Play the Percentages

The Barry & Enright game show in which contestants answered question which were previously asked hundreds of people.

Premise
This game was based on the percentage of hundreds of people who got the questions right & wrong. It had many different versions during it's nine month run.

Format #1
Two married couples played the game. Two players from each team and of the same sex (women vs. women & men vs. men) listened to a question posed by host Edwards. They each estimated what percentage of the 300 people polled got the question right. If their answers matched, their percentage answers were erased and then they must answer again. The player closest to the actual answer higher or lower earned the actual percentage as points. Then the player with the closest percentage, can decide to either answer the question himself/herself or challenge his/her opponent(s). A correct answer scored the remaining percentage points, but an incorrect answer from the first player gave the opposing team a chance to answer. Upon a challenge, if the challenged player was right, he/she took the points; but if the challenged player was wrong, then the challenger won the points plus a chance to add more points by answering the question himself/herself with no penalty for a wrong answer.

The first couple to score 300 points or hit the actual percentage on the nose won the game. Later on any team who hit the actual percentage exactly on the nose not only won the game, but also won an increasing jackpot which started at $10,000 and grew by $1,000 for every game it's not won.

Format #2
Married couples were eliminated in favor of having two solo contestants. Each game in this format has three categories, the first two were category preferences of the two competing players, while the last one being the "Potluck" category. The game was played in up to five rounds. In each round, lights of the categories flashed and whatever the light stopped at, that's the category that will be played in that round. Each player had a turn in answering the question first and on each question, the player in control selected a point value from 10 points to 90 points; the higher the point value, the harder the question; the difficulty each question was determined by the percentage of people who missed the question. A correct answer added points to the player's score, but an incorrect answer gave the opposing player a chance to answer. If the light landed on "Potluck", the two questions in that round were toss-ups in which the first player to buzz-in with the correct answer earning the points. In the final weeks of the show, all questions were toss-ups no matter what category it was. The first player to reach 250 points won the game; if neither player reached 250 after the fifth round, one final toss-up was played. The winner of the game won $500 and went on to the bonus game.

Format #1
In this bonus, host Edwards read questions previously answered by 100 people. Each question has three possible answers. Two of them were mentioned by the people polled (one of them being the most popular answer, and the other had a lesser score), but one wasn't and that scored zero, and of course one of them was the correct answer which may or may not be scored. The winning couple took turns answering each question, and their job was to choose an answer that was mentioned by the people polled. Doing so earned points percentage points attached to that answer, but choosing the one that scored zero ended the bonus game. After each successful question, the winning couple can decide to stop and collect $10 for every point made in the bonus (ex: 55 X 10 = $550). If the winning couple can reach 100 points or more, they win $2,500.

Version 1.0
To start, the winning couple selected a jackpot target percentage which can be any number besides zero. If at anytime the winning couple chose an answer that matched the jackpot percentage, they win an increasing jackpot which started at $25,000 and grew by $1,000 for every bonus game it's not won.

Version 1.1
The jackpot target percentage was dropped when the red circle readouts that house the percentage numbers in the giant percent sign below the podiums went on the fritz. Other than that, the bonus remained the same, but the jackpot carried over into the main game. Plus, the winning couple can now earn more points by choosing the other answer that did score.

Format #2
In this bonus, only one question was asked with six possible answers. Five of them were said by the 100 people surveyed and one was not and that scored zero. The winning couple picked off answers one at a time, and each answer that was mentioned in the survey won $10 a percentage point. Getting all five correct answers won $1,000 in cash & a prize package worth $2,500 or more. But picking the answer that got no response at all lost the money, which was why the couple always had the option to stop after each correct answer.

This bonus was carried over into the solo player format. The winning player can call for somebody from the audience for moral support, but only that contestant is free to answer.

Champions stayed on the show until defeated. Just like many Barry & Enright game shows, five time champions who a new car.

Trivia
During the 2nd main game format, host Geoff Edwards made a funny rapport with the show's judge Eric Warner, whom Edwards named him "Judge Von Erik".

The buzzer sound heard during the 2nd main game format would later find its way to the Barry & Enright hit Tic Tac Dough with the return of the Jump-In categories and red buttons on the podium.

The show's theme music was later reused on Nipsey Russell's Juvenile Jury.

Tagline
"Until next time, this is Geoff Edwards hoping the percentages are always in your favor." - Geoff Edwards (1980)

Links
Rules for Play the Percentages @ Loogslair.net The Play the Percentages Page @ gameshowutopia.net Matt Kaiser's Play the Percentages Page Screengrabs of Play the Percentages

YouTube Videos
This is a montage of exciting & humorous moments of Play the Percentages.

Part #1 Part #2 Part #3 Part #4