Supermarket Sweep

ORIGINAL ABC OPENING SPIEL:

''From (insert location, prefferably NYC Tri-state area) and from this Food Fair store. A part of the finest growing food chain that features quality food at low prices, it's time for Supermarket Sweep! The TV game show that travels to your hometown and let's you run wild through your supermarket! And now, here he is, your master of ceremonies, Bill Malone!''

LIFETIME/PAX VERSION OPENING SPIELS:

''OPENING SPIEL #1: Is this one of your fantasies? You see a big beautiful supermarket and they say to you, "Go ahead, do what you've always wanted to do! Run wild! Grab everything you can get your hands on! Everything in this Supermarket is yours, and it's all free!" From Hollywood, where dreams DO come true, it's the return of the one and only, Supermarket Sweep! Are you ready to go shopping? AUDIENCE: YEAH! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? Come on, you're on! We're ready to play Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #2: Welcome to the first supermarket in the world that gives you money, $5,000. And we give it away time and time again. Since $5,000 is serious money, you have to do some serious shopping to earn that $5,000. The whole idea is to shop faster and smarter than the next person. Go ahead, grab everything you can get your hands on, then fill up your cart as high as you can. Sure, it may look like hard work, you know what, it's a lot of fun, too. When you win the $5,000, sometimes you'd get carried away, and sometimes you'll even be moved to tears. So get ready, because you never know what's going to happen on Supermarket Sweep! Are you ready to go shopping? AUDIENCE: YEAH! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! We're ready to play Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #3: Do you know how much money has been won on Supermarket Sweep? Look, there goes $5,000! There goes another $5,000! Look these women won over $10,000! Team after team, it's been win, win, win! How much has been won? Over $500,000 on Supermarket Sweep! Now, are you ready to go shopping? AUDIENCE: YEAH! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! We're ready to play Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #4: Over 1000 people have run down these aisles! And when you add it all up, they've won over $1 Million in cash! Now, it's on to $2 Million! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! It's Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #5A: Welcome to Supermarket Sweep. Time and time again, you've seen people win $5,000. You've also seen people win $10,000. Well, what's worth more than $10,000? How about a brand-new Geo Tracker. But Supermarket Sweep is a team show. There's never just one winner, we always have two winners. So let's give away two brand-new Geo Trackers, worth over $25,000. Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! It's Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!'' (used only during the Twin Car Giveaway for the first three weeks)

''OPENING SPIEL #5B: (same as above except the introductions) That can only happen on Supermarket Sweep. And now, here is our host, David Ruprecht!'' (used only during the final week of Twin Car Giveaway)

''OPENING SPIEL #5C: What TV Show lets you run wild through a supermarket? WINNING TEAM: SUPERMARKET SWEEP! What TV Show let's you grab everything that you can get your hands on? WINNING TEAM: SUPERMARKET SWEEP! And what TV Show hides $5000 and helps you find it? WINNING TEAM: SUPERMARKET SWEEP! Now, we've just hidden another $5000, so come and get it! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! It's Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #6: Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines! What kind of race is this? It's all done with shopping carts! You race through a supermarket and things go flying into your cart! It's wonderful! It's wild! It's amazing! Let's face it, you never know what's going to happen on Supermarket Sweep! Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! It's time to play Supermarket Sweep! And here is our host (sometimes a funny phrase), David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #7: Welcome to Supermarket Sweep! The game show that hides $5000 and helps you find it! Getting that money can be an uplifting experience! Look! This Mother and Daughter had a great time! Listen, on what other game show do you hear a contestant tell the host CONTESTANT: I Love You! So, Who's got the (insert 3 items)? OK, you're on! We're ready to play Supermarket Sweep! And here's the host of our show, David Ruprecht!''

