I'm Telling!!

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

When my brother and I would come home from school, we'd watch television. This is not uncommon by any stretch of the imagination. And, for a while, we'd often play along to I'm Telling, which we thought we should be on, since we were a brother-sister pair who were between 8 and 12 at the time (of course, we didn't realize it was taped years before, LoL). We'd also run around the living room, pretending to choose prizes. We were funny kids, I gotta say. 

Brief history: Basically, this was The Newlywed Game for siblings. You tried to know more about your sibling than someone else knew about theirs. There were only 26 episodes made (between 1987 and 1988), so it wasn't very popular. It originally ran on NBC on Saturday mornings, but I caught it on The Family Channel, from 1994-1996 (it also ran on that channel 1989-1990).

The game: There were three sibling pairs competing - almost always brothers and sisters. In the first round, the brothers were taken to a soundproof room, and the sisters answered three questions about the brothers. The questions would be about likes and dislikes, abilities, favorites, experiences, etc. The brothers came back, answered the questions, and got 25 points if the sisters got the first question right, 50 for the second, and 75 for the third. Then, the sisters went to a soundproof booth and the boys answered three questions about them. The girls came back, answered, and if the responses matched, got 50 points for the first, 75 points for the second, and 150 for the third. If one team was so far in the lead that the other two couldn't possibly catch up, they ended it before revealing all of the answers. The losing teams got bikes or something like that. The winning brother-sister pair then won a $1,000 savings bond and got to play Pick-a-Prize. There were 20 prizes - 10 for boys and 10 for girls (yes, the game was pretty sexist). The boy secretly chose the 6 prizes he thought that his sister would want, and she secretly chose the 6 she thought that he'd want. Then, the sister would run through the arcade, picking prizes for herself - if they matched what the brother chose for her, she won them. Then, he did the same. If they had 10 or more matches (out of 12), they won everything. Here's an entire episode, where the winning team gets a perfect score.


Notable changes to the way the game is played: none, really. it wasn't around long enough, LoL.

Special contestants: There was Brothers' Day and Sisters' Day a few times, to accommodate siblings of the same sex. There were also games where kids from other NBC shows would play with their real-life siblings. Giovanni Ribisi, Shannen Doherty, Sean Astin, Paul Walker, Ami Foster (from Punky Brewster), Benji Gregory (from ALF), and Lindsay Price were all on that show, some before they were in anything else. And, as a fun note, Astin beat Doherty.

Favorite Rounds: I actually preferred to watch the second round. The prizes round was kinda boring, since we didn't know the contestants well enough to guess. But watching the boys answer questions, then watch the girls to see if they matched was always amusing. I feel like those questions were much more fun than the ones where the girls played first. I also can't say that any particular episode stands out to me... but, I also didn't realize that there were any popular kids on that show (which means there's no way I saw the episode with Benji Gregory... I loved ALF!).

My take: When I was ten or eleven and my brother was eight or so, I think we would've done really well. I think we could totally have won the main game, and sweep the prize round (we spent a lot of time talking about toys, so I'd like to think we'd make smart toy decisions for the other). And, as adults, if the questions were about childhood, I'd still play with my brother. If the questions were more about everyday adult life, I'd have to say that I'd prefer my sister as a partner. I talk to her more often at this point, so I feel we'd have a better chance. Though, I don't know how that prize round would work, haha! Maybe instead of televisions and bicycles there would be concert tickets and spa certificates??

Did you ever watch I'm Telling? Would you want to partner with your sibling if the show was still on the air and you were competing? Would you prefer the questions be about childhood or current day events?

My Top Ten Game Shows

by Amy K. Bredemeyer

A couple days ago I read an article giving logical ideas on how to win various games within The Price is Right. I thought it was a clever thing to talk about, and even as a six-year-old, I would yell at players making dumb decisions. Even now, there are times when I look at the players like they're idiots on Wheel of Fortune when I've known the answer for 2-3 turns and they're still buying vowels. This whole thing got me thinking about my favorite game shows, which have changed somewhat over the years. The Price is Right would have been in the top 5 if Bob Barker was still hosting. Drew Carey isn't a bad host, but I just can't stand him, so it's been knocked from the Top Ten.

10. Classic Concentration. My brother and I were into memory games when we were kids. In fact, we had like a mega-memory game and the generic one that all six-year-olds seem to own, that came in the plastic container with slots for each card. Our mega set had over 50 cards to it, since we had a hard time even laying all of them out. So, I had a good time watching other people try to remember where cards were. BUT, what made this a great game show was the rebus puzzle behind the cards. This was the first rebus I had ever seen, and I still love them. I think that I have a slight advantage over other people in reading them because of this show, LoL.

