant computer screens, with a total of 49 answers numbered from 1 to 49. After the player had 15 seconds to survey the wall, s/he had a total of 3 minutes to answer as many questions correctly as possible. Each correct answer was worth an increasing sum of money: $2500 apiece for the first four answers, $5000 for the next four, $10,000 for the following seven, $100,000 for the next four, and $500,000 for the twentieth (for a total of $1,000,000).

The player searches for the right answerDuring the round, the contestant had two chances to stop the clock for another 15 seconds and scout the board again (called "Pit Stops") and pass two questions. If the player missed an answer or spent more than 15 seconds on a question, the player got a Strike; three Strikes or running out of time lost all the end game earnings. When a player had two Strikes or there was under 15 seconds on the clock, a "Bailout Button" was activated that would end the round and preserve the money if hit.


Notes

The identifying numbers of each of the six finalists in the first round and the number of the last answer in the Wonderwall were used for a home viewer sweepstakes. If a viewer could match the last digits of all seven numbers in any order with their home or cell phone number, s/he was entered in a drawing for $50,000.



Loogaroo Looks it Over

Winning Lines

Gameplay: 2 pts.
The Wonderwall ranks as one of the most involving endgames in the genre, but getting there took some willpower.
Host: 2 pts.
A low score for Dick, but it didn't seem like he fit in this kind of show.
Presentation: 1 pt.
Many complained about the method of scrolling back and forth around the Wonderwall answers. The music was fantastic, though, particularly the Sudden Death and Wonderwall rounds.
Execution: 1 pt.
The home viewer contest really put the brakes on this show. I would've liked to see a little more gameplay and a little less explanation about the sweepstakes.
Total Score: 6 pts.



Back to the Rules Repository

Back to the Game Show Lair