Double Up (1)

Host
Jamie Farr
Announcer
John Harlan
Broadcast
Unsold Pilots for Daily Syndication: 1987
Packager
Dick Clark Productions
Distributor
MCA Television

"This is an article is for the 1987 pilot, for the short-lived 1992 Saturday morning dating show for kids, see Double Up (2)"

”Get ready to play an exciting game of teamwork, where the wives ask the questions that their husbands must answer. It’s time to play Double Up! And here’s the host of Double Up, Jamie Farr!”

This version of Double Up was an unsold game show pilot where contestants "fill-in-the-blanks" for big bucks and answer questions to "Double Up" their score.

Gameplay[]

This show was all about filling in blanks to complete questions & clues by reciting them in addition to answering them.

Main Game[]

The gameplay was split into three rounds. The first team to reach 20 or more points at anytime during play won the game and went on to the "Double Up Countdown".

Round 1[]

In Round One, the wives on each team were shown three categories. The wife of the couple initially in control (Call them "Couple A") chose a category. A question was given in that category with two important words blanked out and leaving only the initial letters. The initial letters were accompanied by a series of little blank spaces representing how many other letters are in the word. The wife got a chance to fill in the blanks by reciting the entire question verbatim (word by word as it appears). A correct solve earned two points, but an incorrect response passed the question to the other couple's ("Couple B") wife to try and fill in. If the wife said they needed help, they would specify which word they wanted filled in. That word would be given, but the question was now worth only one point. Again, if the other word was filled in wrong, it would go to the other wife to try and fill in properly. (At no point in filling in the question could the wife confer with the husband.) Once completed, the question was then given to the husband of the wife who finished filling in the question. If they could answer it correctly, they would "double up" the points earned by the wife. If not, the other couple could now confer and either member could answer for the value earned by the other team's wife.

EXAMPLE: Wife A fills in both words and earns 2 points for their team. If Husband A can answer it correctly, they "Double Up" to 4 points, but if not, Couple B can confer and either of the couple can answer for 2 points.

Wife B now chooses from the two remaining categories and undergoes the same process as above, with Wife B taking first crack at filling in the question. For the remaining category, a "jump-in" format is used. Both wives now go to their podium's buzzer button. Host Farr reveals the remaining category's question. The first wife to signal in gets first crack at trying to fill in the question. (Unlike the first two questions, no help can be given for either word.) If neither wife signals in, Farr will randomly fill in one of the words, but the question is now worth only 1 point. If they correctly complete the question, they earn 2 points; if not, it's passed to the other wife for the two points. The husband on the appropriate team can now attempt to answer it to "Double Up" to 4 points, but an incorrect guess passed it to the other couple to confer and try to answer for the two points. If at any point the question is completely filled in by the host, it is still worth 1 point for the couple who signals in to answer it. If no one answers correctly, the question earns no points for either couple.

Round 2[]

In Round 2, the husbands are now the question fillers. Whichever couple is trailing has starting control. That husband chooses from three new categories. The question shown to them now has FOUR missing words and is worth up to 4 points if they can fill in all four words. As in Round 1, the husband can ask for help by specifying a word to be filled in, but the value of the question is reduced by 1 point for each such filled word. Again, if the husband cannot correctly complete the question, the other husband can try to complete it for its' current value, or ask for help at the cost of 1 point of value. The wife of the husband who completes the question can now answer the question to "Double Up" the value of the question; an incorrect answer passes it to the other couple who can confer and either member can answer for the question's current value. The husband of the team who did not start the round now chooses from the remaining two categories for their question, played just as above. The third category is again played as a "jump-in" as above, with the husbands signaling in.

Round 3: The "Pressure Point Round"[]

If neither team has reached 20 points by this time, the "pressure Point Round" begins. Another "jump-in" question is asked with the husbands on the buzzers. This question has FIVE missing words and starts out at a value of 5 points. Again, if neither husband signals in to answer, host Farr has one word at random filled in, reducing the value of the question by 1 point for each word. The husband who signals in and correctly completes the question earns the points. If at this point, that couple's score is 20 points or more, they automatically win without needing to answer it. Otherwise, the wife must try to answer to "Double Up" the question's value. If they can't, the other couple can confer and either can answer to earn the question's point value. If at the end of this question, neither couple has yet reached 20 points, another "jump-in" is asked and the process repeats until one couple reaches or exceeds 20 points. They are declared the winners and go on to the Bonus Round.

Bonus Game: The Double Up "Countdown"[]

The winning team went on to play the Bonus Game, "Countdown". The couple decided between them who will fill in the questions and who would answer them. They had 60 seconds (one minute) to fill in the blanks to a series of new questions, the answers to which all started with the same letter. Each question again had two words missing. The question filler had to correctly fill in both words or the question was invalidated. If they did fill in correctly, the answerer had to give the correct answer to earn money. Either member could pass on either filling in or answering, which earned them nothing. Each correct solve or pass moved on to the next puzzle. Viewers at home saw seven boxes beneath the puzzle which all contain the key initial letter. Upon getting a correct answer, the letter was replaced with the amount of time that was on the clock when the puzzle was solved. (This related to the Home Viewer Game, explained below.) Each correctly completed question earned the couple $100, but if they could complete seven questions before time ran out, they won a total of $10,000.

There were two full games per show, so couples had a chance to win up to $20,000. If neither team won the $10,000, then the team who earned the most money in the Countdown rounds would return as the champions for the next show. In case of a tie (both winning the $10,000 or tying with the same non-winning amount), both couples would return on the next show.

Home Viewer Game[]

Home viewers would've also gotten in on the fun and win prizes with the use of a Double Up game card. As previously stated, each correct bonus round answer caused the time that was on the clock when the puzzle was solved to appear in one of the seven boxes (replacing the key initial letter). If the couple won the round, this validated the seven-number sequence used for the home game; if not, the sequence was invalid, as it was not completed. If all 7 numbers on a home viewer's card matched the ones on the screen, they would win $10,000. (There was nothing mentioned about matching fewer numbers; it's presumed only tickets with all 7 numbers matched would win. But since this was a pilot episode and did not sell, no such actual home game was in play, and the answer is unfortunately moot.)