Get the Picture

''OPENING SPIEL #1: (insert rhyming phrase here) It's time! To Get the Picture! And now, here's the host of Get the Picture, a guy who (insert funny phrase here), my buddy, Mike O'Malley!''

''OPENING SPIEL #2: A picture is about to appear, right here! So get your mind into focus as (insert names) of the Orange team and (insert names) of the Yellow team get ready... to Get The Picture! And now, here's the host of Get the Picture, a guy who (insert funny phrase here), my buddy, Mike O'Malley!''

''OPENING SPIEL #2 (on some episodes): Can you see the Hidden Picture? Well, get ready to shift your mind into overdrive.''

REST OF SPIEL: Thank you Henry J! Hello everyone and welcome to Get the Picture, the game show where an Eye-for-detail can make you a winner.

REST OF SPIEL (Season 2 only sometimes): The game show where sharp kids can become very big winners in the blink of an eye.

A game show on Nickelodeon where two teams of two kids dressed in jumpsuits (one was the orange team, and the other was the yellow team ) had to identify a hidden picture on a 16 screen video wall, either by choosing panels or connecting lines around a square.

Round 1 (Connect the Dots)
Round 1 was called "Connect the Dots". In that Round, dots outlined of a Thing, Food, Animal, Person, Sport, Character, Place, People, Things, Event, Action, Game, Celebrity or Monument was shown on the 16-panel screen with only the unconnected dots, the numbers of the sections, and the category showing. The host will ask a series of questions to both teams worth $20. They can buzz-in in the middle of reading of a question, and if the team answers the question correctly, they score $20 and they get to pick a square. If incorrect, the opposing team will have a chance to answer once the host re-reads the question. The square that they chose had the dots connected, after which the team could guess the picture. A correct guess awarded the team $50, but a team lost $20 for an incorrect guess. Hidden in two of the squares were "Power Surges" which were picture guessing games worth $20, which revealed actual portions of the image; however, if the team fails, the money is awarded to the opposing team. The round continued until time was called, at which point the picture (if one was being played) would be revealed one square at a time. The first team to buzz in with the correct answer got the $50 for solving it. The teams did not lose any money if they guessed incorrectly and could guess as often as they wanted.

Round 2 (Dots)
In Round 2, which was called "Dots", The board was broken up into squares with four points on them and a new subject was revealed. The Puzzle was hidden behind the "Get the Picture" Logo. The host reads a series of questions with multiple answers (2, 3, or 4 answers), and any team that gave all answers earned $40. If a team missed any part of the answer, the opposing team could give the remaining answers and steal the money once the host re-reads the question. The team that earned the money selected two dots to connect for every answer the question had. If the lines made formed a box, that portion of the picture was revealed. In this round, correctly guessing the picture scored $75, while incorrect guesses still cost $20. There was one "Power Surge" hidden on the board in season 1; however it was now a physical activity. Completing a Power Surge in this round earned the team $40, however, failure awards the other team $40. Again, if time was running short the puzzle in play would be revealed one square at a time until someone guessed correctly for $75. After time ran out, the team with the most money won the game; if the game ended in a tie, one final picture was played under the same speed-up round perimeters with the first team to guess it right earning the extra $75 and the game. The winning team advanced to the "Mega Memory" bonus round.

