User:Daniel Benfield/Debt Video Archive

Lifetime, Daily: June 3, 1996 - August 14, 1998 (Season 1 ended May 30, 1997; Season 2 began June 2)

Okay, lemme get this straight: Debt, a great show hosted by a genre legend, got canned after two seasons because they were drawing higher numbers in demographics other than the "Television For Women" mantra Lifetime had going? Yeah...

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 ©1996-98 Faded Denim Productions/Lifetime Television and associated entities.

Season 1 (1996-97)
June 3, 1996 - May 30, 1997

The logo most know from this show actually wasn't what the show began with – rather, it bore enough resemblance to the Visa logo that they changed it by August 16, 1996 to avoid legal issues. The contestant area was also slightly modified to remove the red strip below the displays.

Original logo
 * June-August 1996 (Leslie/Sam/Rupa)

Regular logo
 * 1996 (Sue/Gary/Heather)
 * August 16, 1996 (Lydia/Bill/Claire; montage)
 * September 9, 1996 (Abbie/Scott/Cerene)


 * December 9, 1996 (Wade/Clare/Jeff {taped 7/96}; has commercials)
 * [Promos include Martha Stewart's HOME for the Holidays (premiering Sunday at 9pm/8c), Weddings of a Lifetime, premiering Sunday at 8pm/7c and 10pm/9c, the film The Evening Star (opening Christmas Day), and the Lifetime Original Movie A Different Kind of Christmas (airing tonight at 9pm/8c).]


 * 1996? (Gerald/Raquel/Scott {Part 3}; ends really late in credits)


 * Early 1997 (Sybil/Joe/Natanya)
 * January 1997 (David/Rochelle/FRANK NICOTERO)
 * March 1997 (College Week, Day ?: Christopher/Marchand/Nick)
 * May 29, 1997 (Ryan/Julie/Scott, the toupee episode!; has some commercials {alternate copy, no commercials})

Season 2 (1997-98)
June 2, 1997 - August 14, 1998

Added a toss-up question to start the game (worth $1), and changed the trilon-based board to a video screen with a somewhat condensed format. The first tapings of this season had slightly different graphics on said screen, most noticeably "-$1".

The set is also a bit different this season, most notably the contestant displays having room for seven characters (five-digit debts).

Original graphics
 * June 9, 1997 (Geoff/Dena/Paul)

Normal graphics
 * 1998 (Karin/Thomas/Lila {Part 3, Part 4}; has one commercial)