''Sweethearts'' is an American television game show which aired from September 12, 1988 to September 8, 1989. It was based on the 1987 British series of the same name. The show was syndicated throughout the United States by

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. Charles Nelson Reilly was the host.

Richard Kline Richard Kline (born April 29, 1944) is an American actor and television director. His roles include Larry Dallas on the sitcom ''Three's Company'', Richie in the later seasons of ''It's a Living'' and Jeff Beznick in '' Noah Knows Best''. Early ...

guest-hosted.

Gameplay

A sort of combination of '' The Dating/ Newlywed Game'' and '' To Tell the Truth''. Three couples each with a different story on how they met faced a panel of three celebrities, two of them were false, the other was telling the truth. Each couple came out one at a time, then each panelist asked the couple in control questions for an unlimited amount of time. When all the couples were grilled then the panel voted on which couple's story was true. Each incorrect vote was worth $500 to the couples, later reduced to $250 per incorrect vote, and fooling the panel completely won the real couple a big trip. Among the celebrities who appeared were, Sally Struthers, Tony Orlando, Zsa Zsa Gabor,

McLean Stevenson Edgar "Mac" McLean Stevenson Jr. (November 14, 1927 – February 15, 1996) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Henry Blake in the television series ''M*A*S*H'', which earned him a Golden Glob ...

, Phyllis Diller,

Tom Poston Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name) Characters * Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head'' * Tom Beck, a character ...

, and Richard Simmons.

Home Viewer Sweepstakes

Home viewers had the chance to get in on the fun by playing the home viewer game. Just like the panelists on the show, home viewers must watch and listen to all three stories (one from each of the three couples) and after they have seen and heard from all three, the home viewer must then vote on which one of the three is true simply by calling their respective 900 number. The winning home viewer selected at random would win a nice prize.

British Version

The original British version produced by Anglia was hosted by Larry Grayson and announced by John Benson aired on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from March 31 until June 23, 1987.

References

1988 American television series debuts 1989 American television series endings First-run syndicated television programs in the United States 1980s American game shows American panel games Television series by Universal Television American English-language television shows American dating and relationship reality television series {{US-game-show-stub