Chain Reaction

"Chain Reaction, where one word leads to another, and the right word leads to thousands of dollars."

Contestants tried to connect words that form a multi-word chain.

NBC Version
In this version, two teams of three (consisting of two celebrities and one contestant) competed to guess words that connect to each other above and below in some way. All the connected words make up a chain.

Main Game
The chain consisted of eight words or phrases. The top & bottom words were revealed at the start. The player on the team in control chose which position to reveal a letter (either above the previously revealed word or below the previously revealed word). When the letter was revealed, the player had five seconds to guess the word. The last letter of each word was not revealed; when that happened, each player gets one last shot at it. A correct word kept control of the chain, but an incorrect word or not being able to guess passed control to the opposing team. Each correct answer also earned points according to how many letters were in the word, if the word was marked with the plus sign ("+"), the value of the word was worth double. The chain continued until one team reached 50 points, or if the chain was completed. When the latter happened, another chain was played. The first team to reach 50 points won the game, $250 to the contestant, and the right to play Instant Reaction for $10,000. The losing player won $5 a point.

Instant Reaction
The Instant Reaction bonus game went through three versions plus one from the pilot, but they were all played the same way, and offered a grand prize of $10,000 to the championship contestant.

In the bonus round, the two celebrities from the winning team were shown a word, a phrase or a name on their secret screens; their job was to get the contestant to say the answer by constructing a question. The catch is that they have make that question by adding one word at a time. Giving more than one word, uttering part of the answer or conveying the essence of the answer disqualified the answer. To finish the question, one of the celebrities must hit a bell in front of them allowing the contestant to come up with an answer. Each correct answer brought the winning contestant closer to the $10,000, and completing the round within a time limit won the $10,000 grand prize.

The idea of constructing questions using one word at a time was used once before in a failed pilot called Get Rich Quick. Later this idea become it's own game show called Go.

Version #1
The winning team started with one dollar, and had 60 seconds to win the $10,000. Each correct answer added a half zero to the pot; so two correct answers was worth $10, four was worth $100, six was worth $1,000, and eight correct answers won the $10,000.

This version lasted just the first week, even after a very funny first bonus game where only $10 was won.

Version #2
The winning team now had 90 seconds to win the $10,000, but the winning contestant can only receive the dollar if he/she can say the correct first answer. This time after that each correct answer added a full zero to the pot and after the fourth right answer, each answer was now worth $1,000 until they reached $5,000. And then the final answer was worth $10,000.

This version was blamed for having the contestants win too much money. So they scrapped it in favor of one more version.

Version #3
This version was a simple one, for each correct answer was worth $100, and getting 10 answers in 90 seconds or less won $10,000. Later the $250 prize for winning the game was discontinued and $5/point for losing players was changed to consolation prizes. All because that the winning team was given $100 to start with each correct answer being worth $100 more. So nine correct answers in 90 seconds was required to win the $10,000 grand prize.

Pilot Version
In the pilot instead of playing for $10,000, the winning team (consisting of one celebrity and a married couple) played for $100,000. They had 60 seconds within which to win it.

They started at one penny, and each correct answer moved the one off to the left meaning that the first two correct answers were worth a dime (ten cents) and one dollar respectively. The next five correct answers added a zero to the stake, so a total of seven correct answers was needed to win the $100,000 grand prize.

USA/Canadian Version
In this version, the celebrities were dropped, and the show now featured two civilian contestants on each team. In each chain one member of each team was the giver, and the other was the guesser. Points were no longer determined by the length of the word.

Main Game
The chains now consisted of seven words with the top & bottom words still given at the outset. The giver of the team in control can choose to give a letter over or under the previous word to his/her partner or the opposing guesser. Either way, the letter was revealed (unless it was the last letter, meaning that the letter would stay unrevealed) and the player in control of the mystery word had a chance to guess. A correct guess earned points and kept control, but an incorrect guess passed control to the opponents. If the team got the last word they received double value (or five points more in round one), and the chain was over.

Here are the values of points for each chain:


 * Round 1 - 10 points for the first four words, the last was worth 20 (later 15)
 * Round 2 - 20 points for the first four words, the last was worth 40
 * Round 3 - 30 points for the first four words, the last was worth 60

The second chain of the day gave one team a chance to win some bonus money. In the first season, the word in the center had a dollar sign ($) next to it (originally an asterisk (*)). The guesser who got that word right won $250 to his/her team. Later the money word was replaced with a special chain called the Missing Link chain. In the Missing Link game, the team in the lead was shown a three word chain with the first & last words still revealed at the outset. If the leading team can guess the word, using no letters, they won $500, otherwise they played for $100 less for each letter revealed.

The first team to reach 200 points or more won the game.

One-On-One Format
In 1988, teams were removed, and now only solo players competed; they now acted as both giver & guesser. Plus a fourth chain was added; each word in that chain was worth 40 points with the last word being worth 80 points. The first player to reach 300 points won the game.

But whatever the format, the winner(s) of the game earned right to complete one more chain for a cash jackpot.

Bonus Chain
In the bonus chain, the winning team/player was given the top word only followed by the initial letters of the remaining six words and a letter counter which started at seven (originally nine). On each letter, the team/player tried to guess what the word is starting with that letter and connected to the previous word. Giving the correct word moved on to the next letter, but missing the word added another letter & lowered the counter by one. Each correct answer (plus the top word) was worth $100, and completing the chain before the counter ran down to zero won a cash jackpot which started at $3,000 ($2,000 in the case of solo players) plus $1,000 for every day it's not won.

