Bumper Stumpers

The Canadian game show where two teams of two solve vanity license plate puzzles known as "Bumper Stumpers".

Broadcast
USA Cable Network - June 1987 - December 1990

Packagers
Global Television Network/Barry & Enright Productions/Wink Martindale Enterprises

Host
Al Dubois

Inventor
Wink Martindale

Music
Ed Lojeski

Main Game
The object of the game was to solve the "Super Stumper", a special license plate with seven blank spaces. At the start of each game, the Super Stumper was revealed in the center monitor of a seven monitored game board. Host Dubois read a clue (which was always someone or something the plate(s) belong to) to the puzzle, and then the first blank was revealed.

To reveal another space, the teams must must win a series of jump-in rounds. On each jump-in, two plates were revealed in the top two monitors, and a clue to one of those plates was read. The first team on either team to buzz-in chose which of the two plates the clue belongs to, either the left or the right. A correct answer gave his/her partner ten seconds to solve the plate (originally a choice to either let the partner play or challenge the opposing team), but an incorrect answer gave ten seconds of solving time to the opposing team. In either case, solving the plate won a chance to solve the Super Stumper, but failure to solve the plate gave the opponents ten seconds to solve it. If nobody solved it, another jump-in was played. In later episodes, a green light in between the top two monitors was lit, to indicate that was time to buzz-in; the light was not lit and the buzzers didn't work until after the clue was read.

The winners of each jump-in chose which space to reveal another character. Then they had five seconds to solve it. Solving the Super Stumper won the game, otherwise another jump-in was played. If the team failed to solve the Super Stumper when all seven spaces were revealed, the opposing team got a chance to solve it. If the opposing team wasn't able to solve it, the game shifted to a speed round with a brand new Super Stumper. Starting with the team who won the last jump-in, teams alternated turns picking spaces until one of the teams solved the Super Stumper.

The first team to win a best two-out-of-three game match won $1,000. Originally the team only had to win one game and doing so won $500, plus $500 for each game not won, and losing two games eliminated the losing team from the show. In either case, the winning team went on to the bonus round for more cash.

Bonus Games
There were three bonus games used throughout the series.

Bonus Round #1
The bonus round was split into two halves. In the first half, the winning team had 30 seconds to solve seven stumpers. Each correct solve increased the odds of winning the bonus round, and solving all seven plates won $2,000. But not solving any of the stumpers ended the bonus game right away.

Final Stumper
In the second half, the winning team played a game called "The Final Stumper" where the seven gameboard monitors spelled out the word "Stumper" (S-T-U-M-P-E-R). There were two versions of the Final Stumper.

Final Stumper #1
Behind the letters in "STUMPER" were money amounts ranging from $100-$500 and stop signs. $500 always went first, with the lower moneys added for each subsequent solve, stating at $100, and ending with the second $500 space. The number of stop signs were determined by how many stumpers were missed in the first half. The winning contestant picked off letters and whatever money amounts revealed was theirs. Reaching $500 or more doubled the money, but hitting a stop sign ended the bonus game; but (unlike most Barry & Enright shows using this type of bonus format,) any money earned was theirs to keep.

Final Stumper #2
At the same time the main game switched to a two-out-of-three format, the Final Stumper was altered a little. Though the first half was the same, a square marked "WIN" was now added to the money amounts. "WIN" always went first with the money amounts added in descending order. Plus, finding a stop sign now lost any money won up to that point, but the winning team always got an option to stop & keep the money after each amount. Reaching $1,000 or more or finding the "WIN" square was worth $2,000.

Bonus Round #2
In this bonus, the winning team was now shown up to five plates; and the goal was to solve four of the five plates, doing so won $200, but solving less than four plates ended the round. In addition to the $200, the winning team also had a chance to solve three more plates. The winning team had seven seconds to solve each plate, solving each plate doubled the cash for a maximum of $1,600. But failure to solve any plate lost the money, which was why the team had an option to stop and keep the money before each plate.

Bonus Round #3
In the final bonus game of the series, one member of the winning team was isolated offstage, while the other had 30 seconds to solve up to five stumpers. Each one was a clue to a puzzle, and for each one solved, the team won $100. When time was up, the plate solving team had a decision to make; he/she can either let the isolated player solve the puzzle with the clue stumpers for triple value or keep whatever they won. Whatever the decision, the isolated player was brought back out to solve the puzzle. When taking the risk, if the puzzle solving player successfully solved the puzzle, the team won triple the cash for a maximum total of $1,500, but an incorrect solve lost the money.

Whatever the bonus round, the winning team after playing the bonus got to face another team/same team. Winning teams retired from the show after winning five matches.