Fandango

"Today three lucky people are going to match wits on the all new game show that's all about country music and country stars. Come on along with us now and join the fun! It's time to play, FANDANGO! And now, here's our host of Fandango, Bill Anderson!"

TNN-The Nashville Network's very first game show that tested contestants of their knowledge of country music.

Main Game
Three contestants answer country music questions to win prizes.

Round One
1983 - Anderson would ask a toss-up question to all three players worth 10 points. Whoever buzzed-in with the right answer would wager any or all of his/her score and choose one of nine categories. The center category was always the "Star of the Day" (Mystery Category on celebrity games). A correct answer would add the wager to his/her score and a wrong answer would deduct it. Later in the run, a "Secret Square" was shown to the home audience, and if chosen would double the wager for a correct answer. This continues until time expires or until all nine categories are used.

From time to time, Edgar the Talking Jukebox would tell a bad joke which is actually a lead-in to the description of a prize which is what the next toss-up question would be worth. A correct answer to that question won that bonus prize for the contestant.

Round Two
1983 - Played identical to round 1, but toss-ups were worth 20 points.

1987 - Played identical to round 1, but all point values are now doubled. Toss-ups were worth 20 points and the bonus questions were worth anywhere from 40-200 points.

The Final Question (Both Rounds)
Each round would end with one final question. Originally, it was played for 50 points in both rounds, and all three players would answer by writing their response on a card.

Starting in 1987, if the difference was less than 200 points between two or all three players, the final question was worth +/- 100 points. If a player lead by more than 200 points, then there was no final question, since the difference wasn't enough to catch the leader.

The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner, wins a prize & goes on to the bonus round.

The Bonus Round ("Meet The Stars")
"Meet The Stars" was the bonus round where the champion tried to predict what answer a celebrity would give in a pre-taped interview. In 1983, it was the "Star of the Day", but starting in 1987, four different celebrities were shown. The host would read a question with two possible answers. The contestant would guess what answer the celebrity gave. ("What song is requested most by your fans?") If the contestant is correct, he/she wins a prize. A contestant may elect to stop and take any prizes won, or can continue to play. If a contestant is incorrect, all of the prizes are lost. If the contestant can correctly answer all four questions, he/she would win the grand prize of a vacation.

Beginning in 1987, the champion would choose the first three prizes by choosing among eight numbers on the board. If a contestant answered the first three questions correctly, hostess Blake Pickett would bring out a set of eight envelopes which had the names of the grand prizes on offer that week. Those grand prizes included cars, a boat, a fur coat, and vacations. The player then chose an envelope, and could then go for the grand prize, or trade in the envelope and choose another prize from the board without having to answer another question and end the game. If the player answered correctly, he/she would win the grand prize and retire undefeated. If a contestant won five consecutive days, he/she was automatically awarded the grand prize regardless of the outcome of the bonus round.

If the contestant failed to match the first answer, then the contestant has the opportunity to have another chance at matching another celebrity at winning the first prize.

Celebrity Bonus Round
On celebrity games, the bonus round was called "Meet the Fans" where the winning celebrity would predict how a former contestant answered three questions. Each correct answer won the contestant a prize. There was no option to stop or play since the contestant kept all the prizes win or lose.

Inventors
Allan Reid & Elmer Alley

Links
Rules for Fandango

YouTube Videos
Celebrity Fandango

Contestant Joe Richard

First 8 minutes of a 1988 show