Supermarket Sweep

The topic of this page has a Wikia of its own: Supermarket Sweep Wikia.

Hosts

Bill Malone (1965–1967) David Ruprecht (1989–1995, April 2000-May 2003)

Announcers

Wally King (1965–1966) Richard Hayes (1966–1967) Johnny Olson (1960s, sub) Johnny Gilbert (1989–1995, April-June 2000) Randy West (June 2000–May 2003)

Broadcast

ABC Daytime: 12/20/1965 – 7/14/1967 Pilot: 12/18/1989 Lifetime (Daily): 2/5/1990 – 6/16/1995 (with reruns until 8/14/1998) PAX (Daily): 4/3/2000 – 5/23/2003 (with reruns until 3/26/2004)

Packagers

Talent Associates (1965–1967) Al Howard Productions (1989–1995, 2000-2003)

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. A total of 1,111 episodes were produced and aired during the course of the show's 11-season, 12-year run on 3 television stations.

Gameplay (ABC version)

Three teams, usually married couples, but generally always a housewife and her "runner" - usually a male relative under the age of forty - competed. Each team began with a base time of one minute and thirty seconds (1:30).

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 machine 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 the closest won the item(s), and an additional 15 seconds to their time. Four items were played and each item revolved around 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. Several bonus prizes, coming in the form of pennants with dollar values ranging from $10 to $100 printed on them, would be spread throughout the store. After each contestant ran their sweep, the total value of groceries and bonus prizes in each player's cart was determined. The team with the highest total won not only the groceries they accumulated and the bonuses they picked up, but would also earn the right to return to the show and play in the next game.

Gallery

Ah, Food Fair, a perfect place to do Supermarket Sweep

And here's Bill Malone

If someone won on the last sweep, the couple would wear a "champ" sticker

It has been known that the managers of the supermarket are the actual retail price checkers in the game

The original podiums

How much do you think this bar of soap costs?

This contestant is the closest and boy is she happy!

Not only the contestant picked up time in the sweep, but also won the item that was up for bid. Kinda reminds you of The Price Is Right a little, huh?

The original sweep uniform worn by the man on Team 1

Wow, those guys sure can run through a supermarket!

My oh my, this guy's got a lot of meat!

Run! Run! Run!

Wow, sure is busy here!

The original total up.

Looks like this couple won BIG!

The original logo at the end credits

Gameplay (Lifetime/PAX 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, such as a parent and child, spouses, siblings, or best friends. Unlike the ABC version, however, where the contestants' last names were revealed, no contestants' last names were ever revealed in this version (except on special occasions). In the last two rounds, 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.

We all have fantasies. Is this one of yours to go through that supermarket?

Question Round

At the beginning of the game, all three teams started with a base time of 1:30, like 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.

Contestant Area #1a

Contestant Area #1b

Contestant Area #2a (looks similar to the Price Is Right yellow display)

Contestant Area #2b

Question types

Players were asked a series of 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.

The Six Choices question round.

Six Choices Round from Mother Daughter Week

• Three Right – Six choices were given to the contestants. They were asked which three out of the six belonged to a certain brand or item or genre. All three contestants buzzed in and guessed which one of the three items that were correct. So this was a chance for all three contestants to pick-up 10 seconds. Three questions were played.

The Three Right Game. Which three out of these six are varieties of potatoes?

These three varieties of potatoes are the correct ones.

Which three out of these six are flavors of Carefree sugarless gum?

These three flavors highlighted in yellow are the correct ones.

Which three out of these six are seafood?

Here are the three that are correct.

• 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). 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 or 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 earned 10 seconds for that team only; selecting the wrong one gave the other two 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 the three animals.

The Animal sounds game from 1990. Note that there are five animals on the table.

Here is another Animal Sounds game as it appeared in 2002. This time, there are three animals on the table.

• 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.
• Checkstand Headlines – Facts about a famous person or event that were read about in checkstand 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.

The Fat Chance game. Which of these three items have the lowest amount of fat? The Butterfinger Candy Bar, The Cascadian Farms Ice Cream Bar, or The FrozFruit Bar?

Pricing Games

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

• 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.

Which of these three products is under $3: the Mrs. Smith's Banana Cream Pie, the Klondike Ice Cream Sandwiches, or the Jell-O No Bake Cheesecake Dessert?

How about these three? Which one of them is under $3: the Gerber baby food, the Pampers diapers, or the Pedialyte? Looks like everyone locked in their answers.

The Gerber baby food is under $3!

• 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 variation also included the possibility of the shown price being correct.

If a player was correct, that team earned 10 seconds; however, if all three players were right, 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 if all three players were right.

