| Host | |
| Jim Peck | |
| Announcer | |
| Charlie O'Donnell | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Barry & Enright Productions | |
"Take a word, change a letter, do it again. You've got a chain. And you're watching...Chain Letters! And now, here's the host of Chain Letters, JIM PECK!"
Chain Letters was an unsold game show pilot where contestants competed in a word game for cash prizes.
Gameplay[]
Three contestants competed to win money by changing letters in words to make new words.
Main Game[]
Host Jim read cryptic crossword-type clues to which the answer was a new word, with only one letter difference from the previous answer. All questions were toss-ups. The first player to buzz-in with the correct change and word won money for that word. If the answer was incorrect, the money was deducted (although a contestant can't go below zero) the question was then offered to the opposing contestants. While Jim was reading a clue, a randomizer was activated. It shuffled money amounts plus the word "tie-the-leader". The randomizer stopped when a player buzzed in. Whatever amount was landed on, that's how much the word was worth. If the "tie-the-leader" was hit and if s/he was trailing at that time, the buzz-in player would have a chance to do just that and match the leading player's score, simply by giving the correct word; a correct answer from the leading player only prevented a tie. Each round was played with five clues.
Round 1[]
The first round was played with 3-letter words and each correct answer was worth anywhere from $10-$100.
Round 2[]
The second round was played with 4-letter words and each correct answer was worth anywhere from $20-$200.
Round 3[]
The final round was played with 5-letter words and each correct answer was worth anywhere from $30-$300.
Booby Trap[]
Whoever was ahead at the end of each of the first two rounds got control of the bonus round called "Booby Trap." The player in control faced a word which was the end word of the main round. The opposing contestants would then write in secret on their videowriters what word that they think the contestant is going to change to. They are allowed to write down the same word. That makes it a/them booby trap(s). When changing a letter, the contestant must spell it out for the judges to understand. If the controlling contestant makes a word that was safe, s/he won $10 in round one and $20 in round two. The contestant then did this up to four more times with each subsequent successful change doubling the potential payoff (up to $160 in round one and up to $320 in round two). If at anytime, the controlling player fell into the trap by changing into a word written by either/both of the two opponents, then he/she/they get the money. That's why to prevent this from happening, the controlling player can choose to stop and keep whatever s/he had won. Should an illegal word be given, nobody scored and the round ended right then and there.
Tiebreaker[]
If any round ended in a tie, one last question was played and the first player to buzz-in with the correct answer won the round/game.
The player with the most money at the end of the game (out of a possible $3,480), wins the game and went on to play the $10,000 bonus round. All contestants get to keep the cash.
Bonus Round[]
In the bonus round, the winning player was shown one last four-letter base word surrounded by a chain graphic. One of the letters within the word would be highlighted; that's the letter the contestant must change and make a new word. Doing so legally lit up a link in the chain. If (s)he could not change the letter, (s)he can say “pass” and a different letter would be highlighted. If after all four letters were highlighted, no change and word was given or if the winner gave an invalid word, the game ended automatically. Each acceptable change was worth $100. If the winning player can light up the chain by making ten changes in 60 seconds or less, (s)he won the $10,000.
Inventor[]
Mark Maxwell-Smith
Gallery[]
.png "Chain Letters (Monitor Logo).png (14 KB)")
Trivia[]
Even though this didn't sell in the United States, three years later, it was sold and became a hit in the UK. The series aired on ITV from 7 September (September 7) 1987 until 11 July (July 11) 1990. Five years later, it was briefly revived from 2 January (January 2) 1995 until 25 April (April 25) 1997. The three hosts for the original version were: Jeremy Beadle in 1987 followed by Andrew O'Connor in 1988 and lastly, Allan Stewart from 1989 until 1990. In the brief revival version, the three hosts were Ted Robbins in 1995 followed by Vince Henderson in 1996 and lastly, Dave Spikey in 1997.
Link[]
article about the British version (courtesy of ukgameshows.com)