Card Sharks

Card Sharks was an American television game show in which contestants guessed whether a playing card was higher or lower than the card that preceded it.

Broadcast history

Card Sharks, a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, debuted on NBC on April 24, 1978. Jim Perry hosted this version, which lasted until October 23, 1981. The show returned to CBS on January 6, 1986, where it ran through March 31, 1989, with Bob Eubanks hosting. A syndicated version, hosted by Bill Rafferty, also aired during the 1986-87 season. A short-lived syndicated revival, with different rules than the previous versions, aired during the fall of 2001 with Pat Bullard as host.

Related Topics:
Mark Goodson - Bill Todman - NBC - April 24 - 1978 - Jim Perry - October 23 - 1981 - CBS - January 6 - 1986 - March 31 - 1989 - Bob Eubanks - Syndicated - Bill Rafferty - 2001 - Pat Bullard

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Gene Wood was the principal announcer of all three 70s-80s versions, with Johnny Olson, Jack Narz, Bob Hilton, Charlie O'Donnell, Johnny Gilbert, and Jay Stewart taking turns filling in for Wood on occasion. Gary Kroeger announced the 2001 version.

Related Topics:
Gene Wood - Johnny Olson - Jack Narz - Bob Hilton - Charlie O'Donnell - Johnny Gilbert - Jay Stewart - Gary Kroeger

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For the 1978-81 version with Perry, Wood's voice was heard over the opening visuals reading a poem:

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:Ace is high, deuce is low

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:Call them right and win the dough

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:Onnnnn... Card Sharks!

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That custom was soon changed to having Wood intone a poem that changed daily -- one submitted by the viewers. For example:

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:Shuffle, deal, cut and play

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:Someone's going to WIN today

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:Onnnnn... Card Sharks!

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Reruns of the Jim Perry version surfaced on several stations across the country between 1982 and 1984 (some pairing it with Perry's Sale of the Century), and later began airing on the CBN network (which is now the ABC Family Channel) from 1984 to 1985. Reruns of all versions except the 2001 revival currently air on GSN. In April of 2005, the cable channel started showing reruns of the 1986 syndicated version regularly, and up until that point, most game show site writers had seemingly forgotten that this obscure edition had happened at all.

Related Topics:
Rerun - 1982 - 1984 - Sale of the Century - CBN - 1985 - GSN - 2005 - 1986

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A board game based on Card Sharks was made by Endless Games in 2004. Although it used the logos of the failed 2001 revival, the rules were basically the same as those of the 1980s version.

Related Topics:
Board game - Endless Games - 2004

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The music to the 1978 version was composed by Score Productions, who had used the theme for an earlier show (the 1976-1977 version of Double Dare). The 1986 theme was composed by the "Liberace of game shows", Edd Kalehoff.

Related Topics:
Score Productions - Double Dare - Liberace - Edd Kalehoff

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