I'm Telling
Host: Laurie Faso
Announcer: Dean Goss
Lifespan: NBC, Saturday Mornings, 1987
PREMISE: Three pairs of siblings play a tamer version of "The Newlywed Game."
Round One
To begin, one member from each team would be taken offstage to a soundproof room, so they can't hear the proceedings. Typically, each team consisted of brother and sister, other special days had two brothers or sisters. Three different categories would be read, each a clue to a potential question, and one person would press a button to stop a spinning trilon. Each side bears a category. The host would then ask a question, and each on-stage player would give their answer. Typically, each question would have three choices to pick from, but sometimes they were open ended. After that, the choice of category moved down the line, until three questions had been asked and answered. After the third question, a commercial break is taken.
Round One, part two
After the break, the players who were offstage were brought back on. Each question was then asked again, and teams scored points if their answers matched, or were close enough. The first question was worth 25 points per match, the second 50, and the third 75. After the questions were asked, answers compared, and points scored, the players would swap places for round two.
Round Two
Round two was played the exact same way as round one, but matches were worth 50, 100 and 150 points. (Sometimes, the second question was worth 75 points instead.) After the sixth question was asked, the team with the most points (out of a possible 425/450) won the game, a $1,000 Savings Bond, and the chance to win scads of prizes in the bonus round. The losing teams won various parting gifts, along with the ubiquitous home game. If there was a tie for best score, they went to the tie-breaker question. Before the show started, the teams were shown a crate full of some item (cookies, oranges, ping-pong balls) and the teams guessed how many were in the crate. Closest without going over, or closest if all are over, broke the tie and moved on.
The Pick-a-Prize Arcade
The bonus round gives each member of the team the chance to win up to ten prizes (all twenty are worth $5,000 or so). Before the show, each person picked the six gifts out of ten that he or she thought the other person would want. The boys' prizes were on yellow platforms on the outside of the track, and the girls' prizes were on pink platforms on the inside of the track. Each player would go into the arcade and select his or her six favorite prizes, by pushing a light button next to it. If that prize was one of the six picked by his partner, the light would go off and the prize was won. If not, that turn was wasted and the game continued until six choices were made. After both players picked their six prizes, if they combined for ten matches, they won all twenty prizes. Otherwise, they only won the prizes matched (the game provided a guarantee of two prizes per team member).
Each show was self contained, there were no returning champions, and teams left after they finished their day. Some days had celebrity teams playing for $500 in cash for their charity, along with various prizes in the bonus game.