Top Card

Top Card is the Blackjack based game show (ala Gambit) where three contestants tested their knowledge of country music (general knowledge in earlier shows) to win great prizes.

Broadcast
TNN - April 3, 1989 - March 26, 1993

Packager
Reid/Land Productions

Hosts
Jim Caldwell (First two seasons) Dan Miller (Last two seasons)

Hostesses
Blake Pickett (First two seasons) Paige Brown (Last two seasons)

Main Game
The game was played in three rounds with the same nine categories. The outer eight categories were entertainment categories while the one in the center was called "Wild Card", a category about anything. Behind each category was a playing card. The player in control chose a category and then a toss-up question was asked. The first player to buzz-in with a correct answer was shown the hidden card behind the category. Once the card was revealed, the player had a choice to make; either to take that card and add it to his/her score, or reject it and take the top card from a live deck in front of the hostess. If the top card was taken, the card revealed and the category covering it stayed in play, and taking the original hidden card took it off the board and took the category out of play (except the Wild Card category, each time a card behind it was kept, a new card replaced it and hidden behind the Wild Card). After each choice, the player in control chose another category.

Here's how the contestants score for each card:
 * Tens & Face Cards - 10 points
 * Number Cards - the number on the card as points
 * Aces - only one point (unlike regular Blackjack)

Just like in regular Blackjack, the object of the game was to get to 21 or come as close to 21 as they can than any of their opponents without going over. Anything over 21 caused the contestant to bust and be eliminated from the round. To prevent busting, after taking a card, the player in control can decide to freeze on his/her current score. There were no ties in Top Card, once a player froze on a number, he/she owned that number. The first player to freeze had the last chance to play if & when the other player(s) have also froze.

A round could be won by doing the following:
 * Reaching 21
 * Being the only player to not bust
 * Having more points than any other opponent after all were frozen

The winner of each round won a prize and advanced to the Championship Round.

Round 1
Three contestants played this round, with the winner advancing to the Championship Round while the other players played round two.

Round 2
The two losers from round one played this round. In season one, a Wild Card question was asked to determine control; for the rest of the run, a question from the category in the upper left was asked. Other than that, play was the same as the first round, with the winner advancing to the Championship Round to face the winner from Round One.

Championship Round
The winners of the first two rounds faced off in the Championship Round, and the winner of this round won the game became Top Card champion and earned the right to play Top Card Plus.

Season 2 Notes
When season two began, it had the following changes:
 * The number of subjects was reduced to eight and the Wild Card category was replaced by a Top Card question, which could only be played if it was the last one left.
 * All questions were about music, with the majority of them country music based.
 * The board now used special cards Ace through 10. They were shuffled and placed behind each category, and only appeared once, no duplicates.
 * Once a category was played and the card behind it was revealed, and regardless of what the contestant chose, the card and category were removed from the round.

Top Card Plus
In Top Card Plus, the winner played for prizes, including a grand prize.

Season 1
To start, the winning contestant chose what grand prize to play for in a blind draw from a special deck of cards. The grand prizes in the first season included a fur coat, a trip, a piano, or one of three cars. Then hostess Blake Pickett drew five cards from the Top Card deck to determine a starting bankroll. The total of the five card values was multiplied by $100 (Ex: 3♥, 10♣, 4♥, 5♦, K♦ x $100 = $3,200). The Top Card game board was replaced with eight prizes; each one had a price, and (as in the game) a hidden card behind them. The winning player chose which prize to buy with their bankroll, and the corresponding card was revealed. As in the main game, the contestant could keep that card and add it to their score, or take the top card in front of Blake. After each choice, the player could elect to stop and take the prizes won up to that point, or continue playing in an attempt to reach 21. The "Wild Card" was still in play in this round. If it was chosen at anytime, the champion's remaining bankroll would be wiped out.

Continuing to play was taking a risk. For if at anytime the player exceeded 21 he/she lost all the prizes. But to make matters more worse, one of the prizes has hidden a Joker card; finding it also lost all the prizes.

If the contestant reached exactly 21, not only he/she kept all the prizes bought, but also won the selected grand prize.

Season 2
In the second season, Top Card Plus was played strictly for a car as the grand prize. To start, the winning player chose which car to play for. The categories from the main game remained on the Top Card board, with a prize and a card hidden behind each one. The winning player had up to four chances to win the car they selected. As in the game, the winning player chose a category, after which its prize was revealed. A correct answer won the prize, but an incorrect answer caused that chance to be dead. A correct answer also allowed the player to see the hidden card, afterwhich (as long as it was not the Joker), the contestant could keep this card or take the top card in front of hostess Paige Brown. Again, after each question, the player could elect to stop and keep the prizes won up to that point, or risk their prizes and continue playing. If the contestant busted or found the joker, they lost everything; if the player hit 21 in four tries or less, they won the selected prizes and the chosen car. The player still kept the prizes, if the champion exhausted all four plays.

In either version, if the contestant found the joker on the first pick, the game did not end; instead, the player could still win the chosen prize on the board by hitting 21. However, the player was now required to take both the hidden card and the top card. The next cards from the deck were then revealed in succession. After each pair, the champion can choose to stop and take $10/point if they wished.

In all seasons, contestants stayed on until they won the bonus round or until defeated.