I'm Telling!

I'm Telling! is an American television game show, which ran from September 12, 1987 to March 5, 1988 on NBC Saturday mornings and was hosted by Laurie Faso with Dean Goss announcing.[1]

I'm Telling!
I'm Telling! logo.
Created byEllen Levy
Developed byEllen Levy
Haim Saban
Directed byJerome Shaw
Presented byLaurie Faso
Narrated byDean Goss
Theme music composerShuki Levy
Country of originUnited States
No. of episodes26
Production
Executive producersHaim Saban
Andy Heyward
ProducersDavid M. Greenfield
Loretta Strickland (co-producer)
Running time22–24 minutes
Production companiesDIC Enterprises
Saban Productions
Release
Original networkNBC
Original releaseSeptember 12, 1987 (1987-09-12) –
March 5, 1988 (1988-03-05)

The show is essentially a children's version of The Newlywed Game with young siblings playing instead of married couples. The show was produced by Saban Productions and DIC Enterprises.[2]

Gameplay

Main game

Three teams competed, each (usually, but not always) consisting of a brother and sister. The front game was played in two rounds. In Round 1, the brothers were "teleported" to the "Isolation Zone" (or "Iso-Zone") using special effects and a video edit (i.e., taken offstage to a soundproof room). One of three pun-styled categories was chosen at random by hitting a plunger, and Faso read a question loosely based on the chosen category. Three questions were played, with each sister choosing one category, and all three sisters responded to every question.

After the sisters' answers were recorded, the brothers were brought back onstage and asked the same three questions. If a brother's response matched his sister's, the team scored points (25 for the first question, 50 for the second, and 75 for the third). If the responses disagreed, no points were awarded. Much like the adult Newlywed Game, more often than not, the siblings would usually argue over their conflicting answers. Round 2 was played in the same manner, but with the sisters taken offstage and the brothers providing initial answers. Question values were increased to 50, 75, and 150 points.

The game continued until both rounds were completed or one team had built up an insurmountable lead. The highest-scoring team received a $1,000 savings bond and advanced to the "Pick-A-Prize Arcade" for a chance to win bonus prizes. The other teams each received consolation prizes, including a copy of the I'm Telling! home game.

If two or all three teams were tied for first place after the second round, a tie-breaker question was asked to determine the winner. Before the show, the producers filled a large container (dubbed the "I'm Telling! Fun Box") with many of the same object. Before the game, each team had to guess how many objects were in the container, and write down their answer on a card. Whichever team came the closest to the actual number (without going over) would advance to the Pick-a-Prize Arcade.

Pick-a-Prize Arcade

At the end of the game, the set was rotated 180 degrees to reveal the Pick-a-Prize Arcade. Twenty prizes were displayed, 10 designated for each sibling; the brother's prizes sat on yellow platforms while the sister's sat on pink ones, and a strobe light and pushbutton were placed next to each prize. Prior to the show, each sibling chose the six prizes that he/she thought the other would most like to have.

The home audience was shown one sibling's choices, after which the other one selected six prizes by pushing their buttons. Every time the siblings' choices matched, a siren sounded and the light next to that prize flashed. After both siblings had taken a turn, the team won all prizes they had matched; if they made at least 10 matches between them, they won all 20 prizes.

Broadcast history

Although the last first-run episode aired on March 5, 1988, repeats aired until August 27. Reruns were seen on The Family Channel from September 9, 1989 to September 8, 1990; August 29, 1994 to September 30, 1995; and October 30, 1995 to March 29, 1996.

Special episodes

While most shows featured brother and sister teams, special episodes were also aired in order to accommodate siblings of the same gender, known as "Brothers' Week" or "Sisters' Week", in which the teams would be all male or all female. Youthful stars of NBC's prime-time series also played with their real-life siblings for charity on two episodes, known as "Celebrity Week".

Merchandise

A board game was released by Pressman in 1987.

References
  1. Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 226. ISBN 978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
  2. CHARLES SOLOMON (1987-10-09). "Kidvid Reviews : Cartoon Debuts Are All Drawn Out - Los Angeles Times". Articles.latimes.com. Retrieved 2012-10-15.
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