Special Games

• 30-Second Shootout – At the beginning of the second segment of the question round, both contestants on a team played an individual game, which banked the team 30 seconds of Sweep time; each team took turns by playing the game individually. The format usually consisted of a contestant guessing a series of words using the 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 name 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 in the final Lifetime season), and if a word was accidentally blurted out by the clue-giver, the team was disqualified automatically.
  • 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 on one of the words in the list, it was not to be used again (doing so would lead to disqualification of that team).
  • In the PAX run, pre-selected words to which their initials spell out the product's name were given to the giver and s/he simply had to convey them to his/her partner. If the giver was stuck s/he could pass and go to the next word. Also the "no repetitions" rule was lifted. When time was up, that's when the guesser tried to guess the product using the letters revealed, although s/he could guess while the clock was still ticking. Also on early episodes of this version, if the word wasn't completed, it wasn't revealed fully.
  • On some episodes, an alternative format was used with a picture of a product shown. Each clue changed the product's picture.

The 30-Second Shootout in progress (1993).

A playing from 1994. Note that the time limit was 40 seconds.

A playing from 2001. Note that the on-screen clock is absent.

Another playing from 2001, this time with the on-screen clock present.

Here it is again in 2002. This team has six seconds left, and they have most of this product's brand name revealed. Bet you can get this one!

• Snack Attack Movie Game – Three 10-second questions about movies were asked. The player who answered the last of the three questions correctly earned the right to take a taste test of a food item in the market; correctly identifying the item earned that team $50 for the Big Sweep. If the contestant guessed right on a second chance (multiple choice, and consisting of a maximum of three choices), that team earned $25. In some cases, only one chance was used and the question consisted of only two choices.

Which video do you like? It's time for the Snack Attack Movie Game!

The Taste Test from a 1993 episode. In this case, the contestant is going to be tasting a soda.

Mini-Sweep

Beginning in Season 3, 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 team that correctly answered the question earned 10 seconds, as well as a chance for one team member to run into the market to retrieve the product. If the product was returned within 30 seconds, the team won $50 toward their Sweep total. In the Mini-Sweep's later playing, the product would be marked with the Supermarket Sweep logo. And from that point on, players now had to find the specially-marked item to receive credit.

If the team member returned with the incorrect product, the correct product that was not marked with the Supermarket Sweep logo (changed to the show's "cart" emblem in 1993) on it, or the right item but ran out of time before they could return it or couldn't find it at all, no bonus was awarded. However, if the contestant found the marked item but the marker fell off of the product, the cash bonus still counted.

In Season 4, 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). 

In Season 5, a second Mini-Sweep was added at the beginning of the second round and was later used only during special weeks on the PAX version.

Here goes a contestant five seconds into the Mini Sweep.

She made it back well under 20 seconds, so she adds $100 to her team's Sweep total.

Despite the fact that the marker came off, David still awards Chris the $100.

Prior to Season 5, 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.

The $50 version of the aforementioned tag.

The $100 version of the tag, added when the "$100 in 20 seconds or less" rule debuted in Season 4.

Round Robin

For the final segment, the teammates switched 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 in September 3, 1990 to give all three teams a chance to earn up to 60 seconds (one minute).

Let's see if you guys can figure this out.

Here's the answer! Hope the answer "popped" in your head!

Here's another one. And here's a hint: When you bite this chocolate bar, it makes this sound.

Here's the answer: CRUNCH! Mmmmmm!

How about giving this one a go? It's a dandruff shampoo.

Here's the answer!

Here's another one. It's a "slim" kind of soda, endorse by figures such as, Huston, John & Abdul.

Here it is, DIET COKE!

This next clue is all about hair color! Can you guess the unscrambled word?

Here's the answer!

Can you try this one on for size? It's a type of greeting card and a TV channel.

It's Hallmark! That's the answer!

Can you unscramble this word before these guys do? Here's a hint: It's a candy bar, with buttery toffee covered in milk chocolate.

Here's the correct answer.

Try unscrambling this one! Here's a hint: It's a cereal flavored with honey and tastes like the sweet cracker for which it's named.

Here's the answer.

Try to unscramble this word! It's designed to help your sore throat.

Here's the correct answer.

How about taking a crack at this one? You can "clean up" with this one.

Here's the answer!

Okay, how about this one? Can you unscramble it? It's a buttery spread designed to help you with your cholesterol levels.

Here's the answer.

Here's another one. I'll give you a hint, it's a red long licorice-like candy.

Here's the answer!

How about this word? I'll bet you guys can figure this one out!

Here's the correct answer! Although looking at the word Tostitos is making me VERY hungry!

