Jumble (game show)
Encyclopedia
Jumble was an American game show that was broadcast on The Family Channel
, running from June 13 September 2 and from November 21 to December 30, 1994. It was based on the newspaper game of the same name
. Wink Martindale
hosted, while Randy West
was the announcer.
, Boggle
, and Shuffle
. Wink and Randy were the host-announcer tandem for all four.
Jumble replaced Shuffle on the FAM lineup. Jumble had many similarities to Boggle and Shuffle; each show was played in a similar manner, and used the same theme song and sound effects. The three shows even used the same set; each show used most of the same set pieces, redone to give each show a distinct look.
After each word was revealed, some letters of the word would be circled. When four words have been played, the circled letters would be shown again, along with a cartoon with a caption. Contestants would have 10 seconds to unscramble the circled word, which would fit into a humorous phrase related to the caption & illustration. For example, if the caption was "You need this to play tennis", the phrase was "A lot of ____", and the letters were "TSUG", the correct answer would be "A lot of GUTS".
The player with the lowest score after the Jumble was eliminated.
The three remaining contestants had their scores reset to zero, and the process was repeated with another Jumble. The lowest scoring player after this round was eliminated.
In the final round, the two remaining contestants' scores were reset to zero once again. The contestant with the highest score after the final Jumble was declared the day's winner. The winner won two prizes (one of which was always a trip), while the runner-up won a smaller prize.
ABC Family
ABC Family, stylized as abc family, is an American television network, owned by ABC Family Worldwide Inc., a subsidiary of the Disney-ABC Television Group division of The Walt Disney Company...
, running from June 13 September 2 and from November 21 to December 30, 1994. It was based on the newspaper game of the same name
Jumble
Jumble is a word puzzle with a clue, a drawing illustrating the clue, and a set of words, each of which is “jumbled” by permuting its letters to make an anagram. A solver reconstructs the words, then arranges letters at marked positions in the words to spell the answer to the clue...
. Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
hosted, while Randy West
Randy West
Randy West is an American television personality who is best known for his work on game shows. He has been an announcer on American television game shows since 1990, with credits including Supermarket Sweep, Trivial Pursuit, Hollywood Showdown, and a substitute role on The Price Is Right.West's...
was the announcer.
Production
Wink Martindale and Bill Hillier created and produced four "interactive" games for FAM, Jumble being the last of the four. The other three were Trivial PursuitTrivial Pursuit (game show)
Trivial Pursuit is an American game show that ran on The Family Channel from June 7, 1993 to December 30, 1994, with reruns continuing until July 21, 1995. loosely based on the board game of the same name. It was hosted by Wink Martindale with Randy West announcing.-Format:The show was played in...
, Boggle
Boggle (game show)
Boggle was an American game show that was broadcast on The Family Channel from March 7 to November 18, 1994. It was based on the board game of the same name. Wink Martindale was the host, and Randy West was the announcer....
, and Shuffle
Shuffle (game show)
Shuffle was an American game show that aired on The Family Channel. It ran from March 7 to June 10, 1994. Wink Martindale hosted, and Randy West announced....
. Wink and Randy were the host-announcer tandem for all four.
Jumble replaced Shuffle on the FAM lineup. Jumble had many similarities to Boggle and Shuffle; each show was played in a similar manner, and used the same theme song and sound effects. The three shows even used the same set; each show used most of the same set pieces, redone to give each show a distinct look.
Gameplay
Jumble started with four contestants. Each contestant had a telephone keypad built in to their podium. To start, contestants were given a scrambled word. Wink would read a clue to the word, and the contestants had 10 seconds to unscramble the word. They did this by pressing the buttons on their keypad corresponding to the letters of the word. For example, if the scrambled word was "MAS", and the clue was "America's Uncle", contestants would push 7-2-6 to spell "S-A-M". Contestants would get points depending on how quickly they punched in the right answer, starting at 1,000 and counting down as time went on.After each word was revealed, some letters of the word would be circled. When four words have been played, the circled letters would be shown again, along with a cartoon with a caption. Contestants would have 10 seconds to unscramble the circled word, which would fit into a humorous phrase related to the caption & illustration. For example, if the caption was "You need this to play tennis", the phrase was "A lot of ____", and the letters were "TSUG", the correct answer would be "A lot of GUTS".
The player with the lowest score after the Jumble was eliminated.
The three remaining contestants had their scores reset to zero, and the process was repeated with another Jumble. The lowest scoring player after this round was eliminated.
In the final round, the two remaining contestants' scores were reset to zero once again. The contestant with the highest score after the final Jumble was declared the day's winner. The winner won two prizes (one of which was always a trip), while the runner-up won a smaller prize.