Card Sharks/Episode Guide/CBS/January to June 1988

January

No episode aired on January 1 due to coverage of the Cotton Bowl Parade.

Charlie O'Donnell is at the mic for at least the first three weeks of 1988. He will have served five weeks of episodes filling in for Gene Wood. It could be implied that Gene may have been in a hospital during these tapings.

The educated guess reveals are seen without a pastel green border and are still in a bold Helvetica font. This would only be for one more week, and further proves that these next three weeks of episodes were taped before the two Christmas-themed Young People's Weeks.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group January 4-8: 10 Men who Placed Personal Ads in a Newspaper
Featured car: Dodge Shadow ($8,901)
498	1/4/1988	Ernie	LaRue	First show of 1988, with no mention on air. Match between Ernie vs. LaRue continues. Ernie defeats LaRue, plays the Money Cards again, and wins $##,###. Gloria is now Ernie's new challenger. Match continues on Tuesday. Gloria Tinsley of Fayetteville GA's first show. She won $14k on Wheel of Fortune on March 17, 1986, a jukebox on The Price is Right on January 30, 1995 and wrote a book entitled Life's a Game Show in 1996 chronicling her family's game show experiences including Card Sharks.
499	1/5/1988	Ernie	Gloria	At the start of the show, Gloria leads the match 1-0. Heading into the first commercial break, Gloria defeats Ernie, who leaves with $16,100. Gloria wins $5,000 on her first trip to the Money Cards, but loses the car thanks to an extreme number setup. In a new match, Gloria's new challenger is Deborah. Gloria defeats Deborah at the end of the show, and will start Wednesday's show at the Money Cards.
500	1/6/1988	Gloria	Bob	Show starts with Gloria playing her second Money Cards, where she wins $9,600 with a lot of deuces revealed, plus a car (total: $24,101) Gloria's new challenger is Bob Dillon. Bob Eubanks never made a reference to singer Bob Dylan. Gloria defeats Bob, wins another $1,800 on the Money Cards, but does not win another new car (total: $26,101)
501	1/7/1988	Gloria	Michael	Bob plugs next week's audience polling group consisting of 10 female deputies from the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department. Show starts with a brand new match with Gloria vs. new challenger Michael. Michael defeats Gloria, wins $3,800 on the Money Cards, and wins a new car which he had a hard time trying to fit into! (total: $13,001)
502	1/8/1988	Michael	Julie	Michael starts a new match with new opponent, Julie, at the start of the show. Julie defeats Michael, and busts on the Money Cards for the first time in quite a while, and does not win the car either despite possessing two jokers (total: $200) Julie faces new challenger Katy. Match between Julie and Katy continues on the next program.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group January 11-15: 10 Female Deputies from the San Bernadino County Sheriff's Department
Featured car: Jeep Wrangler ($x,xxx)
503	1/11/1988	Julie	Katy	Match between Julie vs. Katy continues. Educated guess answer reveal now has a border outline. Font is still Helvetica. Katy defeats Julie, wins $2,400 on the Money Cards, and does not win the car. Bob mentions his grandchild, Tyler Ann, being born the night before this episode aired. This might not have been true, since this episode was most likely taped by December 1987, and it is very common that a baby is not born on their due date.
504	1/12/1988	Katy	Tim	New match between Katy vs. Tim starts off the show. As of this episode, educated guess answers appear in a Clarendon-style font. Katy defeats Tim, wins $2,700 on the Money Cards, takes two Jokers to the car game and loses the car anyway. (total: $5,500)
505	1/13/1988	Katy	Mo	Show starts at the beginning of a new match between Katy vs. Mo. Mo defeats Katy and will meet a new challenger on the next program.
506	1/14/1988	Mo	Joe	Bob plugs next week's audience polling group consisting of 10 engaged men. It's the "Mo & Joe Show" today. Joe defeats Mo. Joe meet his brand-new opponent Tamara. Match between Joe and Tamara continues on the next program.
507	1/15/1988	Joe	Tamara	Joe defeats Tamara. Joe meet his new opponent: Jillian.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group January 18 to 22, 1988: 10 Engaged Men
Featured car: Subaru DL ($9,126)
508	1/18/1988	Jillian	Scotty	Jillian wins $4,400 on the Money Cards at the start of the show, but does not win the car. New challenger, Scotty, is from Glasgow, Scotland. Scotty defeats Jillian at the end of the show.
509	1/19/1988	Scotty	Lisa	Supposedly aired on GSN in early 2007 during a Saturday night mini-marathon. Lisa defeats Scotty. In the Money Cards, Lisa goes double all the way until the Big Bet row, and ends up winning $24,000. The same feat occurred to a female contestant in January 1986, and she also has a four-letter name starting with "L". The card Lisa chose not to change was an ace, and had she chosen the ace, she could have won the maximum $32,000. Unfortunately, she'll play for the car on the next show..
510	1/20/1988	Lisa	Fran	Lisa plays forvthe car at the start of the show, and loses. In the same first segment, a new match with Lisa vs. Fran begins. Fran defeats Lisa, busts on the Money Cards and loses the car. Fran's new challenger is Tim. Match continues the next day.
511	1/21/1988	Fran	Tim	The episode begins midway through the first round. Tim wins after drawing an ace on the second to last card. Fran wins the second and final game. Bouncing back after last episode's crushing defeat, Fran wins $12,150. She does not win the car. Jeff joins the show and gets the luckiest draws in the world. Winning the first game. Fran foolishly chooses "zero" as her answer to the question "how many engaged men would marry their fiancée if they discovered they didn't want children?" This leaves Jeff in prime position for the next round. He wins the next round and becomes the new champ- leaving Fran in utter disarray. Losing such an invigorating character as Fran caused nationwide outrage and protests were held throughout the country.
512	1/22/1988	Jeff	Geri	Show starts with Jeff playing the Money Cards, where he wins $600 thanks to rotten luck, and he does not win the car. (total: $800) Jeff's new challenger is Geri. Jeff defeats Geri, wins another $5,200 on the Money Cards, and after the commercial break, Jeff wins a car! (total: $15,326) Jeff's new challenger is now Linda. Two questions are asked before the show's taping ended. On May 15, 2017, it is the latest episode GSN aired before reverting back to May 14, 1987.

