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Host
Kevin O'Connell
Announcers
Johnny Gilbert
Jack Clark (sub for two weeks)
Broadcast
GO 01
Go
NBC: 10/3/1983 – 1/20/1984
Packagers
Bob Stewart-Sande Stewart Productions

"Ladies and gentlemen, the name of the game is Go, and two teams are here to compete for a $10,000 jackpot/jackpot worth up to $20,000! This week our celebrity captains are (celebrity #1), and (celebrity #2). And now, here's your host, ready to Go, Kevin O'Connell!"

Go was an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, and aired on NBC from October 3, 1983, to January 20, 1984. The show featured two teams, each composed of four contestants and a celebrity; the teams would then attempt to construct questions one word at a time to convey a word or phrase to their teammates. The concept of Go was based on a bonus round used on Chain Reaction (both the 1980 and 2006-2007 versions), another game show created by Stewart; before that, this same concept was used in an unsold Stewart pilot: Get Rich Quick!

Gameplay[]

The Main Game[]

Two teams (one playing red and the other playing blue), each consisting of four civilian contestants and a celebrity captain, competed. The main game was played in either three or (depending on the score) four rounds. The team that played first (as selected by the celebrity captain of one of the teams) would select a packet of words and phrases. Four of the team's members were the clue givers, while the fifth was the guesser. Two at a time, the team members would construct a question appropriate to the answer they were going for, with the two members alternatingly adding a word to the question. After constructing the question, they rang a bell to prompt an answer from the guesser. If the guesser guessed correctly, he or she moved to the next pair of teammates to repeat the process; the guesser did not move if the contestant failed to guess or gave a wrong answer, or if an illegal clue was given. Illegal clues included saying the word (or part of it), giving more than one word at a time, or forming an improper sentence.

The team played against the clock, playing until the guesser provided five correct answers: one from the first two cluegivers, then one from the second and third, then one from the third and fourth, then back to the second and third, and finally back to the first and second. Play with that team also ended if the clock reached 99 seconds (the highest the two-digit clock display could go) before the fifth correct answer.

The opposing team then played, trying to provide five correct answers in a shorter time period; if the first team had fewer than five correct answers within their 99 seconds, the second team played until they get the required five answers or by guessing more answers than the opponent.

A team won the round by guessing their five words in the shorter time period or, as sometimes could be the case, if they guessed more words within 99 seconds. For each round, the winning team accumulated points as follows:

Round Points
1 250
2 500
3 750
4 1,250

The first team to reach 1,500 points won the game, and $1 per point (had their winning score turned into cash) plus the opportunity to play the bonus round. If a team won via a "clean sweep" (winning the first three rounds, and thus winning the game without having to play the fourth round), they earned the right to play the bonus round twice, doubling the potential winnings.

(Double) Jackpot Round[]

In the bonus round, the receiver of the winning team tried to guess seven words in 60 seconds or less. For the first word, all four cluegivers would take turns adding a word to the question, and any of the four could ring the bell to finish the question. When the guesser guessed the first word correctly, the fourth cluegiver would run off stage, and the remaining three cluegivers would build the question for the second word. When that word was guessed correctly, the third cluegiver ran off stage, and the first two cluegivers built the question for the third word. When that word was guessed correctly, the second cluegiver ran off, and the first cluegiver (the celebrity captain) would build the fourth question alone. (In other words, all he/she had to do is ask the question and ring the bell.) When the fourth word was guessed correctly, the second cluegiver ran back onstage, and the first two cluegivers built the fifth question; then the first three would build the sixth question, and all four would build the seventh. Each correct answer was worth $200; seven correct answers won $10,000. As mentioned, if a team won the front game in the first three straight rounds, they play the bonus twice, for a possible $20,000.

British Version[]

An equally short-lived British version called Get Set Go presented by Michael Barrymore (of Strike it Lucky/Michael Barrymore's Strike it Rich fame) and Julia Gale as co-presenter aired on BBC1 from 10 September (September 10) to 26 November (November 26) 1984.

Notes[]

Originally, teams would stay on the show until they won five games or were defeated (only one team lasted the maximum five days). Beginning with the fifth week, this was changed to a "head-to-head" format; both teams stayed on for all five shows of the week, and thus had a chance to win as much as $107,500.

For two weeks in November 1983, Go had an all-star Battle of the Daytime Soaps; the first week pitted the cast of Days of our Lives against the cast of Another World, while the second saw Another World returning to take on the cast of Search for Tomorrow, with all winnings going to charity. It was during these two weeks that Jack Clark filled in as announcer for Johnny Gilbert.

Rating[]

72px-TV-G icon svg

Studio[]

NBC Studio 2, Burbank, CA

Episode status[]

All episodes of the series exist, and the series has been rebroadcast on CBN Cable Network (formerly The Family Channel, later Fox Family, then ABC Family and now Freeform) and GSN at various times.

Tagline[]

"K-O for G-O, see ya next time. Goodbye, everybody!" - Kevin O'Connell (1983-1984)

Additional Page[]

Go/Episode Guide

Links[]

The Go Page @ The Game Show Galaxy
Go Rules @ Loogslair.net
Screengrabs of Go
Go Celebrity Archive
Article about the British version as Get Set Go (courtesy of ukgameshows.com)

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