Child's Play (game show)

Child's Play was hosted by game show veteran Bill Cullen. This was both Cullen's final game on CBS and his last for Mark Goodson, ending a 30-year association with the Goodson company as an emcee. Gene Wood was the primary announcer for the entire run, with Johnny Gilbert and Bob Hilton (who also announced on the pilot) filling in on occasion.^[1]

Cullen first plugged the show during his only appearance on Bob Barker's version of The Price Is Right on October 26, 1982.^[2]

Two contestants competed. The object of the game was to correctly identify words based on videotaped definitions given by elementary school-age children (ages 5–9). The game was played in two rounds.^[1]

In the first round, a word was given to the home audience, and a video clip of a child defining that word was played (e.g. a child stating "it's something you use to unlock a door to a house or a car" to define "key"). If the child said the word or any form of it, or any other words that were judged unsuitable for broadcast, the audio was bleeped out and an oval marked "OOPS" was superimposed over the child's mouth to prevent the contestants from trying to guess the word through lip reading.

Once the clip ended, the contestant had a chance to guess the word; a correct response earned one point. If the contestant was incorrect, a clip of another child defining the same word was played and the opponent could offer a guess. A miss resulted in a third clip being played and gave the first contestant one last chance to guess. If the contestant was still wrong, no points were awarded.

The champion had initial control for the first word, and control alternated between the two contestants on each new word until the round ended at the second commercial break. Originally, the contestant who guessed each word won control for the next one.

A video clip of a child defining a word was played, and either contestant could buzz in at any time to stop the playback and guess the word. A correct guess awarded two points, while an incorrect guess or failure to respond allowed the opponent to see the rest of the clip before offering a guess. The round continued until a school bell rang, whereupon the contestant in the lead won $500 and advanced to the bonus round.^[3] If the game ended in a tie, one additional word was played to determine the winner.

In the first three episodes, Fast Play was played in two halves, each of which ended at the bell. Correct answers were worth one point each in the first half, and two points in the second; in addition, if a contestant guessed incorrectly, the entire clip was played for the opponent.

Two different bonus round formats were used, each with a $5,000 top prize and a 45-second time limit.

Champions returned until they were defeated, had played five bonus rounds, or reached the $25,000 winnings limit in force for CBS game shows at the time.

The champion attempted to guess words based on definitions written by three children, identified only as A, B, or C. Once the champion selected a child, the corresponding definition would be displayed on a screen and read aloud by Cullen, after which he/she could either guess or select again. An incorrect guess allowed him/her to select another definition if any were still available. If the champion was unable to identify the word after hearing all three definitions, it was discarded and play continued with a new word.

The champion won $5,000 for guessing all six words before time ran out, or $100 per correct guess otherwise.

This format replaced Triple Play starting with the April 25, 1983 episode. Five of the children who had appeared in the film clips used during the main game joined the champion onstage, and the champion had to describe seven words for them to guess, addressing one child at a time in sequence. Words were displayed for the home audience. Each correct answer from any child won $100 for the champion, plus $100 to be split equally among the children. The champion could pass on a word and return to it if time permitted; an illegal clue, such as saying the word or any form of it, eliminated that word from play.

If the children guessed all seven words before time ran out, the bonus round winnings for them and the champion were respectively increased to $1,000 and $5,000.

Child's Play premiered at 10:30 a.m. EST on September 20, 1982 (immediately following The New $25,000 Pyramid, which debuted the same day), replacing reruns of Alice (which had held the timeslot since June 2, 1980 as a result of the cancellation of Whew!). Child's Play faced off against the NBC game shows Wheel of Fortune and, beginning in January 1983, Sale of the Century. However, it was not able to make any ratings headway against either of those shows. As a result, in the summer of 1983, CBS canceled Child's Play; its final episode aired on September 16 of that year. The following Monday, the show's timeslot would be filled by Press Your Luck, which would perform much better for CBS against Sale of the Century and would consequently remain in the 10:30 a.m. timeslot until January 1986.

The series is intact, and has been seen on GSN at various times. The show has also aired on Buzzr.

Several celebrities appeared on Child's Play before they became famous: Suzan Stadner aka Hanala Sagal (actress/writer), Jeff Cohen, Breckin Meyer, Masi Oka, Tara Reid and Adam Richman were all featured children on the show. In addition, Anne-Marie Johnson appeared as a contestant. Also, Sugar Ray Robinson appeared in the audience of the July 4, 1983 episode, and Bill Cullen introduced him as the boxing coach of one of the Child's Play kids participating in the Turnabout game.