Quick, can you unscramble this one? Here's a hint, it's a type of cereal, and it's slogan is "Two Scoops".

Here's the answer.

Try this one out! Here's a hint, it's small cookies that have the letters L & D on them.

This is the answer.

Solve this one!

Here's the correct answer!

How about this word?

This is the answer.

Try this one! Here's a hint, it has to do with cameras.

This is the answer. Say cheese!

How about unscrambling this one? Here's a hint, it's a type of diaper brand.

Here's the answer.

Can you guys try unscrambling this word? Here's a hint: it's a brand name of cooking oil.

Here's the answer.

Here's another one. Can you guess it?

Here's the correct answer.

How about this one? I'll give you a hint, it's a girl's name.

Here's the answer.

Try solving this one! It's a type of cracker.

This is the answer.

How about this one? Here's a hint, it's a type of chocolate named for a famous naked lady.

Here's the answer.

I'll bet you guys can get this one! Here's a hint, this character says "Eh, what's up, Doc?"

Here's the answer, Bugs Bunny!

Can you try this one?

Here's the answer.

How about this word? Here's a hint, its jingle is "The Best Part of Waking Up is _______ in your cup!"

Here's the answer!

Here comes another one! The hint is, it's a "fishy" kind of snack.

Here's the answer.

Sweep Quiz

This was used during the final PAX 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.

Here is a Sweep Quiz question: Why is it called a "3 Musketeers" bar? Can you figure out the answer?

Here's the answer: It was originally three pieces and three flavors.

Who said this? I'll give you a hint, she's a muppet and her lover is Kermit

Here's the answer; MISS PIGGY!

Try to answer this one!

Did you get it? Well, here's the answer!

This looks like a tricky one! Quick, answer if you can!

Here's the answer.

We got another question for you. Answer quick now!

This is the answer.

Come on guys, I know you can get this one!

And BOOM, there's the answer!

Try this one on for size!

Here is the answer.

Try to nail this question down.

And here's the answer.

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.

Wow! The most popular topping for pizza in Moscow is red herring. Now that is interesting!

Another variant was used in some episodes of Seasons 1-4 as well as early in Season 5, where David asked 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, David gave the answer, occasionally making a joke afterward.

Big Sweep

The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout the 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 cart. Any items in the runner's cart 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 $25-per-item penalty. Teams were also penalized $25 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 (with the exception of the 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.

Wow, I guess this contestant is really hammin' it up!

Man, these contestants really are meaty about meat! Here's one hoping to beef up her score with these prime cuts of beef.

Looks like this contestant is getting some cheese, if you please!

Check out this runner. He's going crabby with some lobster.

In most episodes of the show's first season on Lifetime, costumed characters such as Frankenstein's Monster, a gorilla, or a creature named Mr. Yuck ran through the aisles during the Sweep. They were referred to as Weird Customers. If the character came near a contestant or vice versa, the contestant had to turn around and go in the other direction. The characters were dropped after the first season.

Watch out for Mr. Yuck!

Watch out for Big Dave, a giant turkey!

Bonuses

Many bonuses were available during the Big Sweep at different times during the show's run. Each contestant was only able to take one of each bonus type. Some of these included:

• Bonus Specials (Value: $50–$200, later up to $250; $100-$300 during the Twin Car Giveaway) – The only bonus feature to appear in every episode. Three jumbo-sized stuffed animals, giant inflated balloons of products, or cardboard promotional signs for products with bonus tags attached to them were scattered throughout the market. In order for the bonus to count, the runner had to bring the item back to the checkouts and over the red line (without destroying it or the tag) before the time expired. A runner was allowed to steal an opposing team's item if it was left unprotected before getting it to the checkouts. These over-sized products and/or signs were worth $50, $100, or $200. 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 Season 6, a $300 bonus (dubbed the "Super Super Bonus") replaced the $50 bonus. In all cases, only one bonus was allowed to a customer.

In some very early episodes, a pennant with a question mark on it was attached to some bonuses. The bonus seen here is a GE Light Bulb and it could be worth $200!

Later on the pennants were done away with and just the bonus tags were used. This bonus special Cleopatra was worth $200, by the way.

That giant red M&M is one of the bonuses in this Big Sweep. Rick, of Team #1, is ready to put that red M&M in his cart!

Here's another bonus, a pack of Wrigley's Doublemint gum.

This contestant from Team #2 picked up that 7UP bonus in a flash!

Check out that huge barrel bonus! I hope that contestant finds a "barrel" load of $250 inside!

• Coffee (Value: $100, later $200) – Runners were required to grind a bag of coffee beans.

