Games - Fandango

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	Games - Fandango

Fandango was the first TV game show to air on TNN:The Nashville Network (now called Spike TV. It ran from March 8, 1983 - March 31, 1989. To date it's one of the longest running cable game shows on television.

Cast

The host of the show was veteran country music singer "Whisperin" Bill Anderson (whom previously hosted The Better Sex with future Real People star Sarah Purcell). His co-host starting in 1987 was future Top Card hostess Blake Pickett. The announcer was the show's game board "Edgar, the Talking Jukebox", played by former disc jockey Bill Robinson.

Gameplay

The Main Game

Three contestants compete by answering a series of country music questions to win prizes.

Round One

1983 - Bill would ask a toss-up question worth 10 points to all three players. Whoever buzzed-in with the right answer would choose from one of nine categories (which are displayed on Edgar). The center category was the "Star of the Day". That player would also wager any or all of his/her score on that category, and would get the bonus question by all of himself/herself. A right answer adds the points to his/her score, while a wrong answer deducts the wager. Later in the run, a "Secret Square" was shown to the home audience, and if chosen would DOUBLE the wager to the contestant with a right answer. This process continues until time expires or until all nine categories are used.

1987 - The game starts with a 10 point toss-up question. The first player to buzz-in and answer correctly gets the points and the right to choose from one of eight categories for bonus points. The bonus questions are worth anywhere from 20-100 points. If the player answers the bonus question correctly, he/she gets the points; if not then the current 3rd place player (the player with the lowest score) has a chance to answer to steal those points.

Round Two

In the 1983 season, it was played almost identical to round 1, but the toss-ups were worth 20 points.

Starting in 1987, this round is played the same way as round one except points values are now doubled meaning that toss-ups are now worth 20 points, and the bonus questions are anywhere from 40-200 points.

The Final Question (Both Rounds)

They would end with one last question posed by Anderson. This is played sort of like Final Jeopardy!
, for after the question is read, all three players write down their answers. Originally, it was played for 50 points in both rounds. Starting in 1987, if the difference was less than 200 points between two or all three players, the final question was worth +/- 100 points. If a player lead by more than 200 points, then there was no need for the final question.

The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner, wins a special prize & goes on to play for more prizes.

Note: From time to time, Edgar the Talking Jukebox would ask a toss-up question and a correct answer from Edgar's question wins a bonus prize for the contestant.

The Bonus Round ("Meet The Stars")

"Meet The Stars" was a bonus round where the champion tried predicting what the celebrity said in a pre-taped interview. Beginning in 1983, it was the "Star of the Day", but starting in 1987, it was four different celebrities. The questions were worth prizes. The host would read a question with two possible answers. The contestant would guess what the celebrity said. The answer would then be verified by the videotape. If the contestant is correct, he/she wins a prize. A contestant may elect to stop and take the prizes or continue to play. If a contestant is incorrect, he/she would lose all of his/her prizes. If the contestant would correct answer all four questions, he/she would retire undefeated with the grand prize, which was a vacation. Beginning in 1987, the contestant would choose the first three prizes that were hidden behind eight numbers on "Edgar". If a contestant answered the first three questions correctly, hostess Blake Pickett would bring out a set of eight envelopes which had the names of the grand prizes. Those grand prizes included of cars, a boat, a fur coat, and vacations. The player then chose an envelope, and be given an option to go for the grand prize, or trade in the envelope and simply choose another prize from the board without having to answer another question and end the game. Of course, if the player answered correctly, he/she would win the grand prize and retire undefeated. If a contestant won five consecutive days, he/she was automatically awarded the grand prize regardless of the outcome of the bonus round.

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