''Choose Up Sides'' is a children's

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

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 Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...

that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from January 7 to March 31, 1956. It was hosted by

Gene Rayburn Gene Rayburn (born Eugene Peter Jeljenic; December 22, 1917 – November 29, 1999) was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show ''Match Game'' for over tw ...

, announced by

Don Pardo Dominick George "Don" Pardo (February 22, 1918 – August 18, 2014) was an American radio and television announcer whose career spanned more than seven decades. A member of the Television Hall of Fame, Pardo was noted for his 70-year tenure with ...

and produced by

Goodson-Todman Productions Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and ea ...

Format

The show had two teams of children compete for points with the winning team earning a prize. Each side was represented by four children, usually three boys and one girl. The boys competed against each other and the girls competed against each other. The teams were named "Space Pilots" and "Bronco Busters". Each team had an adult assistant who dressed as a space commander or cowboy, respectively. The assistants introduced each contestant to Rayburn. Each player selected a postcard from a pool that had been sent in by children from all over the country. The team that won also won a prize for the child whose postcard they had drawn. The children competed against each other doing stunts. The stunts were the type one might have seen on ''

Beat the Clock ''Beat the Clock'' is an American television game show that involves people trying to complete challenges to win prizes while faced with a time limit. The show was a creation of Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The show began on radio as ' ...

'' (another Goodson-Todman Production). The winning team for each stunt scored 100 points. The losing team was allowed to do something else to earn 25 or 50 points. Their consolation stunt was dictated to them by a character called "Mr. Mischief", a wall-

puppet A puppet is an object, often resembling a human, animal or Legendary creature, mythical figure, that is animated or manipulated by a person called a puppeteer. The puppeteer uses movements of their hands, arms, or control devices such as rods ...

that was operated and voiced by Pardo. The time limit for the stunt was a whistle that could go off at any time. This was later changed to a balloon in Mr. Mischief's mouth which would inflate until it burst. When it was time for the losing team's child to go meet Mr. Mischief, Gene accompanied the child while doing a "silly walk" - perhaps a precursor to the

Monty Python Monty Python (also collectively known as the Pythons) were a British comedy troupe who created the sketch comedy television show '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which first aired on the BBC in 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four ...

Silly Walk episode. At some point in the show was a contest called the Super Duper Doo stunt. Each week a child was chosen to compete in an additional stunt for the possibility of winning a grand prize at the end of a four-week period by getting the most items. The first stunt involved tossing 15 playing cards at a ball covered with sticky tape that was suspended from the ceiling, while standing in a box (the prize promised was a boat rig). The second stunt involved blowing 10 sheets of paper off a podium, trying to get them to land in a wastebasket that was set in front of them (the prize promised was a television set). It is unknown what the third stunt involved. If there was extra time at the end of the show, there would be team stunts to allow a team to catch up on points. The four children on the winning team won grand prizes of bicycles for the studio contestants and cameras for the home partners. The other team received a sportsmanship award of ice skates for both the studio contestants and home partners.

Pilot

On April 23, 2005 and November 27, 2007, GSN aired the 1953 pilot produced for

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 Entertainmen ...

with Bob Kennedy as host. The teams were called the "Space Rangers" and the "Cowboys", with each team having a large bleacher of children on its side. A child from each team competed in stunts, and then gained points on a ring-toss board with each peg marked with a number of points. The child who won the stunt would throw two rings for their team and the child who lost would throw one. The show had three "magic numbers" each show, which if the team's point total match would win them 10 extra points, and a special prize for the child who tossed the ring. The process repeated with different children from each team until the show ran out of time. All children on both teams received a "sportsmanship prize", such as a

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

, and the members of the winning team, along with several home viewers chosen from a pool of write-ins, won a grand prize, such as a watch.

Stunts

The stunts used throughout the run were devised by Bob Howard and Frank Wayne; the same two men also did the stunts for ''

'', which was still on the air at the time.

Episode status

The series may or may not be destroyed; this is uncertain because, although Goodson-Todman usually kept its shows, NBC would usually destroy anything it didn't think was worth keeping. Children's shows were no exception, unless companies dictated otherwise. GSN aired the pilot and the first five episodes in the past. On September 11, 2017,

Buzzr Buzzr is an American digital terrestrial television, digital broadcast television network owned by Fremantle North America, a unit of the Fremantle (company), Fremantle subsidiary of RTL Group. The network serves as an outlet for the extensive li ...

aired the first episode as part of their "Lost and Found" event. It eventually aired the pilot, on January 16, 2023.

References

External links

Game Show Utopia: Choose Up Sides
*{{IMDb title, 0048854 1950s American children's game shows 1950s American children's television series 1956 American television series debuts 1956 American television series endings American television shows featuring puppetry NBC original programming Television series about children Television series by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions