Child's Play

'82 Pilot Intro (Bob Hilton): ''This is Justin, age 7; This is Elizabeth, age 7; This is Marcus, age 6; And this is Kate, age 6. These children and others like them will try to make you understand what they're talking about on Child's Play. And here's the host of Child's Play, Bill Cullen.''

1st Intro (Bonus Round Format 1): ''This is (insert children and ages). These children and others like them will try to make you understand what they're talking about on Child's Play. And here's the host of Child's Play, Bill Cullen.''

2nd Intro (Bonus Round Format 2): ''Child: My name is (insert name). I'm in the (insert school grade) and I'm from (insert state). Announcer: You will meet (insert child's name) and these other children today as we play the game of kids and definitions, Child's Play. And here's the star of Child's Play, Bill Cullen.''

Two players watch video clips of children trying to describe a word and then the players have to guess what it is for points.

Round 1
In the first round, a word was given to the viewers at home, and a video clip of a child defining that word was played. Any words that were too incriminating or the answer itself were censored.

Once the clip ended, the contestant had a chance to guess the word; a correct response earned one point. If he/she was incorrect, his/her opponent viewed a clip of another child defining the same word. If the opponent was wrong, control passed back to the first contestant, who saw one final clip (usually of a younger child, and the answer usually not that hard to guess by this point). If he/she was still wrong, Cullen announced the correct answer and no points were awarded.

The first round continued, with the players alternating control on words (originally the winner of the previous word played first on each new word), until the second commercial break.

Fast Play - Round 2
The second round was known as the "Fast Play" round. Both contestants were given the opportunity to guess what word the child was defining by hitting a buzzer to interrupt the video clip and guess the word. If the contestant was correct, he/she received two points; if incorrect, the rest of the clip was played and the opponent was given a chance to guess.

In the first week, correct answers in "Fast Play" were still worth one point. After the school bell rang the first time, correct answers were worth double, or two points. Also, upon stealing, the stealer would see the whole clip rather than start from where it left off. This rule was discontinued in favor of the rules above.

When the school bell rang, the game was over and whoever was ahead in score was the winner. If there was a tie at the end of the game, a tie-breaking word would be played. If a contestant buzzed in with the right word, he/she won the game; if he/she buzzed in and gave a wrong answer, his/her opponent won.

Pilot
The main game was the same except with these following differences:


 * The bullseye in front of a player indicated that the player had only one guess at the word, and the player with two guesses was equipped with two candy sticks. The player with the bullseye had the advantage of deciding to take guess after hearing the definition or pass the guess to his/her opponent.
 * Four definitions were played instead of three in the series, and on the fourth & final definition, Bill gave the first letter of the word, and the definition became a toss-up for both players.
 * The first round played until one player reached three points; at which point the game shifted into the Fast Play round played under the same perimeters minus the two point score.
 * The first player to score six points won the game.

The winner of the game won $500 and the right to play the bonus round.

Bonus Round
The bonus went through two formats in its season long run, but they both have the same time limit of 45 seconds and the same payoff of $5,000.

Triple Play/The A-B-C Game - Format 1
The winning contestant had 45 seconds (60 in the pilot) to guess six words correctly. Each word had three written definitions by three different children ("Child A," "Child B," and "Child C"). The contestant must choose one of the three children, and after seeing the definition, supply a guess or chose another child. If, after seeing all three definitions, the contestant cannot identify the word, he/she must say "pass" to move on to another word.

Each correct guess was worth $100, while getting six before time expired won $5,000.

Turnabout - Format 2
The second bonus game format was instituted in spring of 1983. Similar to the main game from Pyramid, Five children who regularly appeared in the film clips were brought into the studio, and the contestant had to describe seven words to the children within the 45 second time limit. The contestant won $100 for each word that a child guessed correctly and the children won the same amount collectively. Getting all seven words won $5,000 and the children won $1,000 collectively. As in the previous bonus round format, the contestant can pass a word and come back to it if time permits; however, if the contestant gave an illegal clue (such as giving away the word), he/she lost the chance at the $5,000.

Champions returned until they were defeated, had been on the show for 5 days, or exceeded the CBS winnings limit (at the time) of $25,000. Theoretically, a championship player can win no more than $27,500.

Music
Score Productions

Inventor
Mark Goodson

Spin-Offs
Dame la Pista - A short-lived Spanish language version aired in 2008.

International Versions
Here are a list of countries that did their version of Child's Play:

Australia

Germany - Dingsda

Greece - Children Play

Indonesia - Kata Si Kecil

Mexico - Dame la Pista

Netherlands - 't Is Kinderspel/Dinges

Russia - Mouths of Babes

Spain - Jeugo de ninos

United Kingdom

Trivia
This was the first Goodson-Todman show in which Mark Goodson produced the show solo. His partner, Bill Todman, passed away three years before.

The following Monday after the cancellation of Child's Play, Press Your Luck with Peter Tomarken took its time slot.

Cancelled Game Version
A video game originally going to be released for the Atari 2600 by The Great Game Company in 1983, but due to The North American Video Game Crash of '83 plans for it was scrapped and it has never been made, nor released at the time.

Before They Were Stars
Lori Beth Denberg starred in one of the episodes in Child's Play long before her days at Nickelodeon.

Other stars before they were famous are:

Breckin Meyer

Tara Reid

Devin Ratray

Jeff B. Cohen (once called Jeff McMahon)

Michael Marona

Anne-Marie Johnson

Sounds
The buzz-in sound is the same sound from Family Feud.

The wrong answer buzzer was used when time ran out to answer a question on Child's Play’s replacement, Press Your Luck.

The correct answer bell is the same one used on The Price is Right and was also used to signal spins being added to contestants' scores on the aforementioned Press Your Luck.

Tagline
“If you like kids, you’ll love Child’s Play. We’ll see ya. Bye-bye!” - Bill Cullen

Links
Child's Play @ Game Show Utopia

Rules for Child's Play @ Loogslair.net

Josh Rebich's Child's Play Rule Sheet

Official Pearson site for Child's Play (via Internet Archive)