This runner is starting to grind coffee from Season 3. Note that in Seasons 3-4, the coffee grinder was placed in the back of the market as seen here.

Quick! Better fill up that coffee! This is from Season 6. Note that the coffee grinder is placed in an aisle near the back of the market next to the frozen section. In Season 5, it was located in an aisle at the front of the market near the frozen section.

A contestant grinding coffee in 2001. This contestant looks like she's almost finished grinding the coffee. Note that the coffee grinder and the coffee grinder section, which are still in the aisle in the back of the market next to the frozen section, is different.

• Candy (Value: $100, later $200) – Runners were required to bag and weigh $1.00 worth of candy. Contestants could be off within two cents above or below $1.00, 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 the bag in order to get credit for the bonus.

A contestant measuring candy in 1993. Note that the readout, in front of the scale, was smaller than the large LED display later on.

A contestant measuring candy in 1994. $0.94, just $0.04 away from $100! Note that the readout, which has been changed to a larger LED display, is in front of the scale.

A contestant measuring candy in 2001. Note that the scale is on the other side of the end cap, and that the readout is on the side of the scale. (Though not pictured here, there is also a readout on the end cap.)

Beginning with the introduction of the candy, both it and the coffee bonus were available to shoppers on each episode. This changed for Season 9 (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 doubled to $200. Earlier, the candy was omitted from episodes that had the Jelly Belly money maker (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 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).

Here is item number 1 on the Shopping List: Drumstick Ice Cream Cones.

Here is item number 2 on the Shopping List: Princella Cut Yams.

Here is item number 3 on the Shopping List: Neosporin Ointment.

The somewhat bulky mini-basket for the Alphabet Game; also used for the short-lived Breakfast Break

The improved mini mini-basket for the Alphabet Game

Other variations included the following:

• Magazine Display – Picking up three or four magazines that were listed by David, from the many titles to choose from.

Here is a list of magazines to get.

• 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.

WOW! I love some Jelly Belly jelly beans.

• International Bread Center – Bagging certain quantities of three bread types that were listed by David, from the many bread types to choose from.

The International Bread Center's first look on the Lifetime version.

When David described the items in the bread center's early days, the text on the bottom was shown to the folks at home (one item at a time).

Looks like she wants $250 really bad!

Welcome to The International Bread Center. Man, those bagels look good! This is how it later appeared on the PAX version.

Here's another list. It says: 2 Kaiser Rolls, 1 Poppy Seed Bagel, and 1 Bialy.

Looks like that contestant from Team #1 wants to get $250. I hope he can follow the list David provided.

Alright! That contestant of Team #2 followed the list correctly! Looks like she's gonna add $250 to her sweep total!

Here's yet another list of bread and their quantities that David is asking for: 2 cake donuts, 3 poppy seed bagels, & 1 croissant.

And here's a team #2 contestant following that list.

• Fruit Fantasy – Putting certain quantities of lemons, apples, oranges, and grapefruits into a fruit basket.

Fruit Fantasy

Here is the list of fruits: 3 apples, 4 oranges, 1 grapefruit, & 2 lemons.

Here's a team #3 contestant following that list. This contestant heard the clue to the Bonus Envelope, "You Can't Stop the Copper Top", but Randy West corrects and says "Or TOP the Copper Top". =)

• 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 is that its rules were too confusing for viewers to figure out.
• 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, and finding all three items with these coupons won $250.

Here's a close-up of an Instant Coupon Machine.

Here's a team #3 contestant heading for an Instant Coupon Machine.

• 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.

Mmmm, I'd love me some fro yo!

Apparently so does this contestant.

She's finished with her yogurt.

• 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.

Mmm, I just love to decorate yummy cakes!

Yum! That team is sure gonna get $100 for that delicious and tasty cake!

• TV Mystery Product (Value: $250, $300 for The $300 Movie) – Runners tried to find a product using clues displayed on three television monitors in the market. This bonus was later changed to the use of two television monitors in 2001, which allowed other money makers using the TV monitors, including Splitting the Name, with one half of a product's name 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 would be available for the contestants, in which they would find a single copy of the movie. Originally, the monitors were touchscreen, but often a clue would take too long to appear, taking up a contestant's shopping time; so this was later changed to buttons placed below the monitors; a contestant could receive their clues simply by pushing the monitors' buttons, which also activate red lights surrounding the buttons. Early episodes with this game didn't reveal what the name of the product was if nobody found it.

The somewhat annoying slow-working touchscreen Supermarket Sweep Mystery Monitor, when it was first introduced early in Season 5. (Giddy up slowpoke. What's keeping you?)

The somewhat improved touch-button monitor later in Season 5. (It's the same touchscreen monitor from early in the season with a button added.)

