With most of our most popular series coming from overseas, we Americans are suffering from a severe lack of creativity. If you happen to be a game show producer looking for some new ideas, take a look at these concepts.
Card Jackpot | Double Play | Mix it Up | Puzzlerama | Q & A Poker | Casino

CARD JACKPOT

Premise: The Joker's Wild with cards on the wheels
Contestants: 2

Round 1: The cards from a 52-card deck, plus the two Jokers, are placed on the "wheels" of a computerized slot machine (ala TJW90), henceforth to be known as the "Jackpot Giant"--18 on each slot. The player in control presses three buttons, one corresponding to each slot (in any order) to get three cards. The suits represent four categories, and the values of the cards go into the Card Jackpot as follows:
Card Joker Ace King Queen Jack 2-10
Value 25 15 13 12 11 face value
That contestant then picks a suit they see on the wheels. All cards corresponding to that suit are doubled, and a toss-up question from the matching category is asked. First in with the right answer wins the Jackpot and control; if both are incorrect, the Jackpot carries over to the next question. Play continues until time expires.
Round 2: Gameplay is the same as Round 1, except every card's value is multiplied by the number of the question for that round (ex. a jack in question 4 is worth 44 points). High score at the end of the round wins.
Jackpot Round: The winner has 45 seconds to answer as many questions left over from the game as they can; each one is worth one spin of the Jackpot Giant. On the wheels are the letters J, A, C, K, P, O and T. If he/she gets a new letter, it is lit on the board and he/she wins $100. All seven letters in the allotted spins wins $1,000 plus a trip not unlike the vacations in the Hollywood Squares end game.
NOTES: If a player spins three of the same suit (a flush), the Jackpot is tripled. BTW, Jokers are not assigned a suit, sorry.

DOUBLE PLAY

Premise: You can buzz in twice on a question; contains elements of Wipeout, Split Second, and Supermarket Sweep
Contestants: 3

Round 1: Players are asked a question and shown nine answers--six right, three wrong. A contestant can buzz in twice for each question. If a player is right with their first answer, he/she gets 20 points; right or wrong, his/her second answer is worth 10. No penalty for a wrong answer. As many questions are time as time permits.
Round 2: Same as round 1, but the points are doubled.
Final round: This is the ultimate handicap round. The players are shown four answers for each question--two right, two wrong. Players have to give both correct answers at once to get credit. Most correct answers after 90 seconds wins. Here's the kicker: the player who finished round 2 in the lead plays for the entire round, playing alone for one second for each 10 points of their lead, after which the second-place player joins the round. The third-place player waits another second for each 10 points he/she finished off second.
Example: Scores after round 2: George, 340; Laura, 270; John, 60
George plays for the full 90 seconds, Laura joins the round at :83, John at :62.
Bonus round: Twofold, like the Body Language Sweepstakes round. The winner tries to answer as many of nine questions as they can in 60 seconds for $100 each or $1000 for all 9. Then, after being shown all the answers, he/she is asked another question for those answers, of which six are right. He/she has to pick out the six correct answers, one at a time. A wrong answer means a strike. Six correct answers before three strikes wins 10 times the amount won in the first part.

MIX IT UP

Premise: Match song titles to the artists...think Sports on Tap retooled for the MTV generation
Contestants: 4

Round 1: The first halves on the titles of 24 songs are placed in a 6x4 video wall. A contestant chooses one, the host completes it, and the players have to buzz in with the singer or group that recorded that song. A correct answer scores 10 points and control of the board. The last six titles count double score. The round lasts until all 24 song titles have been played or time runs out, whichever occurs first.
Round 2: Same as round 1, except each correct answer is worth 20 points, and the last six are worth 50.
Playoff: All four players are seeded 1 through 4 based on their scores. Number 3 plays number 4 in a stepladder playoff. Given an artist and the first half of a title, the players have to buzz in and complete it. The first player to get three right faces the number two seed. The winner of that playoff faces the high scorer for the game.
MixMaster Bonus: Twelve song titles are split up, shuffled and placed on the board. The contestant has 45 seconds to match up those titles. The more the player gets right in the time limit, the better the prize package he/she wins.

