Wipeout (1988 U.S. game show)

For the 2008 U.S. TV series, see Wipeout (2008 U.S. game show).

Wipeout
200px
Genre	Game show
Created by	Bob Fraser
Directed by	Jerome Shaw
Presented by	Peter Tomarken
Narrated by	Jim Hackett Bob Ridgely John Harlan
Theme music composer	Otis Conner
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	195
Production
Executive producer(s)	Rob Dames Bob Fraser
Producer(s)	Bill Mitchell
Production location(s)	Paramount Pictures Studios Hollywood, California
Running time	approx. 22-26 minutes
Production company(s)	Dames-Fraser Productions Paramount Domestic Television
Distributor	Dames-Fraser/CBS Television Distribution
Release
Original network	Syndicated
Original release	September 12, 1988 – June 9, 1989
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Wipeout is an American game show that aired from September 12, 1988 to June 9, 1989, with Peter Tomarken as host. The series was produced by Dames-Fraser Productions and distributed by Paramount Domestic Television.

Reruns of the series later aired on the USA Network from 1989 to 1991.

Main game

First round

Three contestants competed on each episode. Initially, each game featured three new contestants. After several weeks, the show instituted a returning champion policy.

The game began with the players given a category, with sixteen possible answers on a four-by-four grid of monitors. Eleven of the answers fit the category, while five did not and were called "Wipeouts" (In one episode, Tomarken accidentally referred to them as "Whammies" from his other show Press Your Luck). Play started with the contestant in the leftmost position, and for each correct answer that player gave he/she earned money. That player could keep answering until either passing (which he/she was only permitted to do after making at least one selection) or finding a Wipeout, which cost him/her any money earned to that point. Either way, control passed down the line.

The first correct answer of the round was worth $25 and each subsequent answer was worth $25 more than the one before it, with the eleventh and last worth $275.

Play continued until all eleven answers or all five Wipeouts were found. The two players with the most money kept their totals and advanced to the Challenge Round.

In case of a tie for second, a tiebreaker category was played with twelve answers, eight of which were correct. A coin toss determined who started and play continued until one contestant found a Wipeout (and in turn, lost the tiebreaker) or found the last correct answer (and moving on to the Challenge Round).

"Hot Spot"

One of the correct answers was the "Hot Spot". The contestant that found it was given a token to display on his/her podium and if that player avoided a Wipeout for the remainder of the round and had one of the two highest money totals at the end of the round, he/she won a prize (usually a vacation).

If the contestant holding the Hot Spot found a Wipeout, it was taken away from that player and put back on the board behind one of the remaining correct answers.

Challenge round

A board with twelve answers was shown to the contestants, containing eight correct answers and four Wipeouts. Players alternated bidding based on the number of correct answers they could find. Bidding continued until one player challenged another or until the maximum bid of eight correct answers was given. If the player with the higher bid was able to complete the contract, they won the round. If a Wipeout was revealed, the other player could win the board by coming up with one of the remaining correct answers. However, if another Wipeout was uncovered, control passed back to the highest bidder who resumed where he/she had left off prior to uncovering the first Wipeout.

The first player to win two boards won the game, a prize, and advanced to the bonus round.

Bonus round

The Wipeout bonus round had the day's winner play for a new automobile.

The bonus round did not use the same monitors that the main game did. Instead, the show employed another board which consisted of three rows of four much larger monitors that was behind the main game board (both boards were on a turntable, which rotated to bring the bonus board around). Of the twelve answers displayed, six were correct and six were not.

The objective of the bonus was demonstrated by Peter Tomarken for the champion before the proceedings. He would get to play his own random category and randomly choose six answers by touching their respective monitors to light them up, after which he would go back to the starting point and hit a button to see how many he had right. He also showed the champion how to change an answer, which required touching the monitor again to turn the light off before another one could be picked.

After the demonstration the champion was given the actual category to play and the twelve possible answers that would fit it, and had sixty seconds to find all six correct answers. He/she kept changing answers as long as time permitted and he/she had not gotten all six. If the champion managed to find all of the answers before the time limit, he/she won the car and, once returning champions were instituted, retired undefeated. After the show allowed returning champions, contestants were able to return until they won a car or were defeated.

Versions outside the US

Country	Local Name	Host	Network	Year Aired
Australia	Wipeout	Tony Johnston	Seven Network	1999-2000
Germany	Riskier Was!	Gundis Zámbó	Sat.1	1994-1995
Greece	Risko	Giorgos Polixroniou	Mega Channel	1995-1997
Netherlands	Denktank	Kas Van Lersel	RTL 4 RTL 5 Veronica	1994-1999
Spain	Alta Tensión	Constantino Romero Luis Larrodera	Antena 3 Cuatro	1998-1999 2006-2008
	Tensión sin Limite	Ivonne Reyes	VEO7	2011
United Kingdom	Wipeout	Paul Daniels (1994-1997) Bob Monkhouse (1998-2002)	BBC1	1994-2002

Australia

Main article: Wipeout (1999 Australian game show)

Germany

The German version is called Riskier Was! (lit. Risk Something!) aired on Sat.1 hosted by Gundis Zámbó aired on Sat.1 from 1994 to 1995. Unlike other international versions of Wipeout, this version alone had a blue cartoon Rhino as the mascot of the show.

Greece

The Greek version is called Risko aired on Mega Channel from 1995 until 1997, hosted by Giorgos Polixroniou.

Netherlands

The Dutch version is called Denktank (lit. Think Tank) aired on RTL 4, RTL 5 & Veronica from 1994 until 1999, hosted by Kas Val Lersen.

Spain

A Spanish version originally called "Alta Tensión" (lit. "High Voltage"), and later "Tensióm sin Límite" (lit. "Unlimited Voltage") had three separate runs: one from 1998 to 1999 on Antena 3 hosted by Constantino Romero, one from 2006 to 2008 on Cuatro with Luis Larrodera as host, and one in 2011 on Veo7 with Ivonne Reyes as host.

Format changes

Round 1 was played with three boards like the UK. For the first two boards, €100 was awarded for the first answer plus an additional €100 for every subsequent correct answer revealed, up to €1,000 for the tenth correct answer (only ten correct answers are on the board). The third board paid €200 for the first answer plus an additional €200 for every subsequent correct answer revealed (up to €2,000 for the tenth correct answer); instead of a bonus prize, one of the answers on one of the boards hid a "wild card," which preserved the money if a player found a Wipeout.

In round 2, instead of bidding, one player selects a category, after which their opponent selects answers until finding a Wipeout, at which point their opponent takes over control of the board. A player wins the board by selecting the eighth and final correct answer. If one player finds the fourth wrong answer, their opponent automatically wins the board.

In the bonus round, seven of the answers were right, and five were wrong. Trying to turn on more than seven answers resulted in an error tone and the answer not being activated. Like in America, winning the bonus round awarded a new car.

United Kingdom

Main article: Wipeout (UK game show)