 |
 |
| Original Whew! site
webmaster Randy Amasia with Whew! announcer Rod Roddy |
Present Whew! site webmaster Mike Klauss with Whew! emcee Tom Kennedy |
|
One of Randy Amasia's final requests was for me to take care of his Whew! site. Randy didn't want his Whew! site to disappear once he passed away. Outside of a handful of broken links, Randy's e-mail address, some updated video grabs, and numerous video clips, everything on this page remains the way it was on whew.tv. I have no plans to add upon this page in the future. As is, Randy's Whew! page is impeccable. |
|
|
| Original Whew! site
webmaster Randy Amasia with Whew! announcer Rod Roddy |
Present Whew! site webmaster Mike Klauss with Whew! emcee Tom Kennedy |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
© 1979 The Bud Austin Company.
All rights reserved.
This document’s home is on my web page and nobody else’s and shall remain
ever so. I’m possessive that way.
DISCLAIMER: This page is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by CBS, Westinghouse/Group W, Viacom, The Bud Austin Company, Burt Sugarman Productions, Jay Wolpert Productions, their subsidiaries, affiliates or successor organizations. No challenge to copyright is either intended or implied. And stuff.
Last edited: Monday, July 16, 2007
| BROADCAST HISTORY |
(Portions excerpted from “The
Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows,” First Ed., by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan and Fred
Wostbrock.
© 1987 New York Zoetrope. All Rights Reserved.)
 |
|||
| PACKAGER: | The Bud Austin Company and Burt Sugarman Productions |
||
| BROADCAST HISTORY: | CBS
Daytime. April 23, 1979 — May 30, 1980. 10:30 AM ET |
||
| ORIGINATION: | CBS Television City | ||
| HOST: | Tom Kennedy | ||
| ANNOUNCER: | Rod Roddy | ||
| EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: | Bud Austin and Burt Sugarman | ||
| CREATOR/PRODUCER: | Jay Wolpert | ||
| DIRECTORS: | William Carruthers, Chris Darley and Tom Trbóvich | ||
| SET DESIGN: | James Agazzi | ||
| MUSIC: | Alan Thicke | ||
| CONTESTANT COORDINATOR: | Kerry Kay Newlin | ||
| SUMMARY |
(From “The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows,”
First Ed., by David Schwartz, Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock.
© 1987 New York Zoetrope. All Rights Reserved.)
Two players competed, with one “charger” and the other the “blocker.” A game board containing six lines (five rows of five boxes and one row of three boxes) was used. Each of the five-box rows had a value from $10 to $50, and the three-box row had a value of $200, $350 and $500. The “blocker” selected any six boxes on the board and they became five-second penalty boxes. The “charger” attempted to answer six questions, one on each row, in a 60-second time limit. He won the game if he answered the questions without running out of time, otherwise the “blocker” won. The two players reversed positions in the second game, and the first player to win two games became the champ.
In the bonus round, the champ tries to answer ten bloopers in one minute for $100 a correct answer or $25,000 for all ten.
Starting in November 1979, celebrities were used as teammates for the players.
 |
| Tom Kennedy on the pilot |
 |
 |
| OFFICIAL RULES |
(From the contestant rules release.)
I understand and agree that:
 |
 |
 |
| Blocker’s Podium | A Blooper Trilon | Charger’s Podium |
| 2. | As the Charger, I gather money by being credited with the dollar amount attached to the bloopers that I answer correctly. As a Blocker, I am credited with any moneys attached to the blocks my opponent runs into. |
| 3. | During the course of the game, money is only credited to me, not won by me, unless I win the game. |
 |
 |
 |
| …And again! |
| 4. | Winning one game is defined as winning two rounds. A round is won as a Charger by getting through the sixth level of the board (answering one blooper correctly on the sixth level) within 60-seconds. A round is won as a Blocker when the Charger fails to do the above. |
| 5. | At the beginning of any game, the challenger (new player) will have the option of charging or blocking the board after hearing what the first two board categories will be. The only exception that will occur is when both players are new, in which case the option will go to the winner of the backstage coin toss. Whoever charges the first board will block the second, and if there is a tie-breaking round, whoever didn’t have the option to charge or block at the beginning will have the option for the third board — in most cases, this will be the champion. On the board, within a level, the larger the dollar amount, the more difficult it will be to correct the blooper. Difficulty increases horizontally, not vertically, i.e., level four will not be any more difficult than level one. |
 |
| Care to solve this one? |
| 6. | When charging, I may not proceed to the next level until I have correctly answered at least one blooper on that level or selected every blooper on that level. The only exception is the sixth level, where a right answer is mandatory in order to win the round. | |
| 7. | When charging, I must call the level and the dollar amount, e.g., “Level 4/30,” and that if I fail to do so, the M.C. may use my time to insist that I do. |
 |
| “Whoa!” That much closer to $25,000! |
| 8. | When charging, I must wait for the M.C.’s cry of “Charge!” before proceeding with the game, and that if I fail to do so, the M.C. may use my time to insist that I do. | |
