The Last Word (game show)
Encyclopedia
The Last Word is a game show
seen in syndication in the United States
and on the Global Television Network
in Canada
that was produced by Merrill Heatter Productions
and ran from September 18, 1989 - January 5, 1990. The host was Wink Martindale
, and the co-host/announcer was Jennifer Lyall. It was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia.
), a letter in that square is revealed and then the player has to decide to either take a guess on any word in any row or pass control to his/her opponent; but if the yellow square landed on a square that already has a letter revealed, then the player had to choose which row & square to reveal a free letter in.
When guessing the word, if the team guessed correctly, they win that word; but if they guessed wrong, the computer typed in the letters that were correct (up to the first incorrect letter). The first team to guess the last word in the group of three wins the game. If they had solved only the last word, they won a rather cheap prize; two words won a better prize, and solving all three words and winning the game won the first two prizes & a bonus prize for that game. A game win was signified by a star lit up on the team's podium. A best two-out-of-three match is played with the winning team becoming champion & moving on to the bonus round.
Unlike most celebrity-civilian word games, the arrangement of which people played in each game varied. In the first two games, the celebrity from one team faces off against the civilian player from the other team. In the tie-breaker, both civilian players face off.
When time ran out in the middle of a game, all the words were revealed, and the game had to be restarted at the start of the next show.
). Each correct answer was worth $100; solving all ten puzzles won a grand prize package (which usually included a trip).
After the bonus round, both players switch celebrity partners for each new game, and the first player to win two matches becomes champion.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
seen in syndication in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and on the Global Television Network
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
that was produced by Merrill Heatter Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley....
and ran from September 18, 1989 - January 5, 1990. The host was Wink Martindale
Wink Martindale
Winston Conrad Martindale , known professionally as Wink Martindale, is an American disc jockey and television game show host.-Radio:...
, and the co-host/announcer was Jennifer Lyall. It was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Gameplay
Two teams consisting of a celebrity and a civilian contestant compete to guess a series of words that had something in common in order to win prizes.The main game
To start, three rows of blank squares (indicating how many letters are in each word) were revealed along with three free letters (one in each row). The player in control presses a button which causes a yellow square to move around the board . When it landed on an empty square (the stopping sound when a letter is revealed is the same as the Fast Money reveal sound on Family FeudFamily Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
), a letter in that square is revealed and then the player has to decide to either take a guess on any word in any row or pass control to his/her opponent; but if the yellow square landed on a square that already has a letter revealed, then the player had to choose which row & square to reveal a free letter in.
When guessing the word, if the team guessed correctly, they win that word; but if they guessed wrong, the computer typed in the letters that were correct (up to the first incorrect letter). The first team to guess the last word in the group of three wins the game. If they had solved only the last word, they won a rather cheap prize; two words won a better prize, and solving all three words and winning the game won the first two prizes & a bonus prize for that game. A game win was signified by a star lit up on the team's podium. A best two-out-of-three match is played with the winning team becoming champion & moving on to the bonus round.
Unlike most celebrity-civilian word games, the arrangement of which people played in each game varied. In the first two games, the celebrity from one team faces off against the civilian player from the other team. In the tie-breaker, both civilian players face off.
When time ran out in the middle of a game, all the words were revealed, and the game had to be restarted at the start of the next show.
60-second Challenge (Bonus round)
In the bonus game, the winning team has 60 seconds to solve 10 puzzles. Each puzzle has two words already revealed and act as clues to the third word which was unrevealed (one letter was given at the outset). Letters in the mystery third word are revealed one at a time in random order (the last letter is not given, similar to the Speedword round in ScrabbleScrabble (game show)
Scrabble is an American television game show that was based on the Scrabble board game. The show was co-produced by Exposure Unlimited and Reg Grundy Productions. It ran from July 2, 1984 to March 23, 1990, and again from January 18 to June 11, 1993, both runs on NBC. A total of 1,335 episodes were...
). Each correct answer was worth $100; solving all ten puzzles won a grand prize package (which usually included a trip).
After the bonus round, both players switch celebrity partners for each new game, and the first player to win two matches becomes champion.