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Double Dare (1976 game show)
Encyclopedia
Double Dare is an American
television
game show
, produced by Mark Goodson
—Bill Todman
Productions, that ran from 1976 to 1977 on CBS
. Alex Trebek
was the host, with Johnny Olson
and later Gene Wood
announcing. The show was created by Jay Wolpert
.
Double Dare was Alex Trebek's only CBS game show, with all others originally airing either on NBC
, in syndication, or in Canada
; he also only hosted one show for ABC
—Super Jeopardy!, which aired for thirteen weeks in 1990.
s. The object of the game was to correctly identify a person, place or thing based on one-sentence clues that were given to them, one at a time, on an electronic
gameboard. The correct response was shown to the home audience before the first clue was given. The clues would typically begin with obscure trivia and gradually become more direct references to the subject. A maximum of ten clues were given on one subject. If nobody gave the correct answer after ten clues, the host would reveal the subject and a new subject was played.
Contestants could hit a lockout buzzer to guess the subject at any time. When a player buzzed in, his or her opponent's booth was sealed off (doors closed over the front of the booth and the sound was turned off inside) in order to prevent him or her from hearing the guess. If correct, the contestant earned $50. If incorrect, that contestant’s booth was closed, and the opponent’s booth was reopened in order for him or her to see and hear a penalty clue and receive a free guess.
The contestant who ultimately guessed the correct answer was then shown the next clue in the sequence and given the opportunity to dare their opponent to guess the subject based on that clue (if the correct answer was given on a penalty clue, that clue became the "dare clue"). If the contestant declined to dare, the opponent’s booth was reopened and a new subject was played. If the contestant took the dare, the opponent's booth was re-opened and he or she had five seconds to study the clue before Trebek asked for a guess. A correct guess by the dared opponent earned $50 and a new subject was played. If incorrect, the player who made the dare won an additional $100 and their opponent's booth was closed once more.
If the dare was successful, the contestant was given a chance to double dare the opponent with the next clue for an additional $200 for a total of $350. If the contestant accepted the double dare and their opponent correctly guessed the subject, the opponent won $100.
The first player to win $500 or more won the game. Losing players kept any money earned and also received parting gifts. Like most CBS game shows at the time, champions could stay on Double Dare until they were defeated or reached the network-imposed winnings limit of $25,000.
known as "The Spoilers". Each Spoiler sat in a soundproof booth that was activated whenever clues were read to him or her.
The contestant was presented with a subject and eight numbered clues randomly placed on a gameboard. The player selected a number to reveal and had the option to give that clue to the Spoilers, whose fields of expertise were not mentioned, or pass it on for another clue. Up to four passes were allowed. As in the main game, clues varied from trivial to fairly direct references and the numbers had no reference to the obscurity or relevance to the subject.
When the player elected to give a clue it was read to all three Spoilers, after which each in turn was asked to provide an answer. The other Spoilers' booths were turned off while each one answered. Each time a Spoiler gave an incorrect answer, the contestant won $100. If a Spoiler guessed the subject correctly, that Spoiler won $100 and retired from the rest of the round (although their booth would remain on so that they could hear everything else that went on).
The player was required to give four clues to the Spoilers. If at least one Spoiler failed to correctly identify the subject after being given the fourth clue, the contestant won $5,000. However, if at any time all three Spoilers guessed the subject, the round ended and the contestant kept all winnings to that point.
on CBS' daytime lineup at 11:00 AM Eastern (10:00 Central). Facing NBC
's popular two-year-old Wheel of Fortune
, it did not draw the audience Gambit had.
After a move to 10:00 AM Eastern on February 7, 1977, where it went up against Sanford and Son
reruns on NBC, CBS canceled Double Dare and replaced it with reruns of Here's Lucy
which aired until December 19, 1977, when Tattletales
occupied that slot.
; Wolpert would later on create his own production company. This series also marked the debut of Jonathan Goodson as a producer.
Markie Post
, future star of Night Court
, was an employee of Goodson-Todman at the time and was an associate producer on Double Dare.
Virtually all of the show's music and sounds were recycled for other Goodson-Todman shows; the show's theme music, composed by Edd Kalehoff
for Score Productions
, was reused one year later for Card Sharks
. Kalehoff also composed the theme for the 1986-1989 version of Card Sharks, and the unrelated Double Dare game show on Nickelodeon in the 1980s.
The sound effect for the opening of the clue board and the isolation booths found its way on both the game board for The Price is Right
s Penny Ante pricing game, as well as the bonus round level "wind-up" sound on the Jack Barry
-produced game show The Joker's Wild
. A truncated version of the "losing horns" from Price were also used for bonus round losses.
The show's taping alternated between Studio 31, Studio 33 and Studio 41 at CBS Television City
in Hollywood, California during its run.
