Blockbusters (game show)

Blockbusters was a television game show in which contestants answered trivia questions to complete a path across a game board of hexagons.

Bonus round

The winner of the match went on to play the Gold Run bonus round; if the family pair won, only one player on the team could play. The board consisted of a pattern of hexagons similar to that of the main game, but the hexagons had 1 to 5 letters inside them; those letters were the initials of the correct answer. (For instance, if a contestant chose "ARC" and the host said "Organization founded by Clara Barton", the correct answer would be "American Red Cross.") If a contestant guessed correctly, the hexagon turns gold, but if a contestant guessed incorrectly, that hexagon became a "block" and it was up to the contestant to work around it. The object was to horizontally connect the left and right sides of the board within 60 seconds (or before blocking off all possible horizontal connections).

Related Topics:
Clara Barton - American Red Cross

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When the original NBC version began, the Gold Run was called "Gold Rush," and was played after every game (instead of after a best-of-three match). Under these rules, the round was played for $2,500 after winning the first game of a match, and for $5,000 after a match win (the $5,000 attempt was called "Super Gold Rush"). If time ran out for a player, each gold hexagon on the board was worth $100. Champions could return to the Super Gold Rush eight times, for a potential $60,000. Shortly thereafter, each win in the main game was worth $500 (originally the only reward for a game win was the right to go to the Gold Rush/Run) and only the "Super" version of the Gold Rush/Run, with its $5,000 payoff, was played. Contestants could stay on the show until they won ten matches; that was later changed to 20 matches. The maximum possible winnings was still $60,000, and $120,000 after the 20-win rule. Previous retired champions were invited back after the rule change to try and win more money.

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The 1987 NBC version's Gold Run was originally played for a flat $5,000, but towards the end of its run it became an accruing jackpot that started at $5,000 and increased by that amount after each unsuccessful attempt until won by that player. New champions would start with a fresh $5,000 jackpot. Contestants could stay on the show until they won ten matches in this version that happened only once.

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In the UK, the winner of three games played the Gold Run, and won a special prize, usually a holiday, for completing the run. For every unsuccessful attempt, money was awarded for each correct answer. Defending champions could keep going for up to five sets of three games undefeated, in order to win an even bigger prize. In later series, so they could get through more contestants over the course of a series, presumably, this was reduced to three consecutive successes.

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