9. Wipeout. I love a good physical challenge show. And while this one may be incredibly goofy sometimes, I think it's awesome. When we lived in California I downloaded the application to apply to be on it, knowing full well that it would be more of an experience for me than a win, since I'm not that strong of a swimmer (and that's important in the final round), and I'm kinda paranoid about knocking out teeth and things like that. I think it's interesting that some of the rounds change from time to time, but I really enjoy the creativity in some of those gags! It's not like you could ever try it at home, LoL.

8. Lingo. This isn't one of the most popular games, and it's strictly words and a little luck (regarding what numbers you pull to get points and then win prizes). Basically, you stand around guessing 5-letter words. In the first two rounds, two teams of two are pitted against eachother, and they only ever get a letter to start with. They find out which letters are in the right positions and which are correct but in the wrong places, and get 5 chances to guess the word. In the final round, the better team tries to do ten of these in two minutes (you still get the first letter, but now also get a random second letter). They rarely get all ten, but that usually doesn't matter, they still win something. I'm not that good at the game, but I do get excited watching it.

7. I'm Telling! If there was one game on this list that I'd bet you hadn't heard of, it's this one. It ran on cable only, and only a season or two were made. It was a children's game show, specifically geared for brother-sister pairs. The set-up is like the NewlyWed Game, in that the brothers answer questions about the sisters and vice versa, and you get points when you're right. The losing two teams all got 10-speed bikes. The two winners took turns running through a "prize arcade." See, before the show, each kid had written down the six prizes they thought their sibling would want (out of ten). When you chose six in the final round, you were choosing the six that you wanted. If it matched, you won it. You'd always win two prizes because of the overlap in the math on that, and if you matched 10/12, you'd win all of the prizes. The only real catch? There were "boys' prizes" and "girls' prizes" so it was very sexist. My brother and I played along ALL THE TIME.

6. Supermarket Sweep. In case you haven't seen a pattern yet, my brother and I played along with this one, too. The game was pretty easy... some general questions to bring up your points, and each of the three teams rotated the players' turns. The real excitement was in the end, when you ran around the supermarket throwing foods in your cart to ring up the highest bill. There were also certain items that were announced that could get you extra stuff. Depending on how much time you had banked in the beginning, you could get extra time in the aisles. In theory, it shouldn't have been hard to rack up the bill, but you'd always see people throwing crap in their carts.

5. Wheel of Fortune. This one's a classic, and I don't think you can really argue with that. I love Vanna, mostly for her clothing. The contestants aren't always that exciting, but I generally like the puzzles, although there are certain categories that I like much more than others. Plus, it's still on, so I can catch it five times a week if I'm really bored, LoL.

4. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? So when I list this one, I'm only referring to the Regis Philbin-hosted version. This is because I believe that, arguably, most people agree he's the only true host of that show. I rank it so high for several reasons. First, the gimmick of only having it on for a couple weeks and then taking it away again was interesting. Plus, the lights and the concept and the ten possible contestants in the beginning were neat. Lastly, it came on when my now-husband and I were first starting to date, so we'd often watch the show at our respective parents' houses and talk about it on the phone.

3. Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? This show was supercool, especially from the seven-year-old's point-of-view. There was the mysterious storyline going on, plus some neat facts to learn, and lastly the running around putting the sirens on different countries/states. I always wanted to be on that show, and would have done really well since I knew my US map like the back of my hand by the time I was eight-years-old. PLUS, the prize was a trip to anyplace in the continental US! How neat!

2. Jeopardy! I love a good quiz show. I particularly love this one for several reasons, but the main ones at this point in my life are that the clues are always shown on the screen so I can read them while at the gym on the treadmill, and I have a wide berth of knowledge so this is a game I always have an excellent and a sucky category in. And I think this tends to be true for many of the contestants on the show. It's always good to watch when you're bored or on vacation and have no cable, or when you're with strangers and need an icebreaker on television, LoL.

1. Legends of the Hidden Temple. OF COURSE this is my #1 game show. It was THE COOLEST gameshow EVER. I may be too old to go on it now (in the event they bring it back), but it's still super mega awesome. There were six teams (of two) to start out with, and it always began with a physical challenge - crossing a moat. The first four teams to make it moved on. Then, on to some knowledge and listening comprehension, then some more physical stuff. But the end level was made up of running through a fun house of sorts (there were like seven different set-ups too, so it's not like you could memorize it beforehand... although there are websites out there with maps of each... I'm serious), collecting the artifact of the day by completing a task to open most of the doors, and avoiding the temple guard. Sometimes they'd also have to find part of their Pendant of Life, too. Both team members got to go in, and it just looked like so much fun! The only qualm I have about the game is that it always seemed the teams struggled with putting together the Shrine of the Silver Monkey, LoL. Oh, and it was another one that my brother and I would always talk about how we'd do each challenge if we were on a team, LoL.