Sale of the Century (US game show)
Encyclopedia
Sale of the Century is an American television
game show which debuted in the United States
on September 29, 1969, on NBC
daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being the short-lived Letters to Laugh-In
and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and then aired in a weekly syndicated
version for one additional year. Jack Kelly
hosted the series from 1969–1971, then Joe Garagiola, Sr. took over for Kelly, who returned to acting.
The rights to Sale of the Century were purchased in 1980 by Australian TV mogul Reg Grundy
, who turned the show into a huge hit in Australia (see Sale of the Century (Australian game show)
), and eventually succeeded in selling NBC a new version of the format in 1983. The new version aired weekday mornings from January 3, 1983 to March 24, 1989. Again, it was one of three NBC game shows premiering on the same date, along with Hit Man
and Just Men!
(which both lasted only 13 weeks). This version of Sale originally aired at 10:30/9:30 AM Central and later moved to 10:00/9:00 Central. A concurrent daily syndicated version ran from January 7, 1985, to September 1986. The 1980s versions were hosted by Jim Perry.
Al Howard was the executive producer of the initial 1969–1973 version, and for a short time was co-executive producer of the 1980s version with Robert Noah.
A new version of the series entitled Temptation
, like the recent Australian revival, debuted in syndication on September 10, 2007, following a September 7 preview on MyNetworkTV
. This series ran for one year.
From 1969–1973, all contestants began with $25. General knowledge questions were posed to the contestants by the host at a value of $5 for correct answers. Should the contestant answer incorrectly, $5 is deducted from their score and a new question is asked; unlike most other quiz shows, only one answer is permitted per question. Midway through the game, the question values doubled to $10. At first, the final round consisted of 30 seconds of $15 questions; later, this was replaced with five $20 questions (called "The Century Round," as the total value of the questions was $100). If a player's total was reduced to zero (or lower), that player was out of the game.
According to the several editions of "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock, during the show's last thirteen weeks on the NBC network and the year in U.S. syndication Sale used two married couples instead of three single competing studio contestants. Each couple was given $20 at the start of the game. Host Joe Garagiola, after conducting one round apiece of $5 and $10 questions, then asked a concluding series of five $20 questions to determine the winning couple. If either couple's score reached $0, both couples were given an additional $20.
In the 1980s version, each contestant was given $20 at the start of the game and all questions were worth $5. Any player whose score was reduced to zero stayed in the game and never dropped below zero.
Once per round on the 1980s version, the highest-scoring player was offered the chance to purchase an Instant Bargain. The prizes became more valuable as the game progressed, and their cost increased. Depending on the game situation, the host often reduced the cost and/or offered cash in order to entice the contestant to purchase. In case of a tie for the lead, a Dutch auction
was usually conducted for the prize, although sometimes the price remained the same.
Beginning in May 1984, a "Sale Surprise" (a cash bonus of anywhere from $300 to $1,200) was occasionally added to any one of the Instant Bargains, although the bonus was not used for every show. The Sale Surprise was always revealed following the conclusion of the Instant Bargain it was attached to regardless of whether or not the player had bought the merchandise, and was always announced with clanging bells.
In order to play the round, the leader had to give up their lead over the second place contestant. Three boxes were available to choose from, with one box containing the jackpot while both of the other boxes contained $100 bills. As with the purchased Instant Bargains, if the player won the jackpot it was theirs to keep regardless of the game's outcome. The highest Instant Cash jackpot was $17,000, and the pot reached $16,000 two other times.
The contestant who answered correctly was given a choice of nine spaces on the Fame Game board, each displaying the face of a celebrity. As noted above, eight of the spaces hid either small bonus prizes or various amounts of cash. One hid a Money Card, which if found added $25 to the player's score. Later, two additional Money Cards were added valued at $10 and $15. When these were introduced, they were put on the board one Fame Game at a time- the $10 card was available in the first, the $15 in the second, and the $25 in the final.
Changes were eventually made to the Fame Game format. In 1984, the celebrity faces were removed and replaced by the numbers 1 through 9. A fourth money card, worth $5, was added and would appear sporadically. In addition, a space was added to the board that offered the contestant a vacation, a cash bonus, or an undetermined amount of money or a choice of another number; these were referred to as "Trip/$XXX/Mystery Money or Pick Again". In the case of the Mystery Money, the amount varied from $1.75 to over $1,000.
In fall 1985, the Fame Game board was changed. Instead of selecting a number, a randomizer light similar to what was used on Press Your Luck
was employed and the contestant chose a space by hitting their buzzer, which stopped the randomizer. In order to heighten dramatic effect, the locations of the Money Cards were revealed to the contestant.
Since only $15 was up for grabs after the third and final Fame Game and most games were often decided by this point, the producers decided to follow their Australian counterparts and institute a speed round to end the game. Perry asked as many questions as possible in 60 seconds and whoever was ahead at the end of the speed round was the day's champion. As per the first round rules, correct answers added $5 to a player's score, and incorrect answers deducted $5 from a player's score. If there was a tie for the lead after the speed round, one final regular question was asked. Buzzing in and answering correctly won the game, but an incorrect answer meant the other player won by default. All players kept any cash and prizes accumulated throughout the main game, in addition to receiving their main game score in cash.
