CROSSWITS
1986-87
HOST: David Sparks
ANNOUNCER:
Michelle Roth
EXECUTIVE
PRODUCERS: Norman Chekor, Phillip Mayer
PRODUCERS:
Chris Pye, Roxann Checkor, Susan Mayer
DIRECTOR:
Barry Glazer
SET
DESIGNER: Jimmy Cuomo
MUSIC:
Andrew Belling
RUN DATE:
SEPTEMBER 8, 1986-SEPTEMBER 1987
TAPED AT:
PREMIERE
CELEBRITIES: Kelsey Grammer,Leslie
Charleson, Richard Moll, Cheryl Ann Wilson
SYNOPSIS:
Rules of Game, as
described by the announcer Michelle Roth
The second run of the show
had minor yet signified changes. First
off, No hyphen.
Three rounds, and three
different puzzles were played. The
teams still consisted of Two teams of three (One Contestant and Two
Celebrities) playing the game with
clues to a master puzzle. The point
system changed.
Now 5 points per letter in
round one, In round two there were 10 points per letter, and 20 points for each
letter in round three. Each word was
still a clue to solving the master theme of the puzzle, and the currency
equilvent for each point won was given.
The team with the most points played the bonus game, still known as
“Cross-Fire”.
In “Cross-Fire” the object
was still to get 10 clues between one of the celebrities and contestant in 60
seconds or less. The contestant won a
fabulous prize if the team accomplished the feat of answering the 10 clues.
POPULARITY OF THE SHOW: The show had not the same energy and same
spark, that it had when Jack Clark emceed the show. Jack was announcing Wheel Of Fortune at the time, and as far as I
know either wasn’t available to do the revival or didn’t want to do the show
again. Either case, David did a
galliant effort doing his best filling the shoes of Jack Clark. Almost a year after it ended, Jack Clark
died in 1988. This version of Crosswits
was reruned on Family Channel during their Game Show Block, which consisted
mostly of Wink Martindale’s shows Trivial Pursuit, Boggle, and Shuffle. Crosswits was the first show on the block
and was aired before Trivial Pursuit the first couple of weeks when the Block
started running.
As far as a new revival? AOL Time Warner bought Ralph Edwards productions,
sometime in the mid-90s. If you watch
People’s Court, You’ll see “an AOL Time Warner Company”. All shows have survived, because they all
aired on Family Channel. But if Game
Show Network, got the rights to air it, it would probably be a buzz or a
bust. I liked this run of the show a
lot, but Jack did a better job at hosting.