The Newlywed Game

packagers: Chuck Barris Productions ('66-'89), Columbia Tri-Star Television ('96-2000), Embassy Row (GSN)
air dates: 7/11/66-12/20/74 & 2/13-2/17/84 (as The New Newlywed Game) on ABC, syndicated 9/77-9/80 by Worldvision Enterprises, 9/85-9/89 (as The New Newlywed Game) by Barris TV Sales, and 9/96-9/2000 by Columbia/TriStar Television, 4/4/09-present on GSN
hosts: Bob Eubanks ('66-2000), Jim Lange ('84), Paul Rodriguez (12/88-'89), Gary Kroeger ('96-'97), Carnie Wilson (GSN)
announcers: Scott Beach ('66), Johnny Jacobs ('66-'80), Tony McClay ('80), Rod Roddy ('84), Bob Hilton ('85-'88), Charlie O'Donnell ('88-'89), Ellen K ('96-'97), John Cramer ('97-2000), Brad (last name unknown) (GSN)

HOW TO PLAY:
Four couples (three from 12/88-'89), all married less than 2 years, competed by answering questions regarding their significant others. In the first round, the wives were secluded offstage while the husbands predicted how their wives would answer a series of questions. A question was read and each husband, one at a time, would predict how his wife would answer that question. After the questions, the wives joined their husbands. The wives were asked the same questions. After the wife gave her answer, her hubby revealed his prediction on a card from a stack of cards in his lap arranged in the order in which the questions were asked. Each time a wife's answer matched her hubby's prediction, that couple scored 5 points.
For the second round, the husbands were taken offstage and their wives predicted how their husbands would answer a series of questions. Matching answers on each query scored 10 points, except for the last question which was worth 25 points.
The couple with the highest score in the end won a grand prize selected especially for that couple. On the late '90s revival, all couples played for a second honeymoon (vacation).
On all versions of the show, any couples tied for the lead in the end would reveal what they believed would be their final score. These predictions were made before the show. Whoever came closest to their final score without going over won the game. If all tied couples went over their guesses, then whoever came closest would win.

In late '88, each couple was spotted $25 to start with. Each question in the first round scored $25, while questions in the second round were worth $50 a pop, except for the last question, for which each couple would wager some or all of their cash score. All couples competed for the same grand prize.

From '96-'97, three couples competed and the format underwent a major overhaul. In the first round, each wife was shown part of a clip of her husband making a statement about themselves. If the wife predicted correcly how he would complete that statement, the couple scored 10 points. Then the husbands predicted how their wives completed certain statements.
The second round was more like the classic format, except that each question had three answers to choose from. First the wives predicted their husbands' answers, and then the husbands predicted their wives' answers. A couple scored 10 points each time they matched answers.
The third round involved a statement being read to the husbands about one of the wives. Any husband who felt that statement applied to his wife held up a sign which said "That's my wife!" The couple either scored 10 points if correct, or lost 10 points if wrong.
The final round involved the couples being seated behind their husbands. The couples were read a pair of statements and each wife held up a card indicating which of those statements applied to her husband. Each husband whose response matched his wife's prediction scored points. The point values for each pair of statements increased as the round progressed, from 10-100 points. The couple in the lead in the end won a second honeymoon. Starting with the second season, the show reverted back to the classic four-couple format and Mr. Whoopee returned.

On the GSN version, Carnie Wilson of the musical group Wilson Phillips asked the wives 3 questions about their husbands. If a husband matched his wife's prediction, they scored 5 points. In the second round, the husbands predict how their wives will answer 3 questions. The first 2 questions are worth 10 points and the last question is worth 20 points. The couplewith the highest score out of a possible 55 points won a second honeymoon and faced a couple from the original Newlywed Game in the Goldyweds round.
During the commercial break, Carnie asked the wives a series of 5 questions behind their hubbies' backs. During the Goldyweds round, the husbands would each try to match their wife's answer to each question. Doing so on the first question scores 1 point. The second question is worth 2 points, then a 3-pointer, a 4-pointer, and finally a 5-pointer. The couple with the higher score out of a possible 15 won a prize. In case of a tie, the couple whose prediction as to their final score coming closer without going over wins.

OTHER TIDBITS:
"The Book of Love", sung by a late-'50s group called the Monotones, was used as the theme music for the '88-'89 season.

Here are some of the most hilarious exchanges in the show's history:

Bob: In what foreign country was your husband's last car made?
wife: United States.
Bob: That's not a foreign country.
wife: Texas.

Bob: What is your favorite pasta?
husband: Flat on my stomach looking at the television.
(HE SAID PASTA, NOT POSTURE!)

Bob: What is your husband's favorite condiment?
wife 1, who apparently didn't know what a condiment was: His piano upstairs.
wife 2's answer, who didn't know either: Karate school.

Bob: What was the last thing you said to your wife during a whoopee (love) session that had absolutely nothing to do with whoopee?
husband: "Wake up."

Bob: My husband is a closet _______.
Archie Bunker lookalike: closet freak.
Edith lookalike's answer: closet queen!

Back to my game show joint or my homepage.