Shopping Spree (2)

Shopping Spree (not to be confused with the currently active Pricing Game from The Price is Right of the same name) was the two year old shopping game show where contestants shopped for prizes for their partners with whom they are not acquainted.

Main Game
Before the show, two contestants (one from each team) each picked the one prize from a choice of four they each like to have from each of the six stores on a fictional street on stage. They wore clues about themselves to help their partners whom they've never met get them those prizes.

At the beginning of each half of the game, the contestant in control and host Ron stood on the "town square" (the contestant stood on a pedestal) and went over the items the contestant is wearing. When they were done, the "strangely-dressed" contestant was asked to strike a pose after the count of three after which the partner was brought out. The partner was given 20 seconds to analyze the items on the contestant who is still posing. When the 20 seconds expired, the contestant was released from his/her pose, stepped off the pedestal and met his/her partner for the first time.

When all was said and done, a clock was set depending on whose turn it is (for the first team counted up, and for the second team it counted down from the time set by the first team). Now when Ron said "GO!" the partner's job is to run to each of the six stores one at a time and picked a prize he/she thought was what the "strangely-dressed" contestant wanted. After choosing each prize, the partner ran back to the "town square" and showed the prize he/she chose. If the prize is correct, he/she dumped it in the shopping bag and ran to the next store; if the prize is incorrect, Ron read a clue about the right prize to the partner who ran back to the store he/she's currently on to try again. Once the partner chose the right six prizes, the clock stopped.

Denise/Dennis DuJour
In the first half of the game after going over the clues for the member of the first team, a randomly selected member of the studio audience (whom was given the name "Denise DuJour" in case of a female, whereas in the case of males it was "Dennis DuJour") modeled the six stores in play for that day's show.

Season 2 Changes

 * The "strangely-dressed" contestant would strike a pose after the partner came out. The identity of the contestant's pose was revealed to the home & studio audience. The partner guessed what the pose was (host Pearson made a funny guess) before the 20 second inspection. When posing, giving away too much of a hint incurs a 10 second penalty.
 * If the runner got all six prizes right without a miss, the team won $500 (never won).

The object of the game is to shop for the right six prizes in a faster time than the opposing team. The first team who won the coin toss backstage before the show sets the time, while the second team tried to beat the time. The team with the faster time won the game. The partner of the winning team won a $500 shopping spree, while the "strangely-dressed" contestant kept all the prizes chosen by him/her at the start. The winning team also won a chance to play the bonus round called "The Birthday Party" for a cash prize, plus a fabulous vacation.

The Birthday Party
The Birthday Party was a bonus game where the winning team shopped for seven gifts related to seven celebrities.

Denise/Dennis DuJour's Double-Up Derby
This debuted after the first several episodes were taped. In this game, the winning team played a special game affecting the grand cash prize called "Denise/Dennis DuJour's Double-Up Derby". Before the show, that's day's Denise/Dennis chose which prize from one of today's stores (Toujours DuJour in season two, replacing the fifth store) he/she most like to have. Denise/Dennis came out while announcer Burton Richardson read a description about that day's Denise/Dennis. When all said and done, the winning team pointed the to prize they thought Denise/Dennis picked.

The prize Denise/Dennis picked was then revealed (by virtue of a shot of Denise/Dennis zooming out onto the selected prize), and if the winning team was correct, the value of the cash prize was doubled and that's day's Denise/Dennis won that chosen prize. Win or lose, Denise/Dennis won a $100 salary.

Main Bonus Game
The three parts of the set turned 180 degrees from the town shopping center to reveal the Birthday Party. The left side revealed the playing area, the center piece held a large representation of a birthday cake, and the right side showed "The Birthday Board" which was a purple wall of 12 to 14 items. The items were gone over by host Pearson who would sometimes do a crazy act with some of the items. Now the winning team had 75 seconds (1:15) to shop for the seven celebrity guests of honor. One team member shopped for the gifts while the other wrapped and delivered the gifts. A caricature of a famous celebrity (real or fictional, past or present) would appear at the head of a table, then the shopper took down an item from the board that he/she thought was connected to the celebrity in some way (for example, the letter "E" would be connected to Vanna White) and threw it to the wrapper. If the wrapper disagreed, he/she threw it back, but if the wrapper agreed, he/she then placed it in the box and slid it down the table to the celebrity. If the gift was correct, it was accepted, dropped into the prize pile and another celebrity appeared; if not, the celebrity would "reject" that gift and push it back. The team could pass on a celebrity, however they would go back to that celebrity if the time allowed. In season two, the shopper cannot cross a yellow line, if and when that happened, the team was assessed a five second penalty.

Each correct gift was worth $100, and getting all seven right before the time expired won each player on the winning team a trip and $2,000 ($1,000 for each player), but if the team won the Double Up Derby, the cash prize was $4,000 ($2,000 for each player).

Music
Al Kasha & Mark Nordstrom

Inventor
Jay Wolpert

Trivia

 * The "strangely-dressed" contestants first stood in front of the door of the Ice Cream Parlor at center stage with their backs to the audience. This coincided with the end of the animated opening sequence, in which two window-shopping cartoon girls had their backs to the camera when it zoomed out to show a whole animated version of the street. The cartoon disappeared Bonanza-style (except with magic balls instead of flames) to reveal the set, the computer-animated logo attached to a hot air balloon crossed the screen (it would cross again going into the third & final commercial break), and the contestants spread out to either side of the street to make room for Pearson's entrance through the ice cream parlor door.
 * The partners in the first season wore their own clothes. While in the second season, the partner wore t-shirts with the show's logo on them (light blue for partner #1 and red for partner #2).


 * For the first taped episodes without the Double-Up Derby, the show went to the first commercial break after meeting the "strangely-dressed" contestants for both teams, and after the first commercial break, the first team's "strangely-dressed" contestant would play first. When the Double-Up Derby was added, to make time for the Double-Up Derby, after meeting the "strangely-dressed" contestants, they would go straight to the first team's "strangely-dressed" contestant's description; the first commercial break was not taken until after the first team finished shopping.
 * When going into the first commercial break (the second commercial break for the first taped episodes without the Double-Up Derby), Denise/Dennis pulled down a shade on a door at the general store that had the show's logo on it surrounded by the words "WE'LL BE RIGHT BACK" above it. In season two, the show's logo was replaced by the cartoon girls.

Additional Page
Shopping Spree/Catchphrases

Links
The Unoffical Shopping Spree Homepage

Rules for Shopping Spree

Host Ron Pearson's Official Website

YouTube Videos
Clip of the Birthday Party round