Hollywood Squares

***Hollywood Squares*** is an American panel game show in which two contestants play tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965, and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the same network. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host, and the contestants judge the truth of their answers to gain squares in the right pattern to win the game.

Although *Hollywood Squares* was a legitimate game show, the game largely acted as the background for the show's comedy in the form of joke answers (called "zingers"), often given by the stars prior to their real answer. The show's writers usually supplied the jokes. In addition, the stars were given the questions' subjects and bluff (plausible but incorrect) answers prior to the show. The show was scripted in this sense, but the gameplay was not. In any case, as original host Peter Marshall would explain at the beginning of the Secret Square game, the celebrities were briefed prior to the show to help them with bluff answers, but they otherwise heard the actual questions for the first time as they were asked on air.

In 2013, *TV Guide* ranked it at No. 7 in its list of the 60 greatest game shows ever. Following the ending of the fourth run of the series in 2004, Buena Vista announced in 2012 that they will launch a fifth run of the series, and bringing back Tom Bergeron as host, and Whoopi Goldberg as executive producer/center square for the series. To accommodate Bergeron and Goldberg, the series is recorded and taped during the summer and the off-cycle with Bergeron's commitment to *Dancing with the Stars* and is recorded on the weekends to accommodate Goldberg's commitment to *The View*.

## Basic rules

Although there have been variations over the years in the rules of and the prizes in the game, certain aspects of the game have remained fairly consistent. Two contestants competed in every match, one playing X and the other O. With very rare exceptions, the matches were male vs. female with the male playing the X position and referred to informally as Mr. X, with the female playing the O position and referred to informally as Ms. Circle (the show referred to the O by its shape and not its alphabetical nature). One of the contestants was usually a returning champion.

Taking turns, each contestant selected a square. The star was asked a question and gave an answer, which was usually preceded by a zinger. The contestants had the choice of agreeing with the star's answer or disagreeing if they thought the star was bluffing. On rare occasions, a star would not know the correct answer to a question, but would be unable to come up with a plausible bluff. In such instances, the contestant would be offered the chance to answer the question and would earn or lose the square based on how they answered. Usually the contestants declined, in which case they incurred no penalty and the same star was asked another question.

The objective was to complete a line across, vertically, or diagonally or to score as many squares as possible, as contestants could also win by capturing five squares. Correctly agreeing or disagreeing with a star's answer captured the square. If the contestant failed to agree or disagree correctly, the square went to his/her opponent. An exception was made if the square would result in the opponent winning by default, which was not allowed; in that case, the square remained unclaimed and the opponent got a chance to earn it him/herself.

### Secret Square

The Secret Square game is played during the second round, and plays for an accumulating jackpot of prizes that Bergeron referred to as the Secret Square Stash. A new prize would be added to the jackpot each day until someone claimed it.

### Bonus Round: The Keys

A variation on the 1980s syndicated series' endgame was added to *Hollywood Squares* in September 2002 and remained until the series ended in June 2004. Following news of Buena Vista relaunching the series, they announced that they would be using The Keys from the fourth run's series. Nine keys were used in the game, only one of which would win the day's prize. To eliminate the bad keys, contestants had 30 seconds to select celebrities and correctly agree or disagree with statements about the celebrities read by Bergeron. The clock started after the contestant selected the first star.

For each correct response, one of the bad keys was eliminated from the pool of nine. If the champion had made multiple unsuccessful attempts to win the prize, one additional key was removed for each attempt. During themed weeks in which two new contestants played each day, one extra key was removed since the champion had only one chance to win the prize. After the bad keys were removed, the champion chose the one key they thought would win the prize. If unsuccessful, the champion received $1,000 (originally $500) for each correct answer they had given in the first half of the round.

The prize structure was as follows:

* 1st win: Car
* 2nd: $25,000
* 3rd: Trip around the world or a trip of a lifetime (worth between $20,000–$30,000)
* 4th: $50,000
* 5th: $100,000

To win the car, the chosen key had to start its engine. The cash prizes required the contestant to unlock a safe with the correct key, while a steamer trunk had to be unlocked in order to win the trip. If the champion answered eight or all nine statements correctly before time expired, the key that started the engine or opened the trunk/safe was automatically revealed to the contestant.

On occasion, the second prize was substituted for a gift certificate in that amount to an upscale store; these were often used as bonus prizes during special weeks or tournaments.

### Tournaments

#### Tournament of Champions

Starting in season two, the show began having an annual Tournament of Champions each May, with the season's biggest winners returning to compete for additional cash and prizes. The format changed each season:

*Season 2*: Six five-game winners came back to play again. Play was as normal, except the Secret Square was worth $2,500, which was added to the score. The bonus game was also played for cash, from $5,000 to $15,000. The two contestants who earned the most money came back for a two-game final, playing by the same rules as the semi-finals. In addition to the other cash won, the champion won an extra $50,000. The final bonus round was worth up to $15,000.

*Seasons 3 & 4*: Eight four-game winners compete in a semi-final game. The two top winners return on Friday. The Secret Square prize was an actual prize, again added to the final score, but was the same each day so no one has an advantage. The champion won $25,000 and the trophy, and a $44,000 Jaguar S-Type was among the prizes in the bonus game. Season four's tournament was similar to that of the previous year, except that the bonus game winnings were taken into account. The final grand champion won a Mercedes-Benz in addition to the money.

*Season 5*: Season five had a "Close but No Cigar" week to decide who would join the seven undefeated winners in the normal tournament. The bonus round was played for a $25,000 Bloomingdale's shopping spree until Friday, when it was replaced by a cruise on the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. The winner of the tournament chose one of the celebrities who then revealed a cash amount of up to $50,000 inside a sealed envelope.

*Season 6* onward: The winner of the tournament played the standard bonus round and chose one of the captured celebrities, one of whom was holding an envelope with up to $100,000 in it.

#### College Championship

Each year from season two to five had 14 college students competing. Seven quarter-final games were played. The four contestants with the highest overall totals move on to the semi-finals. The two winners played in the final game, where the winner won a $25,000 savings bond (later a car), as well as a trophy for their university. Secret Square and bonus round prizes were added to the totals to determine who moved on.

In 2001, Goldberg was not present during some tournament shows, having Caroline Rhea & other celebrity guests taking over center square. In the Finals, Martin Short (in character as Jiminy Glick) took over center square.

In season five, the bonus round was played for $25,000 (savings bonds in the quarter-finals, cash in the semi-finals), and the grand champion automatically won a new Jeep Wrangler. The College Championship was brought back for the 2012 run.

#### Theme Week

As it was with the fourth run, the current version of *Hollywood Squares* does Theme Weeks, including Game Show Week, *Survivor* Week, a Broadway Squares week (with the series taped and record in New York), Halloween week, and Young People's Week.