NOTE: It was likely after the January 25, 1988 episode is taped that the two Young People's Weeks aired from December 21 to 31, 1987 were taped. The episode numbering should be back on track as of January 25, 1988.

Gene Wood is likely back at the mic by this point.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group January 25 to 29, 1988: 10 Women Who Divorced Their Husbands and Later Re-married Them
Featured car: Volkswagen Cabriolet ($16,500)
521	1/25/1988	Jeff	Linda
522	1/26/1988	Linda	Lance
523	1/27/1988	Lance	Veronica
524	1/28/1988	Veronica	Tom	Show starts with Veronica playing the Money Cards.
525	1/29/1988	Veronica	Nikki	Veronica leaves with $23,050. Nikki wins $16,400 in the Money Cards, but no car. (Total: $16,600) Butch is Nikki's new challenger.

February

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)
Audience Polling Group February 1 to 5, 1988: 10 Los Angeles County Firefighters
526	2/1/1988	Nikki	Butch
527	2/2/1988	Nikki	Ethel
528	2/3/1988	Nikki	Karen
529	2/4/1988	Karen	Jeff
530	2/5/1988	Evie	Deverick

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group February 8 to 12, 1988: 10 Las Vegas Showgirls
531	2/8/1988	Evie	Deverick
532	2/9/1988	Dinah	Rick	Dinah has won $23,200 on the Money Cards, but no car. New match with new challenger Rick begins. Rick defeats Dinah, who leaves with $24,000 (it is assumed that Dinah won no more than $600 on a previous playing of the Money Cards). Rick wins a paltry $100 on his first trip to the Money Cards.
533	2/10/1988	Rick	Karen	Karen defeats Rick, who leaves Studio 33 with $300. Karen wins $8,400 on the Money Cards, but no car (total: $8,600) Karen takes on Sara as her new challenger.
534	2/11/1988	Karen	Sara	Karen wins a $100 exact guess bonus for an audience poll question. Karen defeats Sara and wins $2,450 on the Money Cards, but loses the car (total: $##,###). Karen then takes on her new opponent, Leah, in a new match.
535	2/12/1988	Karen	Leah	Karen defeats Leah, and wins $8,800 on the Money Cards, but no car (total: $##,###). New match between Karen and Kerry gets underway. Kerry defeats Karen, who leaves with $19,950, and will play the Money Cards at the start of Monday's show.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group February 15 to 19, 1988: 10 Child Beauty Pageant Winners
Featured car: Isuzu Trooper ($12,618)
536	2/15/1988	Kerry	Peter	Kerry wins $15,900 on the Money Cards, but no car. New match with opponent Peter begins. Kerry remains champion but sadly busts in the Money Cards, plus loses the car.
537	2/16/1988	Kerry	Van
538	2/17/1988	Kerry	Ho
539	2/18/1988	Ho	Lane
540	2/19/1988	Ho	Lorie	Ho defeats Lorie. Ho wins an even $10,000 on the Money Cards, loses the car game, and his grand total at that point was $30,200. Ho's new challenger is David. This may be the earliest occurrence of a match involving two male contestants. David defeats Ho, becoming the new champion at the end of the show.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group February 22 to 26, 1988: 10 Women Married to Men At Least 10 Years Younger Than Themselves
541	2/22/1988	David	Christina	This episode, along with the next three episodes, aired in September 2008 during the "Play it Back: 80s" marathon. Show starts off with David playing the Money Cards.
542	2/23/1988	Christina	Theo
543	2/24/1988	Christina	Marv
544	2/25/1988	Marv	Karen
545	2/26/1988	Karen	Tom

