Haggis Baggis

Hosts
Fred Robbins (Daytime, 1958–February 1959) Jack Linkletter (Primetime) Dennis James (February–June 1959)
Announcer
Jerry Damon
Broadcast (NBC)
Daytime: 6/30/1958 – 6/19/1959 Primetime: 6/30/1958 – 9/29/1958
Packagers
Rainbow/Joe Cates Productions

Haggis Baggis was the picture & word game show where contestants raced to win a choice of two different prize packages.

Gameplay[edit | edit source]

Two contestants faced a game board with five categories & five letters. They surrounded the sides of a hidden picture of a famous face. The host announced a category and one of the letters, afterwhich the player in control had to come up with a word or phrase that fit the category and started with that letter. For each acceptable answer given, a piece of the picture connected to the category & letter was revealed. When a signal sounded after each contestant had played two combinations, the game continued with the player choosing a category, then a letter, and finally an answer which fit both criteria. As soon as a player thought he/she could identify the celebrity, he/she would press his/her lock-out device, and then offer a guess. If the player correctly identified the celebrity, he/she won the game and became the champion; otherwise, the opponent automatically won by default.

After the game, each contestant secretly selected which prizes they wanted to win; they were dubbed "Haggis" (luxury prizes) & "Baggis" (utilitarian prizes). The winner chose first, followed by the runner-up. If their choices didn't match, both contestants won their chosen prizes; if they did match, however, only the winner got the selected prizes.

Champions stayed on the show until they were defeated.

Trivia[edit | edit source]

The format of picking a category, picking a letter, and giving an answer came back as a bonus game on the failed Bob Stewart pilot Get Rich Quick! and as part of the main game on the failed Reg Grundy pilot Matchmates. It also came back as a board game in 1967 called Facts in Five.