User:Daniel Benfield/Now You See It Video Archive

Now You See It was a great franchise that didn't get much traction in the States, but did pretty well for itself elsewhere.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1974-75/1981-95/1998-2002/2012-13 Goodson-Todman Productions/Fremantle and associated entities.

Original Series (1974-75)
CBS Daytime: April 1, 1974 - May 13, 1975 (308 episodes, taped March 1974 - May 1975 at Television City)

The original series was hosted by Jack Narz, with a pretty good set and the wonderful "Chump Change" as the theme.

The Solo Round started at $5,000 and increased by $1,000 per playing, with a maximum of $25,000.

While it's a good show, the scoring system is the biggest issue here, since it awards points based on where the word's located on the board. I also have no idea why winning the Solo Round immediately retires you regardless of whether you passed CBS' $25,000 limit.


 * 1974 (Promo showing an intro with six players, three on each set of stairs; my best guess is that this is from the pilot, taped 10/73)

Five-Player Format
Episode #101 added a small wrinkle to the game: at the beginning of each half of the Elimination Round, as well as the beginning of the Finals, the players each wrote down one word from the board. That player or team got an extra 10 points if they correctly answered a question with one of their "bonus words"; the players had to reveal their bonus words once they were found, and couldn't come back to it afterward.


 * April 1, 1974 (Premiere: Tony & Ilsa vs. Lannie & Bert {Designated Champ: Linda; Solo Round is at $5,000}; taped from GSN)
 * [Has a large sign over the set and a different Round 3, both of which were gone the next day.]


 * 1974 (Valerie & Don vs. Betty & Suzanne {Champ: Barbara}, with the Solo Round at $14,000; taped from GSN)
 * [Still has the "slow" intro.]

Three-Player Format
On December 23, 1974, the format became a bit more streamlined with less players (three): the two challengers played a Qualifying Game to determine who would face the returning champ in the Championship Game, with the winner of that playing the Solo Round. This also allowed for straddling.


 * June 13, 1975 (Finale: Begins with Pat {Champ - $600} vs. Art at Championship Round; taped from GSN, begins during intro)

"Now You Pyramid It" (1985)
Unsold Pilots: Taped October 19, 1985 (at least 2 episodes)

Hosted by Jack Clark, with a two-on-two format. Round 1 smacks pretty hard of Pyramid, to the point where someone long ago gave it the above title (although I've been unable to pinpoint the source), while Round 2 is pretty standard Now You See It fare. The Solo Round is played for $5,000 if you make it there once, and a total of $10,000 if you make it there twice in one show.

The only things that really carried over into the eventual '89 series were the intro and the lack of the "Letter...letter...letter..." portion of the game.


 * Taped 10/19/85 (Pilot #2: Laurel & Alysen vs. Ronata & Tony; has slate, no video from end of Game 2 through first part of second Solo Round)
 * [Tony was later on Card Sharks (1986), in the same colorful sweater.]

The Revival (1989)
CBS Daytime: April 3 - July 14, 1989 (75 episodes, taped March-July at Television City)

Revamped the audiovisuals for the late 1980s, looking pretty cool in the process, although it kept "Chump Change" as the theme because it's awesome. The biggest change was to the format, which no longer had the numbered columns of the Narz and Clark formats nor the admittedly-clunky scoring of the 1970s run.

The host was Chuck Henry, who had previously done the 1975 pilots of Beat the Odds but otherwise had stuck to doing news reports. To be honest, he's not bad here. The Solo Round here started at $5,000 and increased by that much per day until won, and apparently had a maximum of $100,000.

GSN has never aired this version, at Henry's request, as he doesn't want it to damage his journalistic credibility. Keep in mind that this is the guy who later had to be rescued while reporting on a forest fire, and honestly I think this falls a bit flat.

Sometime between April 10 and May 1, original announcer Mark Driscoll was replaced by Don Morrow.

