Sale of the Century

80s 1st NBC opening spiel:

''"Today/Tonight on America's biggest bargain sale we're offering a brand new car/(insert car name) valued at $XX,XXX for $XXX. (A [insert prize] valued at $XX,XXX for $XXX.) (A cash jackpot of $XX,XXX for $XXX.) Cash & prizes worth over $100,000 for $XXX. Two of the incredible bargains on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

80s 1st Syndicated opening spiel:

''"Today/Tonight on America's biggest bargain sale we're offering a brand new car/(insert car name) valued at $XX,XXX for $530. Cash & prizes worth over $100,000 for $750. Two of the incredible bargains on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

80s 2nd opening spiel:

''"Today/this week, we're offering/one of our contestants/players will win (insert two/three prizes), and a trip to (insert trip). And continue a journey toward a fortune in cash & prizes, including (insert car or other vehicle) and $50,000 in cash. In total, over $100,000 on... (echoing) Sale of the Century." And now, here's the star of the show, Jim Perry!''

Premise
The format centered around three contestants answering general knowledge questions, buying prizes at a low cost, and attempting to win a huge cash jackpot.

Gameplay
Three contestants (one a returning champion) were given $20 to start. The host asked a series of questions, all of which were toss-ups, and only one person can answer each one. The first contestant to buzz-in with a correct answer gets $5, but an incorrect answer loses $5. In the 60s version, the players were given $25 to start, and the questions increased in value throughout the game from $5, to $10, to $15 each. From 1973-1974, the game was played with two couples; each started with $20 and the $15 questions were replaced by five $20 questions. On the Temptation revival, the contestants' scores were known as "Temptation dollars (T$)".

The Contestant Area

Instant Bargain
During the game, the player in the lead (originally all three contestants) or contestants who were tied was given a chance to buy a special prize for a bargain price. To buy the prize, the contestant must hit his/her buzzer; doing so won the prize which became his/hers to keep win or lose, but the bargain value of the prize was deducted from his/her score. On the original version, if a player buzzed in before the prize was revealed, the sale price was deducted from his/her score without buying the prize.

Instant Cash
Beginning in March 1986, the third Instant Bargain was replaced with the new Instant Cash. The player in the lead faced three black boxes numbered 1, 2 and 3. Two of them had $100 dollar bills while the one remaining one contained a cash jackpot which started at $1,000 plus $1,000 more for every day it's not won. To play, the player in the lead must surrender his/her lead (the price was the difference between the leader and the second place player). In case of a tie for the lead, a dutch auction was held between those players. If he/she decided to play (by hitting his/her buzzer) or whoever decided to play, the player selected one of the boxes and whatever the amount inside was his/hers to keep.

Temptation's Instant Cash
The Temptation revival's Instant Cash was different from the 80s show; for the boxes were replaced with wallets (red, white & brown), and the jackpot started at $500 and grew by that amount until won with a maximum of $5,000.

Fame Game
There was no Fame Game in the original version, it was added when the show returned in 1983.

80s Fame Game
In the 80s version, and in all three rounds, all three players got to participate in the Fame Game. The host read a "Who am I?"-typed question in which the clues get easier as time progressed. The first player to buzz in had a chance to answer. An incorrect answer forced that player to sit out the rest of the question without money penalties. The first contestant to buzz in with a correct answer faced a game board with nine numbers (1-9). Behind those numbers were cash awards, prizes, surprises and Money Cards ($10, $15, and $25) which were added for each round, there was an occasional $5 Money Card as well. The player in control chose a number, and whatever he/she found now belonged to that player. If a Money Card was found, its value was added to the player's score. Plus, there were two spaces that gave the player in control to either take a cash prize or choose another number (one marked $400, the other a mystery amount between $1.75 & $1,500).

The Board

Temptation Fame Game
In the short-lived Temptation's Fame Game, while host Morreale read a "Who am I?"-typed question, letters in the correct answer appeared on at a time (a la Wheel of Fortune's Toss-Up Puzzles & Scrabble's Speedword). There was no game board in this version; a correct answer won $15 to the contestant with the correct answer. Plus the Fame Game was only played once (though in an earlier episode, there was a second Fame Game with the value being $25).

Knock-Off (Temptation Only)
The short-lived Temptation revival also had a new round called "Knock Off", which was played just like the 80s game show Wipeout.

