How many game shows have a trip to Mallorca?
Nice close-up of the Star Bonus wedge.
Camp David Accords...Animal House..."Dallas" Premieres...
Spring (?), 1978...Reach for the Star!
Wheel first flirted with the idea of a bonus round during the hour-long episodes of 1975, and returned to it here with the Star Bonus wedge on the wheel. The wedge stayed on the Wheel the entire show and if a contestant landed on it, s/he had a chance to play a special bonus round at the end of the game.
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How many game shows have a trip to Mallorca? |
Nice close-up of the Star Bonus wedge. |
The odd thing about the wedge is that it didn't guarantee the contestant the chance to come back the next day. Based on the score of the last round, if the contestant holding the Star Bonus round wedge was not in the lead, s/he played the bonus round in an attempt to overtake the contestant in the lead. Adding to the strategy of this decision were the 4 possible Star Bonus puzzles, which went from easy, to medium, to hard, to difficult. The more difficult the puzzle, the more valuable the prize you could win, ranging from say, a trip to Las Vegas ($700 or so) to a Porsche ($13,000!). 4 consonants and a vowel were allowed to be chosen for the puzzle.
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| Scott has $0 to his opponent's $6850. He'll need to play the difficult puzzle to overtake her! |
This won't do it. |
One of the problems with the Star Bonus format was that, since there was no guarantee the Star Bonus round would be played, the pacing of the show suffered. In the event that the round was played, the remaining part of the show was sloppily edited to pieces to fit in the extra round.
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| This Porsche will, however. | B, M, W, S, A? Scott is employing the "pick at random" technique. |
Two episodes from the Star Bonus era exist, and in one of them the contestant has a chance to play the Star Bonus difficult puzzle but loses. The contestant happens to be Scott of Press Your Luck fame, the only contestant to appear on both versions of PYL.
Unknown, 1978...Maryann's Reign of Terror...
One of the few episodes from 1978 surviving on videotape is a run-of-the-mill affair featuring returning champion Maryann. Maryann was an astute puzzle solver with a penchant for shaking her head in disbelief and spinning the wheel with her left hand. Despite her conservative game playing, she easily won the game over her overmatched opponents.
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| Chuck displaying the long hair look back in 1978. | Three $500 spots in Round One by this point. |
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| Maryann hasn't turned it on yet, but she will. | Kids get these a lot. |
The one bright spot in the episode was kooky contestant Carol, who, according to Chuck, was "the only contestant that ever clapped in four-four time." Carol won one round by solving HOT CROSS BUNS, and was completely flustered in her shopping round, forgetting to call out the values of the prizes she shopped for.
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| Maryann's about to tie her scarf around her opponent's necks. | Ah the Utility Room showcase...tools, bicycles, and ... a guitar? |
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| A little Round Two wheel snapshot... | Carol employs the "dance and solve" technique. |