The improved touch-button Supermarket Sweep Mystery Monitor, used in Season 6.

The later-day Mystery Monitor

Here it is again from another angle

Here's a team #3 contestant reading a clue from the monitor: "Towels"...

...and grabbing the product too.

When Dave was explaining how to use the TV monitors, the word "Clue" appeared to let the contestants know that there would be a clue on the screen once they activated it.

Here's the red marquee graphic used during the introduction of The $300 Movie.

Which video do you like? Who will find The $300 Movie?

Here's a Team #1 contestant finding this clue: "Michael Keaton"...

...and a Team #3 contestant getting this clue: "In a cape". Can you figure out the movie?

Which MOVIE do you like? Time once again for the $300 Movie.

• Manager's Special or Red Tag Special (Value: $200) – During the Sweep, Ruprecht announced the "Manager's Special" or the "Red Tag Special" of the day via the market's loudspeaker (later his announcements became pre-recorded, often reused). The contestant 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 red star or a red X for the Manager's Special, 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 those props for humor.

Attention Shoppers! Here's the Manager's Special!

And here's a team #3 contestant digging through for the Manager's Special.

In 2001, they showed the folks at home what the Manager's Special or Red Tag Special is.

The $200 Red Tag Special. When this was introduced, it was located near the Deli, as seen here.

The $200 Red Tag Special. It was later moved to an end cap, as seen here.

• 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. Their partner then had to go to their table and, using all 21 cans, stack the empty soda cans 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.

Here's the Stack Job from 2002, worth $150.

• Recycling Machine (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, and after crunching all 10 cans, a receipt was printed good for $100.

This sack with ten empty soda cans inside is what you will give to your partner if you find it!

We're going green with the Recycling Center.

• Super Sandwich (Value: $200) – Before the Sweep began, the host specified a sandwich to make. Runners were required to make the sandwich precisely as described using ingredients set up on three tables; including five meats, two 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 shoppers run to the International Bread Center to grab the bread called "Sandwich Loaves", and then the partners would make the sandwich.

Yum Yum Yum! I would love to have a sandwich. Even in 1992.

Yum Yum Yum! I would love to have a sandwich. Even in 1994.

• Sweep Swipe or Market Madness (Value: $200 for the Sweep Swipe; $250 for the 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, onto their own table or their cart. For each item in one's possession at the end of the bell, the team received a bonus (either $50 or $100 per item).

Sweep Swipe!

Market Madness!

• Cracker Jackpot! or Jolly Time Is Money! (Value: $100, later $150 for Jolly Time is Money!; $200 for the Cracker Jackpot) – Runners tore open boxes of Cracker Jack or Jolly Time Popcorn in order to find a token with the show's shopping cart logo on it.

Here's the Cracker Jackpot.......

....worth $200!

Here's Jolly Time is Money!

• Bonus Envelope (Value: $200) – Halfway through the Sweep, the host announced a clue to a specific product. Next, the runners had to find the product and take the bonus envelope that was located next to it. 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.

Here's a Bonus Clue: The center of the target. Can you guess the item?

Which video do you like? David has the clue!

Can you figure out the clue to which video this is? The clue is: The first Corleone shot.

Better find that movie with the envelope on it quick or else time will run out!

• Giant Box of Laundry Detergent (Value: $25-$100 in $25 installments, later containing two each of $50 and $100) – A giant box of laundry detergent (Gain or Cheer) 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.

The world’s largest box of Cheer: each envelope is worth $25-$100.

Here's a contestant from Team #2 grabbing one of the envelopes!

Looks like this contestant from Team #3 is wondering how much is inside that envelope as well!

Their envelope was worth $25.

But this team's envelope was worth $100! WOW!

• Balloon Pop (Value: $150) – Three shopping carts or large garbage bags filled with balloons were located in one of the back corners of the supermarket. Runners brought back one of the carts or bags to the checkouts for their partners to pop. Their partners had to pop all of the balloons before the time had expired. If so, they would receive a token worth $150.
• 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. The record for the highest grand total was $2,254, set in the ninth and final season in 2002. The team with the highest grand 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. In early episodes of Season 1, the totals included cents. For the rest of the series, the totals were rounded off to the nearest dollar, with cents only coming into play if there was a tie.

The first Tally up.

The second Tally up.

The third Tally up, now an on-screen cash register graphic, which was originally in the center and started out blank. In the second week of Season 5, the graphic displayed the word "SWEEP".

The fourth Tally up. The cash register graphic has been moved to the right and began displaying the word "TOTAL". In earlier episodes, it displayed the word "SWEEP".

The fifth and final Tally up, with a different font then the third and fourth styles.

Bonus Sweep

The winning team was given 60 seconds to find three products in the market one at a time. The products were marked by the show's logo or emblem (just like the Mini-Sweep), and were numbered 1-3. Before the show, the teams randomly choose 1 of 3 bonus envelopes, which contains their first Bonus Sweep clue should they win the Big Sweep. They were given a clue to the first product, 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. If they found the final product before one of the other products, originally the team would automatically be disqualified, but after the first two seasons, the team that found the $5,000 too soon were just reminded to find all three products, then return to find the money. If the team was unsuccessful, the team still won $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 Season 3 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 that was used only during the Bonus Sweep, or a greeting card near the magazine rack.

Losses

There goes Team 2 to find the clue! Stick it under your chair and you'll see "trouble come" keep those cubes in your mouth when you chew Bubble Yum!

This sometimes bald bird can make your home baking soar!

13th letter 10th letter 2nd letter MJB (Coffee). But oh, they ran out of time!

But that's okay, they won $1,845, still pretty good!

Here goes Team 1 to find their first clue! When your tummy feels as if it's been hit by stray rocks, get antacid relief from a blue bottle of liquid Maalox!

After the stork delivers a bundle to a friend, you ask the mailman to deliver this.

G.I. Joe wears Combat Boots (Bug Killer). But unfortunately, not in time!

But hey, they still won $1,568 today! Still a great sweep total!

Wins

It's time for this team to find the $5,000! If you mix the colors green and blue, you'll get half the name of this minty gel!

Aqua Fresh (Toothpaste).

Will she find the $5,000 in time?

YES! They win $5,000! Another two satisfied customers!

Another team is ready to find $5,000! And looks like this team found the first clue in a flash! What keeps your "dishes" looking bright? It must be because you're using Sun Light (Detergent)!

Just think of that thing that body builders do to show off their muscles. Flex! (Shampoo).

One of the four traditional "somethings" for a "bride," plus actor Lou Diamond Phillips. Blue Diamond (Almonds). Can they do it?

YES! THEY WON $5,000 WITH 30 SECONDS REMAINING! UNBELIEVEABLE! Another two satisfied customers!

Let's see if this Mother & Daughter team can win the 5 grand! The first clue is: For curls that are custom built, try perming with a product called Lilt, (Home Perm).

Rick Moranis played a wacky father in the movie. "Honey, i shrunk the kids."

Give a tasty bag of these to your brother's father's wife! Mother's Cookies.

YES! THEY WON IT ALL BABY! $5,000!!!!!!

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.

Twin Car Giveaway

The Chevrolet Geo Tracker

From September 19 to October 14, 1994, at the beginning of the show's final season on Lifetime, a month-long Twin Car Giveaway tournament was held. During the first three weeks of the tournament, a standard game was played each day. The twelve teams with the highest Big Sweep totals from these episodes at the end of the third week 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 that final 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, where each correct answer was worth $50 toward their Sweep total. Each of the first three teams then had a flat three minutes 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 (a combined value of more than $25,000) in addition to whatever else that they won on their previous shows. All other teams kept their prior winnings. Team #1, James and Rick, won with a Big Sweep total of $1,598, and won a grand 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-week period.

Do you think Rick & James can beat Aaron & Rick's score?

Of course they can!

Other Tournaments and Specials

Occasionally, former teams were invited back to the show to play for additional money or a trip. These consisted largely of "Sweeps of Champions" (later called "Second Chance Weeks"), which gave previous Big Sweep winners after they lost $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. During Season 3 in 1991, there were five "Super Sweep of Champions" episodes, where previous teams who won $5,000 were invited back for a chance to go on another Bonus Sweep for the opportunity to win an additional $10,000. Others include:

• Gourmet Week – Allowed the teams to play for a trip to France.
• 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 that week, one team was guaranteed to win $5,000 after they lost on their first appearance.
• Double Your Money Week – Similar to the five "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.

Double Your Money Week

• 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.

It's Mother & Daughter Week on Supermarket Sweep!

Mother & Daughter Team #1 are ready!

So is Mother & Daughter Team #2 (SPOILER ALERT: This team would go on to win the $5,000)

And here's Mother & Daughter Team #3

• 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 to win $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweep was played in that week.

Family 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 that week.

Cruise to Paradise

• Cruise Week – Similar to the "Cruise to Paradise" week, except no Bonus Sweep was played throughout the entire week.

Cruise Week

Second Cruise Week Logo

• Tournament of Heroes – Troop teams were to win the $5,000 at the end of the week. No Bonus Sweeps were played during this week.

