| Host | |
| Geoff Edwards (Pilot) Nipsey Russell (Series) | |
| Hostess | |
| Lee Menning | |
| Announcers | |
| Gene Wood John Harlan Johnny Haymer (sub) Johnny Gilbert (sub) | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Sande Stewart Productions | |
ANNOUNCER: "Every member of our studio audience has written down the last four digits of their phone number. If you want to share in thousands of dollars, write down yours, because every day, someone at home wins on…" AUDIENCE: "YOUR NUMBER'S UP!" ANNOUNCER: "And (now,) here's the Poet Laureate of Television, Nipsey Russell!"
Your Number's Up featured contestants winning money by completing acronyms (a group of initial letters), plus members of the studio audience and the people at home had a chance to win cash & prizes too, using the last four digits of their phone numbers.
Gameplay[]
Main Game[]
The game was played with three contestants, the first one in a blue seat, the second one in a yellow seat and the third one in a green seat (one a returning champion always sitting in the green seat). Each player was given one diamond to start. The player in control pulled a lever which started an electronic digital wheel in front of them to spin (ala The Joker's Wild). The wheel in question was calibrated with numbers and a car space, it was arranged and spaced in such a way to guarantee that two of the players landed on numbers while the remaining contestant hit a blank space.
When the wheel stopped, the player with the blank spot was given a choice of two partial phrases with an acronym contained in each (Ex: CNR gave crazy answers…). Once a phrase was chosen, host Nipsey finished the phrase (Ex: …on the TV show Match Game. Answer: Charles Nelson Reilly). The first player to buzz in got a chance to complete the acronym. A correct answer earned another diamond, but an incorrect answer lost one diamond, giving the opponent a chance to complete the acronym, and if both players missed, the blank contestant/phrase chooser won $50. The player with a correct guess also had his/her number light up on a tote board above the contestants and Nipsey.
The first player to score six diamonds won the game.
The Car Symbol[]
Whenever the car space was landed on, the contestant with that symbol had a chance to win a new car by guessing a mystery number under a question mark on the car's license plate. Guessing the right number won the car, which was theirs to keep win or lose. The first three weeks of the series used a new plate for each attempt. Later, a single plate was used, with previous incorrect digits automatically eliminated from each subsequent attempt.
NOTE: In the final episode of the series, the car space was hit five times but never won.
Audience Participation[]
Members of the studio audience held cards with the last four digits of their phone numbers. If an audience member thought he/she got the right four numbers on the tote board, the audience member ran down to the stage and had the numbers checked off by Nipsey. If the audience member was correct, his/her number was successfully up and then selected which one of the three players he/she thought would win the game. That audience member would then sit behind the contestant he/she chose and that contestant would be the next to spin. A correct prediction won a trip.
This also affected the home audience as well. Each time a right number appeared on the board, they could cross it off. If their number was up, they then had to write it down on a postcard and send it in to the show. A correct match entered the home viewers in a drawing for cash.
NOTE: If a home viewer/studio audience member had two, three, or all four of the same number, they then had to wait for the duplicate numbers.
The winner of the game won $500 and the right to play the bonus round.
Bonus Round[]
To start the bonus round, the winner drew a postcard from a drum behind the contestant podiums. The home viewer chosen won $1,000 just for being picked. Then he/she went to a bonus board resembling a telephone keypad. The winning contestant had 60 seconds to reveal the hidden last four correct digits of the viewer's phone number. He/she did that by picking off numbers on the board. Under each number was an acronym. When the acronym was revealed, host Nipsey read a clue associated with the acronym. If the contestant was correct and so was selected number, the number lit up above the board (the number of appearances of that number represented how many of that number appeared in the last four phone number digits). Each correct answer to the clues was worth $100 to the studio contestant, and revealing all four numbers within 60 seconds won the studio contestant $5,000, and the home viewer an additional $1,000 ($5,000 as well on Fridays).
Other Pictures[]
Music[]
Bob Cobert
Win Cue – "Super Supertrain" (recycled from Supertrain, a notorious NBC flop from 1979)
Nipsey's Poems[]
September 23 (Premiere):
If you owe too much on American Express
and your Diner's Club notes are too hard,
Take a loan on your Visa
and pay it off with your Master Card!
September 24:
Those who think women are the weaker sex
just can't see the trees from the woods.
For no matter how loudly a rooster may crow,
it's the hen who delivers the goods!
Studio[]
NBC Studio 2, Burbank, CA
Rating[]
Links[]
Videos[]
Promo
The full September 23, 1985 premiere
Another full episode