Knowledge activities

 * Airport Security: The team would be shown some items as if they were being put through an airport security X-ray machine, and would have 30 seconds to identify certain items that passed through based on what the objective was.
 * Slap Happy: A picture would slowly be revealed on the screen through hands "slapping" it onto the screen. The team had to identify a certain amount in the time allotted.
 * Rebus Mania: The team would be shown a rebus and would have 30 seconds to solve it. Such rebuses include "Super Mario Bros." and "Homer and Marge Simpson".
 * What's In Common?: Four pictures were shown similar to a rebus, and the team had 30 seconds to identify what they had in common.
 * It's Raining Pictures: Like it's raining, a picture square was revealed one square down; the team had 30 seconds to identify five pictures.
 * Follow that Rhyme: Like Simon, three pictures shown, one at a time, a picture will reveal, and then they have to repeat what they've seen until they either go out of sequence or get eight times in a row. There was no time limit in this game.
 * Clue Me In: As in Pyramid and Password, one member gave a clue for the other to guess. The team had 30 seconds to identify three items.
 * Find the Chiphead: Played like Where's Waldo, the team was shown a picture. Using a telestrator called the "Videowriter", the team had to circle eight people with chip-type heads in 30 seconds.
 * Down in Front: People danced in front of a music video, and slowly danced away from it. The team had to identify the performer(s) in the video in 20 seconds.
 * Data Distortion: Pictures twisted and distorted images. The team had to identify five within 30 seconds.
 * Draw It: One contestant drew a picture on the Videowriter, while their teammate remained at the podium and tried to guess what was being drawn.
 * Don't Be So Negative: The team was shown negatives of celebrities, and had to guess who the celebrities were.
 * Rear Window: Contestants looked out the rear-window of moving binoculars.
 * Mike's Photo Album: Players tried to guess what was the area in the picture behind the things that were blocking it.
 * Matchmaker: Contestants had to match 16 pictures in 45 seconds.
 * Mike's Maze: Using the Videowriter, contestants had 45 seconds to navigate through a maze.
 * Seeing Double: Contestants were shown eight pairs of an image, with each pair slightly altered, and had 45 seconds to match all the pairs.
 * Off the Chart: Similar to "It's Raining Pictures", except the pictures were revealed in columns.
 * Kiss my Picture: Lips would kiss the image, each lip revealing a portion of the image. Teams had to guess five pictures correctly.
 * Splatter it On: Portions of the picture were "splattered" onto the screen. Teams had to guess four pictures correctly.
 * Scrambled Pictures: A picture was out of place, and the team had to identify the photo in 15 seconds.
 * Extreme Close-Up: A camera would show an object very close-up and slowly zoom out to show the entire item.
 * Computer Printout: A picture was shown by "printing" (beginning in top like a computer).
 * You Can Count On It: A math problem was shown. Using the Videowriter, the team had to solve the problem in 15 seconds.
 * Word Up: A crossword puzzle appeared on the Videowriter. One contestant circled as many words as they could in 30 seconds while the teammate helped find words. When time ran out, they took a guess as to what theme the words fit.
 * Mike's Makeover: A picture of Mike appears on the Videowriter. The team had to draw what was the clue on the card on the picture.
 * Filler-Up Irregular: A video of an object being covered in a substance was shown in reverse. Contestants had 15 seconds to identify the object.
 * Digitized Display: Pixelated pictures would slowly come into focus, and contestants had to identify five in 30 seconds.
 * Buried with the Mummy: Players had to guess what was the object behind the wallpaper that was covering the object.

Physical activities
All physical Power Surges, except one, involved players trying to earn pieces of a picture on a 3x3 grid. After the team completed the Power Surge, they were given one chance to guess what the picture was for $40; failure to do so earned $40 for the opposing team. The games continued until all nine numbers were revealed, time ran out, or a team ran out of objects. The physical surges were discontinued after season one.


 * Toss Across: Played similar to the Tyco game of the same name. The team playing had 30 seconds to toss computer chips in an attempt to flip over the game pieces. The pieces were three-sided and had numbers, punctuation marks, and the Get the Picture logo on them, with the object being to reveal the numbers.
 * Ring Toss for Pieces: Same idea as "Toss Across", with the exception of the contestant having to throw rings over spots on a computer motherboard. The spots were not all in order, however.
 * Putting for Pieces: Similar to golf, with nine holes to putt into.
 * Shuffling for Pieces: Similar to shuffleboard, with the exception of contestants shuffling large floppy disks, trying to get the center of the disk onto designated spots, in numerical order from top to bottom.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle: The contestants had 45 seconds to put a jigsaw puzzle together, retrieving the pieces from a podium and placing them on a giant jigsaw puzzle board. When time ran out, or if the puzzle had been completed, the contestants had to guess what the picture formed by the puzzle was.

Bonus Round (Mega Memory)
Nine numbered pictures were shown to the team for ten seconds, then concealed. The team stood in front of a large keypad numbered 1 through 9, each button corresponding to one of the pictures. O'Malley read a clue corresponding to one of the nine hidden pictures. Taking turns, the contestants pressed the number of the matching picture. For each correct answer within 45 seconds, the team won cash or a prize. The team won $100 (given to each player) a picture for identifying the first six; two prizes of increasing value for the next two, and a trip for all nine. They did occasionally deviate from offering a trip as the grand prize -- merchandise prizes such as a new computer, a new TV/VCR combo, or a camcorder were sometimes seen.

Season 2 Changes

 * Contestants now wore nametags.
 * The contestant podium replaced its computer-keyboard buzzers with blue plunger buzzers.
 * The teams played for points, all numerical values remained the same.
 * The game started out with an opening picture revealed one square at a time with a correct guess earning 20 points.
 * The time limit in Mega Memory decreased to 35 seconds.
 * Winning teams split $100 for each of the first six Mega Memory pictures identified.

Music
by Dan Vitco

Inventor
Marjorie Cohn

Links
Jay Anton's Rules for Get the Picture

Get the Picture Rules @ Loogslair.net