''OPENING SPIEL #8: Is this your ordinary supermarket? I don't think so! And what supermarket lets you win a car for shopping there? And then throws in another car for good measure? Do people have a good time shopping here? Well, I'll tell ya! When you reach into a shelf and pull out $5000, you're having a great time! This supermarket has already given away $2 Million and they're ready to give away more! What supermarket are we talking about? Supermarket Sweep! So today, Who's got the (insert 3 items)? It's (insert names)! OK, you're on! We're ready to play Supermarket Sweep! And here's the host of our show, David Ruprecht!''

''REST OF SPIEL #1 (1990-1991): Hello, thank you very much and welcome to our show/Supermarket Sweep. Now, we have our teams, and one of them may be going home with $5,000 in cash.''

''REST OF SPIEL #2 (1992 Season premiere week): And hello to you, and welcome to the all-new Supermarket Sweep. It's new, because we've added new games, new excitement, and that totals up to a whole lot more money!''

''REST OF SPIEL #3A (1993 premiere week): And hello to you, and welcome to the new Supermarket Sweep. It's new because we have found new ways to put money into the game, and not only that, we found new ways to give players (even) more time to race around the market.''

''REST OF SPIEL #3B (1993-1994): And hello to you, and welcome to Supermarket Sweep. Our contestants were all ready/set to go, we're gonna help them build up their sweep time and their bonus money on their way to $5,000.''

''REST OF SPIEL #4A (2000, PAX premiere revival only): And hello to you, and welcome to the all-new Supermarket Sweep! Of course, it's all new, we've come up with new games to help you guys build up your Sweep Time.''

''REST OF SPIEL #4B (2000): And hello to you, and welcome to Supermarket Sweep! And before the show is over, one of these teams will be running through those aisles looking for $5,000.''

''REST OF SPIEL #4C (2000): And hello to you, and welcome to Supermarket Sweep! Of course, this is the show that lets you do what your supermarket won't let you do, and that's run through those aisles, and grab everything you can get your hands on, including $5,000.''

''REST OF SPIEL #5 (2001-2002): Thank you, and welcome to (the all-new) Supermarket Sweep! (It's all new, we're starting our new shows). This is what we start out our every shows by putting contestants right into the market and said "you know guys, go ahead, check everything out, see everything is, could help you a lot towards finding the $5,000".''

''REST OF SPIEL #6 (2002-2003): Thank you, and welcome to Supermarket Sweep! Yep, that's true/a fact, we have given away over $2,000,000. So what do you say, (cash register sounds) let's go for $3,000,000!''

Three teams of two contestants played a game of answering questions and supermarket shopping.

Gameplay (ABC version)
Three teams, usually married couples, competed. Each team began with a base time of one minute and thirty seconds. In the first part of the game, the teams were shown a grocery item and were asked to guess its retail price. The team who came the closest won the item and an additional 15 seconds to their time. Four items were played.

In the second part of the game, one contestant from each team went on a shopping spree through the market, using the time accumulated in the first half of the game. After each contestant ran their sweep, the total value of groceries in each player's cart was determined. The team with the highest total won the right to return to the show and play in the next game. All teams kept the groceries they picked up.

Gameplay (Lifetime/PAX version)
The gameplay of the Lifetime/PAX version of Supermarket Sweep consisted of three segments: the question round, the Big Sweep, and the Bonus Sweep. The game was played between three teams of two related individuals, such as a parent and child, spouses, siblings, or best friends. In the last two rounds, the team members wore sweatshirts of the same color ( aqua blue for Team #1 [ green in earlier tapings], burgundy for Team #2, yellow for Team #3 [the colors of the first two teams switched starting in 1993]). The show gave the appearance that pairs were chosen to be contestants based on who in the audience (or in the show's last two seasons, the market) held pre-distributed grocery items that the announcer called for at the beginning of the show.

Question round
At the beginning of the game, all three teams started with a base time of 1:30. The questions answered correctly added time to their clocks. The round was divided into three segments; in the first two segments, one teammate from each team answered a variety of questions and/or played one of several games that involved pricing everyday grocery items, with the teammates switching between segments. The third segment was the Round Robin game, in which the teammates rotated after each question.