Charlie O'Donnell fills in for Gene Wood at the mic from February 29, 1988 to March 11, 1988.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group February 29 to March 4, 1988: 10 Teenage Boys Going Steady
546	2/29/1988	Florence	Debbie	New sudden death tiebreaker game debuts today.

March

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group February 29 to March 4, 1988: TBA
547	3/1/1988	Debbie	Jim	No Money Cards and car game this episode, due to lengthy match. As time runs out, Debbie remains the champion, and will play the end game first thing on Wednesday.
548	3/2/1988	Debbie	Steve	Show kicks off with Debbie playing the Money Cards, where she wins $14,800, but she does not win the car (total: $15,000) During a new match against opponent Steve, Debbie wins a $500 exact guess bonus.
549	3/3/1988	Debbie	Steve	Debbie wins $2,400 on the Money Cards, but no car (total: $##,###) New challenger Kriss is Debbie's new opponent. Kriss wins a $100 exact guess bonus on an audience poll question. Debbie defeats Kriss as time runs out, and will play the Money Cards on Friday's show.
550	3/4/1988	Debbie	Gary	Debbie wins $6,000 on the Money Cards, plus wins a car (total: $##,###). New match with Gary begins. Debbie defeats Gary, and becomes a five-time champion. Debbie wins another $4,600 on her final Money Cards, and will play for the car one last time on Monday.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group March 7 to 11, 1988: Flight Attendants
551	3/7/1988	Beth	Gladys	Debbie does not win the car on her final attempt, but retires with $41,709. New match with two newbies - Beth and Gladys - begins. Beth defeats Gladys (who won $100), wins $7,000 on the Money Cards, and wins a car (total: $16,715)
552	3/8/1988	Beth	Jim	New match between Beth and opponent, Jim, begins. Beth defeats Jim, and win $1,100 on the Money Cards, but no car (total: $1,300)
553	3/9/1988	Beth	Jim	Jim is a different contestant from on Tuesday's show.
554	3/10/1988	Beth	Toni
555	3/11/1988	Beth	Gwendolyn

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group March 14 to 18, 1988: Men Married Less Than One Year
556	3/14/1988
557	3/15/1988
558	3/16/1988
559	3/17/1988
560	3/18/1988

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)
Audience Polling Group March 21 to 25, 1988: Self-Made Millionaires
561	3/21/1988
562	3/22/1988	Teri	Charles
563	3/23/1988	Charles	Isabel
564	3/24/1988	Isabel	Carolyn
565	3/25/1988	Carolyn	Clutch

Young People's Week XII runs from March 28, 1988 to April 1, 1988.

NOTE: Although Nicholas Mooneyhan does not show any information on his episode guide (which was virtually inactive since around July 2002) regarding the latter episodes of the upcoming Young People's Week, YouTube user thewhammy83 did upload the latter three episodes from that week in 2011, which allowed an opportunity to fill in the information that Mr. Mooneyhan was unable to fill in his episode guide.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group March 28 to April 1, 1988: Men Married At Least 50 Years
566	3/28/1988	Valerie	Sean
567	3/29/1988	Ryan	Mandy	Show starts off with Sean playing the Money Cards, where he wins $1,900, and wins the trip to Hawaii (total: $5,600) New match between Ryan and Mandy begins After a survey question about babies, Bob announces to the world that Lacey is pregnant. The answer to an educated guess question about kittens being born in a cat's lifetime shocks everyone in the studio.
568	3/30/1988	Ryan	Mandy	Mandy defeats Ryan, and wins $1,025 on the Money Cards but loses the trip (total: $1,225) New match starts with new young players Tammy and Ian, which continues into Thursday. A survey question asked how many of 100 people on Hollywood Boulevard knew the person in the photo was Bob Eubanks.
569	3/31/1988	Tammy	Ian	Show starts off with the sudden death tiebreaker game, where Tammy defeats Ian. Tammy wins $4,200 on the Money Cards, brings three Jokers to the bonus game, and loses the trip (total: $4,400) Two new players, Katie and David, start a new match. Match is tied up as time runs out, and a tiebreaker game will start off Friday's show.

