Stumpers!
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''Stumpers!'' is a game show hosted by
Allen Ludden Allen Ellsworth Ludden (born Allen Packard Ellsworth; October 5, 1917 – June 9, 1981) was an American television personality, actor, singer, emcee, and game show host. He hosted various incarnations of the game show ''Password'' between 1 ...
that aired on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
from October 4 to December 31, 1976.
Lin Bolen Lin Bolen (March 21, 1941 – January 19, 2018) was an American television executive and producer. She was most noted for her role at NBC daytime television programming as the first female vice president of a TV network, a position she held from ...
, former head of NBC Daytime Programming, developed the show. Bill Armstrong was the program's regular announcer, with
Charlie O'Donnell Charles John O'Donnell (August 12, 1932 – November 1, 2010) was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows. Among them, he was best known for ''Wheel of Fortune'', where he worked from 1975 to 1980, a ...
filling in for several episodes. The show featured game play similar to ''Password'', with two teams (consisting of one celebrity and one contestant) attempting to guess the subject of puzzles based on clues provided by their opponents. The series premiered and ended on the same dates as ''
50 Grand Slam ''50 Grand Slam'' is a game show from Ralph Andrews Productions that aired on NBC from October 4 to December 31, 1976. Tom Kennedy hosted the show, with John Harlan as the announcer. It premiered and ended on the same day as the show that preced ...
'', which immediately followed ''Stumpers!'' on the NBC schedule and was hosted by
Tom Kennedy Thomas or Tom Kennedy may refer to: Politics *Thomas Kennedy (Scottish judge) (1673–1754), joint Solicitor General for Scotland 1709–14, Lord Advocate 1714, Member of Parliament for Ayr Burghs 1720–21 * Thomas Kennedy, 9th Earl of Cassilis ...
.


Main game

The object of the game was to solve a "stumper", which was a puzzle consisting of three clues to a person, place, or thing. In round one, each player on a team gave clues to their opposing counterpart (contestant gave clues to contestant, celebrity to celebrity). The contestant or celebrity was shown the three clue words (but not the answer to the stumper) and had to choose the one they thought would be least likely to help their opponent guess the stumper. After each clue was given, the opposing player would have five seconds to provide as many guesses as they could. If the opposing player guessed the subject correctly, their team was awarded points as based on the number of clues already provided: If the opposing player was unable to guess the stumper after being supplied with all three clues, the clue-giving team would earn 15 points for a correct guess in round one, 30 points in round two. If neither team was unable to guess the stumper, no points were awarded and play continued with the next stumper. Two stumpers were played per team member, for a total of four stumpers per round. Round two, the "Double-Up Round," consisted of two more stumpers worth double the points from round one. Both team members could provide a guess during round two, despite which opponent supplied the clues. The team that was ahead at the end of round two won the game and a chance at $10,000 in the Super Stumpers round. The most a team could score in total was 120 points. In the event of a tie, Ludden would provide the clues, one at a time, and the teams would buzz in to guess. The first to give the right answer won the game, while a wrong guess gave the opposing team a chance to guess. If neither team answered correctly after the third clue, another tie-breaker stumper was played.


Bonus round ("Super Stumpers")

In Super Stumpers, the object for the contestant was to correctly guess the subject of stumpers with the celebrity giving clues. This time, the idea was to give clues that would be more helpful in guessing the subject instead of being ones that would be less helpful. The celebrity was shown three clue words and one at a time would relay them to the contestant until the contestant correctly solved the stumper or all three words were exhausted. In order to receive another of the clue words, the contestant had to say "clue"; giving one without being asked forfeited the chance at the jackpot. Contestants were given sixty seconds to guess ten subjects, and doing so won $10,000. If a contestant did not do so, $100 was awarded for each subject guessed. Two complete games were played per episode. Contestants could stay on the show until they were defeated or won Super Stumpers twice.


Episode status

Due to NBC's practice of
wiping Lost television broadcasts are mostly those early television programs which cannot be accounted for in studio archives (or in personal archives) usually because of deliberate destruction or neglect. Common reasons for loss A significant prop ...
, the status of the entire series is unknown. The premiere and finale exist, along with another episode from December 1976.


References


External links


''Stumpers'' on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stumpers (Game Show) NBC original programming 1970s American game shows 1976 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings