| Host | |
| Jim Peck | |
| Announcer | |
| Bill Armstrong | |
| Taped | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Bob Stivers-Roberts 2 Productions | |
ARMSTRONG: This is The Answer Machine. Today and every day, this man supplies the questions, and The Answer Machine supplies the answers like...
PECK: Bongo, bingo, dongo, dingo, Ringo, lingo, and zingo. The question is: "Which of these words are actually found in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary?"
ARMSTRONG: Now, some of these answers are right, and some of them are wrong. And today, these contestants will try to beat The Answer Machine by coming up with all of the right answers. One of them could win cash and prizes totaling more than $10,000. And now, here's the man with all the questions for The Answer Machine, Jim Peck.
The Answer Machine was an unsold game show pilot.
Gameplay[]
This was a show where the game boards were filled with seven answers. Only a small groups of them were correct answers to a question, and it was up to the contestants to spot them.
Main Game[]
Two contestants competed; they faced a game board of seven screens with answers (sometimes pictures) contained in them. A handful of answers were the correct answers to a question. Those were the answers they tried to find. The catch was, they were not told how many correct answers were actually there.
On each question, the answer would be revealed one by one in clock wise fashion and then Jim would read the question. While the answers were being revealed or after the question was announced (whichever came first), one of the contestants buzzed in and took control of the board and at the same time, they would decide how the question would be played; either "Solo" or "Free for All".
If the player selected "Solo", then (s)he would have to find all the correct answers in a row; with a point going into their bank for each correct answer. One mistake and the opposing player would try to takeover control and stole the points by giving one correct answer. If the opponent made a mistake during his/her turn, the question was over. And finally, if the original controlling player could sweep the board, (s)he received a two point bonus.
In a "Free for All" situation, the process was mostly the same, only here the opponent could buzz-in at any time and intercept control & points if (s)he thought (s)he spotted some correct answers, with control going back to the original player on a miss.
In either case, if the controlling player felt that there were no more correct answers on the board, (s)he must let the host know, with an incorrect confirmation forfeiting control. Also in either case, each point was worth $10 to the player who won the question.
The game lasted for six minutes and the player with the most money won the game and advanced to the bonus round.
Bonus Round[]
The bonus round lasted for 30 seconds and was played with seven questions. Questions and play were the same as before, only here the winning contestant always played solo. On each question, the winning contestant saw the answers in list form. (s)he must select an answer by pressing a button next to it. As always, correct answers kept on playing; as soon as there were no more correct answers or if the winning contestant selected a wrong answer, the clock stopped, the question was over, and a new one came into play. If the winning contestant could spot a combined total of 13 correct answers, (s)he won a grand prize worth at least $10,000. It is unknown what would have happened, if (s)he failed.
Trivia[]
The theme song was previously used on the short-lived revival of I've Got a Secret hosted by former panelist Bill Cullen in 1976 and the original precursor to Press Your Luck called Second Chance (ironically enough also hosted by Jim Peck) in 1977.