April

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group March 28 to April 1, 1988: ???
570	4/1/1988	Katie	David	No April Fool's Day references. Show starts off with Katie and David playing the sudden death tiebreaker game, where David defeats Katie. On the Money Cards, David wins $2,300 thanks to a push with double aces, and loses the trip (total: $2,500) New young contestants Clayton and Lori start a new match, which will continue into the next Young People's Week later in 1988. An Easter-themed Educated Guess question involving a giant chocolate bunny is asked (the following Sunday, April 3, was Easter Sunday)

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group April 4 to 8, 1988: Female Wrestlers from G.L.O.W. (Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling)
Featured car: Isuzu Trooper ($12,618)
571	4/4/1988	Carolyn	Michael	This is the episode where Mt. Fiji lifts Bob Eubanks over her head. Mt. Fiji may be the only person seen barefoot on the set of Card Sharks.
572	4/5/1988	Michael	Ginnie	Match between Michael and Ginnie continues. Ginnie wins a $100 exact guess bonus during an audience polling question. Michael defeats Ginnie, wins $5,100 on the Money Cards, and wins a $12,000+ car! Michael then faces new challenger Pat.
573	4/6/1988	Michael	Pat	Pat defeats Michael, wins $6,450 on the Money Cards, plus wins a car! New challenger Preston is whom Pat faces now.
574	4/7/1988	Pat	Preston	*Preston defeats Pat, and wins some money on the Money Cards.
575	4/8/1988	Preston

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group April 11 to 15, 1988: Female Nudists (Fully-clothed on the show)
576	4/11/1988	Preston	Robin	Robin wins a $500 exact guess bonus. Robin defeats Preston, and wins $2,000 on the Money Cards, but no car (total: $2,700)
577	4/12/1988	Robin	Kim	Robin wins a $100 exact guess bonus during an audience polling question. Robin defeats Kim, and wins $1,450 on the Money Cards, bu
578	4/13/1988
579	4/14/1988
580	4/15/1988	Deb	Don	Deb defeats Don, who leaves with $3,000. Deb wins $15,200 on the Money Cards, plus wins a car (total: $##,###) Deb faces new challenger Scott, in a new match that continues into Monday's show.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group April 18 to 22, 1988: Clowns
581	4/18/1988	Deb	Scott	Deb vs. Scott match is at Round 1 at the start of the show. Scott defeats Deb, wins $12,000 on his first Money Cards, but does not win the car. (total: $12,200) Scott now faces new challenger, Niki, in a new match.
582	4/19/1988	Scott	Niki	At the start of the show, Scott and Niki match is in progress. Scott defeats Niki, wins $7,050 on his second money cards, takes two Jokers to the car game and wins the car! (total: $28,351) New match with Scott now facing new challenger, June. Scott runs the cards and wins the first round at the end of the show.
583	4/20/1988	Scott	June	Scott vs. June match starts at the beginning of Round 2. Scott defeats June after a very short match, wins another $13,000 on his third Money Cards, and wins his second car. (total: $50,452) Scott faces, yet again, a new challenger - a woman named Teri. At the end of the show, the match is tied. Tiebreaker will start Thursday's show.
584	4/21/1988	Scott	Teri	Show starts off with tiebreaker. Scott defeats Teri, wins $1,800 on his fourth trip to the Money Cards, and wins a third car! (total: $61,353) Scott becomes the biggest winner of the entire series, the second player to win three cars, and the only player to surpass $60,000 in winnings. Scott is not done yet - he starts his final match with new challenger Lidia. Lidia wins a $500 bonus on an educated guess question about Elizabeth Taylor's weight. At the end of the show, Lidia leads the match one game to none.
585	4/22/1988	Scott	Lidia	Lidia defeats Steve, wins $1,400 on the Money Cards, but no car. (Total: $2,100) Lidia meets Ed as her new challenger.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group April 25 to 29, 1988: TBA
586	4/25/1988
587	4/26/1988
588	4/27/1988
589	4/28/1988
590	4/29/1988