The 1970s syndicated version had two different formats. Both had three possible prizes (almost always a trip, a fur coat, and a car), of which the couple could win one. Originally, each prize had a sale price, and Garagiola asked questions worth $100 each, which was added to the couple's score from the game. When the amount reached the sale price of a prize, the couple could buy the prize or keep playing for a more expensive prize. Later, this was changed to "The Game of Champions"; the three prizes had sale amounts in the areas of $150, $300, and $600, and the winning couple chose a prize and had to answer three questions (worth $50, $100, or $200 each, depending on the prize).
The 1980s version had three bonus games during its six-year run:
For the first four months of Sale's run on NBC, if a player accumulated at least $500, they won all the prizes and enough cash to make the entire package worth exactly $95,000. After that, an escalating cash jackpot was added to the game. The jackpot, which was used as one of the prize levels for champions and took $510 to purchase, began at $50,000 and increased by $1,000 per day until someone either bought it or earned $600, which was enough to win the jackpot and all of the prizes on the stage. Upon the implementation of the speed round in 1984, the values increased to $650 for the jackpot and $760 for the entire lot.
During the NBC shopping era, the lot was won twice. Mort Camens was the first to win the entire lot, doing so prior to the introduction of the cash jackpot. Barbara Phillips was the second, doing so in August 1983 after the cash jackpot was introduced, and was the only player on the daytime Sale to win the lot after the jackpot was added to it. The highest jackpot during this period, as well as of all-time on the American Sale, was won by David Rogers in April 1984 after he purchased a $109,000 cash jackpot.
The syndicated Sale shopping round was similar to its network counterpart. However, the second to last prize level for a champion was all of the shopping prizes, and the cash jackpot was added to the lot as the final prize. Originally it took $830 to win the lot, but by the series' fifth week, the amount was fixed at $750. As a result, several more contestants were able to win the lot than before as they were no longer able to buy the jackpot and leave. Contestant Tim Holleran won the largest jackpot in the history of the syndicated Sale when he won a $90,000 jackpot in the fall of 1985.
Once a champion cleared all ten prizes from the Winner's Board, they were presented with two choices. The champion could either take all of their winnings and retire undefeated, or put all of the Winner's Board prizes- totaling over $60,000- at risk and return on the next program for a final game where, if the champion won, they were awarded a $50,000 cash bonus on top of their Winner's Board prizes. Although the champion would lose all of the Winner's Board prizes with a loss in the final game, every player who elected to take the risk did so successfully.
Mark DeCarlo
was a contestant during this period and was the first contestant to play for (and win) the $50,000, doing so in April 1985 on the daytime Sale. His grand total was $115,257. The biggest winner during this period was Tom O'Brien, who won over $152,000 in late 1987 on the daytime series.
The champion was given a choice of three envelopes (red, yellow, blue) before the start of the round. Inside each of the envelopes was a series of six-word puzzles that served as clues to lead to a famous person, place, or thing. The champion was originally given 25 seconds to figure out 5 puzzles, but this was later reduced to 4 in 20 seconds. The clock began when the first word of a puzzle was revealed and only stopped when the champion hit a plunger to stop the clock and give an answer. Passing was allowed, as was one incorrect guess; a second incorrect guess ended the round. Solving all puzzles before the time ran out won the round and whatever cash prize the champion was playing for.
The prize for the Winner's Big Money Game increased every day a champion returned to play, regardless of whether or not the champion had won the previous round, and a champion could play the round for up to eight consecutive days. All champions played for $5,000 on their first day, $6,000 on their second, $7,000 on their third, $8,000 on their fourth, $9,000 on their fifth, $10,000 on their sixth, and a car on their seventh. If the champion failed to win the car, they were retired undefeated. Otherwise, they got to return for a final match and played the Winner's Big Money Game for $50,000 if they won.
The $50,000 grand prize was played for twice and won once. On at least two other occasions, including one during the last week of the series, players made it to a seventh day but failed to win the car. There was no penalty for losing the $50,000 game as there was with the Winner's Board.
(who earlier appeared on the series Maverick
with James Garner
) until 1971, when he was replaced by Joe Garagiola. Bill Wendell
announced. The original version was created and produced by Al Howard.
's daytime schedule at 11:00 AM (10:00 Central), replacing the three-year-old Personality, which was hosted by Larry Blyden
.
Garagiola, who at the time was a regular on NBC's Today Show and had recently hosted a game show of his own, Joe Garagiola's Memory Game
, took over for Kelly on August 23, 1971.
Sale ran at that time slot for the entirety of its initial three-and-a-half years on the network, and was generally a ratings success against situation comedy
rerun
s on CBS
and non-network programming on ABC stations. However, in Fall 1972 CBS scored a ratings winner with Gambit
at that time slot, and the producers of Sale attempted a last-ditch effort at saving the show's audience by changing the three-contestant configuration to that of two married couples, which also was the contestant configuration used by Gambit. It was not enough, and NBC canceled Sale on July 13, 1973 in favor of The Wizard of Odds
, noted as the first American program hosted by Alex Trebek
.
to continue the game in syndication
for another season from September 10, 1973 until September 13, 1974. This version, with Garagiola hosting again, continued the married-couple configuration of the final NBC weeks.
After production of this version ended, the show went dormant for several years until Howard sold the worldwide rights for Sale to Australian TV producer Reg Grundy
. In 1980, building upon the success of his earlier Temptation, Grundy brought the show to prime time
in his country, where it became the nation's top-rated show. Eventually its success prompted him to bring it back in the United States. Production of this new version began in late 1982.
