Hollywood Squares (1986-1989)

This is chronicling the mid to late-80s version of ***Hollywood Squares***.

## Gameplay

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 and one is a returning champion, almost always a woman playing *Os/naughts* (called *circles* in the show) as Ms. Circle and a man playing *Xs/crosses* as Mr. X by took turns picking a star and following the traditional tic-tac-toe/naughts-and-crosses strategies for which square/star to select/pick. The star's asked a question by The Master and gives an answer. The contestants had the choice of agreeing with the star to be right or disagreeing if they thought the star is bluffing to be wrong. If the contestant's judgement/answer was right, he or she got the square; if the contestant's judgement/answer was wrong, the other contestant got the square, unless that caused the opponent to get three stars in a row. In that case, the opponent had to win the square on his or her own. A contestant could also win by getting five squares on the game board, there's no draws/ties on "THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES" Board.

In this version, just like the original version's nighttime version, two contestants played for the entire show and for each game won the winning contestant won $500 and starting in Season 2, the third and all future games were worth double or $1,000. The second game of each show was a Secret Square game and it was usually played for a trip (which had John coin the catchphrase "Pack your bags!" upon a Secret Square win). Time running out was now signified by a double car horn; by that time each square claimed was worth $200 ($100 in the first season), with that amount awarded should a player finish with nothing. The player with the most money at the end of time became the champ. If the match ended in a tie, one final question was played with the star of one contestant's choosing. If the contestant can agree or disagree correctly, he/she won the match; otherwise, the match went to the opponent. The winner of the match went on to play for a brand new car.

### The Car Game

To start, the new champion chose one of five keys by drawing out of a small cereal bowl. Then he/she selected one of five cars at center stage under the show's logo that he/she thought the key chosen would start that car. Once the car was chosen, the champion went inside the chosen car alongside a good luck celebrity of his/her choosing (all nine on Friday shows or when a champ is retiring) and on the count of three to turn the key. If the key started the car, the champion won the car and retired from the show; otherwise, he/she returned to play the next day with the same key and one fewer car to choose from. If the champion won five days in row and didn't win the car after the first four, he/she won the car that was left.

Each week featured a different set of five cars, all of the same make. In the event that a champion on Friday returned the following Monday, the lowest-valued cars were eliminated corresponding to the number of prior attempts and the champion selected a new key from the remaining cars available.

In the final season, each of the nine celebrities held a key, and all five cars were available each day, no matter how many times the champion had played for the car. The champion had to pick a key each day, and the celebrity who held that key would be one of the good luck celebrities. Five stars held keys for each individual car; four stars held keys that didn't start any car. To compensate for the increase in difficulty, champions could simply stay on the show until winning a car or until they were defeated.

The cars that were available on the show were, Ford (on the pilot), Cadillac, Isuzu, Hyundai, Toyota, Jeep, Volkswagen, Buick, Mazda, Lincoln, Mercury, Merkur, Chevrolet and Renault.

## End-of-Show Disclaimers

"Celebrity guests are briefed as to question subject material prior to program." - (1986-1987, 1988-1989)

"Celebrity guests are briefed as to questions and/or related subject material prior to program." - (1987-1988)

## Trivia

The show became infamous for its April Fools prank played on John Davidson in which two "contestants" (they were actually stunt people) got into a fight after the so-called Ms. Circle "O" (Annie Ellis) caught the so-called Mr. X (Greg Barnett) cheating by peeking behind John's card. It ended by having the fake Ms. Circle push the fake Mr. X off the contestant area after which the audience said, "April Fools', John!" After the commercial break and John's explanation, the two real contestants (with one of them going for the car automatically since this was his final day on the show) came aboard and the game played as normal (the contestant going for the instant car win pretended to be sick), but only two games and the tiebreaker were played that day.

During one of the weeks a record of four cars were given away in one week; during that week the Renault GTA convertible was the car that was won those four times.

*The New Hollywood Squares* was the first game show ever to go on the road for special weeks. It went to Radio City Music Hall and Hollywood, Florida, among others.

To celebrate the 100th episode of *The New Hollywood Squares*, there was a very special "Announce-Off" between Shadoe Stevens and his brother Richard Stevens. Richard Stevens became the main announcer for a few months before his brother returned.

## Links

* Woogazoid's 'Hollywood Squares' page
* Curt Alliaume's history of the Hollywood Squares
* Screencaps of The 80s Hollywood Squares
* Xanfan's Hollywood Squares Celebrity Archive
* David's Hollywood Squares Page
* Rules for Hollywood Squares @ Loogslair.net
* Josh Rebich's Hollywood Squares Rule Sheets part of his Match Game/Hollywood Squares Page
* Article about the 1985 pilot