Champs could remain for five days and if it happened in the first season, the team won $5,000.

The $40,000 Chain Reaction
In the final season of the show, the game was now played in a tournament fashion, with 128 players competing. It also instituted the following changes:
 * Missing Link chains were now worth up to $300, with the first letter now given immediately. These were done after the second chain.
 * Games now played to a fifth chain worth 50 points for the first four words, and the last word worth 100 points.
 * It now took 500 points to win the game
 * There was no bonus chain

Each week, eight players competed with the winner of each group of eight winning $7,500. Sixteen $7,500 winners played a single elimination tournament with the four survivors playing the double elimination semi-finals. Then the two winners of the semi-finals went on to play a final game worth $40,000 to the winner.

Home Game
When Geoff Edwards was the host, at the end of the show, announcer Rod Chalabois (whom by that point became co-host) played the Missing Link game with Geoff. He would show the answer to the previous day's puzzle, followed a brand new puzzle. This all came about because Geoff was not Canadian. Canadian television rules clearly states that all Canadian TV shows airing in the USA must have at least one Canadian TV star in it. Hence Rod's on-camera appearances and home games.

GSN Version
This version was largely like the classic NBC version except all members of both teams were civilian contestants, and it was played in a battle of the sexes manner. Plus the game was now played for money for each correct word.

Main Game
The chain had seven words just like that USA version except they were now two-word phrases or compound words. As always, the top & bottom words were revealed, then the player on the team in control chose where to see a letter above or below the previous word and had five seconds to guess. In season one, the last letter was always revealed and if neither team guessed the word by that point, host Dylan Lane announced the word and nobody scored. Later in season two, the show followed the tradition of the previous versions and decided not to have the last letter revealed; instead a shuffling placeholder was shown to let the contestants know. A correct guess won money for that word, and completing the chain earned the right to earn more money by completing a four word chain called the Speed Chain.

In the Speed Chain, the team in control was shown the first and last words as usual, followed by the first letters of the middle two words. They had seven seconds to think it over, and at the end of that time, the team was asked for their answer. A correct completion won the value of the words in the regular chain. In each new chain, the team that's trailing or the team that didn't start the last chain in case of a tie went first.

In round one, each word and the Speed Chain was worth $100, $200 for round two, and $300 for round three.

The fourth and final chain was dubbed the Gambling Chain. So called because the teams can now bet from $100 to $500 on each turn. A correct answer added the wager, but an incorrect answer deducted the wager. If either team went broke at anytime this round, the game was immediately over, and the opposing team won.

If both teams finished with money in their bank, the team with the most money at the end of the Gambling Chain won the game. If the game ended in a tie, a series of Speed Chains were played. The teams alternated turns solving Speed Chains until one team missed. The team that missed their Speed Chain lost, and the other team won the game. The winning team kept the cash and went on to play the bonus round.

Bonus Round
The bonus round was played like the original version. For two members of the winning team were shown a series of answers. Their job was to construct questions for those answers by adding one word at a time. When they were finished, they or the third member dubbed the guesser must then signal allowing the guesser to give an answer. A word was discarded if the guesser guessed incorrectly, the questioners used more than one word at a time, said any part of the answer, conveyed the essence of the answer, or formed an unacceptable question. They also moved on to the next word, if the guesser guessed the right word or if any member of the team passed.

Season 1
The winning team gathered around host Dylan Lane's podium. A bell was placed on the podium for all three players to hit, and the guesser was blindfolded so that he/she cannot see the answers. They had 90 seconds to go through as many answers as they can. If the team can get the first seven words, they doubled their main game winnings, and getting ten answer tripled their main game winnings. Later it was changed to needing five answers to double the cash, and seven to triple it.

Season 2
The bonus was altered a bit in season two. For now the questioners stood behind two stands and facing two answer monitors (one of each for each questioner), while the guesser sat in a chair in front of his/her partners and equipped with a hand buzzer. This time the winning team had 60 seconds to get through as many answers as they can. On each answer, if the guesser felt he/she heard enough information, the guesser then buzzed in which stopped the clock briefly allowing the guesser a few seconds to answer. Each correct answer was worth $100, and getting five correct answers in 60 seconds or less won an additional $5,000.

Music
Main (1980, 1986) - "Thru Train" by Bob Cobert

This is a remix of the theme song from the series Supertrain also by Bob Cobert.

2006 - Alan Ett

Taglines
"This is Bill Cullen reminding you to keep smiling because... (Patty) Happiness... (Joyce) is... (Bill) a... (Fred) Chain... (Nipsey) Reaction!" - Bill Cullen, Patty Duke, Joyce Builifant, Fred Grandy, Nipsey Russell (1980 Premiere)

"Just come with a smile & start your own Chain Reaction." - Blake Emmons (1986)

"Thank you for watching Chain Reaction, Reaction Time, Time Flies. I'm Dylan Lane, see ya later." - Dylan Lane (2006-2008)

Links
Adam Nedeff's NBC Chain Reaction Page

Adam Nedeff's USA Chain Reaction Page

David's NBC Chain Reaction Page

Screengrabs of The New Chain Reaction

Official Site for GSN's Chain Reaction

Rules for Chain Reaction @ The Game Show Temple