| "THE GAME WHERE ONE WORD LEADS TO ANOTHER." CHAIN REACTION packagers: Bob Stewart Productions ('80-'91), Embassy Row (GSN) air dates: 1/14-6/20/80 on NBC, 9/29/86-12/27/91 as The New/$40,000 Chain Reaction on USA (cable), 8/1/06-today on GSN (now in reruns) hosts: Bill Cullen ('80), Geoff Edwards (4/80 on NBC, '86-'91), Blake Emmons ('86), Dylan Lane (GSN) announcers: Johnny Gilbert ('80), Rod Charlebois (USA run), none on the GSN run HOW TO PLAY: NBC: Two teams, each comprised of a contestant and two celebrities, attempted to identify words in an eight-word chain in which one word relates to the next word in line. Here's an example: ROME, CAESAR, SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM, SHATNER, CAPTAIN, HOOK, FISH Each chain started with the first and last word given as freebies. One team selected a line on which to add a letter to that word, and also decides whether to guess that particular word or to force the other team to guess the word. A team that guessed a word scored 1 point for each letter in the word. Two of the words in the chain were marked with a plus sign and awarded 2 points for each letter in that word. Upon completing a chain of words, a new chain was started with the first word and the last word. The contestant whose team was the first to score 50+ points won the game and played Instant Reaction. At first the winner earned $250 and the other player's score was multiplied by $5. Later, each winner earned $100 and the other player received parting gifts. In the first Instant Reaction format, the player was given $1 and attempted to build that amount up to $10,000 by answering eight questions which were put together by his or her celebrity teammates. Each celeb was shown an answer and they were both required to alternate adding one word at a time and finished the question by sounding a bell. For every two correct guesses, a zero would be added to the player's winnings for that round. Eight correct answers in 60 seconds won the contestant $10,000. A week later, this PATHETIC (!) format was changed to where the money increased for each correct answer. This time, it took 9 correct answers to go all the way. Each correct answer increased the money won for that round as follows: $1, $10, $100, $1,000, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000, $5,000, and finally, $10,000! The last format paid $100 for each correct answer and $10,000 for ten answers in 90 seconds. This was soon changed to nine correct answers required. Otherwise, $100 was awarded for winning the front game in addition to $100 for each right answer. USA: During the first two seasons of The New Chain Reaction, each game pitted two pairs of contestants (no celebs this time). For each seven-word chain, the first four words identified scored a particular amount of points, while identifying the last remaining word scored more points. For the first chain, each word scored 10 points, with the last word scoring 20 points. The second chain featured words at 20 points a pop with the last word scoring 40 points. Each chain thereafter scored 30 points a word with the last word worth 60 points. The first team to score 200+ points played the bonus chain. The first word of a 7-word bonus chain was revealed, along with the first letter of each of the other six to start. An incorrect guess revealed a letter in that particular word. Seven such letters (9 at first) were allowed in the round. Each word guessed correctly paid the team $100. Completing the chain won the team a jackpot worth $3,000 with another $1,000 added each day until won. Starting in the third season, each game pitted two players one-on-one. The last word of the first chain scored 15 points, the second chain's last word scored 30 points, and the last word for each chain thereafter scored 50 points, with 300+ points winning the game. After the second chain was completed, the player with the highest score played Missing Link. The player was shown the first and last word of a 3-word chain and was given the first letter of the middle word. Idenifying the word here earned the player $500. If not, (s)he spent $100 on another letter. For the final season, the show became The $40,000 Chain Reaction. The first player to reach 500 points played Missing Link, which paid $300 for guessing the middle word with only one letter revealed, $200 with two letters, or $100 with three. The top winner of each week won $7,500. After 16 weeks, the top winners of each week competed in an elimination-style tournament until two players were left standing. The winner of that final game won the top prize of $40,000. GSN: A team of 3 men competes against 3 women. Each chain contains seven words, with the first and last words being revealed for starters. Each correct guess for chain one scores $100. The second chain pays $200 for each word and each word for chain 3 scores $300. The team who identifies the last word of each chain is shown the first and last word of a 4-word chain and the first letter of each of the two middle words and could earn another $100-$300, depending on the round, by identifying both words. During the fourth round, each team may wager up to $500 of their winnings before being shown a letter. A correct guess awards the amount of the bet and allows the team to keep control, while a wrong guess loses the bet and passes control to the other team. The team whose opponents go broke, or the team with the most money after this chain is completed, plays Instant Reaction. In Instant Reaction, two teammates are shown an answer and they alternate by adding one word per player to a question. In the first season, if the guesser answered seven questions correctly in 90 seconds, the team's winnings doubled. If ten correct answers were given in 90 seconds, the money TRIPLED! For the second season, five correct answers in 60 seconds award the team $5,000. Otherwise, $100 is earned for each correct answer. OTHER TIDBITS: The "Instant Reaction" format was used for Bob Stewart's failed 1977 pilot Get Rich Quick! as well as NBC's Go. Bill Cullen stepped down as host for two weeks to guest-host Password Plus during Allen Ludden's hospitalization. Canadian country singer Blake Emmons, who hosted the show for a short time in '86, had previously appeared as a contestant on The Joker's Wild. Every day on the USA run, Geoff and Rod would show a Missing Link puzzle for the home audience to decipher. The answer would be revealed the next day before presenting a new chain. Back to my game show joint or my homepage. |