The 1980s version was hosted by Jim Perry, who commuted between Los Angeles
and Toronto
during his run as host as he hosted two Canadian-produced game shows, Definition
and Headline Hunters
, during his time on Sale.
For the first two months of the NBC series, Perry's co-host was actress Sally Julian. Due to dissatisfaction with her performance, Grundy quickly replaced her with Lee Menning
. Menning left for family reasons in 1984 and was replaced by Summer Bartholomew
, who remained with the show until its end. Jay Stewart
announced until his retirement in 1988, when he was replaced by Don Morrow
. Stewart also co-hosted with Perry on several occasions when Menning was not available due to her maternity leave in 1984.
Sale was placed in the 10:30/9:30 AM slot by NBC upon its debut. CBS' Bill Cullen
-hosted Child's Play
, which had premiered on September 20, 1982, was its major competition, and had already been struggling to gain ratings against NBC's hit Wheel of Fortune
. Child's Play continued to lose the ratings battle with its new rival Sale and left the air on September 16, 1983. The following Monday (September 19), Sale received its first serious ratings challenge as Press Your Luck
, a loud, colorful, and rambunctious game, debuted opposite it on CBS. This began a spirited battle over the 10:30 AM slot's ratings lead for the next 16 months, with Press Your Luck taking a lead thanks in large part to a contestant
winning over $100,000 in one game. However, as fall 1985 began, Sale reclaimed the lead while Press Your Luck began to slide in the ratings.
Thanks to its solid performance on NBC, Genesis Entertainment syndicated the show to local stations beginning on January 7, 1985 as a daily five-a-week strip, seen mainly in the Prime Time Access
time slots. The show did well enough in its half-season run to be renewed for the 1985–1986 season but the ratings suffered due to a glut of new syndicated games taking over most of the Prime Time Access slots the show had in its first season (for example, the first season of the syndicated Sale aired nightly on WOR
in New York; the second season aired following Jeopardy!
weekday afternoons on WABC
). The syndicated Sale went off the air in September 1986.
Meanwhile, the network version of Sale received a new opponent in the ratings race at 10:30 when CBS dropped Press Your Luck from its morning lineup in January 1986 in favor of a revival of Jim Perry's first hit game show, Card Sharks
. The new series did little to put a dent in the ratings of Sale, which continued to win the time slot while Press Your Luck moved to the afternoon for most of the remainder of the year.
On January 5, 1987, NBC moved Sale to 10:00 AM. The move put the series in direct competition with CBS' long-running hit, The $25,000 Pyramid
. Although Sale went up against a dying $25,000 Pyramid and the 13-week flop Blackout
in the eighteen months that followed, by 1988 the series began to fall victim to a growing lack of clearances by local stations. The problem, which was not strictly confined to NBC affiliates, stemmed from the local stations' desire to air potentially more lucrative programming, such as syndicated talk shows, in the morning hours.
To make matters worse, CBS launched a revival of Family Feud
on July 4, 1988. The popularity of the Ray Combs
-hosted Feud further eroded the ratings for Sale, and NBC decided to cancel the series. The 1,578th and final episode of Sale of the Century aired on March 24, 1989. Scrabble
, whose own place on the NBC daytime schedule was given to Generations, moved to the time slot occupied by Sale. Sale was the last major game show to be hosted by veteran host Perry, who retired in 1990.
When the Winner's Board was introduced, players stayed for a maximum of 11 days, depending on whether they decided to play the $50,000 game. Once again, a defeat meant the player left with whatever he or she had won to that point except, as noted above, if the loss was in the $50,000 game.
With the introduction of the Winner's Big Money Game, champions stayed a maximum of eight days, depending on whether or not they won the car in their seventh attempt in the bonus round.
Beginning in 1988, during these special weeks where three new contestants competed each day, Instant Cash was worth $2,000, all Winner's Big Money Games were worth $5,000, and on the week-ending program, all five winners of the week played a special round for the right to win a new automobile. Standing at the Fame Game board, each player had one turn to stop on a number, hitting a plunger to stop the lights from flashing. The player with the highest number won the car. In the event of a tie, the tied players again stopped the random lights on a number until a winner was determined.
s. The machine is based on the 1983–1989 version but, due to the unavailability of Jim Perry, Joe Garagiola's voice and face was used instead.
by NBC
as per network practices of the era. The surviving nine episodes are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive
.
Studio. It later moved to Studio 3, which was used from 1992 to 2009 by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
game show which debuted in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on September 29, 1969, 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...
daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being the short-lived Letters to Laugh-In
Letters to Laugh-In
Letters to Laugh-In is a daytime game show and spin-off of NBC's popular nighttime comedy series at the time, Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, that aired on the network from September 29 to December 26, 1969...
and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and then aired in a weekly syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
version for one additional year. Jack Kelly
Jack Kelly (actor)
Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...
hosted the series from 1969–1971, then Joe Garagiola, Sr. took over for Kelly, who returned to acting.
The rights to Sale of the Century were purchased in 1980 by Australian TV mogul Reg Grundy
Reg Grundy
Reginald Roy "Reg" Grundy, AC, OBE is one of the most successful Australian entrepreneurs, and media and television moguls of his generation.He was the only child born to Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees...
, who turned the show into a huge hit in Australia (see Sale of the Century (Australian game show)
Sale of the Century (Australian game show)
$ale of the Century was an Australian game show that aired on the Nine Network from 14 July 1980 – 29 November 2001. Tony Barber hosted an early version of Sale of the Century under the title of Temptation from 1970–1976, and was also the initial host of Sale, replaced by Glenn Ridge in 1991...
