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Hosts
Bill Malone (1965–1967)
David Ruprecht (1989–2003)
Leslie Jones (2020–2022)
Announcers
Wally King (1965–1966)
Richard Hayes (1966–1967)
Johnny Olson (1960s, sub)
Gene Wood (1966, sub)
Johnny Gilbert (1989–June 2000)
Randy West (June 2000–2003)
Tahir Moore (2021–2022)
Broadcast
Supermarket Sweep 1965
SuperSweep65
ABC Daytime: 12/20/1965 – 7/14/1967
IMG 1016
Supermarket Sweep '89 pilot alt title
Pilot: 12/18/1989
SuperSweep90
SuperSweep93
Supermarket Sweep 1994
Lifetime (Daily): 2/5/1990 – 6/16/1995 (with reruns until 8/14/1998)
Supermarket Sweep Generation 2
PAX (Daily): 4/3/2000 – 5/23/2003 (with reruns until 3/26/2004)
Supermarket Sweep 2020
ABC Primetime: 10/18/2020 – 1/30/2022
Packagers
Talent Associates (1965–1967)
Al Howard Productions (1989–1995, 2000-2003)
Fremantle (2020-2022)
(*) Extra Note
Jones also acts as the commentator for The Big Sweep in season 1 only, the following season has Jones sharing commentary duties with announcer Tahir Moore.

Supermarket Sweep is an American game show which combined an "items found in a grocery store"-related quiz show with the novel concept of a live, timed race through a supermarket that'll make you "go wild in the aisles".

Gameplay (Malone version)[]

Three teams, usually married couples, but generally always a housewife and her "runner" (usually a male relative under the age of forty) competed in each game.

Basics[]

In the first part of the game, the teams were shown a grocery item or combination of two closely associated grocery items and were asked to guess its retail price. As host Bill Malone instructed the contestants to "Please checkout on your machines what you think is the exact retail price," the housewives would mentally calculate the price of all items shown and type the amount on their registers. Each player's totals were revealed followed by Bill Malone resorting to the automatic counter which displays the items' exact retail price. The team who came to the closest won the item(s), and additional seconds to their time. Each item revolved around a central household-related theme, such as items for washing, like laundry soap, to the items needed to created the associated "wash day" soup, a soup generally made at the same time washing was being done, like potatoes and gravy.

In the second part of the game, one contestant from each team, generally referred to as a "runner," went on a shopping spree through the market using the time accumulated in the first half of the game. In addition, five bonus prizes, coming in the form of pennants with dollar values ranging from $10 to $100 printed on them, were spread throughout the store. After the sweep, the total value of groceries and bonus prizes in each team's cart was determined. All teams kept any groceries accumulated and any bonuses they picked up, but the team with the highest total score would also earn the right to return to the show and play in the next game. Teams remained on the show until they were defeated.

Format #1[]

Each episode consisted of one game, and the champions didn't play until the sweep part (for which they always had two minutes); only the challengers played the pricing part, each starting with a base time of one minute and playing five (sets of) items each worth as follows:

  • Item #1 – 5 seconds
  • Item #2 – 10 seconds
  • Item #3 – 15 seconds
  • Item #4 – 20 seconds
  • Item #5 – 25 seconds

The maximum time available for the challengers was two minutes and fifteen seconds (2:15).

Format #2[]

By March 28, 1967, each episode consisted of two games, and all three teams played the pricing part, now starting with a base time of one minute and thirty seconds (1:30), and the winner of each item receiving a flat 15 seconds towards their sweep time. Only four (sets of) items were played, but the maximum time available was thus increased to two minutes and thirty seconds (2:30).

Gallery[]

Gameplay (Ruprecht version)[]

The gameplay of the Lifetime/PAX version of Supermarket Sweep consisted of three segments: the question round, the Big Sweep, and the Bonus Sweep. The game was played between three teams of two related individuals (teams could either be parent/child, spouses, siblings, and/or best friends); however, unlike the ABC version, where the contestants' last names were revealed, no contestants' last names were ever revealed in this version (except on special occasions). For the last two segments, the team members wore sweatshirts of the same color (aqua blue for Team #1 [green in earlier tapings], burgundy for Team #2, yellow for Team #3 [blue in earlier tapings] [the colors of the first two teams switched starting in 1993]). The show gave the appearance that pairs were chosen to be contestants based on who in the audience (or in the show's last two seasons, the market) held pre-distributed grocery items that the announcer called for at the beginning of the show.

Question Round[]

At the beginning of the game, all three teams started with a base time of one minute and thirty seconds (1:30), like the later episodes of the original. The questions answered correctly added time to their clocks. The round was divided into three segments, in the first two segments, one teammate from each team answered a variety of questions and/or played one of several games that involved pricing everyday grocery items, with the teammates switching between segments. The third segment was the Round Robin game, in which the teammates rotated after each question.

Question types[]

Players were asked a series of three to six questions, usually with a specific brand of grocery items as answers, each question was worth 10 seconds. In each round, the questions followed a specific format, which varied between rounds and shows. The formats used on the show included:

  • Guessing which item a series of interesting facts described.
  • Determining the brand name of a product, the picture of which had the brand name edited out.
  • Slogans – Guessing which item went with a particular slogan or jingle.
  • Multiple Choice – Selecting one or more of the answers to a series of questions from a bank of four, five, or six possible choices. A famous saying or phrase was asked to the contestants, belonging to which answer.
  • Three Right – Six choices were given to the contestants. They were asked which three out of the six belonged to a certain brand/item/genre. All three contestants buzzed in and guessed one of the three items that were correct, making this a chance for all three contestants to pick-up 10 seconds each. Three questions were played.
  • Word Games – Filling in the blanks to reveal a product's name, contestants were either given clues and/or letters that were progressively added (either randomly or spelled backward). Originally in early 1990, players asked Ruprecht a question relating to the product. If a player gets a "Yes" answer, the player is allowed to guess. If they asked the question wrong or guesses the wrong product, it passes to the next player or vice versa, and they have a chance. Sometimes only the first & last letters were given, and three clues were read. Another variant had a partially-filled name, with some letters missing, again, three clues were given.
  • Fill in the Blank – Two phrases, each featuring a blank, were seen, and both blanks had the same word. A later version was similar to the Before & After puzzles on Wheel of Fortune, with a blank in the middle.
  • This or That/Fact or Not a Fact – Questions with two choices were asked and only one team was allowed to buzz-in and answer, selecting the correct answer awarded 10 seconds to that team only, selecting the wrong one gave the opposing teams 10 seconds each.
  • Animal Sounds – A set of three to five animals (cow, sheep, pig, chicken, and/or fish) were presented as the answer choices and contestants had to choose the correct animal by making its sound. If three animals were given, there was a rule in which they would answer by making a raspberry-blowing sound if it did not belong to any of them.
  • Twisted – Guessing a product's name from synonyms and/or antonyms that replaced each word. For example, "Cow's Ear" is a clue for Bullseye Barbecue Sauce.
  • County Fair – Tested the players' sense of knowledge of a particular gadget.
  • Supermarket Trivia – Trivia questions were asked about the items sold in the supermarket.
  • Fat Chance – Three food items were shown, and the players had to determine which item had the fewest grams of fat.
  • Check Stand Headlines – Facts about a famous person or event that were read about in Check Stand tabloids were given to the contestants, and the contestants were to guess what the fact referred to.
  • Proverbs – Facts about well-known expressions were given to the contestants, and the contestants were to guess by completing these popular expressions with items found or sold in the supermarket.