Question types
Players were asked a series of questions, usually with a specific brand of grocery items as answers; each question was worth 10 seconds. In each round, the questions followed a specific format, which varied between rounds and shows. The formats used on the show included:


 * Guessing which item a series of interesting facts described.
 * Determining the brand name of a product, the picture of which had the brand name edited out.
 * Slogans - Guessing which item went with a particular slogan or jingle.
 * Multiple Choice - Selecting one or more of the answers to a series of questions from a bank of four, five or six possible choices. A famous saying or phrase was asked to the contestants, belonging to which answer.


 * Three Right - Six choices were given to the contestants. They were asked which three out of the six belonged to a certain brand or item or genre. All three contestants buzzed in and guessed which one of the three items that were correct. Three sets of games were played.
 * Word Games - Filling in the blanks to reveal a product's name; contestants were either given clues and/or letters that were progressively added (either randomly or spelled backwards). Sometimes only the first & last letters were given, and three clues were read. Another variant had a partially-filled name, with some letters missing; again, three clues were given.
 * This or That - Selecting the correct answer earned 10 seconds; selecting the wrong one gave the other two teams 10 seconds each. A similar variation used was called "Fact or Not a Fact", which determined whether a statement about a product is true or false.
 * Animal Sounds - Given 3 to 5 animals (cow, sheep, pig, chicken, and/or fish) as the answer choices, for which contestants must make the correct animal's sound.
 * Twisted - Guessing a product's name from synonyms and/or antonyms that replaced each word. For example, "Cow's Ear" is a clue for BullsEye Barbecue Sauce.
 * County Fair - Tested the players' sense of knowledge of a particular gadget.
 * Supermarket Trivia - Trivia questions were asked about the items sold in the supermarket.

Pricing games
During each segment, different games were played involving everyday groceries. These games varied from day to day and generally involved the following objectives:


 * Selecting which of three items was priced above or below a certain amount, was not a given price, was on sale, was incorrectly priced, was correctly priced, or was the most expensive.


 * Determining how much of one item could be bought for a certain amount of money.
 * Guessing whether the actual price for a product was higher or lower than the price displayed. A variation also included the possibility of the shown price being correct.

If a player was correct, the team earned 10 seconds; however, if all three players were right, 30 seconds was added to all three teams' times. In Season 1, however, all games, excluding the on sale version, had 20 seconds added to all three teams if all three players were right.

Special games

 * 30-Second Shootout - At the beginning of the second segment of the question round, both contestants on a team played an individual game, which banked the team 30 seconds of Sweep time; each team took turns by playing the game individually. The format usually consisted of a contestant guessing a series of words using the clues given by his or her partner (similar to Pyramid and Password). The first letter of each correct answer was a letter in the name of a brand name or item from the market, which the guesser then had to determine to earn the Sweep time. Each of the teams had 30 seconds to achieve this (40 in the final Lifetime season), and if a word was accidentally blurted out by the clue-giver, the team was disqualified automatically. An additional rule was that once a clue was used on one of the words in the list, it was not to be used again (doing so would lead to disqualification of that team). On some episodes, an alternative format was used with a picture of a product shown. Each clue changed the product's picture.

Mini-Sweep
Beginning in Season 2, a Mini-Sweep was played at the beginning of the first round. A toss-up question (usually a rhyming couplet) was asked with a particular product as the answer. The team that correctly answered the question earned 10 seconds, as well as a chance for one team member to run into the market to retrieve the product, which was marked with the show's logo. If the product was returned within 30 seconds, the team won $50 towards their Sweep total. If the team member returned with the correct product, but it didn't contain the sticker featuring the Supermarket Sweep symbol on it, no bonus was awarded.

In Season 3, the bonus was doubled to $100 if the product was brought back within 20 seconds. In Season 4, a second Mini-Sweep was added at the beginning of the second round and was later used only during special weeks on the PAX version.