), and eventually succeeded in selling NBC a new version of the format in 1983. The new version aired weekday mornings from January 3, 1983 to March 24, 1989. Again, it was one of three NBC game shows premiering on the same date, along with Hit Man
Hit Man (game show)
Hit Man is an American television game show that ran from January 3 to April 1, 1983 on NBC. Peter Tomarken hosted this Jay Wolpert production in association with Metromedia Video Productions, while Rod Roddy was the announcer.-Round 1:...
and Just Men!
Just Men!
Just Men! was a game show that aired on NBC Daytime from January 3 to April 1, 1983. The show starred Betty White, who won an Emmy award for her work on the show, with Steve Day announcing.-Gameplay:...
(which both lasted only 13 weeks). This version of Sale originally aired at 10:30/9:30 AM Central and later moved to 10:00/9:00 Central. A concurrent daily syndicated version ran from January 7, 1985, to September 1986. The 1980s versions were hosted by Jim Perry.
Al Howard was the executive producer of the initial 1969–1973 version, and for a short time was co-executive producer of the 1980s version with Robert Noah.
A new version of the series entitled Temptation
Temptation (2007 US game show)
Temptation: The New Sale of the Century was a television game show loosely based on both the original Australian and American Sale of the Century versions, plus the 2005 Australian version, also titled Temptation. The show began airing in syndication on September 10, 2007, with the last first-run...
, like the recent Australian revival, debuted in syndication on September 10, 2007, following a September 7 preview on MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV
MyNetworkTV is a television broadcast syndication service in the United States, owned by the Fox Entertainment Group, a division of News Corporation...
. This series ran for one year.
Game format
The game format varied in its details over the years; however, the core format, as presented below, remained unchanged.From 1969–1973, all contestants began with $25. General knowledge questions were posed to the contestants by the host at a value of $5 for correct answers. Should the contestant answer incorrectly, $5 is deducted from their score and a new question is asked; unlike most other quiz shows, only one answer is permitted per question. Midway through the game, the question values doubled to $10. At first, the final round consisted of 30 seconds of $15 questions; later, this was replaced with five $20 questions (called "The Century Round," as the total value of the questions was $100). If a player's total was reduced to zero (or lower), that player was out of the game.
According to the several editions of "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows" by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan, and Fred Wostbrock, during the show's last thirteen weeks on the NBC network and the year in U.S. syndication Sale used two married couples instead of three single competing studio contestants. Each couple was given $20 at the start of the game. Host Joe Garagiola, after conducting one round apiece of $5 and $10 questions, then asked a concluding series of five $20 questions to determine the winning couple. If either couple's score reached $0, both couples were given an additional $20.
In the 1980s version, each contestant was given $20 at the start of the game and all questions were worth $5. Any player whose score was reduced to zero stayed in the game and never dropped below zero.
Instant Bargain
On the original 1969–1974 version, at certain points during gameplay, all contestants were offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise at a bargain price. The first player to buzz in after the prize was revealed purchased that prize. In doing so, a losing contestant might not advance to go shopping at the end of the show, but could leave the show with a considerable total for one day's play. The prices of all prizes offered were expressed much as one would hear in a department store (ending with "and 95 cents"), and the prices increased as the episode progressed (e.g., $7.95, $11.95, $14.95, $21.95). All prize values were rounded up to the nearest dollar before being subtracted from the score of the player who purchased the prize. Each instant bargain was hidden behind a curtain; the announcer mentioned the price and then the curtain opened as the prize was revealed. If a contestant buzzed-in before the curtain opened, "No Sale" was declared. The contestant was then penalized by having the price of the prize deducted from their score and was locked out of buying it. The other two contestants could then buzz-in.Once per round on the 1980s version, the highest-scoring player was offered the chance to purchase an Instant Bargain. The prizes became more valuable as the game progressed, and their cost increased. Depending on the game situation, the host often reduced the cost and/or offered cash in order to entice the contestant to purchase. In case of a tie for the lead, a Dutch auction
Dutch auction
A Dutch auction is a type of auction where the auctioneer begins with a high asking price which is lowered until some participant is willing to accept the auctioneer's price, or a predetermined reserve price is reached. The winning participant pays the last announced price...
was usually conducted for the prize, although sometimes the price remained the same.
Beginning in May 1984, a "Sale Surprise" (a cash bonus of anywhere from $300 to $1,200) was occasionally added to any one of the Instant Bargains, although the bonus was not used for every show. The Sale Surprise was always revealed following the conclusion of the Instant Bargain it was attached to regardless of whether or not the player had bought the merchandise, and was always announced with clanging bells.
Open House/Audience Sale
The "Open House" round was played in early episodes of the original version usually about halfway through a particular episode. Five prizes were presented to the players and each could buy as many of them as they wanted. Unlike Instant Bargains, multiple players could buy the same item. This was later replaced with an "Audience Sale" round where three studio audience members had to guess the "sale price" of an item. The one that bid closest without going over won the item. The three contestants could increase their score by correctly guessing which, if any, audience member would win.Instant Cash
The Instant Cash replaced the third Instant Bargain in March 1986. Instead of having the opportunity to purchase more merchandise, the leading player (or, in case of a tie, the winner of an auction) had a chance to win a growing cash jackpot for themselves. The pot started at $1,000 and went up by that amount each day until someone claimed it.In order to play the round, the leader had to give up their lead over the second place contestant. Three boxes were available to choose from, with one box containing the jackpot while both of the other boxes contained $100 bills. As with the purchased Instant Bargains, if the player won the jackpot it was theirs to keep regardless of the game's outcome. The highest Instant Cash jackpot was $17,000, and the pot reached $16,000 two other times.