| 9. | When charging, I can not answer a blooper before the M.C. is finished reading it, and if I answer prematurely, the M.C. will disregard my answer and may take up my time asking for the answer after the blooper is read. | |
| 10. | When charging, any instructions the M.C. is forced to give me by virtue of my failure to play the game correctly will be charged against my 60-seconds. | |
| 11. | When charging, I may call for the Longshot while on any of the first five levels of the board. A Longshot may not be called on the sixth level. The moment I call “Level Six,” I am committed to the sixth level. |
| 12. | If I call the Longshot, the clock will stop, my opponent will insert a secret block somewhere on the sixth level, and I will pick one of the positions on the sixth level. If the position is free of a block, I will be given the same time to answer the blooper as I would any other blooper on the board. If I am correct, I win the round automatically; if I’m not, or the position is blocked, I lose the round automatically. |
 |
| Placing a secret block |
| 13. | When charging and sent off-stage, I will be put in “isolation,” my view obstructed by a scenic flat or some other device and unable to hear by virtue of a headset that will be playing music or white sound, etc. It is my obligation to report immediately to the Program Practices department or the producer any malfunction in the above-mentioned devices. | |
| 14. | When charging, I must begin with level one and proceed up the board by consecutive levels. | |
| 15. | All bloopers in the main game will be underlined as to the
offending part of the blooper, e.g., “In World War II, the Japanese bombed Pearl Bailey.” Everything not underlined is factually correct and should not be changed. |
|
| 16. | In the course of a charge, an error (mechanical or otherwise) may occur, causing the charge to be interrupted. I understand that said error will be corrected in a manner agreed upon by CBS Program Practices and the producer. The charge will be continued from that point on. | |
| 17. | When blocking, I may start on any level, but having selected a level, I can not put a block on a lower level. |
| “You have
psychologically analyzed this whole thing, haven’t you?” |
 |
| “Hopefully!” |
| 18. | A block may be accidentally revealed, causing an interruption in the charge. In that situation, the Charger will be sent out of sight and hearing, and the Blocker will be asked to reconstruct setting their blocks, putting the same blocks in the same places except for the exposed block; this they may insert in a new position or the same position. | |
| 19. | If I lose the first game I play, I will be given a merchandise prize valued at between $400 - $1,200. If I lose a game after having won at least one game, I will leave the show with the moneys I have won up to that point. |
| 20. | When running the “Gauntlet of Villains,” I understand that any of the money I have won in the main game will be mine to keep and in addition will be converted to seconds at the rate of one second per $100 won (e.g., $860 converts to eight seconds). These seconds will be added to a basic 60-seconds, and the resulting amount of seconds will be the total time I have to beat the villains. In order to win $25,000, I must proceed from villain one through villain ten in the following manner: the M.C. will read the blooper, and I will have two seconds before the right answer appears in the villain’s Telly Belly (viewing screen). If I beat the villain to the answer, the villain’s arm will lower, and I move on to the next consecutive villain. If the answer appears in the villain’s Telly Belly before my answer, or if I am incorrect, I must stay with that villain for as many bloopers as it takes to beat him. |
 |
| “Meet ten
of the most
zealous xenophobics that ever stood between a college student and her money!” |
| 21. | When running the Gauntlet of Villains, all the bloopers will be heard and not seen. IMPORTANT: In the Gauntlet, there will never be more than one word wrong in a blooper. |
| “The ‘O’
on O.J. Simpson stands for ‘Orange!’” |
 |
| “Ornelius!” |
| 22. | If I win the $25,000, I will be retired as a contestant. |
 |
| “We went easy!” (That's what they always say when they lose...) |
| 23. | If I lose in the running of the Gauntlet of Villains, I will be paid $100 for every villain I have beaten. |
|
|
| 24. | In all facets of the game, the producer’s decision is final. | |
| 25. | If I am champion, I agree to return to whatever tapings the producer schedules, and I understand that failure to do so may result in the forfeiting of any prizes or moneys I have won. (N.B.: This was later changed to the contestant only being allowed to win five games before being forced to retire undefeated.) |
 |
| “No Villain’s
gonna stand in my way!” |
The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences may have given “Whew!” the snub, but these tasteful, intelligent folks haven’t!
 |
 |
 |
Proud member of…
 |
…The Network. STOP surfing the net and stay here!
Credit where credit is due:
|
Last but not least:
   |
Everyone from the alt.tv.game-shows newsgroup and GS-L/GShows (Game Show Discussion Lists) for their kind comments, generosity, and most of all, their friendship, and all of the rest of you out there.
|
|
Whew! videos!
©1996
- 2007 Alan R. Amasia, Mike Klauss.
All rights reserved. Or you’ll be chased down by an angry villain or 10.
Ain’t nothing like the real thing, baby.
.gif:
ed