Round Robin
For the final segment, the teammates switched after each question. The contestants were shown the scrambled letters of a brand name, common food, or item, and three clues were given for 10 seconds each. If no one buzzed in and then answered correctly after the last clue was given, all three clues were repeated quickly. On some episodes, an alternative format was used with five clues given and no scrambled name. The Round Robin originally consisted of four questions, but was lengthened to six in 1991 giving all teams a chance to earn up to 60 seconds (one minute). The maximum time avalable was 3:40.

Sweep Quiz
This was used during the final PAX season. At the end of the second segment, a quickie was shown as the show took a second commercial break, which was a question that viewers at home can answer. At the start of the third segment, the answer would be shown.

Another variant was used in some episodes of the first three seasons as well as early in season 4, where David asked a certain question to the home viewers at the end of the first segment before going to the first commercial break. At the start of the second segment, David gives the answer. On occassion, he also makes jokes afterward.

Big Sweep
The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout the aisles and to grab whatever they could off of the supermarket shelves. The clock was set to the highest time that was earned by the three teams. The runner for that team was sent out into the market, with the other runners entering when their time had remained on the clock. During the Big Sweep, the show's announcer provided the "play-by-play."

The runner could bring their cart back to the team's register at any time, at which point it was exchanged for an empty cart. Any items in the runner's cart when the bell rang were included in their total.

The three main rules for the Big Sweep were:
 * The teams could only take up to five of each item.
 * Any items dropped and/or upset had to be returned to the shelf or in one's cart, or incur a $25-per-item penalty. Teams were also penalized $25 for running into supermarket displays, cameramen or any other personnel.
 * Only one member of each team could be in the store at a time; the other team member was required to remain at the checkout counter to unload the groceries (with the exception of the doing of some money makers [see below]).

The product limit, which was absent in the original ABC version of the show, was added to prevent a team from overloading their carts with expensive items, such as poultry, laundry detergent, or over-the-counter drugs.

In most episodes of the show's first season on Lifetime, costumed characters such as Frankenstein's Monster, a gorilla, or a creature named Mr. Yuck ran through the aisles during the Sweep. They are referred to as Weird Customers. If the character came near a contestant or vice versa, the contestant had to turn around and go in the other direction. The characters were dropped in 1991.

Once time was called, all products were scanned while the show took a final commercial break. Afterward, the grand totals of each team's takes were revealed. The team with the highest grand total, including bonuses from the question round, won their Sweep total in cash and the right to play in the Bonus Sweep. The other teams received parting gifts, including their sweatshirts. In early episodes of the first season, the totals included cents. In later episodes, and for the rest of the series, the totals were rounded off to the nearest dollar; cents were only used for a tie.

Bonuses
Many bonuses were available during the Big Sweep at different times during the show's run. Each contestant was only able to take one of each bonus type. Some of these included:


 * Bonus Specials (Value: $50–$200, later up to $250, $100-$300 during the Twin Car Giveaway) - The only bonus feature to appear in every episode. Three jumbo-sized stuffed animals, giant inflated balloons of products, or cardboard promotional signs for products with bonus tags attached to them were scattered throughout the market. In order for the bonus to count, the runner had to bring the item back to the checkouts and over the red line (without destroying it or the tag) before the time expired. A runner was allowed to steal an opposing team's item if it was left unprotected before getting it to the checkouts. These over-sized products and/or signs were worth $50, $100, or $200. In September 1993, a fourth bonus worth $250 (dubbed the "Super Bonus") was added to the market. During the Twin Car Giveaway Tournament, a $300 bonus (dubbed the "Super Super Bonus") replaced the $50 bonus. In all cases, only one bonus was allowed to a customer.
 * Coffee (Value: $100, later $200) - Runners were required to grind a bag of Millstone or Maxwell House coffee beans.


 * Giant Box of Laundry Detergent (Value: $25-$100 in $25 installments, later containing two each of $50 and $100) - A giant box of laundry detergent (Gain or Cheer) was located at the back of the store with four colored envelopes on it. The runner picked one of the envelopes and the money was added to the team's total.
 * Balloon Pop (Value: $150) - Three shopping carts or large garbage bags filled with balloons were located in one of the back corners of the supermarket. Runners brought back one of the carts or bags to the checkouts for their partners to pop. Their partners had to pop all of the balloons before the time had expired. If so, they would receive a token worth $150.
 * Double and Triple Coupons - Certain items had double-value or triple-value coupons located on or near the actual item that multiplied its value accordingly.

Bonus Sweep
The winning team was given 60 seconds to find three products in the market one at a time. The products were marked by the show's logo or emblem. They were given a clue to the first product, after which the time started. The second clue was affixed to the first product, and the third clue was on the second product. If the team found the third product, they won $5,000. The winning team had to find all three products and return with them to win the money. If they found the final product before one of the other products, originally the team would automatically be disquailfied, but after the first 2 seasons, the team that found the $5,000 too soon were just reminded to find all three products, then return to find the money. If the team was unsuccessful, the team still won $200 for each product found. The team had to have their hands on the money before the bell signaled the end of the 60 seconds.

Clues had several formats in the series. Some clues were two-line rhymes describing the product, with its brand name as the final missing word in the rhyme. Other clues used a play-on words of the product's title. Others had important words underlined. On occasion, clues lead to a household item other than cleaners, a movie in the movie rack, a fruit or a vegetable in the produce section, a flower in a special kiosk located at the front of the market that was used only during the Bonus Sweep, or a greeting card near the magazine rack.

Tournaments
During both runs of the show, special tournaments were held periodically, as well as other individual shows in which former teams were invited back for a chance to win more money or a trip.

Twin Car Giveaway
From September 5-30, 1994, at the beginning of the show's final season on Lifetime, a month-long Twin Car Giveaway tournament was held. During the first three weeks of the tournament, a standard game was played each day. The twelve teams with the highest Big Sweep totals from these episodes at the end of the third week returned for the fourth and final week, in which games were played with no Bonus Sweep. The six teams with the highest Big Sweep totals during that final week returned for the Friday show to play for a pair of Geo Trackers. On the Friday show, the first three teams played an eight-question Round Robin game, where each correct answer was worth $50 towards their Sweep total. Each of the first three teams then had a flat three minutes in the Big Sweep. This process was repeated for the other three teams. At the end of the show, the team with the highest Big Sweep total won the two cars (a combined value of more than $25,000) in addition to whatever else that they won on their previous shows. All other teams kept their prior winnings. Team #1, James and Rick, won with a Big Sweep total of $1,598, and won a grand total of $28,710 (the highest grand total ever). A total of $84,562 in cash and prizes was won by the contestants over the four week period.

Other tournaments and specials
Occasionally, former teams were invited back to play for additional money or a trip. These consisted largely of "Sweeps of Champions", which gave previous winners a chance to go on another Bonus Sweep for the opportunity to play and get a second chance at $5,000. On a few early "Sweep of Champions" episodes, former players were invited back for a chance to double their money to $10,000. Others include -


 * "Gourmet Week": Allowed the teams to play for a trip to France.
 * "Second Chance": Allowed previous winners who won their Big Sweep, but missed the $5,000 to come back for a second chance on Friday to go for that amount.
 * "You Can't Lose!": Like the Second Chance episodes, but no Bonus Sweep was played during this week. In these episodes, one team was guaranteed to win $5,000 after they lost on their first appearance.
 * "Double Your Money Week": Similar to the few early "Sweeps of Champions" episodes from the Lifetime version, except in the PAX version the winning team with the highest Super Big Sweep total at the end on the final day didn't have to run around the market looking for another $5,000 as in early "Sweeps of Champions" episodes, they automatically doubled their money to $10,000.
 * "Mother-Daughter Week": Featured on the Lifetime run with mother-daughter teams competing, sometimes with children under the age of 18. The daughters played in the first half of the question rounds (trivia games) and the mothers (pricing games) in the second. In the Big Sweep, it is either all mothers running, or all daughters, depending on the teams' decisions.
 * "Family Week": Similar to the Mother-Daughter Week in the Lifetime version (only with various family members), the Family Week in the PAX version had relative teams to win $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweep was played in that week.
 * "Cruise to Paradise": Invited back 12 former teams who lost their Big Sweep to play for a 7-day Carnival Cruise for two (and two guests) to the Mexican Riviera. No Bonus Sweep was played at the end of that week.
 * "Cruise Week": Similar to the "Cruise to Paradise" week, except no Bonus Sweep was played throughout the entire week.
 * "Tournament of Heroes": Troop teams were to win the $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweep was played in this week.

