''The Pop 'N Rocker Game'' is an American

game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

and

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

produced by

Ron Greenberg Ron Greenberg (born 1940?) is an American television game show producer who worked on numerous network and syndicated programs of that genre from the 1960s through the 1990s. His credits include ''Camouflage,'' '' Word for Word,'' ''Let's Play Po ...

Productions and

Alan Landsburg Productions Alan Landsburg Productions (ALP) was an independent television production company founded by Alan Landsburg in 1971. The company had produced '' In Search of...'' and ''That's Incredible!'', two early examples of reality television decades befor ...

. The program premiered on September 17, 1983, and aired through September 1984 and combined musical trivia with in-studio performances. Two bands were featured on each episode; as such, the show was touted at the opening of each show as a "Game in Concert".

Jon Bauman Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947) is an American singer, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's Sha Na Na character, "Bowzer", was a greaser in a muscle shirt. Biography and career Bauman was ...

was the show's host, and both

Phil Hartman Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...

and

M.G. Kelly Gary D. Sinclair (born 1952), known professionally as Michael Gary "M.G." Kelly and Machine Gun Kelly, is an American actor, disc jockey, and radio personality. In addition to hosting several radio programs over the years, Kelly has held severa ...

served as announcers. Some notable bands that appeared on ''The Pop 'N Rocker Game'' were

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, and

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.''Those Wonderful TV Game Shows'', February 27th, 1984 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 ...

The very first televised appearance of

the Bangles The Bangles are an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1981. The band recorded several singles that reached the U.S. top 10 during the 1980s, including "Manic Monday" (1986), "Walk Like an Egyptian" (1986), " Hazy Shade ...

with new bassist

Michael Steele Michael Stephen Steele (born October 19, 1958) is an American political commentator, attorney, and Republican Party politician. Steele served as the seventh lieutenant governor of Maryland from 2003 to 2007; he was the first African-American ...

happened on ''The Pop 'N Rocker Game''.

Gameplay

Three teenagers competed. Five or six pop music trivia questions were asked; some of them having to deal with visual clues (such as pictures or clips from music videos). Each question was worth $50. After the final question was asked, the performer mentioned in the question would come out and perform a song (hence why the show was billed as "a game in concert" in its intro). After this performance, the Countdown Round was played. The questions started at $50, and increased by $10 for each question. This continued for 60 seconds. The contestant in the lead won the game and moved on to the Superstar Round. If the game ended in a two-way tie for first place, or if all three tied, Bauman read one last question, with the person ringing in and answering correctly winning the game. In the Superstar Round, the contestant had to unscramble the names of bands. Jon would read a clue to each one. If they could unscramble three in 30 seconds, they won a prize package worth over $2,000. After the bonus round, one of the bands mentioned in the bonus round would come out and perform a song. The show would end with one final song by the first performer.

References

* Encyclopedia of Television Game Shows 1st ed. - Fred Wostbrock, Steve Ryan, David Schwartz

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pop 'N Rocker Game, The Musical game shows 1980s American children's game shows First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings Television series by Alan Landsburg Productions Television series by Universal Television