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Revision as of 17:24, 12 April 2005 by 206.72.11.46 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Give-n-Take was a short-lived American game show based on Blackjack that starred Jim Lange and aired on CBS. The show – dominated by LED displays and buzzers and little else -- was simply a time filler until CBS was ready to unveil its hour-long The Price is Right format. The series – which ran from September to November 1975 – was cancelled shortly after the 60-minute TPiR premiered.
Rules of the Game
Four female contestants, including a returning champion, competed, using prizes as the playing cards. The contestants were seated around an eight-space spinner (an LED display designed a la a game board spinner). Each contestant was given an up-prize (with dollar-value announced) to start the game.
Announcer Johnny Jacobs announced another prize, but not the dollar value. Lange then read a general-knowledge question. The first to respond correctly won five spaces on the board, while her opponents each got one space apiece.
At that point, the LED spinner went into motion (complete with sound effects); the player signified when she wanted to stop the spinner by pressing her buzzer. Wherever the spinner landed, the player controlling that space could either keep the prize or pass it to one of her opponents. Play then repeated in the same manner, with a new prize described.
The idea was to build a prize package of as close to $5,000 without going over. Since they did not know the total retail value of their prizes, a player could freeze at any point if they feared they had gone over (they were not eligible to receive future prizes). The player who had the package that was closest to $5,000 won their prize package (the others lost their gifts) and she advanced to the bonus round.
Bonus Round
The champion was given one final spin, and if the arrow landed in a pre-selected space (a 1-in-8 shot), they won $5,000 plus the other prizes that their opponents had received during that game (usually about $10,000-$15,000). A player competed for up to five days or until reaching CBS's $25,000 limit.