| Host | |
| Allen Ludden | |
| Announcers | |
| Bill Armstrong Charlie O'Donnell | |
| Broadcast | |
 NBC Daytime: 10/4/1976 – 12/31/1976 | |
| Packager | |
| Lin Bolen Productions | |
"If your partner and you can follow the clues and say the name, you'll win the game, and a chance to win $20,000! Now, here's (insert celebrity name), and his/her contestant partner, (insert contestant name). And (repeat last part), all here to play STUMPERS! And here's the host of STUMPERS!, Allen Ludden!"
Stumpers! was a highly short-lived game show similar to Password.
Gameplay[]
Two teams of two (consisting of one celebrity & one contestant) competed in a game of solving a series of puzzles called "Stumpers". Each Stumper had three clues, all to a person, place or thing.
Main Game[]
In the main game, one team tried to stump the opposing team by giving clues that were the least likely to solve the Stumper. One member of one team was shown the three clues but not the answer, and chose which one was the least likely to get one member of the opposing team to solve the Stumper. On each clue, the opposing player had five seconds to solve it; he/she could take as many guesses as he/she wished and as soon as he/she said the right answer, that player scored points for his/her team. But if that player couldn't, the giver chose another clue. Points were scored to the opposing team according to how many clues were given. If the giver managed to stump the opposing player on all three clues, the giving team had a chance to solve the Stumper themselves for the value of the first clue. If they couldn't do that, both teams were stumped and nobody scored.
Two rounds were played. In the first round, the players gave clues to the players across from each other (contestant to contestant & celebrity to celebrity). Each player received two Stumpers (for a total of four per team). Round 2 was the "Double-Up Round" in which the point values were doubled and both players on the team gave clues to both members of the opposing team. Each team got only one Stumper.
Scoring[]
Here's how they scored for each round:
| Clue | Round 1 | Round 2 |
|---|---|---|
| First clue | 15 points | 30 points |
| Second clue | 10 points | 20 points |
| Third clue | 5 points | 10 points |
The team with the most points at the end of the game were declared the winners. If the game ended in a tie, a tiebreaker Stumper was played in which host Ludden gave the clues himself. The first team to buzz-in with the correct solution won the game, if the team buzzing-in gave an incorrect solution, then the opposing team was given a chance to guess; otherwise, Ludden read the next clue. If neither team guessed correctly after three clues, then a new tiebreaker Stumper was played. The winning team went on to play the Super Stumper round for big cash.
Super Stumpers (Bonus Round)[]
In the Super Stumpers round, the winning contestant's job was to solve 10 Stumpers in 60 seconds or less. The celebrity partner gave clues he/she thought were the most likely to solve with. Each time the contestant was stumped, he/she could ask for another clue by saying "clue", allowing the celebrity giver to choose another clue. In the event the contestant failed to say clue before the celebrity gave the next clue, the team had to surrender their chance at the big money. Each Stumper solved was worth $100 and solving all ten won the grand cash prize.
The first Super Stumper win was worth $10,000, and the second Super Stumper win was worth a total of $20,000. During the shows' thirteen weeks, the full $20,000 was won at least three times and there was one contestant during who won more than $20,000 and that was Jess Peterson on the shows' final week who wound up winning $21,800.
Contestants stayed on the show until s/he was defeated or won the Super Stumpers round twice.
Inventors[]
Bill Barr & Lin Bolen
Press Pics[]
Studio[]
NBC Studio 3, Burbank, California
Rating[]
Trivia[]
For unexplained reasons, the rule of having the winning contestant saying "clue" when not thinking of an answer somehow found its way to Password Plus. There was no penalty, however, for the celebrity immediately giving another clue.
This show premiered & was canceled on the same days as another NBC program, 50 Grand Slam with Tom Kennedy. Tom & Allen walked onto each other's sets to promote each other's shows (Tom walked on at the end of Stumpers!, Allen walked on at the beginning of 50 Grand Slam).
The “time’s up” signal in the Super Stumper round was later used as the family pair buzz-in sound on the Bill Cullen-hosted Goodson-Todman series, Blockbusters. It was commonly used on NBC game shows in the 1980s.
Additional Page[]
YouTube Links[]
- Full October 4, 1976 premiere: Parts 1, 2, and 3 (Dick Gautier & Robert Reed) [As One Part]
- Clips from December 7, 1976 (Rita Moreno & Greg Morris)
- Clips from December 8, 1976 (same as above)
- Full December 31, 1976 finale: Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 (Anita Gillette & Bill Bixby)