Top Card
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mady Land
Dan Miller (1991–1993)
with
Blake Pickett (1989–1991)
Paige Brown (1991–1993)
| Top Card | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Allen Reid Mady Land |
| Directed by | Ken Vincent |
| Presented by | Jim Caldwell (1989–1991) Dan Miller (1991–1993) with Blake Pickett (1989–1991) Paige Brown (1991–1993) |
| Narrated by | Don Dashiell Brad Staggs (substitute) |
| Composers | Mike Johnson Allen Reid |
| No. of seasons | 4 |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Allen Reid Mady Land C. Paul Corbin for TNN |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Production company | Reid/Land Productions |
| Original release | |
| Network | TNN |
| Release | April 3, 1989 – March 26, 1993 |
Top Card is a game show that aired on TNN and produced by Reid-Land Productions, replacing TNN's original game show Fandango. The show aired from April 3, 1989 to March 26, 1993 and was based on the card game Blackjack.[1]
Jim Caldwell was the original host of Top Card, with Blake Pickett serving as his hostess. The two remained until the beginning of the series' third season in 1991 and were replaced by Dan Miller and Paige Brown. The announcer for the show's entire run was Don Dashiell, with Brad Staggs substituting for several weeks in the third season.
The longest returning champ was Mark Downey from Memphis, Tennessee who won four days in a row, losing on the fifth day.
Top Card was replaced the Monday following its cancellation by 10 Seconds, a music-based game show which was also hosted by Dan Miller.
Main game
Three contestants, one usually a returning champion, competed in a question-and-answer game. Originally, the questions were varied as to their subjects, but by the third season they were strictly music based. The goal was to build a blackjack hand with a value as close to 21 as possible without going over ("busting").
Three rounds were played, with nine cards hidden behind categories on a three-by-three grid. The outer eight spots on the grid displayed specific categories while the one in the center was a Wild Card category which could be about anything.
Each question was asked as a toss-up, and buzzing in with a correct answer awarded the contestant a playing card that was behind the category. The player could then choose to take the card and its corresponding value or reject it in favor of the top card from an oversized (but otherwise regulation) deck of cards. Cards numbered two through ten were worth the face value in points, with kings, queens and jacks each worth ten. Unlike in actual blackjack, an ace could only be played for one point and not a choice between one or eleven.
In the first season, if a player chose to take the top card instead of the card in play, the card and category it was behind remained in play. Afterward, the card was taken off the board regardless.
If at any point during the round a player felt he/she had a high enough score to stop and not risk busting, he/she could elect to "freeze" and stop playing while the other player(s) continued the round. If one of the other two players passed the frozen player's score, that player was given the option to freeze and the first player returned to the game to try to top the other player's score.
Play in the first round continued until either of the following things happened:
- one player reached 21, automatically winning the round
- all three players had either busted or elected to freeze, with the highest score (not over 21) winning the round
- two players busted, with the third player winning the round by default
- all of the categories had been played, with the highest score winning the round
- time expired for the round, with the highest score winning the round
In either case, the player that won the round received a prize, which was theirs to keep regardless of the outcome. The winner of the first round advanced to the third and final round while the other two players played in the second round for the right to advance to play the first round winner. Initially, a Wild Card question was asked to determine control, but beginning in season two, the upper left category on the grid was played first. All the rules from before were also in play, with the winner being either the first to hit 21, avoid busting or have the highest score when either all of the categories were played or time was called.
The third round was called the "Championship Round" and played the same way as the second round, with the winner of this round declared the day's champion.
Changes after season one
The number of subjects was reduced to eight and the Wild Card category was replaced by a Top Card question, which could only be played if it was the only remaining category. All questions were about music, with the majority of them country music-based. Also, the cards Ace through 10 were shuffled and placed behind each category but only appeared once. No duplicate cards were found on the board.