Pricing Games[]

During each segment, these were played involving everyday groceries. The games varied from day to day and generally involved the following:

  • Selecting which of three items was priced above or below a certain amount, was not a given price, was on sale, was incorrectly priced, was correctly priced, or was the most expensive.
  • Determining how much of one item could be bought for a certain amount of money.
  • Guessing whether the actual price for a product was higher or lower than the price displayed. A later variation also included the possibility of the shown price being correct.

If a player was correct, that team earned 10 seconds; if all three players were right, however, 30 seconds was added to all three teams' times. In Season 1, however, all games (excluding the "on-sale" version) had 20 seconds added to all three teams' times if everyone was right.

Special Games[]

Looks like this team is ready for the 30 second shootout!
  • 30-Second Shootout – At the beginning of the second segment of the question round, both contestants on each team played an individual game for 30 seconds of Sweep time. The format usually consisted of a contestant guessing a series of words on a card using clues given by his or her partner (similar to Pyramid and Password). The first letter of each correct answer was a letter in the name of a brand or item from the market, which the guesser then had to identify to earn the Sweep time. Each of the teams had 30 seconds to achieve this (40 seconds in the final Lifetime season), and if a word was accidentally blurted out by the clue-giver, that team was automatically disqualified.
    • During the Lifetime era, the giver tried to get his/her partner to say any word or a name beginning with the appropriate letter. The guesser had to identify the product before time ran out. An additional rule was that once a clue was used for one of the words on the list, it was not to be used again (doing so would lead to the disqualification of that team).
    • In the PAX run, pre-selected words (to which their initials still spell out the product's name) were given to the giver and he/she simply had to convey them to his/her partner. If the giver was stuck he/she could pass and move on to the next word, also, the "no repetitions" rule was lifted. When time ran out, the guesser had to guess the product using the letters revealed (although he/she could guess while the clock was still running). In early episodes of this version, if the word wasn't completed, it wasn't fully revealed.
    • On some episodes of the Lifetime era, an alternative format was used with a picture of a product shown to the home viewers. The team had to identify three products; the giver described the product, and their partner had to guess what it was. If the giver was stuck on a product, he/she could pass and would come back to that product if time permitted. If the giver gave away any part of the product's brand name, it was thrown out. Each clue changed the product's picture, and each correct guess awarded 10 seconds (for a maximum of 30).
  • Snack Attack Movie Game – Three 10-second questions about movies were asked. The player who answered the last of these correctly received a chance to take a taste test of a food item in the market, and correctly identifying it awarded his/her team $50 for the Big Sweep. If the contestant guessed right on a second chance (multiple choice, and consisting of up to three choices), his/her team received $25. In some cases, only one chance was used and the question only had two choices.

Mini-Sweep[]

Starting in 1991, a Mini-Sweep was played at the beginning of the first round. A toss-up question (usually a rhyming couplet) was asked with a particular product as the answer. The player that correctly answered the question received 10 seconds for his/her team, and game his/her partner the right to run into the market to retrieve the product and earn a cash bonus toward their Sweep total. If the product was returned within 30 seconds, the team won $50 toward their Sweep total. In the Mini-Sweep's later playings, the product would be marked with the Supermarket Sweep logo (changed to the show's "cart" emblem in 1993), thus players now had to find the specially-marked item to receive credit.

If the contestant returned with the incorrect product, the correct product that was not marked with the show's logo/emblem on it, the right item but ran out of time before they could return it, or couldn't find it at all, no bonus was awarded; if, however, he/she found the marked item, but the marker fell off the product, the bonus still counted.

In 1992, the bonus was doubled to $100 if the product was brought back within 20 seconds, with the clock counting up, and starting out in green (then switching to red at 21 seconds which is 9 seconds left).

In 1993, a second Mini-Sweep was added at the beginning of the second round and was later only used during special weeks on the PAX version.

Prior to 1993, if the contestant won either cash bonus, an oval-shaped tag stand displaying the amount was placed in front of the cart in the show's final segment when the moment of truth took effect.

Round Robin[]

For the final segment, the teammates changed places after each question. The contestants were shown the scrambled letters of a brand name, common food, or item, and three clues were given for 10 seconds each. If no one buzzed in and then answered correctly after the last clue was given, all three clues were repeated quickly. On some episodes throughout the entire Lifetime era, an alternative format was used with five clues given and no scrambled name. The Round Robin originally consisted of four questions, but was lengthened to six on September 3, 1990 to give all three teams a chance to earn up to 60 seconds (one minute) (1:00).

The maximum time available was five minutes and twenty seconds (5:20), yet the highest time limit reached rarely exceeded four minutes (4:00).

Sweep Quiz[]

This was used during the final season. At the end of the second segment, a quickie was shown as the show took its second commercial break, which was a question that viewers at home could answer. At the start of the third segment, the answer would be shown.

A variant was used for the final Lifetime season, which was a simple fun fact. This was used on some episodes at the end of the first segment while taking the first commercial break.

Another variant was used in some episodes from 1990 to 1993, where David would ask a question to the home viewers at the end of the first segment before going to the first commercial break. At the start of the second segment, he answered, occasionally making a joke afterward.

Big Sweep[]

The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout any of the 14 aisles and to grab whatever they could off of the supermarket shelves. The clock was set to the highest time that was earned by the three teams. The runner for that team was sent out into the market, with the other runners entering when their time had remained on the clock. During the Big Sweep, the show's announcer provided the "play-by-play."

The runner could bring their cart back to the team's register at any time, at which point it was exchanged for an empty one. Any items in the runner's carts when the bell rang were included in their total.

The three main rules for the Big Sweep were:

  • The teams could only take up to five of each item.
  • Any items dropped and/or upset had to be returned to the shelf or in one's cart, or incur a penalty of $25 per item. Teams were also penalized $100 for running into supermarket displays, cameramen or any other personnel.
  • Only one member of each team could be in the store at a time; the other team member was required to remain at the checkout counter to unload the groceries, which is known as the "Checkstand Cheerleaders", according to Ruprecht (with except for moneymaker doing of some money makers [see below]).

The product limit, which was absent in the original ABC version of the show, was added to prevent teams from overloading their carts with expensive items, such as poultry, laundry detergent, or over-the-counter drugs.

Market Monsters[]

In most episodes from early 1990, giant-sized products or hideous monsters such as a creature named Mr. Yuck, a giant-sized carrot, a giant turkey named Big Dave, Frankenstein's Monster, or a giant gorilla ran through the aisles during the Big Sweep. They were referred to as "Weird Customers"[1][2], and if the character came near the runner or vice versa, the latter had to turn around and go in the opposite direction. The characters were dropped later that year.

Bonuses[]

  • Pennants

Many were available during the Big Sweep at different times during the show's run. Each team was only able to take one of each type, which included the following:

  • Bonus Specials (Value: $50–$200, later up to $250, $100-$300 during the Twin Car Giveaway) – This was the only bonus feature to appear in every episode. Three jumbo-sized stuffed animals, giant inflated balloons of products, and/or cardboard promotional signs for products, each with bonus tags attached to them, were scattered throughout the market. Runners had to bring the item back to the checkouts and over the red line (without destroying the item or the tag) before the time expired in order oversized scene to count. A runner was allowed to steal an opposing team's item if it was left unprotected before getting it to the checkouts. These bonuses were worth either $50, $100, or $200, and were the last to be added to a team's total prior to adding in the groceries. In July 1993, a fourth bonus worth $250 (dubbed the "Super Bonus") was added to the market. During the Twin Car Giveaway tournament at the start of the final Lifetime season, a $300 bonus (dubbed the "Super Super Bonus") replaced the $50 bonus. In all cases, only one bonus was allowed to a customer. In the Lifetime era, partners were allowed to step over the line to retrieve a bonus; this would later be prohibited in the PAX era.

The Gallery of Bonus Specials

Grabbing the Inflatables

Ripped Bonuses

  • Coffee Grinder (Value: $100, later $200) – Runners were required to grind a bag of Millstone coffee beans (Don Francisco's Gourmet Coffee in the PAX version).
  • Candy Corner (Value: $100, later $200) – Runners were required to bag and weigh $1 worth of Brach's candy. They could be off within two cents above or below $1, and the bonus was still earned. In the Lifetime version, contestants simply used a paper bag. In the PAX version, players used a plastic bag and were then required to use a twist tie to seal it and get credit for the bonus.

Beginning with the introduction of the candy, both it and the coffee bonus were available to shoppers on each episode. This changed for the final season to have only one or the other available for any particular Big Sweep. The item for that episode was announced at the start of the Big Sweep, and the bonus was doubled to $200. Earlier, the candy was omitted from episodes that had the Jelly Belly bonus (see below), as Jelly Belly is a candy.

  • Shopping List (Value: $250, later $300 for the Alphabet Game) – Before the Sweep, David gave a list of three (originally four) products in the market to be found. The Alphabet Game was played the same way, but with David mentioning three consecutive letters of the alphabet as well as the products beginning with those letters (the products had to be placed into mini-baskets that were located in the front of the carts to count, and only one of each item; multiple mini-baskets could be used if needed).

Other variations included the following:

  • Magazine Display – Picking up four magazines that were listed by David, from the many titles to choose from.
  • Jelly Belly Display – Bagging three flavors of Jelly Belly jelly beans that David wanted from the many flavors to choose from. This omitted the candy bonus to go along with the coffee (due to Jelly Belly being a candy), and thus was always worth $100 (like the original candy bonus).
  • International Bread Center – Bagging certain quantities of three bread types that were listed by David, from the many to choose from.
  • Fruit Fantasy – Putting certain quantities of lemons, apples, oranges, and grapefruits into a fruit basket.
  • Breakfast Break – Getting five breakfast items that David asked for with the help of their partners, which all had to be placed in mini-baskets; this was later changed to two breakfast items with David announcing over the loudspeaker during the sweep and then completely removed. The reason for this was that its rules were too confusing for viewers to understand.
  • Instant Coupon Machines – Three instant coupon machines were located throughout the market, and the contestant would grab a coupon and find the item for that coupon. Finding all three items with these coupons awarded $250.
  • Frozen Yogurt Machine – Dispensing three flavors of frozen yogurt into a plastic cup (and in a certain order), from the following four flavors: Triple Fudgy Chocolate, Vanilla Bean Dream, Sweet Peachy Peach, and Berry Berry Raspberry.
  • Decorate Your Own Cake (Value: $100) – Runners had to find a cake-designing kit in the back of the store and give it to their partner, who had to design a cake at one of three tables in the front of the store and write the show's name and the team's number on the cake.
  • TV Mystery Product (Value: $250, $300 for a movie) – Runners had to find a product using clues displayed on three television monitors in the market. This was later changed to the use of two television monitors in 2001, which allowed for other bonuses using them, including Splitting the Name, with one half of a two-word name of a product on each of the two monitors, and The $300 Movie, in which David would say "Activate the TV monitors" over the loudspeaker during the sweep, and the clues (each of which was either the name of one of its cast/crew members, or other information) would be available for the contestants, in which they would find a single copy of the movie. In the early days of this bonus, the monitors were touchscreen, but often a clue would take too long to appear, thereby taking up a contestant's shopping time, thus, this was later changed to buttons placed below the monitors: contestants could receive their clues simply by pushing these buttons, which also activated red lights surrounding them. Early episodes with this game didn't reveal the product's name if nobody found it.
SS Video Monitor Screenshot
  • Manager's Special/Red Tag Special (Value: $200) – During the Sweep, Ruprecht announced the day's "Manager's Special" or the "Red Tag Special" via the market's loudspeaker (later his announcements became pre-recorded and often reused). Runners had to run to a red-and-white barrel at the front of the market for the Manager's Special or a shopping cart at the back of the market for the Red Tag Special that was filled with products and find the specially marked item (marked with a red symbol (such as a star or an X) for the Manager's Special, and A red tag for the Red Tag Special). An unmarked item awarded no bonus to the team, even if it was the correct product. Sometimes, gags (such as a severed hand, a rubber chicken, etc.) would be put into these props for humor.
  • Stack Job (Value: $100, later $150) – Runners had to find one of three bags filled with empty soda cans that were spread throughout the market and return the bag to their partner. The partner then had to go to their table and, using all 21 cans, stack them in the shape of a pyramid as shown before the Sweep began. Getting the "Stack Job" done awarded the team a token good for the bonus.
  • Recycling Center (Value: $100) – Three sacks containing 10 empty soda cans each were located throughout the market, and the runner would grab one sack and race it back to his/her partner. The partner then went to the machine and would crunch the cans, one at a time; after crunching all 10 cans, a receipt was printed good for $100 (the team had to have it in order to get credit).
  • Super Sandwich (Value: $200) – Before the Sweep began, Ruprecht specified a sandwich to make. Runners were required to make the sandwich precisely as described using ingredients set up on three tables (including five slices of meat, two pieces of cheese cheeses, lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayonnaise, and mustard) then wrap it in aluminum foil and seal it in a bag with a twist tie. To earn the bonus, the contestant had to use all the ingredients, and the sandwich had to be in their cart before the bell. A later version had the runners go to the International Bread Center to grab the bread called "Sandwich Loaves," and the partners would make the sandwich.
  • Sweep Swipe/Market Madness (Value: $200 for Sweep Swipe, $250 for Market Madness) – A limited supply of items (two cases of candy, five boxes of detergent, etc.) were placed in front of three tables or shopping carts, one for each of the three teams. Runners moved the items (from the floor or from another team's table or cart), one at a time to their own table or their cart. For each item in one's possession at the end of the bell, the team received a bonus ($100 for Sweep Swipe and $50 for Market Madness).
  • CrackerJackpot! or Jolly Time Is Money! (Value: $100, later $150 for Jolly Time is Money; $200 for the CrackerJackpot) – Runners tore open boxes of Cracker Jack or Jolly Time Popcorn to find a token with the show's shopping cart emblem on it.
  • Bonus Envelope (Value: $200) – Halfway through the Sweep, David announced a clue to a specific product, following which, the runners had to find the product and take the bonus envelope that was located next to it. Occasionally, a variation, called the Video Envelope, was played where the envelope was attached to a video, and the contestant would grab the video with the envelope attached on the back.
  • Giant Box of Laundry Detergent (Value: $25-$100 in $25 increments, later containing two each of $50 and $100) – A giant box of laundry detergent (Cheer or Gain) was located at the back of the store with four colored envelopes on it. The runner picked one of the envelopes and the money was added to the team's total.
  • Pop Goes the Money (Value: $100) – Three shopping carts or large garbage bags filled with balloons were located in one of the back corners of the supermarket. Runners would bring one of the carts/bags back to the checkouts for their partners to pop at one of three tables with a pin on it. The partners had to pop all of the balloons before the time had expired, and if they could, they would receive a token for $50. One of the balloons had an additional token good for another $50, for a possible $100.
  • Double and Triple Coupons – Certain items had double-value or triple-value coupons located on or near the actual item that multiplied its value accordingly.

Once time was called, all products were scanned while the show took a final commercial break. Afterward, the grand totals of each team's takes were revealed, starting with Team #3. The record for the highest grand total was $2,254, set in the final season in 2002. The team with the highest total (including bonuses from the question round) won their Sweep total in cash and the right to play for $5,000 in the Bonus Sweep. The other teams received parting gifts (including their sweatshirts).[3] In early episodes of Season 1, the totals included cents; this was soon changed to the totals being rounded off to the nearest dollar, with cents only coming into play if there was a tie.

Supermarket Sweep Tally

Jeff & Barb's $7 Big Sweep[]

In an episode from 1991,[4] a team named Jeff & Barb had some terrible luck during the Big Sweep where Jeff had too much trouble following along with the shopping list bonus and went without a cart the whole time.

Bonus Sweep[]

Time for the clue!

The winning team had one minute to find three products in the market, one at a time. The products were marked by the show's logo/emblem (just like the Mini-Sweep) and were numbered from 1 to 3. Before the show, the teams randomly choose one of three bonus envelopes, each of which contained a Bonus Sweep clue to a different first product should they win the game. They were given that first clue, after which the time started. The second clue was affixed to the first product, and the third clue was on the second product.

If the team found the third product, they won $5,000. Originally, finding just the product won the money; later on, a fan of play money was placed behind the product. Originally, if the teams found the final product before either of the first two, they would automatically be disqualified; in 1991, however, the team that found the $5,000 too soon were simply reminded to find all three products, then return to find the money. If the team was unsuccessful, they still received $200 for each product found. The team had to have their hands on the money before the bell sounded. The record for the fastest Bonus Sweep win was 28 seconds, set in 1991, which happened to be a $10,000 Super Sweep of Champions episode.

Clues had several formats in the series. Some clues were two-line rhymes describing the product, with its brand name as the final missing word in the rhyme. Other clues used a play on words of the product's title. Others had important words underlined. On occasion, clues led to a household item other than cleaners, a movie in the movie rack, a fruit or a vegetable in the produce section, a flower in a special kiosk located at the front of the market (which was only used for the Bonus Sweep), or a greeting card near the magazine rack.

Losses[]

Wins[]

Tournaments[]

During both runs of the show, special tournaments were held periodically, as well as other individual shows in which former teams were invited back for a chance to win more money or a trip. For the first four days, the Big Sweep totals were tallied, with the top three winners coming back on Friday to compete for the big prize; on Friday, however, everything started off from scratch with the slate wiped clean.

Twin Car Giveaway[]

Twin Car Giveaway
Game3

The Chevrolet Geo Tracker

From September 19, 1994 to October 14, 1994, at the beginning of the final Lifetime season, a month-long Twin Car Giveaway tournament was held. During the first three weeks of the tournament, a standard game was played each day, and the twelve teams with the highest Big Sweep totals from these episodes returned for the fourth and final week, in which games were played with no Bonus Sweep. The six teams with the highest Big Sweep totals during this week returned for the Friday show to play for a pair of Geo Trackers.

On the Friday show, the first three teams played an eight-question Round Robin game (with each correct answer awarding $50 toward their Sweep total), and then they each had a flat three minutes (3:00) in the Big Sweep. This process was repeated for the other three teams. At the end of the show, the team with the highest Big Sweep total won the two cars (with a combined value of more than $25,000) in addition to whatever else that they won on their previous shows. All the other teams who took part kept their prior winnings. Team #1, James and Rick, won with a Big Sweep total of $1,598 and won a total of $28,710 (the highest grand total ever). A total of $84,562 in cash and prizes was won by the contestants over the four weeks.

Other Tournaments and Specials[]

Sweep Finals

Occasionally, former teams were invited back to the show to play for additional money or a trip. These episodes largely consisted of "Sweeps of Champions" (later renamed "Second Chance Weeks"),[5] giving previous Big Sweep winners, after they losing the $5,000 on their first appearance, a chance to go on another Bonus Sweep for the opportunity to play and get a second chance at $5,000. In 1991, there was week of "Super Sweep of Champions" episodes, where previous teams who won $5,000 were invited back for a chance to go on another Bonus Sweep to play to double their money to $10,000. Others included:

  • Gourmet Week – Allowed the teams to play for a trip to Paris, France, in addition, the Can-Can was used as the background music for the Big Sweep.
  • You Can't Lose! – Like the Sweep of Champions and Second Chance episodes, but no Bonus Sweep was played during this week. At the end of the week, one team was guaranteed to win the $5,000, even after they lost on their first appearance.
  • Double Your Money Week – Similar to the "Super Sweeps of Champions" episodes from the Lifetime version, except in the PAX version, the winning team with the highest Super Big Sweep total at the end on the final day didn't have to run around the market looking for another $5,000 as in the "Super Sweeps of Champions" episodes, they automatically doubled their money to $10,000.
  • Mother-Daughter Week – Featured on the Lifetime run with mother-daughter teams competing, sometimes with children under the age of 18. The daughters played in the first half of the question rounds (trivia games) and the mothers (pricing games) in the second, and vice versa. In the Big Sweep, it was either all mothers running or all daughters, depending on the teams' decisions.
  • Family Week – Similar to the Mother-Daughter Week in the Lifetime era (only with various family members), the Family Week in the PAX version had relative teams competing to win the $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweep was played during this week.
  • Cruise to Paradise – Invited back 12 former teams who lost their Big Sweep to play for a 7-day Carnival Cruise for two (and two guests) to the Mexican Riviera. No Bonus Sweep was played at the end of this week.
  • Cruise Week – This was similar to the "Cruise to Paradise" week, except that no Bonus Sweep was played throughout the entire week.
  • Tournament of Heroes – Military teams competed to win the $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweeps were played during this week.

1989 Pilot Rules[]

This version was sort of a hybrid of both the later 1967 shows and the upcoming shows. For the question rounds, they had the old school pricing games featured on ABC; this time, however, was diminished to 10 seconds with an exact guess awarding double or 20 seconds. The fifth item allowed everybody to play and once again offered 15 seconds to the team with the closest guess, but if the team was within 10 cents of the answer, they received double or 30 seconds. In case of tying guesses, the tied teams would each get the seconds. For the "buzz-in-to-answer" questions, correct answers still scored 10 seconds, but in this pilot, incorrect answers deducted 10 seconds. Finally, there was no Round Robin game.

Like in the series, the maximum time available was five minutes and twenty seconds (5:20), but for this pilot, the maximum time available for a three-way tie was three minutes and forty seconds (3:40), instead of three minutes and twenty seconds (3:20) like in the series.

At the Big Sweep, the teams could grab more than one bonus cash item which, in the pilot, were all shown at the outset. This made a possible total of $350 for each team.

For the Bonus Sweep, the clues shared a common theme. The answers to the clues were never revealed on screen.

Pictures[]

Gameplay (Jones version)[]

Gameplay-wise, the Jones version[6]used the same format from the Lifetime/PAX era before it, starting with a Mini Sweep, then going into the Question Round, then the Big Sweep, and finally the Bonus Sweep; however, minor adjustments had been made.

Much like the ABC reboots of Match Game (with Alec Baldwin) and Card Sharks (with Joel McHale), the show was now an hour long, with two full games being done in half-hour intervals, and no returning champions. Although teams still consisted of related individuals (parent/child, spouses, siblings, etc.), teams were no longer numbered, instead named after various food products. (biscuits, sugar, protein shakes, etc.) Team uniforms were also no longer limited to sweatshirts, with the color and style varying depending on the team.

