Headline Chasers

"If it was news and you know it, you'll win some heavy cash on Headline Chasers! And now, here's our headliner, Wink Martindale!"

Headline Chasers pits two couples against each other in a game of solving newspaper-type word puzzles called Altered Headlines to win money. The headlines are make-believe although based on real people and events. It plays similar to Wheel of Fortune, another creation by the late Merv Griffin.

Round 1
A newspaper page was revealed on a giant monitor. Its headline had several letters missing with a few left in there. This was classified as an Altered Headline. Then four clues were shown to the couples one by one, with more letters being revealed after each. The first couple to buzz-in earned the chance to solve the headline, and if they were correct, they won money; but if they were wrong the opposing couple had the right to decide to either see more clues and letters or solve the headline immediately. A correct answer was worth $500 (minus $100 for every clue revealed).

After the headline was solved, the couples were then asked two questions (which were connected to the headline) posed by host Martindale. Each correct answer to each question was worth $100.

Three Altered Headlines were played in this round.

Round 2
In this round instead of headlines, the couples were now shown real-life and well-known magazines. Each one had a blacked-out face as well as anything else that referred to the mystery person's identity that the contestants had to identify on the cover. The couples were given clues in the same manner as the Altered Headlines with $500 as the starting value and $100 taken away for each clue. Also, pixelated film clips of news makers which would slowly come to focus were played with the couples trying to identify them by voice only. Unlike the magazine covers, no clues were given as $100 was taken away every few seconds over the course of the clip. For this round only, the jackpot was frozen for the other team when the first team missed.

Two of each are played in this round.

Round 3
This round was played the same way as Round 1 except that the altered headlines were now worth up to $1,000.

Only this time, the countdown went this way:

Bonus questions in this round were worth $200.

Four Altered Headlines were played in this round and after the fourth headline, one question was asked; then the couples would write down how much they wanted to wager of their current totals, with the higher wagering couple getting the question first. After the question was asked, if the couple with highest wager got it right they won the money that they wagered, but a wrong answer deducted it; in this case, the question passed to the opposing team who would then decide to play or pass the question (same rules applied if they played).

The couple with the most money won the game. Both teams kept the cash. If the game ended in a tie, one final altered headline was played and whoever buzzed in with the right answer was the winner.

Headline Extra
The winning couple played a bonus round called Headline Extra. To start, the couple would choose which subject to solve one last altered headline from. Then the headline was revealed and they had five seconds to think it over and then solve the headline; otherwise, if they were stumped they could ask to buy another clue. When they asked for clues, they then had seven seconds to solve the headline. A correct answer was worth $5,000 minus $1,000 for every clue they bought, while failure to solve the headline won nothing.

The highest possible score was $23,600 and only possible if a couple answered every question correctly, doubled their score with the final question, then won the bonus.

Trivia
This was Wink Martindale's first-ever game show he created and/or produced. He created the show by reading newspapers in his Malibu home. That's when he thought, "What a great idea for a game show." In order to host this show, however, he sadly had to leave Tic Tac Dough, his then-current and best-known hosting gig in favor of new host Jim Caldwell.

The original name for Headline Chasers was The Front Page.

Stations
Stations that aired this include:


 * New York - WABC
 * Los Angeles - KHJ
 * Chicago - WLS
 * Philadelphia - WCAU, which dropped it after five weeks on the air in favor of The $100,000 Pyramid on 10/14/1985
 * Dallas - KXAS
 * San Francisco - KRON
 * Boston - WNEV
 * Atlanta - WXIA
 * Seattle - KOMO
 * Miami - WPLG
 * Sacramento - KXTV
 * San Diego - KCST
 * Raleigh - WTVD
 * Hartford - WTNH
 * Kansas City - KCTV
 * Buffalo - WKBW
 * Jacksonville - WJXT
 * Wichita - KWCH
 * Des Moines - KCCI
 * Portland, ME - WGME
 * Toledo - WTOL
 * Baton Rouge - WAFB

Fictional Newspaper Names
"Newspapers" featured included:
 * U.S. Report (a takeoff of USA Today)
 * The Guardian (not to be confused with Manchester, England's leading paper)
 * The Sporting Times (a takeoff of Sporting Green sections in newspapers)
 * The New York Globe (a takeoff of the New York Daily News)
 * The Los Angeles News (a takeoff of the Los Angeles Times)
 * The Chicago Herald (a takeoff of the Chicago Tribune)
 * The Philadelphia Dispatch (a takeoff of the Philadelphia Inquirer)
 * The Washington News (a takeoff of the Washington Post)
 * The Boston Tribune (a takeoff of the Boston Globe)
 * The Phoenix Star (a takeoff of the Arizona Republic)
 * The Miami Globe (a takeoff of the Miami Herald)
 * The Denver Globe (a takeoff of the Denver Rocky Mountain News)
 * The New Orleans Herald (a takeoff of the New Orleans Times-Picayune)
 * The Omaha News (a takeoff of the Omaha World-Herald)
 * The Charleston News (a takeoff of the Charleston Gazette-Mail)
 * The Cheyenne Times (a takeoff of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle)

Music
"Samba de la Noche" by Merv Griffin

Studio
TAV Celebrity Theater, Hollywood California

Tagline
"Join us again next time for our next edition of Headline Chasers, where we'll meet two new couples and find out who knows more about the events, the places and the faces that made front page headlines. I'm Wink Martindale. Goodbye, everybody." - Wink Martindale (1985-1986)

Links
Rules for Headline Chasers

Photos from Headline Chasers

Tammy Warner's Headline Chasers Page