Misc./Uncertain placement
 * March 31, 1989 (Debut promo, from the Card Sharks finale; taped from WHLT)


 * 1989 (Michael {back due to an error} vs. Laureen; taped from WDEF, ends during Round 1)
 * [Don Morrow announces. Chuck notes that there was a technical problem during Michael's previous appearance.]
 * 1989 (Solo Round with Amanda going for $25,000!)

Mark Driscoll announces
 * April 3, 1989 (Premiere: Joanne vs. Jeff, with designated champ Ken and the Solo Round at $5,000 {Parts 3, 4, and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQyDNz0x4fA 5}; taped from WOWK)
 * April 5, 1989 (#3: Begins with Joanna vs. John; buzzy audio {alternate copy, slightly shorter})
 * April 6, 1989 (#4: Begins with Jim vs. Joyce; taped from KCBS)


 * April 10, 1989 (#6: Begins with Dorothy vs. TONY RITANO)
 * [Tony was also on The $50,000 Pyramid (1981), Scrabble, The Last Word (1989 pilot), and Gambit (1990 pilot), among other shows. Mark Driscoll is still announcer.]

Don Morrow becomes announcer

May
 * May 1, 1989 (#21: Lois vs. Nancy, with returning champ ALAN CEVEDNIK! {$13,100} and the Solo Round at $5,000; taped from WTOL with commercials and great quality!)
 * [Alan was also a big winner on the syndicated Sale of the Century (late 1985, Winner's Board).]


 * May 16, 1989 (#32: Begins with Patty vs. Dave, with the Solo Round at $25,000; last two segments only, weather crawl at bottom of screen from Ticket Plug through part of sponsor list)


 * May 22-26, 1989 (Promo for the "Battle of the Daytime Soaps", airing next week; "shaky-cam" upload)
 * [For this special week, two Qualifying Games are done, each with a 500-point goal. One player from each winning team then plays the Championship Game for the right to play the Solo Round for $5,000.]

June
 * June 1, 1989 (#44/Battle of the Daytime Soaps, Day 4: The Bold & The Beautiful {Joanna Johnson & Jeff Conaway} vs. General Hospital {Jackie Zeman & Corey Young}, then The Young & The Restless {Melody Thomas Scott & Nina Arvesen} vs. Days of Our Lives {Peggy McKay & James Hampton}; fee plugs missing, but otherwise really good quality {alternate copy, has fee plugs but video is a bit fuzzy})


 * June 6?, 1989 (#47?: Jim vs. PAUL ROUFFA, with returning champ Brad {$3,900} and the Solo Game at $50,000; taped from WAFB, pretty low audio, video issues at times, ends shortly after Solo Round result {alternate copy of some portions including the full last two segments, in great quality})
 * [Paul was also on Jeopardy! (1986), Scrabble (December 1987), Super Jeopardy! (1990), and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (April 13, 2015).]
 * [Promos at end of alt copy are for Wednesday's Jake and the Fatman (a lawyer frames him and then defends his ex-wife in a case of murder; Robert Culp guests) and Wiseguy (a high-stakes sting is threatened, and a life hangs in the balance; Jerry Lewis guests). I think the former is "The Man That Got Away" (10/13/87), whereas the latter had Lewis in the arc that spanned from 12/88-1/89 ("7th Avenue Freeze Out", "Next of Kin", "All or Nothing", "Where's the Money?", and "Postcard from Morocco"). Both shows ended their seasons on 5/31/89.]

July
 * July 11, 1989 (#72: Andrea vs. Scott {back due to an error}, with returning champ Deborah {Day 3 - $3,700} and the Solo Round at $20,000 {taped 6/89}; audio kinda sucks for most of the show)
 * July 12, 1989 (#73: Begins with Shannon vs. Jack {taped 6/89})
 * July 13, 1989 (#74: Begins with Melanie vs. Dale {taped 6/89}; first two seconds or so missing)
 * July 14, 1989 (Finale: Joann vs. Carol, with designated champ La Rue, quite a bit of weirdness, and Chuck being pissed about the show’s demise! {taped 6/89}; begins just into intro {"Can you find it?"})

International Versions
As I said, while Now You See It didn't really find much success in the States, it did elsewhere.