Unlike before, contestants were no longer "called upon" to be contestants in the show, as everyone was already in their podiums during the intro. The podiums themselves were now real carts (ala Save to Win), but the bars were actually video screens to display the teams' times/answers.

Mini-Sweep[]

As before, the game started with a Mini-Sweep, as Jones read a riddle leading to a product found in the shelves; however, the actual Mini-Sweep itself was completely different. As opposed to the original format of buzzing in to guess the product and finding it within a given time limit, one member of each team ran to find the product once she finished reading the clue. In lieu of a time limit, the time (still 10 seconds) and money (now a flat $250 instead of the $50-$100 given during the original) was given to the first team member to find the specially-marked product.

Question Round[]

The question round itself remained mostly unchanged, following a similar round progression (two single-player question rounds and one Round Robin) as its predecessor. This time, teams started with two minutes (2:00) as opposed to the one minute and thirty seconds (1:30) of previous editions. At the start of the first Question Round, a security guard named Neil wouuld come out to remind Leslie Jones "what she always says," which is first a gag statement, and then a reminder to the other team members that "if you're not playing, be quiet." (They can cheer their partners on, but they aren’t allowed to help in any way). Each correct answer was worth 10 seconds. The maximum time available was four minutes and thirty seconds (4:30), while the maximum time available for a three-way tie was three minutes and ten seconds (3:10).

The games in this version included the following:

  • Sweep Right – Jones would read a dating profile pertaining to a mascot, and players had to buzz in and guess the correct mascot.
  • Stop Faking It – Three products were given, and the players had to lock in a guess as to which one was fake.
  • Logo-motion – A logo was revealed piece by piece, and players had to buzz in and guess the correct logo.
  • Sorta Slogans – Like in the Ruprecht version, a slogan was read, except here, the name of the product was replaced with "Leslie Jones".
  • Scrambled Eggs – Same as the original Round Robin game, except the answer was scrambled into anagrams instead of gibberish. Every so often, the letters would rearrange themselves into their proper positions. Occasionally, if the contestants didn’t answer quickly enough, Jones would read another clue.
  • Multiple Choice – Same as Pricing Items, except three choices were given followed by a question. Players had to lock in their choice of an answer, and if correct, they won the 10 seconds, but unlike the original, all three teams still got 10 seconds, as opposed to 30 seconds if they were all correct.
  • Franken-Products – A picture was shown of two product logos mixed together, and players had to buzz in and guess both products correctly.
  • Leslie-moji – Jones would show a text describing a product using only emojis, and players had to buzz in and guess the correct product. {NOTE: This game was a parody mash-up between Leslie Jones and Emoji)
  • Stars: They're Just Like Groceries – Similar to the Ruprecht version's Fill In The Blank, except this time played with actors and supermarket brands.
  • Lost and Found – Jones would mention three objects, one associated with a mascot, and she would ask which one the mascot left behind at a party; the players had to then choose the correct object.
  • Random Reveal – Same as one of the Ruprecht version's Word Games, but the clues were now full sentences.
  • Food Facts – Jones reads a fact about a food product, and gave three choices to a possible answer.
  • Main Ingredient – Jones would name a popular branded product, and then name three ingredients. Players had to buzz in with the ingredient appearing first on the ingredient list of said product.
  • Missing Link – Jones would give three items, each one with a common word left blank, and players had to buzz in and give the word the three products have in common.
  • Do You Speak Receipt? – Jones would read a clue about a product seen on the receipt; however, all the vowels on said product's name had been removed. Players had to buzz in and correctly saying the product's name (with all vowels present, of course).
  • Initial Impressions – Jones would read a clue about a product, with only the first letter shown on the screen. Buzzing in and correctly naming the product awarded 10 seconds. Each set of products usually had a common topic (e.g., the first playing's set of products had a common topic of "Insensitive Things To Give To Someone Who Just Got Dumped")
  • Coupon Clippers – The screen showed a 4×3 grid of gag coupons. One by one, the coupons were torn off, revealing the item behind them. Players had to buzz in and correctly guess the hidden item.
  • New Fruit, Who Dis? – The screen showed a fruit, and Jones read three possible names for it. Players had to choose the correct name out of the three.
  • Knock It Off – Similar to the Ruprecht version's Twisted game, Jones would give the aisle a product can be found in, and then read a “knockoff” of the product's name, and what it was.
  • Spell-Out – Jones would read a varying amount of clues relating to the product. The first letter of each clue spelled out the answer.
  • Get the Picture – Not to be confused with a short-lived 1991 Nickelodeon kids game show of the same name. Jones would read a clue accompanying a picture, the pun it conveyed being the name of a brand. Players had to buzz in and guess the correct brand name.
  • Sounds Delicious – Jones would play a sound, and then gave three options as to what brand would make that sound. Players had to choose the correct brand.
  • A Work Of Cart – Jones would show a distorted version of a product's logo, almost akin to abstract art, and read art-related hints about the product. Players had to buzzing in with the brand the logo belonged to. (NOTE: This was a pun of the term "A Work of Art")
  • Odd Price Out – Jones would read a price, and list three products. Players had to buzzing in with the product costing more or less than the given one. (NOTE: This was a pun of the term "Odd One Out")
  • Name That Cheese - Similar to Random Reveal and Reverse. A clue was read about a type of cheese. Said type of cheese would roll in letter by letter, and whoever buzzed in with the correct answer won the 10 seconds.
  • Check Me Out – Jones would list two products, with each team guessing the combined price of both products. The team coming closest to the actual combined price won 10 seconds.
  • Jan the Can – An animated can named Jan would aske a question relating to food, and Jones read three possible answers.
  • Clean Up on Aisle 3 – Jones would show a product that fell out of a package and read three possible brands.
  • Free With Coupon – Jones would show a coupon and three grocery products. Choosing the product with the exact same value as the coupon awarded the 10 seconds.
  • Museum of Mascots – Jones would show a brand mascot, past or present, and three possible names. She would also give a clue about the mascot.

The Question Round, as before, ended with a Round Robin; however, the questions themselves had more variety than the original.

Big Sweep[]

The Big Sweep rules remain the same (everything is up for grabs, carts can be returned at any time, only 5 items per customer, only one runner at a time, and penalties for items left on the floor or running into displays, cameramen, and personnel), but unlike the Lifetime/PAX version, the host (Jones) doubled as the announcer; however, starting with Season 2, announcer Tahir Moore would substitute her for the play-by-play of the Big Sweep. In Season 1, Jones would announce the bonuses; however, from Season 2 onward, Bethel would announce all of the bonuses, save for the shopping list, which remained announced by Jones. The supermarket itself was also updated to keep with the times, with entirely new inventory (such as large appliances) and sections (such as a café). Usually, in the first game, a short gag would play out involving Neil dressed as something, and Jones refusing to play along, simply telling Neil to leave. From there, Jones started her countdown. As soon as Jones said “go,” the lights would flash to the color of the team starting first, doing the same as soon for the other teams when they could go.