1989 Pilot Rules

The show is sort of a hybrid of both the 1965-1967 shows and the upcoming shows. For the question rounds, they had the old school pricing games featured on ABC. The 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 get double of 30 seconds. In case of a tie in guesses, the tied teams each get the seconds. Now for the "buzz-in-to-answer" questions, correct answers still scored 10 seconds, but in this pilot, incorrect answers deducted 10 seconds. There was no Round Robin game.

At the Big Sweep, the teams can grab more than one bonus cash item which in the pilot were all shown at the outset. This makes 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

Main Set

"Who's ready to win $5,000?"

Everyone in this audience wants to.

Anyone who has three of these items on this board will play the game...

...And here are the items.

The surprise is David hits this button to randomly select the item.

"Who's got..."

"...the Oreo cookies?"

"Okay, you're on!"

"Who's got the Scope mouthwash?"

"Okay, you're on!"

"And, who's got the Taster's Choice coffee?"

"Okay, and you're on!"

Looks like the contestants are ready to go!

Starting off with a minute-and-a-half to use on the big sweep, before adding more time during the game.

Pricing Product #1: LeanCuisine

Pricing Product #2: Heinz Ketchup (Squeezable)

Reading a rhymed Mystery Product, that would later be used in the Mini Sweep in the actual series.

Pricing Product #3: Minute Maid Orange Juice (at a whopping 96 ounces!)

Pricing Product #4: Sara Lee Chocolate Mousse Dessert

Mystery Product #1: "Are you getting 100%?"

She just did, with Total!

Mystery Product #2: How ____ to to make chocolate milk?

Quik! Unfortunately, the other two guessed too "quik".

Mystery Product #4: "Sometimes you need a little..."

"...Finesse." And one of them has it!

Final Pricing Product: Gourmet Berries

Two-way tie, seconds are earned by two of the teams.

Who will go to the Big Sweep?

Time for the Big Sweep, with a timer on the right side.

Everything in this supermarket is up for grabs.

Bonuses are the flags, which could be worth...

...$50...

...$100...

...or $200, however that bonus comes with...

...the mannequin itself. However, you may grab more than one, if you so choose.

There's the camera crew in the background, since this was in an actual supermarket.

Viewing from inside the cart, almost buried in Smoked Salmon.

Taking the meat or putting it back, make your choice.

Health, Beauty, and Baby Care products galore.

Prescriptions may provide fast pain relief for a fast-paced game.

She's got the bonus, which is the baker.

He's got the bonus, which is the Frito Bandito.

Time's up!

Let's find out who won the Big Sweep.

Their grand total with their groceries and bonuses...

...With a cashier to add it up, is...

...490.38...

Their grand total with their groceries and bonuses...

...Through another cashier, is...

...683.89...

If their grand total is higher, they win. If not, the other team does.

Their grand total with their groceries and bonuses, through another cashier, is...

...597.17... but not enough to win the sweep.

So that means Lorrie & Bill win.

This year emmy went to the gang at the boston bar called Cheer?

Found the first item!

On "cheers", roving bachelor Sam Malone is still up to his old Trix?

Got the second item!

If Sam's old "Trix" work, and he does have an affair with Rebecca, you know he wont be able to keep a Secret.

With almost no time remaining,...

...They found the $5,000!

This is how much they win altogether.

"Next time you hear the check-out stand beep, think of all the fun you can have on Supermarket Sweep!"

The pilot logo at the end credits

Merchandise

Board Game

A board game based on the original ABC version was published by Milton Bradley in 1966. Played in two parts, players guess the price of grocery items during the game's first part and sweep through the supermarket represented by the gameboard during the game's second part. The player who accumulates the most points in cards during the sweep wins.

While Supermarket Sweep is most recognized for its Lifetime (1990s) and PAX (2000s) revivals, only the original ABC series tried a home conversion.

The box contents include:

• 1 Instruction manual
• 1 Gameboard
• 1 "Quick-tick" timer
• 4 Wooden pegs
• 4 Shopping cart tokens (red, green, yellow, blue)
• 8 Round bonus pieces (2x blue, 2x green, 2x red, 2x orange)
• 8 Aisle pieces (2x blue, 2x green, 2x red, 2x orange)
• 8 Aisle signs (2x Dairy and Frozen Foods (blue), 2x Fruits and Vegetables (green), 2x Meat and Fish (red), 2x Groceries (orange))
• 120 Food cards (40x blue, 40x green, 40x red, 40x orange)
• 1 Price List

The box

The game set

Video Slot Machine

A five-reel Video Slot Machine based on the Lifetime/PAX version was released by WMS Gaming in 2004. In the game, the prize check symbol shows up during the shopping spree Free spin bonus round, all line wins will get prize checked up to 8X! In the Supermarket Sweep bonus, the show starts as players pick grocery items for awards. Finding hidden prizes advances the player to the next aisle for bigger awards and eventually to the last aisle where the hidden grand prize is waiting to award the big money.