. A clip from the finale, where sexually-suggestive clues to "a boomerang
" were presented, appeared on VH1
's Game Show Moments Gone Bananas
in 2005.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
, produced by Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
—Bill Todman
Bill Todman
William S. "Bill" Todman was an American television producer born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest running shows with business partner Mark Goodson.-Early life:...
Productions, that ran from 1976 to 1977 on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Alex Trebek
Alex Trebek
George Alexander "Alex" Trebek is a Canadian American game show host who has been the host of the game show Jeopardy! since 1984, and prior to that, he hosted game shows such as Pitfall and High Rollers. He has appeared in numerous television series, usually as himself...
was the host, with Johnny Olson
Johnny Olson
John Leonard "Johnny" Olson was an American radio personality and television announcer. His work spanned 32 game shows produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman from the late 1950s through the mid 1980s...
and later Gene Wood
Gene Wood
Eugene Edward "Gene" Wood was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1960s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Card Sharks, Password, and Beat the...
announcing. The show was created by Jay Wolpert
Jay Wolpert
Jay Wolpert is an American television producer and screenwriter.His first television appearance came as a contestant on the original version of Jeopardy! in 1969. He competed in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions that year and won....
.
Double Dare was Alex Trebek's only CBS game show, with all others originally airing either on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
, in syndication, or in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
; he also only hosted one show for 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...
—Super Jeopardy!, which aired for thirteen weeks in 1990.
Game play
Two contestants sat in isolation boothIsolation booth
An isolation booth is a device used to prevent a person or people from seeing or hearing certain events. On game shows, the isolation booth might be used to prevent contestants from hearing the other player's answers , from hearing...
s. The object of the game was to correctly identify a person, place or thing based on one-sentence clues that were given to them, one at a time, on an electronic
Flip-disc display
The flip-disc display is an electromechanical dot matrix display technology used for large outdoor signs, normally those that will be exposed to direct sunlight. Flip-disc technology has been used on buses across North America and Europe. It has also been used extensively on public information...
gameboard. The correct response was shown to the home audience before the first clue was given. The clues would typically begin with obscure trivia and gradually become more direct references to the subject. A maximum of ten clues were given on one subject. If nobody gave the correct answer after ten clues, the host would reveal the subject and a new subject was played.
Contestants could hit a lockout buzzer to guess the subject at any time. When a player buzzed in, his or her opponent's booth was sealed off (doors closed over the front of the booth and the sound was turned off inside) in order to prevent him or her from hearing the guess. If correct, the contestant earned $50. If incorrect, that contestant’s booth was closed, and the opponent’s booth was reopened in order for him or her to see and hear a penalty clue and receive a free guess.
The contestant who ultimately guessed the correct answer was then shown the next clue in the sequence and given the opportunity to dare their opponent to guess the subject based on that clue (if the correct answer was given on a penalty clue, that clue became the "dare clue"). If the contestant declined to dare, the opponent’s booth was reopened and a new subject was played. If the contestant took the dare, the opponent's booth was re-opened and he or she had five seconds to study the clue before Trebek asked for a guess. A correct guess by the dared opponent earned $50 and a new subject was played. If incorrect, the player who made the dare won an additional $100 and their opponent's booth was closed once more.
If the dare was successful, the contestant was given a chance to double dare the opponent with the next clue for an additional $200 for a total of $350. If the contestant accepted the double dare and their opponent correctly guessed the subject, the opponent won $100.
The first player to win $500 or more won the game. Losing players kept any money earned and also received parting gifts. Like most CBS game shows at the time, champions could stay on Double Dare until they were defeated or reached the network-imposed winnings limit of $25,000.
Beat the Spoilers
The winner of the main game competed in a bonus round against a panel of three Ph.D.sDoctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...
known as "The Spoilers". Each Spoiler sat in a soundproof booth that was activated whenever clues were read to him or her.
The contestant was presented with a subject and eight numbered clues randomly placed on a gameboard. The player selected a number to reveal and had the option to give that clue to the Spoilers, whose fields of expertise were not mentioned, or pass it on for another clue. Up to four passes were allowed. As in the main game, clues varied from trivial to fairly direct references and the numbers had no reference to the obscurity or relevance to the subject.
When the player elected to give a clue it was read to all three Spoilers, after which each in turn was asked to provide an answer. The other Spoilers' booths were turned off while each one answered. Each time a Spoiler gave an incorrect answer, the contestant won $100. If a Spoiler guessed the subject correctly, that Spoiler won $100 and retired from the rest of the round (although their booth would remain on so that they could hear everything else that went on).
The player was required to give four clues to the Spoilers. If at least one Spoiler failed to correctly identify the subject after being given the fourth clue, the contestant won $5,000. However, if at any time all three Spoilers guessed the subject, the round ended and the contestant kept all winnings to that point.