Bonuses in this version included the following:

  • Shopping List (Value: $500) – Similar to the original; however, each item in the list now had a common theme. (e.g., a "Music Night" themed Shopping List consisted of 3 red hot chili peppers, a bag of black-eyed peas, and a 2-pack of salt and pepper). On some occasions, the shopping list would be related to a movie tie-in and completing the list not only added $500 to the sweep total, but also a $1,000 bonus win or lose.
  • Inflatables (Value: $100-$300) – Much like the original Bonus Specials, giant inflatable bonuses were scattered throughout the store, with bonus tags attached, its value added team's sweep total. New to the ABC version were Triple Bonuses, which had three tags as opposed to only one, each one with different prices. During the Tally Up, the team that took the Triple Bonus would choose one tag to reveal either a $100, $200, or $300 value.
  • Coffee (Value: $300) – Runners would go to the Café, located near the meats, and ask Bethel the Barista for a cup of coffee. Alternatively, runners would go to the Café and find the cup of coffee with their name on it for the same value.
  • Dump & Grind Coffee (Value: $300) – Introduced in Season 2 as a replacement for the above. Same as the Ruprecht era Coffee. (NOTE: This was a reference to a hit song from 1993 by now-disgraced public figure R. Kelly called "Bump n' Grind")
  • Rich's Roses (Value: $300) – The runner would ask Rich, who's in charge of the greenery (near the produce section), for a dozen roses.
  • Golden Can (Value: $300) – Somewhere in the supermarket was a collection of golden cans. After some time had passed (usually during the final minute of the sweep) in the Big Sweep, Jones would announce what aisle the golden cans were in.
  • Apple Core (Value $300) – Introduced in Season 2. Similar to Fruit Fantasy on the Ruprecht era, except the runner had to fill up a bag full of a designated apple variety given by Jones, Neil, Rich or Bethel.
  • Barrels of Fun (Value: $300) – Introduced in Season 2. Similar to the Manager's/Red Tag Special in the Ruprecht era, a barrel was placed somewhere in the market filled with confetti, peanuts or blue candy wrappers. The runner had to find a token containing the shopping cart for the bonus. Before the sweep, the location of the barrel was announced to the viewers at home.
  • Balloon Blitz (Value: $300) – The runner would go to the balloons located near the greenery, and had pull down balloons until he/she had found the correct balloon for the bonus.
  • Whip It Good! (Value: $300) – The runner would visit the bakery, choose a pie, and fill it up with whipped cream. Once completed, he/she was given a rolling pin for the bonus. (NOTE: The line could also be heard in the classic 1980s song by Devo appropriately titled "Whip it")

Once time was called, Jones would ask if the cashiers were ready to scan, with one of the cashiers chiming in for a joke. The show then took another break, with the totals tallied up once the show returned, again starting with Team #3. Just as before, the team with the highest sweep total kept the cash and advanced to the new Super Sweep for $100,000. If there was a tie, the original Sweep rules remained, wherein the winner was the one who had the higher total, down to the cent. Unlike the original, all three teams were allowed to keep their sweatshirts, regardless of whether they won or lose.

The $100,000 Super Sweep[]

After the winning team was announced, the game would go into the Super Sweep, denoted by the dramatic lighting and music (usually operated by Neil in the manager’s room), not unlike Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Despite the more dramatic intro (which Jones lampshades), the Super Sweep remained the same as the Lifetime/PAX Bonus Sweep, albeit with a higher reward, and likewise, a higher risk factor attached. The overall objective was to find five items to five clues and win the big money. The $100,000 prize was indicated by a golden dollar bill. However the bonus game itself varied over the seasons:

Season 1[]

Much like before, the winning team had one minute to initially find three items, with the same requirement that their hands have to be on the product for it to count. There was no consolation prize for finding any of the first two (as opposed to the $200 originally rewarded for each product found), but the big prize for finding those three items was increased to $25,000 (as opposed to $5,000). Once the team found the third item, they were presented with a choice: Walk away with the $25,000, or keep playing and find a fourth item in the time remaining plus another 20 seconds for $50,000. If they founnd the fourth item, they could choose again whether to leave with what they'd already won or try to find the fifth and final item for $100,000 in the time remaining plus 15 seconds more. Failing to find either item before time runs out resulted in losing all bonus winnings earned to that point.

Season 2[]

Much like the first season, teams caould win up to $100,000 by finding five items; however, the overall bonus game played much more similarly to the original Super Sweep. The winning team now had 90 seconds (1:30) to find all five items, with the winnings following a ladder of $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000. When the 90 seconds expired, the team would take home the amount of money corresponding with however many items they were able to find. A la Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, Greed, Winning Lines, and The Weakest Link, this meant the amounts were not cumulative.

Pictures[]

Ratings[]

72px-TV-G icon svg (Malone and Ruprecht Versions)
72px-TV-PG icon svg (Jones Version)

Music[]

  • 1965: The Dave Brubeck Quartet/Score Productions
  • 1990/1993: Christopher Rhyne
  • 2020: “Push It” by Salt-‘n-Pepa (circa 1987)/iSpy Music

Inventor[]

Al Howard

International Versions[]

Here is a list of countries that have done their own version of Supermarket Sweep:

  • Arab League
  • Argentina (Sume y Lleve, 1987-1988 [translated as Add and Carry]/Clink Caja, 1996 [translated as Clink Box])
  • Australia
  • Belgium
  • Brazil (SuperMarket)
  • Canada (both in French and English)
  • Chile (Supermarket)
  • Germany (Das Supermarkt-Quiz - Promis Kaufen Ein [translated as The Supermarket Quiz - Celebrities Go Shopping])
  • Greece (Super Market), (Supermarket Sweep)
  • Japan
  • Spain
  • Turkey (Supermarket), (Star Market)
  • Thailand (Shop Champ)
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom (renamed Dale's Supermarket Sweep in 1998, after host Dale Winton)
  • Vietnam (Siêu Thị May Mắn [translated: Lucky Supermarket])

References[]

In books[]

David Susskind: A Televised Life[]

In the Stephen Battaglio biography of producer David Susskind, a passage is provided to further expand upon the rich background that built upon a game show that would transcend its ephemeral roots and emerge as an iconic legend in television game show history:

"Everyone in the meeting laughed. But it surely did not seem as funny when Susskind and Melnick bought an idea that was well out of the realm of the classy programs on which Talent Associates had built its reputation. An ad agency executive had told the partners about a soft-drink company promotion that had given contestants a chance to race through a supermarket while jamming as many items as possible in their shopping carts. Susskind and Melnick had veteran game-show producer Jerome Schnur develop it into a program. Schnur was a highly cultured man and a talented live-TV director. Later in his career, he staged ballet performances for PBS and produced a special on the Sistine Chapel. But in 1965, he designed the program called Supermarket Sweep, "the show that lets you run wild in your supermarket." The game required contestants to play a game, not unlike The Price is Right, already popular at the time, in which they guessed the retail price of various products. The players were rewarded with minutes to race through supermarket aisles and accumulate items from the shelves. The player with the highest total value of items at the checkout counter was the winner. Unlike every other game show, Supermarket Sweep would not be in a studio, but on location in actual supermarkets. "We had a lot of jokes about it," said Ed Vane, and executive at ABC at the time. "But just imagine going to a different supermarket every week and trying to get the camera locations and everything. Technically it was a very difficult thing to do. Only true professionals could make it work."

Vane had recently arrived from NBC to take on the unenviable job of head of daytime programming for ABC. Still a weak number three in the ratings at the time, ABC's daytime shows were not even carried in about 15 percent of the country. "That was a major handicap and we had to scramble and do all sorts of different exciting things to get sampled," Vane recalled. He also remembered the advice he received from the man who gave him the job, ABC's president Tom Moore. "Now, remember, boy, in daytime we ain't improving the breed," he'd say in his Mississippi drawl. "Don't you bother your little head about quality or Peabody Awards. Just go get the money, kid." It was with those instructions in mind that Vane bought Supermarket Sweep from Talent Associates. "Perhaps it was too literal a translation of Tom's guidance," he said, looking back.