Rating

Music

• 1965: The Dave Brubeck Quartet/Score Productions
• 1990/1993: Christopher Rhyne

Inventor

Al Howard

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 gameshow that would transcend its ephemeral roots and emerge as an iconic legend in television gameshow 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 Jeroe 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."

Vance 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 rememberd 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 instuctions 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 Schunur'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 Schunr 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

In popular culture

An episode of Laverne & Shirley was named "Supermarket Sweep". The title characters were Slotnik's one millionth customers. The man behind the counter said that they won a free shopping spree in the supermarket. They had 3:00 to grab everything they could get their hands on and whatever stuff they had must be over the line to be won. The hilarious duo shop like crazy. As soon as they have a heap of stuff, they get tired and all they win are two items.

On Late Night with David Letterman, Dave makes an appearance on Supermarket Sweep as one of his clips of the week. Dave coaches the shoppers while wearing an Ithaca sweatshirt and a whistle around his neck.

On the Married...with Children two-parter "You Better Shop Around", Al & Peggy Bundy compete against a rival in a shopping spree in the supermarket in which the Bundys are seeking refuge due to a broken air conditioner.

After Elmo watches a video about sleep on the popular Sesame Street ending segment, Elmo's World, there is a parody mentioned called "Supermarket Sleep".

A Nickelodeon kids' game in the 1990s better known as Nickelodeon Super Toy Run, hosted by Mike O'Malley had kids given 5 minutes to grab everything, which would be toys, before time was up. This was a similar concept to Sweep but it was toy shopping at Toys R Us.

In 2005, Supermarket Sweep was briefly mention on a 1990 episode of VH1's I Love the 90s: Part Deux.

The Red Tag Special prop was used in the set of GSN's 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time.

In 2016, as part of the "Cut For Time" unaired skit, Saturday Night Live (SNL) spoofed "Supermarket Sweep" as "Supermarket Spree", where (Melissa McCarthy) will stop at nothing to take out her competitor (Vanessa Bayer).

More Trivia

The Lifetime version taped at Stage 9 of the KTLA studios in Hollywood; the PAX version 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 is currently developing a new version of Sweep called Superstore Sweep.

The buzz-in sound effects were taken from The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime, and the wrong answer buzzer was used in the first season, and was later used for the 30-Second Shootout. Beginning with the second season, the sound effects were taken from the pilot show People on TV.

When the player buzzed in to answer, the red light flashed three times and fadeed out in Seasons 1-3. Starting Season 4, the red light stayed on after three flashes when the player buzzed in to answer.

From 1990-1991, 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 1994-1995 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 1996-August 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 1996–August 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, FremantleMediaannounced 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" The company also stated that the new incarnation of the show would incorporate "modern technology" into the program which reflects 21st century shopping habits. Information about what network it will air on, who the host will be or if the format will remain similar to previous versions are not yet determined. In the meantime, Buzzr aired repeats of the Lifetime/PAX runs starting January 15, 2018.

When Buzzr (1991-93) and Amazon Prime (2000) reran the entire Lifetime/PAX run, in the 1991 version they edited out fee plugs, and in the Amazon Prime version they edited out fee plugs and the contestant's hotline.

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-November 17, 2000)
NBC Studios, Burbank, CA (November 20, 2000–May 23, 2003)

Spin-offs

Arrasa con Todo con Kmart – A short-lived Spanish-language version of the show that aired ion Univision in 2011.
The Honeymoon Race – Similar premise, except that it was taped in shopping malls across the country, 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.

International Versions

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

• Argentina (Sume y Lleve, 1987-1988/Clink Caja, 1996)
• Australia
• Brazil (SuperMarket)
• Canada (both in French and English)
• Chile (Supermarket)
• Greece (Super Market)
• Japan
• Spain
• Turkey (Supermarket)
• Thailand (Shop Champ)
• United Kingdom (renamed Dale's Supermarket Sweep in 1998, after host Dale Winton)
• Vietnam (Siêu Thị May Mắn)

Additional Pages

Supermarket Sweep/Quotes & Catchphrases
Supermarket Sweep/Gallery
Supermarket Sweep/Video Gallery

Links

A Journey Through Supermarket Sweep
Jay Anton'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)
The Supermarket Sweep Facebook Page

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 a wrong 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 Checkstand 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