CAUGHT IN THE ACT
|
TAPE DATE |
November 10,
1975 |
|
NETWORK(S) |
Unknown |
|
ANNOUNCER |
Bob Clayton |
|
PRODUCED BY |
Bob Stewart
Productions |
"The
name of the game is Caught in the Act! And here are the celebrities who will try
not to get caught!"
Jim
Peck served as emcee while Bill sat on the panel of Bob Stewart's attempt to
make more money from the "items in a list" idea that made his "Pyramid" series
such a success.
Two
celebrities, one represented by an arrow and one represented by a bow, compete.
Jim announces most of the category ("It happens when a girl…") and the panelists
are shown the key words ("Gets married"). The celebrities go down the line
announcing items that fit the category ("She calls her mother every day," "She
buys a copy of The Sensuous Man," etc.) until one of the contestants rings in
and gives a guess. If correct, they capture the celebrity that gave the last
clue, and the contestant's symbol pops up in front of the celebrity. I have no
idea what would happen in the event of a wrong answer (The opponent gets a free
guess? Automatically captures the celebrity? Receives more clues?) because not
one wrong answer is given in the pilot.
Regardless of if they have been captured, all of the celebrities continue giving
clues for every subject. If a contestant rings in and gets a correct answer from
a captured celebrity, they "steal" that celebrity from their opponent.
The
first contestant to capture three celebrities wins the game and $500, and goes
on to play the bonus round for $5,000.
The
bonus round is played by the contestant and the three celebrities s/he captured
during the game. The four players are lined up in a row, with the contestant
sitting in the third position. Each player is given an identity, and each
identity is somehow connected to the one next to it (For example, "Bullfighter"-"Cape"-"Dracula"-"Neck"). To start, the identity of the first
player is announced, and s/he cross-examines the player next to him/her about
their identity, asking only yes-or-no questions. This continues until the
identity is guessed, and then that celebrity cross-examines the contestant. This
contiues until that identity is guessed, and then the contestant tries to guess
the identity of the fourth player. If all of the identities are guessed within
60 seconds, the contestant wins $1,000. If all of the identities are guessed in
30 seconds or less, the contestant wins $5,000.
The
Bad: The idea here, I think, was to capture the interaction of "Match Game" with
the suspense of "Pyramid," but the formats don't mesh well and the celebrities
really don't interact much at all. Another problem is that this is one of those
shows that relies SO much on the strength of the panel's creativity and humor
that certain panel combinations could make for an incredibly boring week of
shows.
The
Good: The format on its own works pretty well. The producers evidently were at
least thinking about the "dull panel" possibility by coming up with categories
that might inspire creativity and humor. They certainly booked the right panel
for the pilot. Jim Peck is a good emcee, and seems to be playing the game like a
"straight man" to the panel. Good idea for the particular show.