User:Daniel Benfield/Shop 'Til You Drop Video Archive

To be honest, while I remember watching Shop 'Til You Drop in 1998 I didn't really became a "fan" (such as it is) until around the time GSN began airing Season 7.

Note that I don't have complete data for Seasons 7 and 8, partly because I missed GSN's advance schedules for the days between February 3 and March 3, 2014. Even then, I don't have all the player names available, so any help would be appreciated.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1991-94/1996-98/2000-05 Stone-Stanley Entertainment and associated entities.

AND ANOTHER THING: The airdates given for episodes that have production numbers (Seasons 7, 8, and one of 9) are based solely on their numbers, and don't reflect any shuffling or preemptions PAX may have done; any out-of-order airings that I know of are noted.

Lifetime (1991-94)
150px Lifetime, Daily: July 8, 1991 - September 30, 1994 (May 31, 1996)

The original version started out pretty rough, but found its footing after Season 2. The first two seasons used a $1,000 goal in the bonus round with "gag gifts" worth less than $50; Season 3 ditched the latter and upped the former to $2,500. The traditional theme made its first appearance in Season 4,

A few stations aired repeats around 1995-96 to see if it could work in first-run syndication. PAX aired repeats of Season 4 from November 1, 1999-March 31, 2000.


 * 1991 (Pilot, hosted by Scott Herriott: Curt & Debbie vs. Pam & Mel, with a lot of differences; montage including full first segment and most of bonus round)

Season 1 (July 8-September? 1991)

Season 2 (April?-September? 1992: teams now present together during intro {but no longer introduced by Mark}, Bob Loudin becomes director)

Season 3 (1993: bonus round goal increased to $2,500, gag prizes removed)

Season 4 (December? 1993-September 30, 1994: move to Universal Studios, traditional theme debuts)

Family Channel (1996-98)
Family Channel, Daily: September 30, 1996 - August 14, 1998 (620 episodes total with previous run)

Not much different from Season 4, aside from Jason Grant Smith replacing Mark L. Walberg as announcer (Season 6 replaced him with Dee Bradley Baker). The rest of the changes were cosmetic.

PAX aired repeats of this version from April 19-October 29, 1999.

Season 5 (September 30, 1996-1997)

Season 6 (1997-August 14, 1998: Dee replaces Jason as announcer)
 * August 14, 1998 (#620/Finale {taped 1997, so they had no idea what was coming}: full bonus round, with Pat taking care of some personal business {namely, that it's the last taping of Season 6} and most of the staff appearing on-camera; PAX repeat)

PAX, Finn (2000-02)
PAX, Daily: April 3 - July 21, 2000 (80 episodes)/September 12, 2001 - January 29, 2002 (100 episodes)

Not too different from the FAM era, really – the differences are mostly cosmetic. Season 8 introduced a "rave-esque" closing theme, and partway through the season Dee's intro changed to remove "shopping" and give Pat various "titles".

Season 7 (April 3-July 21, 2000)
 * April 3, 2000 (#001 {621}/first taped): Stacy & Jake vs. Anita & Jamie, with lots of cosmetic differences; taped from GSN {alternate copy})


 * July 21, 2000 (#080 {700!}/Season Finale: Sue & Chris vs. Julie & Chuck; taped from GSN)

Season 8 (September 12, 2001-January 29, 2002)
 * September 12, 2001 (#8001 {701}/Season Premiere, aired 9/19): Jamie & Sean vs. Kimberly & Brian; taped from GSN)


 * January 29, 2002 (#8100 {800!}/Season Finale): Karen & Anthony vs. Charisse & John, with all sorts of weird events; taped from GSN)

PAX, Roberto (2003-05)
PAX, Daily: October 6, 2003 - May 27, 2005 (August 11, 2006; 180 episodes total)

Wanna see a decent show get flushed down the crapper? Here you go: no more stunts (all games are played from the host/contestant area on a computer screen, using two categories whose puns semi-describe what the games are about), a more boring "megastore" as opposed to the mall (if a game is won, the other player goes "shopping" by running to any department with a flashing blue light and grabbing its box), bad jokes and other "humor", drawn-out reveals in the bonus round, and new announcer Don Priess is just an announcer with only the occasional role as co-"humorist" (to my knowledge, despite being present in the studio, he never appeared on-camera).

Oh, and product plugs. Product plugs everywhere.

The bonus round is also slightly altered to have the team members take turns opening and keeping/exchanging the boxes, and unlike his predecessors Preiss does not help with the boxes – instead, the contestants must put the boxes on a small platform near the bell box, with an offscreen stagehand organizing the exchanged/kept prizes.

Season 10 added a large diagonal-facing TV displaying the logo behind JD, the bonus round clock added a sponsor (and used a different font) while the total had its comma removed when it got into the thousands, and it seems JD began plugging products more often while introducing games (and the "humor" got worse).

Season 9 (October 6, 2003-2004)

Season 10 (October 4, 2004-May 27, 2005)