Bargain Hunters is a game show that aired on ABC

American Broadcasting Company

The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 in the summer of 1987, hosted by Peter Tomarken

Peter Tomarken

Peter David Tomarken was an American television personality primarily known as the host of Press Your Luck.-Early life:...

, which combined elements of The Price Is Right

The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)

The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...

with home shopping

Home shopping

Home shopping commonly refers to the electronic retailing/home shopping channels industry, which includes such billion dollar television-based and e-commerce companies as HSN, QVC, eBay, ShopNBC, Buy.com, and Amazon.com, as well as traditional mail order and brick and mortar retailers as Hammacher...

. The show was canceled after nine weeks and replaced by reruns of Mr. Belvedere

Mr. Belvedere

Mr. Belvedere is an American sitcom that originally aired on ABC from March 15, 1985, until July 8, 1990. The series was based on the Lynn Aloysius Belvedere character created by Gwen Davenport for her 1947 novel Belvedere, which was later adapted into the 1948 film Sitting Pretty...

.

Games

Each episode featured six contestants, with two competing in each of three separate games. The winner of each game advanced to the Super Savers round.

Bargain Quiz

Tomarken announced an item and asked whether or not it would be a bargain at a certain price. Players buzzed-in to guess. Getting it right won a point (indicated by a diamond lit on their podium). Getting it wrong meant their opponent received a point. The first player to get three points won the round and received a bonus prize.

Bargain Trap

Five prizes were shown on stage, each with a price tag. Four were bargains (with a price marked below the retail price), but one was marked above its actual value; this was called the "Trap". Players went back and forth, picking items they believed were bargains. If one of them picked the trap, they automatically lost and their opponent won the round, along with whatever prizes they had already chosen. If the Trap was the first item picked, their opponent won the Trap.

If both players picked two bargains, leaving only the Trap, then a tiebreaker was played. Both players wrote down what they believed was the mark-up added to the actual price of the Trap. The player who came closest won.

Bargain Busters

A prize was shown and players chose a price from three choices. The prizes were selected from stores across the country, and listed at a closeout price. Tomarken would announce the store’s name and location before each item. Each player locked in their choice, and a right answer won a point. The one with the most points after three prizes won the round, and received all three prizes shown.

If there was a tie after three prizes, a fourth was brought out. This time the players weren’t shown any choices; the two would have to write down what they believed was the price. Whoever came closest won.

Super Savers

The three winners came onstage to play the final round. Seven prizes were shown, each with a price tag. All are bargains, some bigger than others.

Each player chose three prizes that they believed would save them the most money. The player who saved the most money was declared the winner, won the three prizes they selected plus a grand prize (usually a trip, but a car was the grand prize at least once).

Home Shopping

After every game, a trumpet fanfare sounded signifying a "Bargain Shopper" segment. Home viewers were offered an item at a bargain price, and could call a number to order it. Usually the item being offered was just seen in the previous game. The three items were shown again at the end of the show.