United Kingdom (1981-86/1993/1994-95)
STV for ITV: January 5, 1981 - July 27, 1986 (12 series)

The original run used the alternate American theme, with a pretty similar intro. The biggest difference, at least in 1982, was that the game started with four players who did the traditional "lines and positions" round; low scorer was eliminated, after which the three remaining played the Line Game. The two surviving from there played the Championship Game to determine who would get £400 (the loser got £100).

Jack McLaughlin took over as host on January 2, 1985.

Johnny Beattie (January 5, 1981-October 11, 1984)
 * 1982 (Donnie/Claire/Albert/Avreil; has commercials, "shaky-cam" upload)

STV for ITV: 1993

A brief set of celebrity specials as part of Weymyss Bay 902101, hosted by Grant Stott. As far as I know, nothing seems to be online of this version.

STV for ITV: July 11, 1994 - August, 1995 (39? episodes)

A version for children, hosted by Fred MacAulay.

Australia (1985-93/1998-2002)
Seven Network: 1985 - 1993

A children's version with the alternate theme and a futuristic feel to things...although "Melvin" and the (what I'm pretty sure is canned) audience are freaking annoying. Sofie Formica hosted from 1991-93.

Mike Meade and "Melvin" (1985-90)
 * Taped 8/7/85 (#132/85: Bryan vs. Murray, then Karen vs. Maria {Part 3, Part 4}; studio master with slate and countdown clocks, video is a bit bright)


 * 1985 (Lara vs. ?, then Mark vs. Scott; begins at second Line Game, ends during credits)
 * 1985 (Friday Finals: Scott vs. Megan, then David vs. ?; begins during intro, second Line Game and first half of Championship Game missing, ends after Championship Game segment)

Set redone a bit; letter graphics become tall and thin, now generally resembling the American boards
 * 1990 (Melissa vs. ?, then Matthew vs. Adam {Part 2}; begins at second Line Game, last part of said segment missing, ends after Championship Game)
 * [One consolation prize is a poster and soundtrack recording from "the hit Aussie movie" What the Moon Saw (released 12/90).]

Nine Network: 1998 - 2000

A revamp hosted by Scott MacRae, with the game played for points because since when would kids want to play for cash? (Seriously, just because it's a game show for kids doesn't mean you have to automatically take cash out of the equation.)


 * 1999 (Carly vs. Chris, then Symonne vs. Samantha; 2000 repeat)

''Nine Network: August? 2000 - 2002''

Retooled for a new millennium as Download, with the audience constantly screaming (although that may be sweetened) and the replacement of the announcer with some talking cyber-lady head named "Ms. Bytes" (played by Angela Walsh) whose movements are pretty stilted.

Honestly, they probably should've left Now You See It alone, because they tweaked it so much there's almost nothing left of the classic format!

MacRae originally stayed over from NYSI, but was replaced by Nathan Lloyd in 2001, who in turn was replaced by Emily Jade O'Keefe in 2002.

Scott MacRae (2000-01)
 * 2000 (Ashleigh vs. Vanessa, then Saad vs. Matthew {taped 1999}; begins at first Small Screen game)
 * [Closing voiceover is a plug for that night's Sale of the (New) Century, noting last night's show and that tonight "" will be celebrating her 100th birthday.]

Indonesia (2012-13)
Kompas TV, Daily: June 4, 2012 - September 27, 2013 (340 episodes)

Temukan Kata, "a word game where every answer to every question is right before your eyes". Nico Siahaan hosted the first ~130 episodes (see below), with Irgi Fahrezi taking over for the rest of the run.

The show has an official YouTube channel here, although their uploads only go up through #263 and there seem to be a bunch of missing episodes. The uploads also suggest Fahrezi took over on #120 or #121.

Also, the buzz-in sound effect is really obnoxious.

Nico Siahaan (June 4-November 30, 2012)

Irgi Fahrezi (December 9, 2012-September 27, 2013)