I remember watching the original Card Sharks when I was a little kid, and being afraid of Jim Perry, the host of that classic program. I was especially afraid when he would get excited when a contestant would win the Money Cards and yell "Yes!!!" For that reason, I did not at first like Jim Perry. It took 15 years for me to truly appreciate how badass a host he was on that series. One of the reasons that I was able to do that was $ale of the Century.

Perry was not the series original host…in fact his version was itself a revival of a series that aired on NBC from 1969 to 1973, and a additional year in syndication in 1974. Maverick star Jack Kelly hosted the series at first, to be succeeded by veteran baseball-player-turned-broadcaster Joe Garagiola. The show was created by Supermarket Sweep mastermind Al Howard (who after reviving Sweep in 1990 for Lifetime television, is still producing that series into a twelfth first-run season). After the original series ended, Australian television mogul Reg Grundy licensed the format for Australian television; he had tried to do so earlier, but was unsuccessful until the original series was cancelled. This didn’t stop him from trying; the original Australian version was called Temptation (you'll see why later). The series started Down Under as $ale in 1980, with Temptation host Tony Barber at the helm (later he was replaced with another gentleman by the name of Glenn Ridge). Until 2002, the series ran - and will likely run again, as the series is their equivalent to both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy in terms of popularity - in nightly primetime network television on the Nine Network. The Australian series was so successful that NBC allowed Grundy to revive the show in America for them. This 80's version opened the door decades later for such imports as Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Survivor and Weakest Link. It is this version which Perry presided over with his trademark stentorian manner, gentlemanly demeanor, and super-salesmanship.

Tim "Loogaroo" Connelly, organizer of the now-legendary Game Show Tournament, has called $ale "the ultimate buzzer battle game." At its core, $ale is a stripped down and somewhat easier version of Jeopardy!. Three players compete to earn money with which they are allowed to buy luxury prizes at insanely low prices. The money is earned by answering a series of rapid-fire trivia questions. All three players are spotted $20 at the start of the game. They are read a question, which they may buzz in to answer at any time during the reading of the question (knowing when to buzz in is part of the skill of this game, since interrupting shuts the host up). Only the first player to buzz in may answer. A right answer earns $5, a wrong answer costs $5. The players play three rounds of questions (each round consists of about eight questions). Sometime near the halfway mark of a round, the player in the lead is given the opportunity to participate in an "Instant Bargain." The Instant Bargain are smaller but still nice prizes, offered for about $5 in the first round, $10 in the second, and $15 in the third. The Instant Bargain represents the fundamental conflict of the game, other than the quiz competition: do you go for the nice prize in front of you, or try for the grand prize at the end? The temptation of the Bargains is why Grundy originally renamed his version Temptation before the $ale name became available.

Grundy added a now-integral feature to the game in 1980: the round-ending Fame Game. A "Who Am I?" question is asked, the reward for which is not $5, but a chance to pick a face (the 80's NBC version started with faces, but changed to numbers) from the Fame Game Board which either hides a prize OR a small hunk of cash OR a card that adds either $10, $15 or $25 to the players' score.

At the end of the third round, a climactic 60-second "Fast Money" round is played (the NBC version renamed this round the "Speed Round," due to Family Feud's famous endgame being called "Fast Money"). The host asks as many $5 questions as possible in these 60 seconds, and the player with the high score at the conclusion of this round is the winner.

The winner is taken to the back showroom for the endgame. The original endgame was the Sale of the Century itself: an escalating series high-value luxury prizes, offered to the player one at a time. The most valuable prize offered was always an incredible luxury car. Beyond the car, there were two additional prize levels: all of the prizes offered that week, and finally "the lot" as the Australians call it, which was all the prizes plus a colossal rolling cash jackpot, starting at $50,000, and increasing by $1,000 each day it was not won (the Australian show increased it by $2,000 a day). If the player did not "buy" the offered prize, they returned the next day as the champion, to try and earn more money to reach the next prize level. If they did "buy" the offered prize, they retired. If after turning down an offered prize, a champion was defeated, they lose their winnings, and thereby also lost the offered prize. It took about seven wins to claim the entire caboodle of cash and goodies.

Later, the series incorporated a Concentration-style "Winner's Board," which had all of the week's prizes on it, and the winning player tried to match two prizes to add that prize to their "stash." They still were given the right to retire (now with all of the prizes earned from the Board), or return, however the cash jackpot at the end was now a static $50,000, and losing cost the player every endgame prize they had earned (the Instant Bargain prizes bought by any player are kept regardless of the outcome of the game). For the last year of Perry's series, a completely unrelated word puzzle game was introduced (the Australian show did not use the word game; they stuck with the Winner's Board - and a rolling jackpot - until the faux-cancellation in 2002).

Maybe it's inclusion in my top five (okay, six) game shows should give you a clue.