Fame Game
Beginning in January 1983, the American Sale added an additional round of play that was called the "Fame Game". Three times per game, the contestants were given an opportunity to win a bonus prize, cash, or add money to their score by answering a "who-am-I?" question. Jim Perry began reading clues describing a person, place, or thing, and the clues got more descriptive as the question continued. If one of the players buzzed in and answered correctly, they played the second half of the round; if not, that player was eliminated from the round and play continued until one of the remaining players either answered correctly or failed to answer.The contestant who answered correctly was given a choice of nine spaces on the Fame Game board, each displaying the face of a celebrity. As noted above, eight of the spaces hid either small bonus prizes or various amounts of cash. One hid a Money Card, which if found added $25 to the player's score. Later, two additional Money Cards were added valued at $10 and $15. When these were introduced, they were put on the board one Fame Game at a time- the $10 card was available in the first, the $15 in the second, and the $25 in the final.
Changes were eventually made to the Fame Game format. In 1984, the celebrity faces were removed and replaced by the numbers 1 through 9. A fourth money card, worth $5, was added and would appear sporadically. In addition, a space was added to the board that offered the contestant a vacation, a cash bonus, or an undetermined amount of money or a choice of another number; these were referred to as "Trip/$XXX/Mystery Money or Pick Again". In the case of the Mystery Money, the amount varied from $1.75 to over $1,000.
In fall 1985, the Fame Game board was changed. Instead of selecting a number, a randomizer light similar to what was used on Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on September 19, 1983 on CBS and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected "spins" by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game...
was employed and the contestant chose a space by hitting their buzzer, which stopped the randomizer. In order to heighten dramatic effect, the locations of the Money Cards were revealed to the contestant.
Speed round
From its debut until March 1984, each Sale game ended with a round of three questions. If the game ended with two players tied for the lead, a Fame Game question was asked to break the tie.Since only $15 was up for grabs after the third and final Fame Game and most games were often decided by this point, the producers decided to follow their Australian counterparts and institute a speed round to end the game. Perry asked as many questions as possible in 60 seconds and whoever was ahead at the end of the speed round was the day's champion. As per the first round rules, correct answers added $5 to a player's score, and incorrect answers deducted $5 from a player's score. If there was a tie for the lead after the speed round, one final regular question was asked. Buzzing in and answering correctly won the game, but an incorrect answer meant the other player won by default. All players kept any cash and prizes accumulated throughout the main game, in addition to receiving their main game score in cash.
Game cycle
A cycle of the question segments and the special games occurred three times on each show, depending on the time used. The format of each program (after 1984) was as follows:- Five $5 questions, first Instant Bargain, three $5 questions, first Fame Game, commercial
- Three $5 questions, second Instant Bargain, five $5 questions. Jim Perry reads a factoid to lead into commercial
- Second Fame Game, three $5 questions, third Instant Bargain/Instant Cash
- Three $5 questions, final Fame Game, Speed Round, end game
Bonus game
During the original series, the winning contestant or couple was given the opportunity to spend their cash total on at least one of several grand prizes at the "Sale of the Century". Contestants either purchased a prize with their cash winnings and retire, or elect to return the next day and try to win enough to buy a more expensive prize. Champions could buy more than one prize, but unlike the later 1980s version, they could never buy every prize at less than the total of all of the sale prices. Also, when contestants chose to come back the next day, they were asked which prizes they were considering buying; as long as the contestant kept winning, those prizes remained while others were replaced by more expensive ones.The 1970s syndicated version had two different formats. Both had three possible prizes (almost always a trip, a fur coat, and a car), of which the couple could win one. Originally, each prize had a sale price, and Garagiola asked questions worth $100 each, which was added to the couple's score from the game. When the amount reached the sale price of a prize, the couple could buy the prize or keep playing for a more expensive prize. Later, this was changed to "The Game of Champions"; the three prizes had sale amounts in the areas of $150, $300, and $600, and the winning couple chose a prize and had to answer three questions (worth $50, $100, or $200 each, depending on the prize).
The 1980s version had three bonus games during its six-year run:
Shopping
From the daytime series' debut until October 1984 and from January 1985 until November 1985 on the syndicated series, Sale used a reworked shopping endgame. A series of six prizes was offered, culminating in a luxury car. If a new champion had not accumulated a score high enough to purchase the first level prize on their first day, which almost always required $85 to purchase, the price of the prize was reduced to whatever their winning score was. As before, a contestant could buy a prize and retire, or elect to return the next day and try to win enough to buy the next most expensive prize. However, as noted above, a contestant could not buy more than one prize at a time with their winnings unless they had earned enough to buy them all.For the first four months of Sale's run on NBC, if a player accumulated at least $500, they won all the prizes and enough cash to make the entire package worth exactly $95,000. After that, an escalating cash jackpot was added to the game. The jackpot, which was used as one of the prize levels for champions and took $510 to purchase, began at $50,000 and increased by $1,000 per day until someone either bought it or earned $600, which was enough to win the jackpot and all of the prizes on the stage. Upon the implementation of the speed round in 1984, the values increased to $650 for the jackpot and $760 for the entire lot.
During the NBC shopping era, the lot was won twice. Mort Camens was the first to win the entire lot, doing so prior to the introduction of the cash jackpot. Barbara Phillips was the second, doing so in August 1983 after the cash jackpot was introduced, and was the only player on the daytime Sale to win the lot after the jackpot was added to it. The highest jackpot during this period, as well as of all-time on the American Sale, was won by David Rogers in April 1984 after he purchased a $109,000 cash jackpot.
The syndicated Sale shopping round was similar to its network counterpart. However, the second to last prize level for a champion was all of the shopping prizes, and the cash jackpot was added to the lot as the final prize. Originally it took $830 to win the lot, but by the series' fifth week, the amount was fixed at $750. As a result, several more contestants were able to win the lot than before as they were no longer able to buy the jackpot and leave. Contestant Tim Holleran won the largest jackpot in the history of the syndicated Sale when he won a $90,000 jackpot in the fall of 1985.
The Winner's Board
Introduced in October 1984 on NBC and November 1985 in syndication, the Winner's Board gave a player an opportunity to win a prize simply by matching two squares on a 20-square board. Ten prizes were available, with the largest prizes being $10,000 cash and a car. Two "Win" cards were always on the board, and if they were selected at any time the player won whatever prize they revealed with their next pick. Eight of the prizes had matching pairs, with the car and $10,000 requiring a "Win" card to match. In the event the $10,000 and the car were the only two prizes left on the board, only two numbers were displayed and the champion won whatever prize was behind the number chosen.Once a champion cleared all ten prizes from the Winner's Board, they were presented with two choices. The champion could either take all of their winnings and retire undefeated, or put all of the Winner's Board prizes- totaling over $60,000- at risk and return on the next program for a final game where, if the champion won, they were awarded a $50,000 cash bonus on top of their Winner's Board prizes. Although the champion would lose all of the Winner's Board prizes with a loss in the final game, every player who elected to take the risk did so successfully.
Mark DeCarlo
Mark DeCarlo
Mark DeCarlo is an American actor.DeCarlo is the voice of Hugh Neutron on the television show Jimmy Neutron. He hosted the Travel Channel's Taste of America with Mark DeCarlo for 2 seasons in 2004 and 2005, and is also known as the host of the early 1990s dating game show Studs...
was a contestant during this period and was the first contestant to play for (and win) the $50,000, doing so in April 1985 on the daytime Sale. His grand total was $115,257. The biggest winner during this period was Tom O'Brien, who won over $152,000 in late 1987 on the daytime series.
Winner's Big Money Game
The Winner's Board was discontinued in late December 1987 in favor of the Winner's Big Money Game. When this round was introduced, another smaller change was put into place. In addition to whatever they had won in the main game, the winning player received a bonus prize. Until mid-1988, six prizes were available to choose from in a blind draw. Originally, the day's defending champion chose the prize at the midway point of the show, but this was later changed to having the day's winner pick their prize. After mid-1988 the bonus prize was announced at the beginning of the show.The champion was given a choice of three envelopes (red, yellow, blue) before the start of the round. Inside each of the envelopes was a series of six-word puzzles that served as clues to lead to a famous person, place, or thing. The champion was originally given 25 seconds to figure out 5 puzzles, but this was later reduced to 4 in 20 seconds. The clock began when the first word of a puzzle was revealed and only stopped when the champion hit a plunger to stop the clock and give an answer. Passing was allowed, as was one incorrect guess; a second incorrect guess ended the round. Solving all puzzles before the time ran out won the round and whatever cash prize the champion was playing for.
The prize for the Winner's Big Money Game increased every day a champion returned to play, regardless of whether or not the champion had won the previous round, and a champion could play the round for up to eight consecutive days. All champions played for $5,000 on their first day, $6,000 on their second, $7,000 on their third, $8,000 on their fourth, $9,000 on their fifth, $10,000 on their sixth, and a car on their seventh. If the champion failed to win the car, they were retired undefeated. Otherwise, they got to return for a final match and played the Winner's Big Money Game for $50,000 if they won.
The $50,000 grand prize was played for twice and won once. On at least two other occasions, including one during the last week of the series, players made it to a seventh day but failed to win the car. There was no penalty for losing the $50,000 game as there was with the Winner's Board.
Staff & broadcast history
In the United States, the original version was hosted by Jack KellyJack Kelly (actor)
Jack Kelly was an American film and television actor most noted for the role of "Bart Maverick" in the TV series Maverick, which ran on ABC from 1957 to 1962...
(who earlier appeared on the series Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
with James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
) until 1971, when he was replaced by Joe Garagiola. Bill Wendell
Bill Wendell
Bill Wendell was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career.-Biography:...
announced. The original version was created and produced by Al Howard.
1969–1973
Sale premiered on September 29, 1969 on NBCNBC
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 daytime schedule at 11:00 AM (10:00 Central), replacing the three-year-old Personality, which was hosted by Larry Blyden
Larry Blyden
Larry Blyden was an American actor and game show host, best known for his appearances on Broadway and as the host of the game show What's My Line?-Personal life:...
.
Garagiola, who at the time was a regular on NBC's Today Show and had recently hosted a game show of his own, Joe Garagiola's Memory Game
Memory Game
Memory Game was a short-lived American television game show that aired on NBC...