PUZZLERAMA

Premise: Body-bending, brain-busting puzzles; inspiration drawn from Think Fast and Family Challenge, but this show would use the Fun House first-season theme and cues.
Contestants: 3 teams of 2 kids; blue, yellow and green

Game play: The three teams compete head-to-head-to-head in puzzles; based on their performance, they earn points (a la Family Challenge, the games and scoring vary). The fifth is always a twofold puzzle consisting of a jigsaw puzzle which conceals a rebus, scrambled word, follow-up question, etc. The first team to solve the puzzle-within-a-puzzle earns 100 points, while the next closest team wins 50. The two teams with the most points advance to the final round.
Crossword puzzle: The two remaining teams take on identical 8-by-8 crossword puzzles with four words to fill in. The teams get the same clue to start with, have to fill in the words with letter blocks on a revolving post. When a team correctly completes a word, they call for another clue. Each letter is worth 10 points, and the first team to finish earns another 100. If neither team completes their puzzle in two minutes, the team with the most letters correctly placed gets the 100 points. Highest score wins.

Q & A POKER

Premise: Family Feud with playing cards.
Contestants: 2

Game play: A survey question is asked, and the first player to buzz in gets the first chance to answer. Higher-ranking answer wins cards for their poker hands as follows: three cards for the top answer, two cards for the second-best answer, and one card for the third-best. If neither player gives an answer in the top three, the question is thrown out. Once a player has more than five cards, he/she can choose which cards to discard. The player with the better hand can freeze at any time, giving the other player only three more questions to beat him/her. High hand wins the round and a cash prize based on their hand (negotiable, but my ideal pay table ranges from $250 for one pair to $10,000 for a royal flush). Two rounds wins the match and plays the bonus round against the house.
Bonus Round: The winner cuts a new deck, and two cards are shown, only one face-up. He/she chooses one; the other goes to the house. After five cards are dealt to each, the hole cards are revealed, and the high hand wins. If the player wins, the ten cards are removed, shuffled, and spread on the table, and the player picks one card. His/her front game winnings are multiplied by its face value.

Alternate concept: Doug Morris's 'Net Poker could also make a good concept, but he's how I'd refine it: in Video Poker, each player wagers any or all of their points (minimum of 10), and the better his/her hand, the higher the number his/her wager is multiplied by. (One pair of jacks or less and the wager is deducted.) If time doesn't allow for a Five-Card Poker and Joker Poker rounds, the top two players in Video Poker advance to Joker Poker. High score plays Deuces Wild. (If you prefer a completely self-contained format and you don't have the budget for a $50,000+ payoff, play for $20,000 for four deuces or $10,000 for a royal flush.)

CASINO

Premise: Blackjack and poker, with Q&A speed rounds to build up scratch (not to be confused with an unsold 1982 game show pilot of the same name)
Contestants: 3

Round 1: Each player is staked 500 "chips" to begin the game, then a 90-second question round is played. A correct answer scores 100 chips, but an incorrect answer gives each opponent 100 chips. After the round, the players take their chips to the blackjack table, where the host deals. Minimum bets are 100 chips, maximum bets are 500, and tournament blackjack rules apply, including late surrender. Four hands are played, with secret bets in play for hand 4.
Round 2: Each player is given an additional 1,000 chips to start the round, and another question round is played with each question worth 200 chips. After the round, the players take their chips to the poker table. Three hands of no-limit Texas Hold 'Em are played under tournament rules and with blinds of 100 and 200 chips. The player with the most chips after three hands wins.
Bonus Round: The winner plays against the house in one hand of Texas Hold 'Em. After the player cuts the cards, the host spreads them out and the player picks two cards. He/she can either keep these cards or give them to the house, then picks two more cards for the other side's pocket hand. Finally, the player draws the five community cards. The player wins $10,000 if his/her best hand matches or beats the house's, or a trip if the house wins.


All concepts and titles listed above are trademarks of River Elk Entertainment, Ltd, except for the Q & A Poker alternate concept, which is the property of RockTrax Productions. If you intend to place something similar on the air, check with me first or I will sue you.

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