A category was revealed, followed by 12 possible answers on a game board. Nine of them were correct answers which had money amounts behind them, while the remaining three were wrong, those were dubbed "Knock-Offs". The three contestants took turns picking off answers and each time a correct answer was chosen, the contestant in control won money behind the answer; but if the answer selected was a Knock-Off, the person who picked that was eliminated from the round.

Four of the answers (sometimes two) were worth $2, (sometimes) another two of the answers were worth $3, three were worth $5, one was worth $10, and one was the least obvious answer and was worth $15.

The round ended when all three players were eliminated or if all the money amounts were found (all the correct answers were chosen).

Final Round
For the first year in the 80s version, host Perry would read three more $5 questions for a total of $15. This was scrapped when many games were already decided prior to this, in favor of the well-remembered Speed Round.

Speed Round
In the Speed Round, the host would ask as many questions as possible during the next 60 seconds (originally 90, 30 in the Temptation revival with two others played earlier in the game). Correct answers were still worth $5 in the 80s version, and doubled to $10 in the Temptation revival.

The player with the most money won the game. If there was a tie at the end, the host would read one final question (a Fame Game/Who am I question in the earlier months of the 80s version). A correct answer won $5 more and the game, but an incorrect answer cost $5 and the game. In the case of a three way tie, the first contestant to buzz-in and miss was out of the game. The winning player became Sale of the Century champion and in the final years of the show also won a bonus prize (originally a choice of one behind numbers 1-6), while the losers kept their final scores in cash in addition to everything else.

The "Temptation dollars (T$)" in the Temptation revival were not valid currency; so there was always a possibility that any losing contestant would leave with nothing except unacknowledged parting gifts.

Shopping
The champion won a chance to buy a grand prize at a bargain price using his/her winning score. Six prizes were on display with the biggest prize being a brand new luxury car. The champion can either buy the grand prize which he/she had enough money to buy with and leave the show, or return on the next show with the money scored that day being added to the next day's winning score. In the 60s & 70s version and in the 80s version Tournament of Champions, (grand) champions can buy more than one prize. In the 60s & 70s version and in the Temptation revival, the highest the winning contestant can buy was a new car.

On the 1973-1974 syndicated series, the winning couple answered a series of questions worth $100 and could stop at anytime and buy one of three prizes (trip, fur, or car). Later, the couple must correctly answer three questions, the difficulty of which depended on the value of the prize.

In the early months of the 80s revival it took $500 to buy every single prize on stage, plus some extra cash for a grand total of $95,000. In later months, a cash jackpot was added, the jackpot started at $50,000 plus $1,000 for every day it's not won. The cash jackpot was played as the next to last prize level in the NBC version worth $650 (originally $510), while the syndicated version had the next to last prize level be worth all of the prizes for $640. If the champion reached $760 (originally $600) in the NBC version, or $750 in the syndicated version, the champion won all the prizes plus the cash jackpot and retired from the show.

Big Winners during the 80s shopping era

 * Mort Camens: Was the very first contestant to win the $95,000 Lot on the NBC daytime version in 1983. He later went on to win the very first Tournament of Champions, winning a grand total of $249,982 in cash and prizes.
 * Barbara Philips: Won $151,689 in cash and prizes on the NBC daytime version in 1983. She became the first contestant to win over $150,000 on a daytime network show. On her final show, Phillips needed $116 to win all the prizes, plus a $68,000 cash jackpot, and she won everything in dramatic fashion, needing to answer the final three $5 questions correctly, thus making her the first player to win all the prizes and the cash jackpot, becoming only the second contestant to win the Lot. She was also the last one in the network version to win the Lot, as all the other big network winners took the cash jackpot and left.
 * Kathy Riley: In the 1984 NBC daytime version she stopped and took a $78,000 cash jackpot. She won it in sort of an anti-climatic manner. Kathy was $15 ahead of Bob, one of her opponents going to the final three questions. So Bob needed to answer all three questions to tie the game, but Roger answer the first and Bob missed the second; so Jim threw away the last and declared Kathy the winner. Kathy of course bought the $78,000 cash jackpot and left the show.
 * David Rogers: In 1984, he won $122,084 in cash and prizes, including a $109,000 cash jackpot, the highest ever won on the show (his big win coming just two weeks after a previous champion, Dawn McKellar, tried for a $99,000 jackpot, but lost the game by just $2). Rogers was among the first big winners since the incorporation of the speed round, and later appeared on Jeopardy! in 1987 (under the name David Nagy).
 * Bill Baxter: Another 1984 winner, who took home a $70,000 cash jackpot in somewhat dramatic fashion & left with total winnings of $85,256. Baxter had a total of $659 in his account the day of his big win, and would've needed to come back the next day and win with at least $101 to get everything on the stage, which totaled $142,855.
 * Stephanie Holmquist: Stephanie first appeared on the show in 1984. She purchased a cash jackpot of $74,000 with her bank account on the show, turning down the opportunity to go for the lot. Her cash and prize total was $83,337. Stephanie had $723 when she bought the cash jackpot, and she would have needed at least $37 or more on the next show to win everything on the stage, which totaled $147,095. In 1985, she appeared again, this time in the Tournament of Champions, where she won $35,000 in cash along with a Porsche. Her total winnings were $152,897, which was the highest ever in daytime at that time, until her record was overtaken by Tom O'Brien 2 years later. Stephanie still holds the record for daytime winnings among females.
 * Bill Fogel: In late 1984, Bill purchased a $61,000 cash jackpot, but not before winning the game with $145, setting an all-time main game record. He left with $66,459 in cash and prizes. Bill was the last big-money winner of the NBC shopping era and had a total of $721 in his account the day of his big win; a win of just $39 or more would have to win everything on the stage, which totaled $131,761.
 * John Goss: Was the first contestant on the syndicated version to win the entire lot & retired undefeated with a grand total of $156,339 in cash and prizes, including a $72,000 cash jackpot and over $8,000 cash accumulated during his reign. In his exciting final game, Goss had $655 in his bank account, needing at least $95 to win everything on the stage, and he won the game with exactly $95.
 * Helaine Lowery: Another syndicated contestant, she won $142,974 in cash and prizes in 1985 including a $64,000 jackpot.
 * Alice Conkright: She won $141,406 (including a $77,000 jackpot) in 1985, a feat accomplished in only six shows (the shortest amount of time it took anyone to do so) and won every single show with over $100, including a record $145 (tying Bill Fogel's record) win during one of her games. In addition to her adeptness at answering questions she refused to buy any of the Instant Bargains she had a chance to take despite the cajoling of host Jim Perry (which kept her scores relatively high). In her final show, Conkright had $660 in her bank account, needing at least $90 for everything on the stage.
 * Tim Holleran: The biggest winner in American "Sale" history (notwithstanding tournaments). He won $166,875 in 1985 on the syndicated version, including a $90,000 cash jackpot (the 2nd biggest cash jackpot in history, 2nd only to David Rogers; biggest jackpot in the syndicated version). In his final show, Holleran had $707 in his bank account, needing at least $43 for everything on the stage. Two years later, Holleran competed in the International Sale Tournament of Champions, and was the United States representative in the finals. He finished second place to Cary Young of Australia, but won additional money during the tournament, giving him a final total of $183,373. NOTE: A young Kevin Nealon appeared on stage to congratulate Tim as do many others.

Super Knock-Off (Temptation Only)
Super Knock-Off was played like regular Knock-Off except that it was a 50/50 split (six right, six wrong), the money amounts were now higher, and only the winning contestant can play. Any money collected in this round affected the main game score plus any money in the bank should the winning make a return trip.

Once again, a category was revealed followed by the 12 possible answers. The winning contestant picked off answers one at a time and each time a correct answer was chosen, he/she won the money attached to that answer. But if at any time a Knock-Off was chosen, the winning contestant lost all the money accumulated in that round. But to prevent this from happening, the winning contestant had an option to stop and take the money after each correct answer.

Four of the correct answers were worth $25, one was the second least obvious answer worth $50, one was the least obvious answer and was worth $100, for a maximum total of $250.

80s Bonus Games
In the later years of the 80s revival, the shopping format was dropped, and new bonus rounds were played.

Winner's Board
Starting in October 1984 in the NBC version, and November 1985 in the syndicated version, the winning contestant faced the Winner's Board. The Winner's Board consisted of 20 numbered squares. Behind those numbers were matching pairs of prizes, cash amounts, and two WIN cards which constituted an automatic match. The champion picked off numbers to reveal the prizes; the first prize matched was the prize won. If at any time one of the WIN cards was revealed, the next prize revealed was the prize won. The two biggest prizes were $10,000 in cash and a new car; they both appeared only once. To win either one of those, the player must first find one of the WIN cards, then find one of the biggest prizes. Once the board was cleared (all prizes matched), the champion must then make a decision to either keep all the prizes or risk losing the prizes (not counting any of the main game prizes) for one more game. Winning the next game not only kept the prizes, but also won an additional $50,000 in cash.