, took over for Kelly on August 23, 1971.
Sale ran at that time slot for the entirety of its initial three-and-a-half years on the network, and was generally a ratings success against situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
rerun
Rerun
A rerun or repeat is a re-airing of an episode of a radio or television broadcast. The invention of the rerun is generally credited to Desi Arnaz. There are two types of reruns—those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Reruns can also be, as the...
s 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...
and non-network programming on ABC stations. However, in Fall 1972 CBS scored a ratings winner with Gambit
Gambit (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...
at that time slot, and the producers of Sale attempted a last-ditch effort at saving the show's audience by changing the three-contestant configuration to that of two married couples, which also was the contestant configuration used by Gambit. It was not enough, and NBC canceled Sale on July 13, 1973 in favor of The Wizard of Odds
The Wizard of Odds
The Wizard of Odds is an American game show hosted by Alex Trebek that aired on NBC from July 16, 1973 to June 28, 1974 in which people from the studio audience vied in a number of rounds, primarily games revolving around statistical questions...
, noted as the first American program hosted by 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...
.
1973–1974
Nevertheless, Howard contacted Screen GemsScreen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
to continue the game in syndication
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
for another season from September 10, 1973 until September 13, 1974. This version, with Garagiola hosting again, continued the married-couple configuration of the final NBC weeks.
After production of this version ended, the show went dormant for several years until Howard sold the worldwide rights for Sale to Australian TV producer Reg Grundy
Reg Grundy
Reginald Roy "Reg" Grundy, AC, OBE is one of the most successful Australian entrepreneurs, and media and television moguls of his generation.He was the only child born to Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees...
. In 1980, building upon the success of his earlier Temptation, Grundy brought the show to prime time
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
in his country, where it became the nation's top-rated show. Eventually its success prompted him to bring it back in the United States. Production of this new version began in late 1982.
1983–1989
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
during his run as host as he hosted two Canadian-produced game shows, Definition
Definition (TV series)
Definition was a Canadian television game show, which aired on CTV from 1974 to 1989, and filmed at its flagship studio of CFTO-TV in the former Scarborough, Ontario . For most of its run, it was hosted by Jim Perry....
and Headline Hunters
Headline Hunters
Headline Hunters was a Canadian game show that appeared on CTV from 1972 to 1983. It was originally created by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir...
, during his time on Sale.
For the first two months of the NBC series, Perry's co-host was actress Sally Julian. Due to dissatisfaction with her performance, Grundy quickly replaced her with Lee Menning
Lee Menning
Lee Menning is an American actress who appeared as a card dealer on NBC game show Las Vegas Gambit, and then as the co-host of NBC's Sale of the Century from 1983 to 1984....
. Menning left for family reasons in 1984 and was replaced by Summer Bartholomew
Summer Bartholomew
Summer Robin Bartholomew is a model and actress who won the 1975 Miss USA pageant.Her first pageant experience came in 1973 when she won the Miss Oktoberfest title....
, who remained with the show until its end. Jay Stewart
Jay Stewart
Jay Fix , known professionally as Jay Stewart, was an American television and radio announcer known primarily for his work on game shows. One of his longest-lasting roles was as the announcer on the game show Let's Make a Deal, which he announced throughout the 1960s and 1970s...
announced until his retirement in 1988, when he was replaced by Don Morrow
Don Morrow
Don Morrow is an American actor and announcer. He started his broadcast career while a student at Syracuse University on the GI Bill shortly after World War II. His first job was with Syracuse's first TV station WHEN as newscaster and announcer...
. Stewart also co-hosted with Perry on several occasions when Menning was not available due to her maternity leave in 1984.
Sale was placed in the 10:30/9:30 AM slot by NBC upon its debut. CBS' Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
-hosted Child's Play
Child's Play (game show)
Child's Play is an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson-produced series debuted on CBS from September 20, 1982 at 10:30 AM Eastern/9:30 AM Central...
, which had premiered on September 20, 1982, was its major competition, and had already been struggling to gain ratings against NBC's hit 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...
. Child's Play continued to lose the ratings battle with its new rival Sale and left the air on September 16, 1983. The following Monday (September 19), Sale received its first serious ratings challenge as Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck
Press Your Luck is an American television daytime game show created by Bill Carruthers and Jan McCormack. It premiered on September 19, 1983 on CBS and ended on September 26, 1986. In the show, contestants collected "spins" by answering trivia questions and then used the spins on an 18-space game...
, a loud, colorful, and rambunctious game, debuted opposite it on CBS. This began a spirited battle over the 10:30 AM slot's ratings lead for the next 16 months, with Press Your Luck taking a lead thanks in large part to a contestant
Michael Larson
Paul Michael Larson was a contestant on the American television game show Press Your Luck in May 1984 that aired on TV in June 1984. Larson's claim to fame was his winning $110,237 in cash and prizes, at the time the largest one-day total ever won on a game show...
winning over $100,000 in one game. However, as fall 1985 began, Sale reclaimed the lead while Press Your Luck began to slide in the ratings.
