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TV series or program| Give-n-Take | |
|---|---|
 Give-n-Take title logo. | |
| Created by | Carruthers Co. Productions |
| Directed by | Bill Carruthers |
| Presented by | Jim Lange |
| Narrated by | Johnny Jacobs |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 60 |
| Production | |
| Production locations | Warner Bros. Studios Burbank, California |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS |
| Release | September 8 – November 28, 1975 |
Give-n-Take is an American television game show which ran on CBS from September 8 to November 28, 1975. Jim Lange hosted, with Johnny Jacobs announcing. The series, replacing Spin-Off (which itself was not a hit, also hosted by Lange and announced by Jacobs), ended after 60 episodes. Unlike most CBS game shows, the program was taped at The Burbank Studios, rather than at CBS Television City.
Gameplay
Four female contestants competed (males never competed for unexplained reasons), including a returning champion. Each contestant was seated in one portion of an eight-spaced board, shaped like a daisy.
Each contestant's bank was staked with a prize and the dollar value revealed to all contestants.
A prize was described (but not its value) and host Lange asked a question. The contestant who buzzed in and gave the correct answer took control of the four neutral "advantage spaces" on the board, in addition to their own, giving them a total of five spaces. The other three contestants controlled the spaces in which they sat.
The contestant who answered the question correctly stopped a large spinning arrow in the middle of the board. The contestant on whose space the arrow stopped won control of the prize. That contestant must then choose one of the following:
- Keep the prize, in addition to whatever prizes she had already banked.
- Keep the prize and pass any other prize(s) she had banked to an opponent.
- Pass the prize, keeping all other prizes banked.
- Pass the prize and any other prize(s) banked.
After a prize was assigned, a bell or buzzer was heard indicating whether or not that contestant's bank value was below $5,000. The actual value of the bank was never revealed, only whether or not they were below the $5,000 target. Play then repeated in the same manner, with a new prize described.
A contestant could freeze at any point if she thought she was close to the $5,000 limit, preventing her from receiving any other prizes passed to her from her opponents.
If a contestant's bank value was over $5,000, that player was "frozen" and unable to accept any other prizes passed to them by their opponents. The player was then required to answer questions in the manner described above to pass some of their prizes and reduce the value of their bank.
If the arrow landed on a frozen player, the prize in play would automatically be added to the bonus round.
The player whose bank was closest to $5,000 without going over won all the prizes in their bank and advanced to the bonus round. The other players left with parting gifts.
Bonus round
The champion selected one of the eight spaces on the board and stopped the arrow from spinning. If the arrow landed on the space selected, the contestant won all prizes described that day in addition to what they had already won.
Champions stayed on the show for a maximum of five days, or until they reached CBS' $25,000 winnings limit.
Broadcast history
Give-n-Take debuted on September 8, 1975 at 10:00 AM Eastern (9:00 Central), replacing the Nicholson-Muir Production Spin-Off (coincidentally also hosted by Lange). Up against NBC's popular Celebrity Sweepstakes (ABC did not program at 10:00 and had returned the 10:30 slot to its affiliates in 1969), the show suffered moreso due to its premiering on the same day that The Price is Right did an experimental series of hour-long broadcasts to celebrate its third anniversary.
On November 3, Price expanded to a full hour on a permanent basis and Give-n-Take was moved to 4:00 PM (3:00 Central). Although it now faced the ailing soap Somerset on NBC and the short-lived revival of You Don't Say! on ABC, Give-n-Take now faced a new problem – pre-emption.
While Give-n-Take was rarely pre-empted by affiliates at 10:00 AM, in its new afternoon slot (commonly known as the "death slot") the series now found itself frequently ignored by affiliates in favor of cartoons, sitcom repeats, talk shows, movies, and even syndicated games. For the stations that carried the show in November, despite having a top-notch lead-in – the popular celebrity game Tattletales – Give-n-Take faltered significantly compared to the Bert Convy game.
In November, the show faced an uphill battle in what was essentially an ultimatum situation – unable to hold even half the audience from its popular lead-in, beaten soundly by both its weakened network competition and independent programming, and all but ignored by its own network, Give-n-Take ended three weeks later on November 28.
In a cruel twist of irony, on December 1 Give-n-Take was replaced by Tattletales, which managed to run for two years at that slot; on December 19, 1977 Tattletales was replaced by Match Game.
Music and sound effects
The show's main theme ("Red Arrow") and prize cues ("Classey" and "Joe's Right") were composed by Stan Worth.
The sound heard when the arrow was spinning was later used as a timer cue on Wheel of Fortune.
Episode status
The series is believed to be wiped as per network practices; this is not certain as the series it replaced, Spin-Off, was found intact in 2000. Episode #15 (aired September 26, 1975) exists among private collectors.
See also
- Say When!! (a 1960s game show similar to Give-n-Take)