May

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)
Audience Polling Group May 2 to 6, 1988: 17-Year-Old Girls from Beverly Hills
591	5/2/1988
592	5/3/1988
593	5/4/1988
594	5/5/1988
595	5/6/1988	Curtis	Lawonda

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group May 9 to 13, 1988: *Male Playgirl* Centerfolds**
596	5/9/1988
597	5/10/1988
598	5/11/1988
599	5/12/1988
600	5/13/1988

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group May 16 to 20, 1988: Men Married to Mail-Order Brides
601	5/16/1988
602	5/17/1988
603	5/18/1988
604	5/19/1988
605	5/20/1988

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group May 23 to 27, 1988: TBA
606	5/23/1988
607	5/24/1988
608	5/25/1988
609	5/26/1988
610	5/27/1988

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group May 30 to June 3, 1988: TBA
611	5/30/1988
612	5/31/1988

June

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)
Audience Polling Group May 30 to June 3, 1988: TBA
613	6/1/1988
614	6/2/1988
615	6/3/1988	Jeri	Jimmy

NOTE: It is rumored that during the week of June 6 to 10, 1988, Ray Combs would make a series of cameos to plug the new revival of Family Feud, which he would be hosting, and would premiere on CBS four weeks later. It would make sense to have such plugs for Family Feud, since it would allow enough time to get families on the show, as Feud was about to start taping by that point in the run.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group June 6 to 10, 1988: Bodyguards of Celebrities
Featured car: Jeep Commanche ($x,xxx)
616	6/6/1988	Jeri	Jodi	An educated guess question involves the audience polling group. No Ray Combs cameo in this episode. At the end of the Money Cards, Jeri has won, at this point, $32,075. No car game played in this episode - Jeri will play for the car at the start of the next show.
617	6/7/1988	Jan	Bernie	Jeri plays the car game to start off the show, and does not win. Jeri retires with $32,075. Susanna gives her contestant plug after the first commercial break, but Ray Combs interjects and plugs Family Feud. Ray: "Why would anybody want to be on Card Sharks when you can be on Family Feud?" Two new challengers, Jan and Bernie, start a new match. Jan defeats Bernie and eventually wins just $700 on the Money Cards (total $700), and would play for a car on the next episode.
618	6/8/1988	Jan	Kitty	Jan plays for the car at the start of the show, but does not win (total $900) After Ray Combs plugs his revival of Family Feud following the commercial break, a new match starts with challenger Kitty. Kitty defeats Jan, who leaves with just $900. No Money Cards played on this episode.
619	6/9/1988	Kitty	Tim	Show starts with Kitty playing the Money Cards.
620	6/10/1988	Kitty	Pattie

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group June 13 to 17, 1988: Russian Immigrants
Featured car: Buick Skyhawk ($9,415)
621	6/13/1988	Kitty	Gloria
622	6/14/1988	Gloria	Tony
623	6/15/1988	Gloria	Sharon	Sharon defeats Gloria after Gloria loses on a duplicate King in the sudden death tiebreaker. Gloria leaves with $6,200, and Sharon plays the Money Cards, where she wins $15,200. Sharon then takes her only Joker to the car game, and does not win the car (total $15,900)
624	6/16/1988
625	6/17/1988	Sharon	Gary	Match between Sharon and Gary continues. Sharon defeats Gary and plays the Money Cards yet again. Sharon bets $10,000 on a four on the Big Bet row, and ends up winning $24,800! Talk about lucky - she also wins the car! (total $54,515!) Sharon now faces new challenger Steve in a new match.

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group June 20 to 24, 1988: Cheerleaders from the Los Angeles Raiderettes
Featured car: Ford Festiva ($7,923)
626	6/20/1988
627	6/21/1988	Sharon	Steve
628	6/22/1988	Steve	Joe	A rare occurrence of two male players competing against each other.
629	6/23/1988	Steve	Rhonda
630	6/24/1988	Rhonda	Donna

Ep. #	CBS Airdate	Red Player (Champ)	Blue Player (Challenger)	Notes
Audience Polling Group June 27 to July 1, 1988: Former Tax Auditors from the I.R.S.
Featured car: Buick Skyhawk ($9,415)
631	6/27/1988
632	6/28/1988
633	6/29/1988
634	6/30/1988

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