Thanks to its solid performance on NBC, Genesis Entertainment syndicated the show to local stations beginning on January 7, 1985 as a daily five-a-week strip, seen mainly in the Prime Time Access
Prime Time Access Rule
The Prime Time Access Rule was instituted by the Federal Communications Commission in 1970 to restrict the amount of network broadcast programming that a local television station, Owned-and-operated station by or affiliated with a television network may air during "prime time"...
time slots. The show did well enough in its half-season run to be renewed for the 1985–1986 season but the ratings suffered due to a glut of new syndicated games taking over most of the Prime Time Access slots the show had in its first season (for example, the first season of the syndicated Sale aired nightly on WOR
WWOR-TV
WWOR-TV, virtual channel 9 , is the flagship station of the MyNetworkTV programming service, licensed to Secaucus, New Jersey and serving the Tri-State metropolitan area. WWOR is owned by Fox Television Stations, a division of the News Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox network flagship...
in New York; the second season aired following Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
weekday afternoons on WABC
WABC-TV
WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
). The syndicated Sale went off the air in September 1986.
Meanwhile, the network version of Sale received a new opponent in the ratings race at 10:30 when CBS dropped Press Your Luck from its morning lineup in January 1986 in favor of a revival of Jim Perry's first hit game show, 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...
. The new series did little to put a dent in the ratings of Sale, which continued to win the time slot while Press Your Luck moved to the afternoon for most of the remainder of the year.
On January 5, 1987, NBC moved Sale to 10:00 AM. The move put the series in direct competition with CBS' long-running hit, The $25,000 Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
. Although Sale went up against a dying $25,000 Pyramid and the 13-week flop Blackout
Blackout (game show)
Blackout is an American game show that aired on CBS from January 4 to April 1, 1988. The pilot was hosted by former Entertainment Tonight anchor Robb Weller, but he was replaced for the series by Bob Goen...
in the eighteen months that followed, by 1988 the series began to fall victim to a growing lack of clearances by local stations. The problem, which was not strictly confined to NBC affiliates, stemmed from the local stations' desire to air potentially more lucrative programming, such as syndicated talk shows, in the morning hours.
To make matters worse, CBS launched a revival of Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
on July 4, 1988. The popularity of the Ray Combs
Ray Combs
Raymond Neil "Ray" Combs, Jr. was an American comedian, actor, and host of the game show Family Feud on CBS and in syndication from 1988 to 1994.-Early life and career:...
-hosted Feud further eroded the ratings for Sale, and NBC decided to cancel the series. The 1,578th and final episode of Sale of the Century aired on March 24, 1989. Scrabble
Scrabble (game show)
Scrabble is an American television game show that was based on the Scrabble board game. The show was co-produced by Exposure Unlimited and Reg Grundy Productions. It ran from July 2, 1984 to March 23, 1990, and again from January 18 to June 11, 1993, both runs on NBC. A total of 1,335 episodes were...
, whose own place on the NBC daytime schedule was given to Generations, moved to the time slot occupied by Sale. Sale was the last major game show to be hosted by veteran host Perry, who retired in 1990.
Returning Champions
On the original series, a champion retired undefeated after buying at least one prize at the Sale of the Century. Until the Winner's Board format on both 1980s editions, a champion remained on the show until he or she was defeated, had amassed enough to buy every prize on stage, or decided to leave on his or her own at a certain prize level (more than a few contestants stopped before getting to the last level, with several stopping after their first day). A defeat meant the contestant left with whatever he or she had won in the front game up until that point. Since NBC had no winnings limit for its game shows (unlike CBS and ABC), a player only retired as champion when he or she was defeated, reached the highest level of prizes, or elected to stop at one of the lower levels.When the Winner's Board was introduced, players stayed for a maximum of 11 days, depending on whether they decided to play the $50,000 game. Once again, a defeat meant the player left with whatever he or she had won to that point except, as noted above, if the loss was in the $50,000 game.
With the introduction of the Winner's Big Money Game, champions stayed a maximum of eight days, depending on whether or not they won the car in their seventh attempt in the bonus round.
Special weeks
Over the years, Sale had several special weeks, including Teen Week, College Week, and others, as well as a few Tournaments of Champions.Beginning in 1988, during these special weeks where three new contestants competed each day, Instant Cash was worth $2,000, all Winner's Big Money Games were worth $5,000, and on the week-ending program, all five winners of the week played a special round for the right to win a new automobile. Standing at the Fame Game board, each player had one turn to stop on a number, hitting a plunger to stop the lights from flashing. The player with the highest number won the car. In the event of a tie, the tied players again stopped the random lights on a number until a winner was determined.
Slot Machine
As with many American game shows of past and present, a slot machine based on and named for the show has been manufactured for use in American casinoCasino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
s. The machine is based on the 1983–1989 version but, due to the unavailability of Jim Perry, Joe Garagiola's voice and face was used instead.
Episode status
All but nine episodes of the original 1969–1973 series are believed to have been wipedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
by 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...
as per network practices of the era. The surviving nine episodes are held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive
UCLA Film and Television Archive
The UCLA Film and Television Archive is an internationally renowned visual arts organization focused on the preservation, study, and appreciation of film and television, based at the University of California, Los Angeles. It holds more than 220,000 film and television titles and 27 million feet of...
.
Studio origination
The 1970s version of Sale of the Century was produced in Studio 8H at the NBC Rockefeller Studios in New York City. The 1980s versions were taped at NBC Studios in Burbank, California. Originally, the show used Studio 25, also known as the Art FlemingArt Fleming
Art Fleming was an American television host, most notably the original host of the TV game show Jeopardy!.-Early life:...
Studio. It later moved to Studio 3, which was used from 1992 to 2009 by The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.