Hit Man
Host: Peter Tomarken
Announcer: Rod Roddy
Premise: Three challengers watch a movie and answer questions on the film to win $10,000.
Rules: In round one, the three challengers watch a 90 second movie on a subject. The returning champion also watches this film, but does not play. The onstage players try to answer questions about the film. Incorrect answers disqualify that player from the next question. Each correct answer moves that player's "Hit Man" one step closer to the goal. Six correct answers were required to accomplish this. The first to get six won $300 and advanced to round two. The second also advanced, and won $200.
In round two, the champion and remaining challengers watch another film on a new subject. At the start of this round, the champion was given seven Hit Men, the top challenger got 4, and the runner-up 3. The top challenger then had the option of playing against the champion first or passing that option to the runner-up. In either case, the two players answered questions about the second film. Each correct answer knocked off a hit man, and a player with no hit men left was out. The challenger in play continued to play until he or she lost a hit man. The other challenger then played. The champion continued to play until all seven men were lost, or the champ won. If the champ lost all of his Hit Men, the opponent who delivered the fatal blow won the game.
Triple Crown
The winner of the challenge round played the Triple Crown for up to $10,000. In the Triple Crown, the player faced away from the gameboard of eight columns. The object was to answer questions correctly to move to the top of the column. The player called a column number, and answered questions until the column was filled or he or she missed one. One column had one and five questions, two each had two, three or four necessary for a fill. Upon missing a question, the contestant had to pick another column. Each column filled in 60 seconds won $1000, and all three won the $10,000 grand prize.
NOTES: Randy West, game show announcer, appeared on the final episode, and won $1,200 for his newly acquired knowledge of Gene Kelly and Vice-Presidents.
On that same final episode, Rod Roddy gave the rather memorable line for the contestant call, "If you want to be a contestant on 'Hit Man," forget it!"
Home Play: None, the show ran three months!
Travis' Review: Never saw it. Premiered the same day as Sale of the Century, though. Tough bonus game.
My Rating: +1.5.