Big Winners from this era

 * Jeff Hewitt: One of the first contestants to clear the board, Jeff declined to go for the $50,000 cash bonus, leaving with $72,794 in cash and prizes.
 * Margerite Newhouse: An early big winner of this format in late 1984, winning over $65,000 in cash and prizes, including winning a new Mercedes Benz in dramatic fashion during her next-to last game with four prizes and two numbers left on the winner's board. Newhouse decided not to go for the $50,000 bonus after winning all 10 prizes on the board. During the debut of the Winner's Board format, she lost due to an error (Debbie Morris, the last winner of the previous bonus won that day), so she was brought back a few weeks later.
 * Mark DeCarlo: His final game (in 1985) came down to a climactic tiebreaker. His opponent buzzed in early and answered incorrectly, which by default netted him the win and the $50,000 bonus, for a grand total of $115,257 in cash and prizes.
 * Cindy Barr: Won $111,590 in cash and prizes in 1985.
 * Jeff Colbern: Won $123,753 in cash and prizes in 1985.
 * Linda Credit: In 1987, she won $140,457 in cash and prizes, including a $14,000 Instant Cash jackpot. She then played in the 1988 tournament of champions and won another $5,700, for a total of $146,157. One of the last big winners during the Winner's Board era.
 * Tom O'Brien: Towards the end of the winner's board era, Tom O'Brien had won $102,000 in cash and prizes before his eleventh game. When the game was over, Tom had won back all his major prizes plus an extra $50,000. He won a total of $152,847 in his first eleven games. He was brought back for the final Tournament of Champions in 1988 and added another $20,217 to his winnings, giving him the biggest ever daytime total of $173,064 cash and prizes.
 * Curtis Warren: One of the last big winners on the syndicated show, in 1986. He would later go on to win $1.41 million on Greed in 2000, which at the time was the all-time winnings record (has since been broken 4 times, most recently by Brad Rutter). He also won $700 on Win Ben Stein's Money after he failed to beat Ben in the Best of 10 Test of Knowledge.
 * Lisa Muňoz: Another big syndicated winner, taking home $122,551 in cash and prizes.

Winner's Big Money Game
In the final years of the show, the bonus was changed one more time. In the Winner's Big Money Game, the day's champion had solve a series of six-clue word puzzles within the time limit. To start, host Perry gave the champ a choice three envelopes (red, yellow or blue). Whatever the choice, the player started to hear and see the words of each puzzle appear one at a time; as soon as the contestant knew what the puzzle was talking about he/she must hit a plunger in front of the player to stop the clock (the clock started when the first word appeared). If the champ is correct, he/she won the puzzle. The champion can miss one time and continue, but two misses or time running out ended the game. The player can buzz-in and opt to pass without penalty if he/she can't come up with an answer. Solving four puzzles in 20 seconds (originally five in 25 seconds) won the champion $5,000 plus $1,000 for every return trip till he/she played the $10,000 game; and then the next Winner's Big Money Game was worth a new car. Losing that game meant the player left the show, but winning the car gave the champion the right to play one more game. Winning that final game earned a chance to play one last Winner's Big Money Game for $50,000. Two people made it to the $50,000 Winner's Big Money Game, but only one contestant named Rani White won it.

Other Pictures
To see pictures of the original 1969-1974 version click here.

Merchandise
Milton Bradley made board games based on the 1969-1974 version in two editions. .

Catchphrase
"Going Once...Going Twice...No Sale!"-Jim Perry

Music
1983 - Ray & Marc Ellis

Inventor
Al Howard

Links
The Best 80s & 90s Game Shows: Sale of the Century

Rules for Sale of the Century @ loogslair.net

Rules for Sale of the Century @ Game Show Temple

Josh's Sale of the Century Rules Page

Travis' Sale of the Century Rules Page

Another Sale of the Century Rules Page

A Blog about "Sale of the Century"

Sale of The Century Wiki

Sale of the Century on GSN promo

GSN's Press release for Sale of the Century

NBC Version
Barbara Phillps wins the Lot

Kathy Riley wins $78,000

Winner's Board Debut

Mark DeCarlo takes a risk and goes for over $100,000

Tom O'Brien takes a risk and goes for over $100,000

Winner plays the Winner's Big Money Game

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Syndicated Version
John Goss goes for over $100,000 (Requirement: $95 or more needed)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Tim Holleran goes for over $100,000 (Requirement: $43 or more needed)

Part 1

Part 2