Scheduling and ratings
Double Dare replaced the game show GambitGambit (game show)
Gambit is a television game show, created by Wayne Cruseturner and produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, that originally ran on CBS from September 4, 1972 to December 10, 1976. A slightly retooled version, Las Vegas Gambit, aired on NBC from October 27, 1980 to November 27, 1981, originating...
on CBS' daytime lineup at 11:00 AM Eastern (10:00 Central). Facing NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's popular two-year-old Wheel of Fortune
Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)
Wheel of Fortune is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin, which premiered in 1975. Contestants compete to solve word puzzles, similar to those used in Hangman, to win cash and prizes determined by spinning a large wheel. The title refers to the show's giant carnival wheel that...
, it did not draw the audience Gambit had.
After a move to 10:00 AM Eastern on February 7, 1977, where it went up against Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom, based on the BBC's Steptoe and Son, that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977....
reruns on NBC, CBS canceled Double Dare and replaced it with reruns of Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy
Here's Lucy is Lucille Ball's third network television sitcom. It ran on CBS from 1968 to 1974.-Background:Though The Lucy Show was still hugely popular during the previous season, finishing in the top five of the Nielsen Ratings , Ball opted to end that series at the end of that season and create...
which aired until December 19, 1977, when Tattletales
Tattletales
Tattletales is a game show which first aired on the CBS daytime schedule on February 18, 1974. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several announcers, including Jack Clark, Gene Wood, Johnny Olson and John Harlan, providing the voiceover at various times...
occupied that slot.
Production
Jay Wolpert was acknowledged as the series' creator in the closing creditsClosing credits
Closing credits or end credits are added at the end of a motion picture, television program, or video game to list the cast and crew involved in the production. They usually appear as a list of names in small type, which either flip very quickly from page to page, or move smoothly across the...
; Wolpert would later on create his own production company. This series also marked the debut of Jonathan Goodson as a producer.
Markie Post
Markie Post
Marjorie Armstrong "Markie" Post is an American actress, best known for her roles as bail bondswoman Terri Michaels in The Fall Guy on ABC from 1982 to 1985, as public defender Christine Sullivan on the NBC sitcom Night Court from 1985 to 1992, and as Georgie Anne Lahti Hartman on the CBS sitcom...
, future star of Night Court
Night Court
Night Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984, to May 20, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan court, presided over by the young, unorthodox Judge Harold T. "Harry" Stone...
, was an employee of Goodson-Todman at the time and was an associate producer on Double Dare.
Virtually all of the show's music and sounds were recycled for other Goodson-Todman shows; the show's theme music, composed by Edd Kalehoff
Edd Kalehoff
Edward Woodley "Edd" Kalehoff is a music composer who specializes in compositions for television.-Notable pieces:Composer of about 1,000 pieces, mainly for television, his credits include the majority of cues used on The Price is Right as well as the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare, a music...
for Score Productions
Score Productions
Score Productions is an American musical production company specializing in background music and themes for television programs. Started in 1963 by music producer Robert A...
, was reused one year later for Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
. Kalehoff also composed the theme for the 1986-1989 version of Card Sharks, and the unrelated Double Dare game show on Nickelodeon in the 1980s.
The sound effect for the opening of the clue board and the isolation booths found its way on both the game board for 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...
s Penny Ante pricing game, as well as the bonus round level "wind-up" sound on the Jack Barry
Barry & Enright Productions
Barry & Enright Productions , was a United States television production company that was formed in 1947 by Jack Barry and Dan Enright.-History:Jack Barry and Dan Enright first met at radio station WOR in New York, where...
-produced game show The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times during the 1970s through the 1990s. Contestants answered questions based on categories that were determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine....
. A truncated version of the "losing horns" from Price were also used for bonus round losses.
The show's taping alternated between Studio 31, Studio 33 and Studio 41 at CBS Television City
CBS Television City
CBS Television City is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at the corner of North Fairfax Avenue...
in Hollywood, California during its run.
Episode status
All episodes are reported to exist, and the series has been shown on GSNGame Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
. A clip from the finale, where sexually-suggestive clues to "a boomerang
Boomerang
A boomerang is a flying tool with a curved shape used as a weapon or for sport.-Description:A boomerang is usually thought of as a wooden device, although historically boomerang-like devices have also been made from bones. Modern boomerangs used for sport are often made from carbon fibre-reinforced...
" were presented, appeared on VH1
VH1
VH1 or Vh1 is an American cable television network based in New York City. Launched on January 1, 1985 in the old space of Turner Broadcasting's short-lived Cable Music Channel, the original purpose of the channel was to build on the success of MTV by playing music videos, but targeting a slightly...
's Game Show Moments Gone Bananas
Game Show Moments Gone Bananas
Game Show Moments Gone Bananas is a television series on VH1. The first of five hour-long episodes aired on May 21, 2005 with the last first-run episode airing on June 18. Each episode aired for the first time on Saturday mornings at 11:30 ET, but "officially" premiered at 10:00 PM that night.The...
in 2005.