''Definition'' is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

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 demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...

, which aired on

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

from September 9, 1974 to March 10, 1989, and filmed at its flagship studios of

CFTO-TV CFTO-DT (channel 9) is a television station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, serving as the flagship station of the CTV Television Network. It is owned and operated by network parent Bell Media alongside Barrie-based CTV 2 outlet CKVR-DT, channel 3 ...

9 Channel Nine Court 9 Channel Nine Court (alternatively known as the CTV Toronto Studios, CFTO-TV Studios, Glen Warren Studios or Bell Media Agincourt and temporarily known as 9 Dave Devall Way)Scarborough,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

.Stephen Brunt, "Definition turns 10 with pride". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', March 3, 1984. For most of its run, it was hosted by

Jim Perry James Perry may refer to: * James Perry (journalist) (1756–1821), journalist * James Franklin Perry (1790–1853), early Texas settler (with wife Emily Austin Perry) * Jimmy Perry (1923–2016), English actor and scriptwriter * James E. C. Perr ...

History

Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir, the creators of ''

The Newlywed Game ''The Newlywed Game'' is an American television game show that puts newly married couples against each other in a series of revealing question rounds to determine how well the spouses know or do not know each other. The program, originally create ...

'', created ''Definition'', resulting in the show being syndicated for some international audiences as well. The series was produced by Glen-Warren Productions for CTV. Dave Michaels hosted the pilot for ''Definition''. Michaels had previously announced the Nicholson-Muir game show '' Matches 'n Mates'' with Art James and later anchored news for

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast Flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the American Broadcasting Company, ABC network. ...

WXIA-TV WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north ...

, and CNN during the first

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Iraq were carried out in two key phases: ...

. For its first season, the show was hosted by Bob McLean, with

as announcer. Beginning the next season, and continuing until the series concluded, Perry moved in front of the camera to take over as emcee, with veteran

weatherman

Dave Devall David Devall (born 1931) is a Canadian retired broadcaster and meteorologist. He served as the chief forecaster at CFTO-TV in Toronto for more than 48 years beginning in 1961, and was recognized as having had the "longest career as a weather for ...

filling the vacancy in the announcer's booth. Devall also served as Perry's stand-in whenever he was absent. ''Definition'' was the longest-running daytime game show in Canadian television and the third longest-running daytime game show in North American television, behind ''Concentration'' and ''The Price Is Right''. It made host Perry a household name during the 1970s and 1980s. Only about 850 of its 1,950 episodes still exist, however, due to a then-common practice known as

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 ...

. All remaining episodes currently stream on the retro Canadian game show streaming servic
BonusRound.ca
Beginning in the 1980s ''Definition'' encouraged viewers to send in their own puzzles via mail, with at least one chosen per episode. Viewers would have their definitions acknowledged on air by Perry if they were chosen.

Rules

''Definition''s format was loosely based on the word game Hangman.Peter Kenter, "My Definition of loss". ''

National Post The ''National Post'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet newspaper available in several cities in central and western Canada. The paper is the flagship publication of Postmedia Network and is published Mondays through Saturdays, with ...

'', November 28, 2008. Two teams of two competed, originally a contestant and celebrity and from 1986 on two pairs of regular contestants. The teams would take turns guessing letters in a phrase for which Perry had offered a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

as a clue. The game is similar to ''

Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or '' Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-J ...

'', which debuted around the same time. The challengers began the game with one teammate "giving away" a letter to their opponents that they believed was not in the puzzle. If they were correct, the other teammate "took" a letter that they believed was in the puzzle. If this guess was also correct, all instances of the letter were revealed and the team could try to solve the puzzle. If there were no letters available to give away, then each team would take turns to take a letter and attempt at a guess at solving the puzzle solution. A team lost control if any of the following occurred: * They failed to guess the puzzle. * They took a letter that was not in the puzzle. * They gave away a letter that was in the puzzle. In this case, the opponents could take a free guess before starting their turn. The first team to solve two puzzles — changed to three in 1986 — won a prize and advanced to a bonus game. For this round, the champions faced one final definition in which the letters would be revealed one by one in alphabetical order. Solving the puzzle awarded $10 for every unrevealed letter, while failing to do so awarded $10 as a consolation prize (if time was called in the middle of a bonus round, the champions were automatically awarded whatever money was still up for grabs at that point). After every fifth consecutive win, the champions earned the right to play for a larger bonus prize, such as a refrigerator. When civilian/celebrity teams played, the civilian member of the champion team switched celebrity partners for the next game. The show was frequently mocked, as were most Canadian game shows at the time, for the cheapness of its prizes, which were typically courtesy gifts such as small appliances. Only in its annual "Tournament of Champions" did the show typically offer major prizes such as new cars. A 2008 article in the ''

'' by Canadian television historian Peter Kenter claimed that most prizes were in fact overstock products from a retail warehouse; according to Kenter, who was a contestant on the show in 1987, he did not actually know what his prize would be until it was delivered to his home several weeks after taping, as even the producers had no knowledge of what the prizes would be during production, and the on-air prize announcement was actually a later overdub.

Theme music

The show's theme song was taken from "

Soul Bossa Nova "Soul Bossa Nova" is a popular instrumental, composed and first performed by musician and record producer Quincy Jones. It appeared on his 1962 '' Big Band Bossa Nova'' album on Mercury Records. Jones said that it took him twenty minutes to com ...

", an instrumental

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

piece by

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

. Later seasons of ''Definition'' used a new arrangement of the song which was not as readily recognizable. The program's use of "Soul Bossa Nova" led both to the Canadian hip hop band Dream Warriors sampling the song for their 1991 hit "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style", and to

Mike Myers Michael John Myers OC (born May 25, 1963) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. His accolades include seven MTV Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. In 2002, he was awarded a star on the Hollywoo ...

using the song as the theme music to the ''

Austin Powers ''Austin Powers'' is a series of American spy action comedy films: '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997), '' Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me'' (1999) and '' Austin Powers in Goldmember'' (2002). The films were produced ...

'' film series.Nick Krewen, "Austin Powers: Soundtrack 1, movie 0". '' Hamilton Spectator'', May 13, 1997.

Adaptations

A British version of ''Definition'' aired on the ITV network from 1978 until about 1986, produced by

HTV West ITV Wales and West, previously known as Harlech Television (HTV), was an ITV franchise area in the United Kingdom until 31 December 2013, licensed to a broadcaster by the regulator Ofcom. There is no channel, past or present, named "ITV Wales ...

and was originally hosted by Don Moss and then by the late

Jeremy Beadle Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE (12 April 1948 – 30 January 2008) was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared ...

. Theme music was provided by guitarist Wout Steenhuis. British audiences were also able to witness the Jim Perry-hosted version when it aired on UK cable station,

Living TV Sky Witness is a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky, a division of Comcast. The channel primarily broadcasts drama shows from the United States, aimed at the 18–45 age group. An Italian version of Sky Witness, named S ...

(formerly UK Living) in the 1990s. Don Moss also appeared as a celebrity guest player on Canada's original version.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title 1974 Canadian television series debuts 1989 Canadian television series endings CTV Television Network original programming Television series by ITV Studios Television series by Bell Media Television series by Nicholson-Muir Productions Television series by Glen-Warren Productions Television shows filmed in Toronto 1970s Canadian game shows 1980s Canadian game shows English-language television shows Television shows produced by Harlech Television (HTV) 1978 British television series debuts 1986 British television series endings 1970s British game shows 1980s British game shows