Time Machine (game show)

infobox Television
show_name = Time Machine


caption =
format = Game show
company = Reg Grundy Productions
runtime = 30 minutes (per episode)
creator = Reg Grundy
starring = John Davidson as the host; Charlie Tuna as the announcer
country = USA
network = NBC
first_aired = January 7 1985
last_aired = April 26 1985
num_episodes = 80

"Time Machine" was a short-lived American game show where contestants competed to answer trivia questions about popular culture and recent history to win prizes. The show was hosted by John Davidson and ran on NBC from January to April 1985. Produced by Reg Grundy Productions, now part of FremantleMedia.

On the series premiere, Davidson stated the show would "be around for a long time". On its finale roughly four months later, he claimed the show was a mini-series that was supposed to last only a few months.

Most of the questions used on "Time Machine" focused on nostalgia, popular culture and recent (usually post-World War II) history, and more specifically, what year a particular event occurred.

Format 1

Three contestants competed in mini-games to win prizes. The prizes won went into a contestant's "Prize Bank". The returning champion always played the third mini-game.

There were at least six mini-games used in format 1. They were:

* "Tube Game" – The contestant was given the names of two shows, and had to pick which one was airing in a given year. This process was done three times; the first with two ABC shows, the second with NBC shows, and the third with CBS shows. A right answer won the corresponding network, a wrong one lost it. Behind one of the networks was a prize package; if the contestant had that network, it was added to their Prize Bank.

* "3 In A Row" – In each square of a tic-tac-toe board is a different year, all from the same decade. Before the game starts, the contestant places three "Poison Cards" in a row on the board. The contestant is then shown nine events. They pick an event, and the year in which it happened lights up. If they lit three years across or up-and down, a prize was added to their Bank. If they lit three years in a row diagonally, a larger prize was added. If the three with the Poison Cards light up, nothing was added.

- This format changed later on; the Poison Cards were eliminated, and the events were drawn from a podium two at a time. The contestant picked an event from the two choices, and the year it happened in lit up. They replace it with another event, and continue until they get three in a row. Lighting a row across or up-and-down added a prize to the Prize Bank, a diagonal line added nothing.

* "As Time Goes By" – To begin, the contestant was given one free spin. Then a photo of a celebrity was shown. The contestant had to guess what year the photo was taken. If their guess was within five years of the right answer, they won another spin. This was repeated with two more photos of the same celebrity. They then took their spins to the Money Clock, a spinner made to look like a clock. The area around 12 o'clock was painted red. The pointer moved automatically, and the contestant watched it for a few seconds. They then turned away and hit a plunger, stopping the pointer. If they landed at the red area, a prize was added to their prize bank. If not, they tried again until they ran out of spins, losing the game.

* "Before Or After" – The contestant was given $200. A base year was given, and the contestant had to guess whether an event happened before or after the base year. A correct guess doubled the money, and the year of that event became the new base year. This was repeated two times. Then the contestant was given a choice; they could stop and put their money in their Prize Bank, or go one more time. A correct guess doubled the money and put it in the Prize Bank, a wrong guess lost everything.

* "Sweet Sixteen" – The contestant was given sixteen $100 bills. They were then shown an old product, and had to guess which year it was introduced. For each year their guess is off, they gave up a $100 bill. This was done four times. The first three products were given specific ranges to aid the contestant (sometime in the '50s, sometime in the last 10 years), the fourth one had no range. If they still had any $100 bills left after the fourth product, the bills and an additional prize package is put in their Prize Bank.

* "Main Event" – A base year is given, along with five categories. The contestant picks the category they're least comfortable with, and they instantly win that category. Then they pick the remaining categories one-by-one. Each category had one question, with two possible answers. Guessing right won the category, guessing wrong lost it. After all five categories were played, the contestant could see the clues hidden behind the categories they won. Each clue pertained to the "Main Event", which occurred in that base year. The clues were revealed one at a time. Guessing the Main Event on the first clue put $5,000 in the Prize Bank; each subsequent clue cut the value by $1,000.

After three mini-games, the three contestants competed in one final game, the Time Capsule. Davidson read a list of five events, all of which occurred in a specific year. (The final event was always a song popular in that year, and a clip was played for the contestants). Each contestant guessed what year they believe all the events are from. The contestant who came closest was declared the champ, won whatever was in their Prize Bank, and played the bonus round. The other two lost their Prize Bank and left the show.

Format 2

The format was completely overhauled beginning on the February 11 episode. Many mini-games underwent rule changes to fit the new format, while others were retired. Two contestants competed for the right to face the current champ. They played three mini-games, each one worth a prize. (The Prize Bank was scrapped; the contestants now kept their prizes regardless of how well they did.) The first two mini-games were worth one point, the last one was worth two. The one with the most points after three games won.

Six mini-games were used in this new format. Unlike the old format, the same two lineups were used for every episode, alternating each day. The first lineup went as follows:

* "Game 1: As Time Goes By" – A photo of a celebrity was shown. Similar in format to "Card Sharks", one player guessed when the photo was taken, and the other one guessed whether the right answer is higher or lower. Whoever was right won a spin. This was repeated with two more photos of the same celebrity. Each player then took their spins to the Money Clock, which now had four spaces. The four spaces read zero, 100, 300, and 1,000, with the 1,000 space much smaller than the rest. As before, the contestant watched the pointer for a few seconds, then turned away to stop it. The space they landed on was the amount of dollars they won. The player with the highest score won the game.

* "Game 2: Tube Game" – Davidson described an ABC show that was on in a given year. Players buzz in to guess what show he's describing, and a right answer wins a point. Davidson then describes an NBC show from the same year, then a CBS show. After that, Davidson asked questions pertaining to the three shows. First to five points won the game and a prize.

* "Game 3: Jukebox Game" – Four jukeboxes were shown, each emblazoned with a different year from a certain decade. A song is played, and two possible artists are given. Buzzing in with the right artist won the right to match the song with the year it was released. If they got a match, they got a point. If they missed, their opponent got one chance to pick the right one and steal the point. The jukebox with the right answer was eliminated from play regardless. If all the jukeboxes were eliminated, then the contestants just had to identify the song's artist to get the point, without having to match the song to a year. First to three points won the game and a prize.

This was the second lineup:

* "Game 1: On The Button" – An event was given, and one player guessed what year the event happened in. Getting it exactly right won a point for that player. If they guessed wrong, Davidson would say whether the event happened before or after that year, and the other contestant had a chance to guess. This continued until one player got three points, winning the game and a prize.

* "Game 2: 3 In A Row" – Just like before, each square of a tic-tac-toe board had a different year from the same decade. One player was given two events. The contestant picked an event from the two choices, and the year it happened in lit up. A new event takes the selected one's place, and the other contestant picked one. This continued until three spaces in a row were lit up. The person who lit up that last space won the game and a prize.

* "Game 3: Main Event" – A base year was given. Davidson would ask a question about an event that happened in that year. Buzzing in with the right answer put $200 in a pot and revealed a clue pertaining to the "Main Event". If the contestant could figure out the Main Event, they won the game and any money in the pot. If not, play continued as before until the Main Event was guessed.

The winner of the mini-games faced the champion in the Challenge Round. Aside from the fact that this used two players, this was the exact same game as the Time Capsule. Again, the contestant who came closest won.

Bonus Round

The bonus round had to do with the year involved in the Time Capsule/Challenge Round. Two different bonus games were used during the show's run.

* Bonus Round #1 – Four events were given, and only one of which happened in the given year. If the contestant picked the right event, they won a growing Jackpot of prizes. This was only played if the contestant got the answer in the Time Capsule on the nose; what happened if no one did is currently unknown.

This bonus round was gone by February, giving way to the one described below:

* Bonus Round #2 – Questions were asked relating to whether a certain event happened before or after the given year. Enough correct answers won the player a new car, while an incorrect answer stopped the game.

When a champion started their reign, they had to answer four questions to win the car; for each day afterwards, they had to answer one less, and if a champion lasted five consecutive days, they won the car automatically.