Twenty One (game show)

Twenty One was one of the most infamous American game shows on record — a popular, yet thoroughly rigged, quiz show that spawned the single most popular contestant of the quiz show era, and which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of Senate investigations. The 1994 movie Quiz Show is based on these events.

The Revival

There have been two attempts to revive this series under honest terms. The first was as an unsold 1982 pilot starring Jim Lange (this version of the show was called 21, using Arabic numerals instead of words).

Related Topics:
Jim Lange - Arabic numerals

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1982 Pilot

With Barry and Enright's Bullseye on the way out, the pair was looking for another game to put into the five-a-week syndication market. They decided to try '21' again. The rules were very similar to those of the original show. Contestants played up to five rounds, choosing a point value from 1 to 9, with the option to stop the game after the second and fourth rounds. The questions were frequently short-answers, and not the complicated multi-part variety that the old show used.

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The winner of the game would win $1,000 cash times the difference between the scores of the players; if the challenger won, this amount was deducted from the outgoing champion's bank.

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The winner also got the chance to win a prize package in a bonus game (just like on The Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough) The object of the game was to get closer to 21 points than the 'computer' (who played according to Las Vegas 21 rules). The contestant would decide whether to take a number, or give it to the computer, then stop a number generator. This continued until either side busted, or the computer had to stay. Beating the computer won a $5,000 prize package.

Related Topics:
The Joker's Wild - Tic Tac Dough

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Contestants could stay on the show until defeated or they voluntarily left the game.

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