Kidding aside, $ale is a series that, if done right, would be one of the most awesome and exciting shows on television. I tend to think of $ale as the "Hong Kong Action Movie of Game Shows," for two reasons:

One: it's FAST…it's the fastest quiz show since Split Second. (Perry's super speed-reading skill was a huge contributor to the 80's version's success)

Two: it doesn't really stay in any one emotional box. One moment, it's a tense shootout on the buzzers; the next, it's a hilarious Instant Bargain bit (although still tense; remember the fundamental conflict of temptation); moments later, it's a suspenseful Fame Game question, with every ear intent on deciphering the clues. $ale is one of those shows that has something for everyone.

First, the current owner of Grundy International, game show kingpins FremantleMedia, would have to be convinced that series would still work (no easy trick, but still not THAT hard). Next, we have to round up the particulars:

Host: I would like to host this one myself, but if that doesn't happen, there are plenty of fish in the ocean. My top choice (other than myself) would be Seinfeld alumnus (and one of the few bright spots of the recent version of To Tell the Truth, as that show's rookie host) John O'Hurley. His deep voice, quick wit (and ability to ad-lib), and bombastic but sincere and professional manner (reminiscent of Perry himself) made him a surprisingly good host for TTTT. He might have to take some speed-reading classes if he were chosen though. A toned-down Anne Robinson, who has to speed-read questions on Weakest Link (or her American counterpart, the hilarious George Grey) would work. Double Dare and History IQ's awesome Marc Summers, Street Smarts goofball par excellence Frank Nicotero, Talk Soup knucklehead Aisha Tyler and original Press Your Luck emcee Peter Tomarken would also be prime candidates. Whammy! host Todd Newton, if made to drink whole pots of coffee and then had a fire lit under his backside before every show, could work too (I love Todd-o to death, but he reads questions too slow for this game). If all else fails, a bounty hunter could be sent after Big Jim Perry himself to reprise his hosting duties.

Hostess: An important ingredient in $ale is the hostess, the female sidekick to the host who introduces both the hopeful contestants, and the Instant Bargains. Such a job requires not only sex appeal, but also an actual brain and large doses of personality. 80's version hostess Summer Bartholomew, a former Miss America, set a high-water mark for female broadcasters, and it would be almost impossible to find someone to top her. My top candidate would be former Bzzz! host Annie Wood (partly because she has worked with FremantleMedia development head Jeff Mirkin on Bzzz!, but mostly because she fits the bill to a T.) Other possibilities would include Los Angeles weather woman Jillian Barbarie, former Barker's Beauties Holly Halstrom and/or Kathleen Bradley, current Dog Eat Dog host Brooke Burns, Spy TV host (and another Miss America) Ali Landry, MTV VJ and talk show host Ananda Lewis, or even Todd Newton's E! cohort, super pin-up Brooke Burke.

Announcer: Naturally, my Number One pick would be "Announcerman" Randy West, however I can see Burton Richardson's Arsenioooooooo Haaaaaaall-style delivery of "Saaaaaaaaaale of the Century!" kicking the show into overdrive. 80's version announcer Don Morrow (who took over for the late Jay Stewart, who had only then retired from announcing) would also be a good choice.

The Main Game: Come on, folks. The main game is tinkerproof as it is (a failed attempt to revive $ale in the 1990's with Robin Leach removed the Instant Bargains; a world-class screw-up).

The Endgame: My "Sale of the Century" would combine the escalating price structure of the original shopping segment with the high-risk factor of the Winner's Board. Each win would offer one prize at a time, however, all offered prizes would go into a "shopping cart," not unlike that used in e-commerce. The champion would buy or pass on the entire shopping cart, taking everything when they buy the cart and retiring at that point. A loss would cost the player THE ENTIRE CART, since the player would lose the accrued earnings from the main game. It would take approximately six wins to claim all the prizes AND the rolling cash jackpot (starting at $250,000 and increasing by $5,000 every day it was not claimed).

The Set: a cross between a nightclub and the bridge of the starship Enterprise. Futuristic, but with a warm party-like atmosphere.

The Music: NBC lent Grundy the use of composers Ray and Marc Ellis, who composed the theme to The Today Show. Their revision of the Australian theme is a classic of American television. My revival would use a re-recording of their $ale score with full orchestration.

Where to Air it: Realistically speaking, the syndication markets and, of course, Game Show Network would welcome $ale. However, I personally think NBC could be convinced to try a weekly primetime series. An optimal set-up would be a daily syndicated series with yours truly, Annie Wood and Randy West; and a weekly primetime show with "Big Bad John" O' Hurley, Brooke Burns (or Ali Landry), and Mr. West (or Burton Richardson, if Randy wasn't up for it). The only reason for two different hosts is that the networks insist on name hosts for their shows; I personally think I could hack both series myself.

As always, your comments, suggestions, questions and insults are welcome at gameshowman@winning.com.

Make sure you visit Chris Lambert's $ale of the Century subpage for more information on the 80's $ale and links to pages about the Australian version at the Original Game Show Page.

And tell 'em the Game Show Man sent you.

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