Schnur and the Talent Associates staffers assigned to the show needed to perfect the game format before ABC could put it on the air. "Little by little the format developed and we'd go out into real supermarkets and try it out," said Emily Perl Kinglsey, who worked on the series. "In those days supermarkets were not open on Sundays. We'd come in Saturday night and we had to rig the place. We had to hang lights, set up bleachers for the audience, and have all those cameras, and so on. It wasn't like it is today with all this handheld stuff. There was huge equipment." A game-show casting expert went out into the community to find what the producers called "happy worthies." Kingsley described them as "cheerful people who needed the food" given away on the show.

The notion of people humiliating themselves on television for money and prizes was hardly novel in 1965. ABC had been running Queen for a Day, which started as a radio show back in the 1940s. Female contestants told sob stories before a studio audience about some pitiable life circumstance, such as caring for a physically or mentally disabled child, or having an out-of-work husband. And applause meter measuring the response determined the winner, who was crowned and showered with prizes. "The one who would go on to win Queen for a Day was the one who had the saddest story," said Bill Chastain, who was Schnur's longtime partner. "so it was not something that's totally foreign." But Supermarket Sweep was an optimistic glorification of consumerism set in the brightly lit shiny palaces where Americans celebrated it every day. "The only thing that makes Supermarket Sweep sort of impossible to believe was that it was the product of David Susskind and Dan Melnick," said Chastain.

From the start, Susskind tried to distance himself from the show. Susskind was known for his ability to hold a room spellbound when he pitched a program proposal, but he was nowhere in sight when Schnur and Ashley Famous agent Sy Fischer first presented the concept for Supermarket Sweep to Vane at his ANC office. "Even in the first meeting there were some giggles to explain why he wasn't there," said Vane. "It just struck me as unusual that the head of a production company would sort of disown his presentation." Fischer wasn't surprised. "David Susskind would never admit to having food from a supermarket," he said.

Campus remembered when Susskind journeyed out to a store in Paramus, New Jersey, to watch one of the early tapings of Supermarket Sweep. "He was crushed," Campus recalled. "He was saying, 'I don't care if we close the place down, I can't do this.' He walked off to his car. I guess someone else was driving him. And he left because it was too much for him."

After a few test shows, the producers decided that the average woman watching TV at home during the day didn't want to see herself portrayed as a crazed harridan scrambling through supermarket aisles. So the female contestants would play the pricing game and have male runners, either a relative or firned, race through the store for them. One runner in a test show had a heart attack. After that the runners had to be forty or under and have a note from a physician certifying they were healthy enough to participate. "The designated runner actually made it better because they were faster and greedier and there was more action," said Vane. "And when they collided - we always hoped they would - it made for good television."

As the weeks passed, the producers worked the kinks out of the program during the trial runs. ABC executives knew they had a potential hit. In test showings held at movie theaters, Supermarket Sweep received the most enthusiastic reaction the network had ever seen for one of its daytime shows.

But supermarket owners were put off by how the game disrupted their stores. Five weeks before Supermarket Sweep was scheduled to make its debut on ABC in December 1965, Talent Associates still didn't have a commitment from enough store chains to make a five-day-a-week show on location. Susskind, who was used to wooing the likes of Laurence Oliver and Ingrid Bergman for high-toned television specials, steeled himself to get on the telephone and use his persuasive powers to convince store executives to participate. So did Melnick. The survival of Talent Associates depended on it."

"Melnick, Susskind, and Stern made the deal. Shortly afterward, Talent Associates finally got Supermarket Sweep up and running at ABC and it was an immediate sensation. Sweep tripled the size of the audience of the show it replaced. When the Allied Van Lines trucks arrived outside of a supermarket with the sets and technically equipment used to set up the game, overflow crowds showed up. Unlike Get Smart, Sweep was lucrative for Talent Associates as soon as it went on the air.

While Supermarket Sweep saved Susskind's company, he made sure the press was aware that he was not involved in the show. "I have nothing to do with it," Susskind told TV Guide. "We have given it a home an provide necessary facilities to put it together. But that's all. These programs are produced by people who know and love them. But I couldn't get within a mile of it as a producer. I wouldn't know how." Susskind occasionally visited Schnur and Emily Perl Kingsley in the office they shared at Talent Associates. "Once a week David would sort of stick his head in the door sheepishly to find out how much money they'd made," said Chastain. "He was embarrassed about doing the show, but he loved the income.""

--"David Susskind: A Televised Life," pages 173-175; page 181

More Trivia[]

The Lifetime version was taped at Stage 9 of the KTLA studios in Hollywood, the PAX version was initially taped at the Santa Clarita Studios before moving to NBC Studios in 2000 (possibly due to NBC's alliance with PAX at the time).

Supermarket Sweep celebrated its 50th anniversary on Sunday, December 20, 2015.

Raycom Media was developing a new version of Sweep called Superstore Sweep.[7]

The sound effects used in the first season included the buzz-in sound from The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, as well as a buzzer for an incorrect answer (the latter was eventually used for the 30-Second Shootout when time ran out). Beginning with the second season, the sound effects were taken from an unsold pilot called People on TV.

The $5,000 win bells and siren sound was originally used on The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime (when the top prize was won), Fun House (when the Power Prize was found), and College Mad House (when all 13 tags were grabbed and the trip was won). It was also used on an episode of In Living Color in a game show skit called The Dirty Dozens.

The 30-second shootout think theme was used in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode Eyes on the Prize when Jazz and Will were on the show, Double Trouble. The music played while Jazz and Will were fighting in the isolation booth.

In the first three seasons, when players buzzed in to answer, the red light flashed three times and faded out. For the rest of the run, the red light stayed on after three flashes when players buzzed in to answer.

From 1990 to 1991, David's question cards were red during the main game, blue for the Round Robin Game, and yellow for the Mini-Sweep. Starting in late 1991, David's question cards were now used with the Supermarket Sweep logo on it. In early 1993, David's question cards now showed the new Supermarket Sweep logo with yellow background with purple text on it, and starting in September 1993 all the way through the end of the run, David's question cards were yellow with the Shopping Cart logo. On some episodes during the final Lifetime season, David's question cards showed the Supermarket Sweep logo with blue and yellow background with white text.

When Lifetime aired in reruns from September 30, 1996 to August 14, 1998, they used their own commercial fee plugs instead of Johnny Gilbert announcing.

When PAX aired in reruns of the final Lifetime season, they edited out the contestant's hotline of the Lifetime era, and used the old commercial fee plugs that was used on Lifetime from September 30, 1996 to August 14, 1998.

When David announced at the loud speaker for the Manager's/Red Tag Special, the $300 Movie or the Bonus Envelope in the PAX era, they used the winning alarm sound, which was oddly still in use for the Bonus Sweep if $5,000 was won.

On October 13, 2017, FremantleMedia (now Fremantle)[8]announced that they had acquired the global rights to the format and that a revival of the show was in the works. A representative stated that "the time is ripe to bring back this all-time favorite game show which has traveled with such success over the years" It was also at this time that Fremantle had announced what would end up becoming the current reboot of Supermarket Sweep, with Buzzr later starting to air reruns of the Lifetime/PAX runs on January 15, 2018, with the fee plug and Contestants' Hotline segments cut out..

Coming to Buzzr in 2018 Supermarket Sweep


According to Jones, she has claimed that she once auditioned to be on the show and has practiced in a real grocery store for it but has never been on it and she has referenced David in the premiere episode of the current 2020 ABC version.

In the 2020 version, it was originally going to air in the summer during their "Fun & Games" block but due to the COVID-19/Coronvirus pandemic it was postponed until the fall where it was paired up with the second seasons of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (or Millionaire for short) hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Card Sharks hosted by Joel McHale.

According to Christopher Rhyne, composer of the theme (and most cues used) for the Lifetime/PAX version, Fremantle had agreed to use his music for the reboot, but decided at the last minute that they "needed new music"[9] instead of what they were given, which they considered "dated"[10], ultimately using another soundtrack entirely. Snippets of his theme have been reused for the Mini Sweep, Big Sweep, and Super Sweep win cues.

Though the current Jones version was popular in its debut by gaining only 4 million viewers/2nd place in total, the show's ratings started to decline by gaining only 2 million viewers/4th place in total so on December 22, 2020 a new episode was aired on Tuesday night instead of its regular Sunday night timeslot. Additionally, this was also the same night as the CBS primetime specials The Price is Right at Night hosted by Drew Carey and Let's Make a Deal Primetime hosted by Wayne Brady. The season finale of this version aired on its regular schedule on Sunday night January 3, 2021.

On May 13, 2021, it has been announced (via Deadline)[11]that the current Jones version of Supermarket Sweep has been renewed for season 2 along with Celebrity Wheel of Fortune hosted by Pat Sajak and Vanna White.

As of right now, seven teams have won the $100,000 grand prize in the Bonus Sweep on the current version:

  1. 102: Team Tortellini (Michelle & Madison) = $103,486 (Second Half)
  2. 104: Team Meatloaf (Michael & Kelsey) = $103,342.61 (First Half)
  3. 106: Team Dill (Crystal & Lindsay) = $103,754 (First Half)
  4. 108: Team Spritz (Ali & Carrie) = $103,974 (First Half)
  5. 110: Team BBQ (Yolanda & Angela) = $104,450 (First Half)
  6. 202: Team Cannoli (Brittni & Phillip) = $104,474 (Second Half)
  7. 213: Team Virgin Margaritas (Stanton & Jeni) = $103,960 (First Half)

Taping Locations[]

Various Food Fair Stores (December 20, 1965–July 14, 1967)
Hollywood Center Studios, Hollywood, CA (February 5, 1990–June 16, 1995)
Santa Clarita Studios, Santa Clarita, CA (April 3, 2000-November 17, 2000)
NBC Studios, Burbank, CA (November 20, 2000–May 23, 2003)
The Barker Hangar, Santa Monica, CA (October 18, 2020-January 30, 2022)

See also[]

Arrasa con Todo con Kmart – A short-lived Spanish-language version of the show that aired on Univision in 2011.
The Honeymoon Race – Similar premise, except that it was taped in a shopping mall; this show also ran on ABC in 1967.
Ridiculous Cash Bash – A Holiday-themed special created (and sponsored) by Kmart that aired on GSN in 2017.

Additional Pages[]

Supermarket Sweep/Quotes & Catchphrases
Supermarket Sweep/Sweep In Popular Culture
Supermarket Sweep/Gallery
Supermarket Sweep/Video Gallery
Supermarket Sweep/Merchandise

Supermarket Sweep (channel)

References[]

Links[]

Official Website
1st Official Website
2nd Official Website
3rd Official Website
Watch Supermarket Sweep - Free Live Tv | Tubi
A Journey Through Supermarket Sweep
Jay Anton's Rules for Supermarket Sweep
Travis Eberle's Rules for Supermarket Sweep
Josh Rebich's Rules for Supermarket Sweep
Rules for Supermarket Sweep @ The Game Show Temple
Supermarket Sweep's Monster Squad @ Game Show Garbage
Official Pearson site for Supermarket Sweep (via Internet Archive)
Casting Call site for the revival of Supermarket Sweep with Leslie Jones
Casting Call site for the reboot of Supermarket Sweep with Leslie Jones
The Supermarket Sweep Facebook Page
The ‘Supermarket Sweep’ reboot wants to be a nostalgia trip to life before COVID-19

YouTube Videos[]

Audio[]

Theme - 1993-1994, 2000-2003
Theme - 1994-1995, 2001-2003 Remake
Theme - Round Robin

Theme - 1993-1995, 2000-2003 Big Sweep

Video[]

An intro to Classic Supermarket Sweep

A 1967 regular episode of the show.
Part 1
Part 2
The 1989 Pilot Episode
The first episode of the show
A 1990 Sweep of Champions episode with "Mr. Yuck" in the Big Sweep
A 1990 Episode with the Round Robin permanently increases to six
A 1991 Sweep of Champions Episode of the Show
A 1992 Episode of the Show
A 1992 Episode with no buzzer for an incorrect answer in the Question Rounds.
A 1992 Sweep of Champions Episode with an error of adding 10 seconds for a correct answer
A 1992 Everything is Super Episode where three questions are answered in the Jeopardy! style (I.E. in the form of a question), plus the $200 Super Sandwich debuts.
Another 1992 regular episode of the show.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A 1992 Sweep of Champions episode of the show.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
An early 1993 episode with yellow displays, plus a new theme music.
Part 1
Part 2
Another episode
$250 Super Bonus debuts, plus permanent blue displays.
Part 1
Part 2
Another episode
A 1993 episode, with a misgrab in the Mini-Sweep.
Part 1
Part 2
A 1993 episode, with first part missing
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A 1993 episode, where the winning team was so close to winning the $5,000 Bonus Sweep
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A 1994 episode where the winning team was so close to winning the $5,000 Bonus Sweep
Part 1
Part 2
A 2000 PAX episode, with two questions answered Jeopardy! style (i.e. in the form of a question) that would be completely frowned upon on Win Ben Stein's Money; plus the most big-money makers in one Big Sweep
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
A 2001 PAX episode, with a goof-up in the 30-Second Shootout, and the Bonus Envelope
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
A 1993 Episode with an updated TV Mystery Product with a button underneath it, plus $100 Candy debuts.
A 1993 episode featuring the Instant Coupon Machines and the Cake-decorating kit
A 1993 Episode where a Pasta Sauce Jar breaks on the floor after winning the $5,000 Bonus Sweep.
A 1993 Episode where Pricing Items Game is not played, plus an error in the 2nd Mini-Sweep.
A 1993 half-episode featuring just the Instant Coupon Machines
A 1993 Sweep of Champions episode
The Twin Car Giveaway finale from 1994
A 1994 Episode with a repeated clue incident during the 30-Second Shootout.
The Cruise to Paradise Finale from 1994
A 1994 episode with the 1990 theme played after the Bonus Sweep
A 1994 episode with an error in the Check Stand Headlines game and the Super Sandwich
A 1994 episode with the Super Sandwich, a $7 difference in the Big Sweep, and a close $5,000 win
A 1994 Sweep of Champions episode
A 2000 PAX Episode
Another 2000 Episode with an error in the 30-Second Shootout.
Another 2000 Episode with a misgrab in the Mini-Sweep.
Another 2000 Episode with an error of adding 10 seconds for an incorrect answer.
A 2001 PAX episode with a goof-up in the 30-Second Shootout, the Video Envelope, and the $5,000 found before the second item
A 2001 Double Your Money episode (also includes a regular episode up to the Mini-Sweep)
Another 2001 PAX Episode
"Supermarket Sweep" Reunion Show

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