All-Star Blitz
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''All-Star Blitz'' is an American
game show A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, ...
that aired on ABC from April 8 to December 20, 1985, with reruns airing on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madi ...
from March 31 to December 26, 1986.
Peter Marshall Peter Marshall may refer to: Entertainment * Peter Marshall (entertainer) (born 1926), American game show host of ''The Hollywood Squares'', 1966–1981 * Peter Marshall (author, born 1939) (1939–1972), British novelist whose works include ''T ...
was the host and John Harlan was the announcer for the series, which was produced by
Merrill Heatter Merrill Gabriel Heatter (December 16, 1925 – October 8, 2017) was an American television producer and writer. He was best known for his collaboration with writer Bob Quigley for over 20 years and the formation of their production company Heat ...
Productions, in association with Peter Marshall Enterprises. Like Heatter’s productions ''
Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'' and '' Battlestars'' before it, ''All-Star Blitz'' was a celebrity panel show where contestants had to correctly determine whether the celebrities were giving a correct answer or bluffing. Like ''Hollywood Squares'', a secondary gameplay element was attached; in this particular instance, the element involved the contestants trying to solve puzzles.


Main game

Two contestants, one usually a returning champion, competed to uncover and solve hidden word puzzles with the help of a four-celebrity panel. The puzzles, which varied in length from two to six words, were concealed behind a grid of six monitors above the panel, and a star was positioned at the corner of each monitor. There were 12 stars in all, arranged in four columns of three with one column above each celebrity's seat. Each monitor contained all or part of only one word, and the last word on the top row did not continue onto the bottom one. The object for the contestants was to light the stars around the monitors. To begin play, the home audience was shown how many words were in the puzzle and a certain number of stars (originally two, later four) were lit at random. The contestant in control, usually the challenger, chose a celebrity and a position (top, middle, bottom). The star in that position was lit, and Marshall then asked a question to the chosen celebrity. The contestant either had to correctly agree or disagree with the given answer, in much the same manner as ''
Hollywood Squares ''Hollywood Squares'' (originally ''The Hollywood Squares'') is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show Television pilot, piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debut ...
'' and '' Battlestars''. Choosing correctly allowed the contestant to keep control and pick again, but making a wrong decision passed control to the opposing player. Once all four stars around a monitor were lit, the part of the puzzle it was concealing required a correct agree/disagree choice from one of the contestants to reveal and the celebrity underneath the star would remain in play until one was given. Once the puzzle piece was uncovered, the contestant that revealed it was given a chance to guess the puzzle or continue playing as an incorrect guess passed control to his/her opponent. Play continued on a puzzle until one player solved it or all six monitors were uncovered, with the player who uncovered the last monitor winning the game by default. The first contestant to solve two puzzles won the match and a prize package, and went on to play the Blitz Bonanza. Rather than featuring models, celebrity guests often modeled and demonstrated prizes while being described by the announcer, which would be preceded by a message on the game board monitors describing the prize(s). Each episode of ''All-Star Blitz'' was played to a time limit. If time was called during a puzzle, the contestant in control was given the option of whether or not to guess the puzzle. Choosing not to guess ended the game, and the solution to the puzzle was revealed. Guessing incorrectly gave the option to the opponent. Regardless of the decision and its outcome, play resumed on the next episode with either a new puzzle or the Blitz Bonanza as dictated by the rules.


Blitz Bonanza

In the Blitz Bonanza round, the champion was given one final puzzle to solve. Initially, the champion was told how many words the puzzle contained, but this would change in favor of revealing the information to the home audience and panel only.''All-Star Blitz'' final episode, aired December 20, 1985. In order to reveal the puzzle pieces, the champion spun a large wheel that controlled a randomizer light on the board. Once the wheel stopped, the lit space was uncovered to reveal part of the puzzle. If the randomizer landed on an already revealed space, it was deemed a "wasted" spin. The wheel was spun four times. If fewer than four spaces were uncovered after the last spin, the champion was given the option to leave the board as it was or give up the prize package he/she had won in the main game in exchange for one more spin. Once all of the champion’s spins were used, he/she was given 10 seconds to study the puzzle and each celebrity secretly wrote down a guess. If the champion solved the puzzle, he/she won a cash jackpot. If not, he/she received $250 for each celebrity who had the correct solution. The jackpot had a starting value of $10,000. Initially, it increased by $5,000 for each time the Blitz Bonanza was not won and was capped at a maximum value of $25,000. Later, the cap was reduced to $20,000 and the increase for every unsuccessful attempt was reduced to $2,500. Champions remained on the show until they were defeated in the main game or had played the Blitz Bonanza four times.


Broadcast history

''All-Star Blitz'' originally aired on ABC at 11:00 AM EST, replacing ''
Trivia Trap ''Trivia Trap'' is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. It was created by producer Goodson and originally ran from October 8, 1984 to April 5, 1985 on ABC. The game featured two teams of three contestants each competing agai ...
'' and followed by the long-running ''
Family Feud ''Family Feud'' is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes. The show has had three separate runs, th ...
''. However, the series found itself facing strong competition from the first half of the powerhouse ''
The Price is Right ''The Price Is Right'' is a television game show franchise created by Bob Stewart, originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman; currently it is produced and owned by Fremantle. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also inc ...
'' on
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
and ''
Wheel of Fortune The Wheel of Fortune or '' Rota Fortunae'' has been a concept and metaphor since ancient times referring to the capricious nature of Fate. Wheel of Fortune may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Art * ''The Wheel of Fortune'' (Burne-J ...
'' on
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
. In June 1985, two months after ''All-Star Blitz'' premiered, ''Family Feud'' was cancelled, and ''All-Star Blitz'' moved up a half-hour to the 11:30 AM EST slot formerly occupied by ''Feud''. However, now competing against the second half of ''Price'', as well as ''
Scrabble ''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, read left t ...
'' on NBC, ratings did not improve and ''All-Star Blitz'' ended its run on December 20, 1985.


References


External links


''All-Star Blitz'' on IMDb
{{DEFAULTSORT:All Star Blitz American Broadcasting Company original programming American game shows 1980s American game shows 1985 American television series debuts 1985 American television series endings Television series by Heatter-Quigley Productions English-language television shows