Wipeout (1988 game show)

For the 2008 U.S. TV series, see Wipeout (2008 U.S. game show).

Wipeout
Presented by	Peter Tomarken
Narrated by	Jim Hackett Bob Ridgley John Harlan
Composer	Otis Conner
Country of origin	Vereinigte Staaten
Original language	Englisch
No. of episodes	195
Production
Producers	Dames-Fraser Productions Paramount Domestic Television
Production locations	Paramount Pictures Studios Hollywood, California
Running time	approx. 22-26 minutes
Original release
Network	Syndicated
Release	September 12, 1988 – June 9, 1989

Wipeout is an American game show, airing from September 12, 1988 to June 9, 1989, with Peter Tomarken as host. The series was produced by Dames-Fraser Productions and distributed by Paramount Domestic Television.

Reruns of the series later aired on the USA Network from 1989 to 1991.

Main game

First round

Three contestants competed on each episode.

The game began with the players given a category, with sixteen possible answers on a four-by-four grid of monitors. Eleven of the answers fit the category, while five did not and were called "Wipeouts". Play started with the contestant in the leftmost position, and for each correct answer that player gave he/she earned money. That player could keep answering until either passing or finding a Wipeout, which cost he/she the money earned to that point. Either way, control passed down the line.

The first correct answer of the round was worth $25 and each subsequent answer was worth $25 more than the one before it, with the eleventh and last worth $275.

Play continued until all eleven answers or all five Wipeouts were found. The two players with the most money kept their totals and advanced to the Challenge Round.

In case of a tie for second, a tiebreaker category was played with twelve answers, eight of which were correct. A coin toss determined who started and play continued until one contestant found a Wipeout, losing the tiebreaker, or found the last correct answer, winning the tiebreaker.

"Hot Spot"

One of the correct answers was the "Hot Spot". The contestant that found it was given a token to display on his/her podium and if that player avoided a Wipeout for the remainder of the round and had one of the two highest money totals at the end of the round, he/she won a prize (usually a vacation).

If the contestant holding the Hot Spot found a Wipeout, it was taken away from that player and put back on the board behind one of the remaining correct answers.

Challenge round

A board with twelve answers was shown to the contestants, containing eight correct answers and four Wipeouts. Players alternated bidding based on the number of correct answers they could find. Bidding continued until one player challenged another or until the maximum bid of eight correct answers was given. If the player with the higher bid was able to complete the contract, they won the round. If a Wipeout was revealed, the other player could win the board by coming up with one of the remaining correct answers. However, if another Wipeout was uncovered, control passed back to the highest bidder who resumed where he/she had left off prior to uncovering the first Wipeout.

The first player to win two boards won the game, a prize, and advanced to the bonus round.

Bonus round

The Wipeout bonus round saw the day's winner play for a new automobile.

A three-by-four grid of monitors was used for this round. Six of the monitors displayed answers which fit a specific category while the other six monitors displayed answers that did not.

In order to show the champion what to do, a sample board was played with host Tomarken every time. In his demonstration he would be given a category, and for each answer he thought was correct he would touch the border of the respective monitors. Once he was done he would move over to a plunger and hit it, then would be told how many of his answers were correct.

The contestant was then given the actual bonus round category and shown the twelve possible answers. The contestant was given sixty seconds to do what was demonstrated. If any less than six of the answers were correct, he/she had to correct any mistakes. In order to do this the contestant had to touch a monitor again to turn it off before turning on another as no more than six could be lit at a time.

The contestant kept making changes until they had correctly chosen all six correct answers or time expired. Choosing the six correct answers before the sixty seconds elapsed won the car.

For the first few weeks of the show, any players that did not win the car left with the money they earned in the first round, the prize for winning the Challenge Round, and the Hot Spot prize if they had gotten it. Later, a player was allowed to return to the bonus round and did so until winning the car or being defeated.

Versions outside the US

Land	Local Name	Host	Network	Year Aired
Australien	Wipeout	Tony Johnston	Seven Network	1999-2000
Deutschland	Riskier Was!	Gundis Zámbó	Sat.1	1994-1995
Spanien	Alta Tensión	Constantino Romero Luis Larrodera	Antena 3 Cuatro	1998-1999 2006-2008
	Tensión sin Limite	Ivonne Reyes	VEO7	2011
Vereinigtes Königreich	Wipeout	Paul Daniels (1994-1997) Bob Monkhouse (1998-2002)	BBC1	1994-2002

Australien

Main article: Wipeout (1999 Australian game show)

Deutschland

The German version is called Riskier Was! (lit. Riskier What!) aired on Sat.1 hosted by Gundis Zámbó aired on Sat.1 from 1994 to 1995. Unlike other international versions of Wipeout, this version alone had a blue cartoon Rhino as the mascot of the show.

Spanien

A Spanish version originally called "Alta Tensión" (lit. "High Voltage"), and later "Tensióm sin Límite" (lit. "Unlimited Voltage") had three separate runs: one from 1998 to 1999 on Antena 3 hosted by Constantino Romero, one from 2006 to 2008 on Cuatro with Luis Larrodera as host, and one in 2011 on Veo7 with Ivonne Reyes as host.

Format changes

Round 1 was played with three boards like the UK. For the first two boards, €100 was awarded for the first answer plus an additional €100 for every subsequent correct answer revealed, up to €1,000 for the tenth correct answer (only ten correct answers are on the board). The third board paid €200 for the first answer plus an additional €200 for every subsequent correct answer revealed (up to €2,000 for the tenth correct answer); instead of a bonus prize, one of the answers on one of the boards hid a "wild card," which preserved the money if a player found a Wipeout.

In round 2, instead of bidding, one player selects a category, after which their opponent selects answers until finding a Wipeout, at which point their opponent takes over control of the board. A player wins the board by selecting the eighth and final correct answer. If one player finds the fourth wrong answer, their opponent automatically wins the board.

In the bonus round, seven of the answers were right, and five were wrong. Trying to turn on more than seven answers resulted in an error tone and the answer not being activated. Like in America, winning the bonus round awarded a new car.

Vereinigtes Königreich

Main article: Wipeout (UK game show)