In popular culture

 * On an episode of Laverne and Shirley, there was an episode title of the same name, "Supermarket Sweep". The title characters were Slotnik's one millionth customer. The man behind the counter said that they won a free shopping spree in the supermarket. They had 3:00 to grab everything they could get their hands on and whatever stuff they had must be over the line to be won. The hilarious duo shop like crazy. As soon as they have a heap of stuff, they get tired and all they win is two items.
 * On the Dave Letterman Show, Dave makes an appearance on Supermarket Sweep as one of his clips of the week. Dave coaches the shoppers while wearing an Ithaca sweatshirt and a whistle around his neck.
 * After Elmo watches a video about sleep on the popular Sesame Street ending segment, Elmo's World, there is a parody mentioned called "Supermarket Sleep"
 * There was also a kids game in the 1990's on Nickelodeon better known as Nickelodeon Super Toy Run, hosted by Mike O'Malley. Kids would have 5 minutes to grab everything, which would be toys before time was up. This was a similar concept to Sweep but it was toy shopping at Toys R Us.
 * On GSN's 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time, the Red Tag Special prop was used in the set.

1965
The Dave Brubeck Quartet

Score Productions

1990
Christopher Rhyne

Inventor
Al Howard

Spin-offs
Arrasa con Todo con Kmart - Spanish language version of the show on Univision in 2011.

The Honeymoon Race - Similar premise except that it was taped in shopping malls across the country

International Versions
Here is a list of countries that did Supermarket Sweep:
 * England, show titled as "Dale's Supermarket Sweep"
 * Canada (both French and English versions)
 * Australia

Taglines
"This is David Ruprecht saying good-bye for Supermarket Sweep. Remember, The next time you're in the checkout counter and you hear the beep (beep-beep), think of all the fun you could have on (with winning contestants) "SUPERMARKET SWEEP!" - David Ruprecht

"Remember, "The next time you're on an ocean liner and you hear the beep (ocean liner beep-beep), you'll know that your ship has come in on (with winning contestants) "SUPERMARKET SWEEP!" - David Ruprecht (during Carnival Cruise Weeks)

"The next time you're driving in your car and you hear the beep (car horn beep-beep), think of all the fun you can have on (with winning contestants) "SUPERMARKET SWEEP!" - David Ruprecht (during the Twin Car Giveaway)

"The next time you see Rick & James in their new cars and you hear their beep (car horn beep-beep), think of all the fun they had on (with winning contestants) "SUPERMARKET SWEEP!" - David Ruprecht (Conclusion of the Twin Car Giveaway)

Links
Jay Anton's Rules for Supermarket Sweep

Josh Rebich's Rules for Supermarket Sweep

Rules for Supermarket Sweep @ The Game Show Temple

YouTube Videos
An intro to Classic Supermarket Sweep

The first episode of the show

A 1991 Sweep of Champions Episode of the Show

A 1992 Episode of the Show

An early episode with yellow displays, plus a new theme music.

Part 1

Part 2

A 1993 Episode with permanent blue displays.

A 1994 Episode with a Twin Car Giveaway Finale

A 1994 Episode with a Cruise to Paradise Finale

A 2000 PAX Episode

A 2002 PAX Episode