Strike it Rich (2)

"(description of prizes). Welcome to the fastest high stakes game on television, the all-new STRIKE IT RICH! And, here's your host, JOE GARAGIOLA!"

This show is far different from the Strike it Rich show in the 1950s.

Premise
Two couples competed to win cash & prizes by going across their respective archways of seven television monitors.

Rules
The couple in control was given a category, along with five possible answers. The team must then decide to either answer one, two or three questions correctly. Host Garagiola then started asking those questions, and successfully completing the contract won a chance to move across their arch. One miss gave the opposing team a chance to complete the contract.

Bonus Game
At the start of the bonus game, the winning couple decided upon which grand prize to go for, either $5,000 in cash or $5,000 and a brand new car. In either case, one member of the winning team manned the top archway, while the other team member manned the bottom. On each pair of monitors, the couple chose which screen to reveal (either top or bottom). One of the monitors in that and all other pairs hid a dollar sign, while the other(s) hid the bandit (which acted as a strike). If the winning couple chose to play for $5,000, they must reveal five dollar signs and no more than two bandits, opting to go for the car & money meant having to reveal six dollar signs and only one bandit. In either case, failure to win the bonus round still gave the winning couple $100 for each dollar sign.

International Versions
A short-lived Australian version hosted by Ronnie Burns aired on the Nine Network in 1994 and like its 1986-96 UK counterpart, it was also under the name Strike It Lucky.

A short-lived French version hosted by Georges Beller aired on Antenne 2 for a brief period in 1988 under the name L'arche d'or (The Golden Ark).

Despite the show being a failure in the states, a long-running and much more successful version hosted by Michael Barrymore has aired on ITV in the U.K. originally under the name Strike It Lucky from 1986-96 then the show was renamed again as Michael Barrymore's Strike It Rich from 1996-99.

Trivia
The original name of the show was Arch Rivals; however, producer/director & former Barry & Enright director Richard S. Kline believed that it needed a better name for it to sell, hence the change to Strike it Rich (or The All-New Strike it Rich as mentioned in the opening).

To date, this was the last game show hosted by famed baseball announcer & occasional Today Show host Joe Garagiola. He hadn't hosted a game show since To Tell the Truth ended in 1978. This would also be his only game show he hosted in Los Angeles (all his other shows were taped in New York).

This was also the last show in which its music was composed by Barry & Enright music composer Hal Hidey.

According to the ads from Broadcasting Magazine and while the show was in development, the format was to have had three couples play the game just like its international counterparts. But it was changed to two before it went on the air.

When the Bandit was revealed, he usually laughed. The Bandit's laugh was the voice of baseball player Boog Powell.

Some of the sound effects from Tic Tac Dough were recycled into this show (shuffle and reveal sounds).

Tagline
"They struck it rich. I hope you strike it rich. This is Joe Garagiola saying, 'See ya next time.'" - Joe Garagiola (1986-1987)

Links
Rules for Strike it Rich

Josh Rebich's Strike it Rich Rulesheet

Flash game for Strike it Rich

YouTube Videos
Clip of the 1st Segment

End of the game, bonus round & credits

Paul & Linda
Regular & Charity Bonus Game

Paul & Linda vs. Linda & Rod