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/FremantleMedia 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
Beginning on April 15 (#11), a prize package was awarded for winning the Semi-Finals. During the third week only, it took five points to win the Semi-Finals, which became permanent in the second format.

Sometime between May 6 and 15, the Semi-Finals underwent a small visual change: namely, a rainbow border was added around the line display. Sometime between June 18 and July 3, the intro was sped up a bit, most noticeably when Johnny Olson says the show's title.

Beginning around August 19 (Episode #101), a small wrinkle was added: at the beginning of each half of the Elimination Round and the start 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.

On a side note, one intro board used regularly during the series contained references to various other Goodson-Todman game shows. Interestingly, one word in the bottom-right corner of this board was "Web", possibly a nod to the company's anthology series The Web (1950-54 on CBS, 1957 on NBC).


 * April 1, 1974 (Premiere: Tony & Ilsa vs. Lannie & Bert, with designated champ Linda and the Solo Round at $5,000 {taped 3/74}; taped from GSN)

"$5000" sign and Round 3 "lockout" element dropped (began 4/2/74)
 * April 2, 1974 (#2: Begins with Steve & Lynn vs. Pat & Ron; Buzzr broadcast, with promos!)

Prize package awarded for winning the Semi-Finals (began 4/15/74); alternate theme sometimes replaces "Chump Change" for some parts of the show (began by 5/1/74)
 * May 2, 1974 (#24: Brenda & Julie vs. Tish & John, with returning champ Julie {Day 2 - $800} and the Solo Round at $8,000 {taped 4/74}; taped from GSN {alternate copy... thing})
 * [First question is "What popular actor has just won an Oscar?" The answer is (Jack) LEMMON, who won Best Actor at the 46th Academy Awards (aired 4/2/74).]
 * May 3, 1974 (#25: Begins with Laurie & Talli vs. Judy & Catherine; taped from GSN)
 * [Has the "G-T shows" intro board.]

Rainbow border added in Semi-Finals (began sometime between 5/6 and 15/74)
 * June 3, 1974 (#46: Maryann & Ron vs. Barbara & Lynn, with returning champ Adrienne {Day 6 - $3,400} and the Solo Round at $13,000 {Part 3}; taped from GSN, with {and here's something I don't say often} a wonderful promo during the credit crunch)
 * [Jack interviews the players before the second half of the Elimination Game.]
 * June 4, 1974 (#47: Begins with Valerie & Don vs. Betty & Suzanne; taped from GSN)
 * [Don notes that he's a third-year Law student at UCLA and will be graduating "this year".]
 * June 5, 1974 (#48: Begins with Sioux & Lee vs. Jane & Patricia; taped from GSN, video issues from 11:50-12:25)
 * [Patricia will be graduating "this June". Oops. :P]
 * June 6, 1974 (#49: Begins with Rita & Linda vs. Kathleen & Ben; taped from GSN)
 * [Kathleen is expecting her baby "in October".]
 * June 7, 1974 (#50: Begins with Christine & Kathy vs. Doris & Ruth; taped from GSN, video issues for first ten seconds)


 * June 18, 1974 (#57: Lisa & Mary vs. Morlene & Carlyn, with returning champ Susan {Day 2 - $800} and the Solo Round at $11,000 {Part 3}; taped from GSN)
 * [Still has the "slow" intro.]

Intro sped up (began by 7/3/74); Bonus Words added (began around 8/19/74)
 * October 1974 (Linda & Christine vs. Jeanette & Vicki, with returning champ Shelley {$1,900} and the Solo Round at $16,000; taped from GSN, begins during intro)
 * [Has the "G-T shows" intro board. Uses the 10-point bonus word.]


 * September-December 1974 (Promo for NYSI, alongside ones for The Joker's Wild, Match Game '74, Gambit, The Price Is Right, and Tattletales; purple-tinted video)
 * [The Joker clips are of a Senior Citizens week, specifically the 10/1/74 show (#507, taped 9/19/74). The NYSI clips are of the five-player format, which changed to the three-player style on 12/23/74.]
 * [Oddly, the promos aren't entirely arranged as the shows were on the lineup – the order was actually Joker-Gambit-NYSI (morning)/Price-Match-Tattle (afternoon), with no changes during the above timeframe.]

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.

1974
 * Taped 1974 (Test Episode #3: Susan {$1,000} at Solo Round, then Gordon vs. Helen with Donna and Diane playing later {Solo Round starts at $14,000}; Buzzr broadcast with promos, video glitches at a couple of points during the first five minutes)
 * [The last of three test shows that were done to try out the straddling format the show eventually used. All three shows also tried different rules for the Bonus Word, but in the end they just opted to throw the element out upon the format change.]

1975
 * 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, the lack of the "Letter...letter...letter..." portion of the game, and the removal of the column numbers.


 * 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 admittedly-clunky scoring of the 1970s run or the numbered lines. The lack of on-set score displays kinda hurts it, though.

The host was Chuck Henry, who had previously done the 1975 pilots of Beat the Odds but from what I can tell 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; unlike the Narz era, players could now win multiple jackpots, with a five-day limit in place.

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 years 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. Per Don, a former Sale of the Century staff member had been hired for this show and put in a good word for him.

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


 * 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 {taped 3/89}; buzzy audio {alternate copy, slightly shorter})
 * April 6, 1989 (#4: Begins with Jim vs. Joyce {taped 3/89}; 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 (began by 5/1/89)

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, montage including intro and last two segments)
 * [Paul was also on Jeopardy! (1986), Scrabble (12/87), Super Jeopardy! (1990), and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (4/13/15).]
 * [Promos at the end 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.]

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 with pretty much the same format as the 1985-93 Aussie version (see below), although the Solo Game is a bit easier (you only need to get 7 out of 10). This said, the music is the same bland piece played repeatedly, Fred MacAulay is kinda stiff as host, the sound effects are obnoxious, and the Solo Round timer just being a bar is kinda crap since you can't really tell how much time you have left.


 * July 1994 (#3: Euan vs. John, then Jill vs. Leigh)
 * July-August 1994 (#4: Kenneth vs. Robbie, then Lyndsay vs. Daisy)
 * July-August 1994 (#5: Natalie vs. Rachel, then Kevin vs. James)
 * July-August 1994 (#6: Calum vs. Andrew, then Lindsey vs. Lorna)
 * July-August 1994 (#7: Pauline vs. Verity, then Andrew vs. Paul)
 * July-September 1994 (#9: Billy vs. Scott, then Anna vs. Vicky)

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.]

Nathan Lloyd (2001-02)
 * 2001 (Promo for the show's "series return")

Emily Jade O'Keefe (2002)
 * 2002 (Brodie vs. Elspeth, then Emily vs. Jay {Part 3, Part 4}; has a few bits of commercials)

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" and the buzz-in sound effect is really obnoxious. 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.

Nico Siahaan (June 4-November 30, 2012)

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