Game Show created by Jay Wolpert for Mark Goodson, which aired on CBS from 1976-77. Host Alex Trebek read a series of clues to two contestants, who were in Sound Proof Booths. When one player buzzed in to guess the subject, the other player's booth closed. An incorrect answer resulted in a "penalty clue" and free guess for the opposing player. A correct answer was worth $50 and allowed the player to Dare their opponent to guess the answer with the next clue for $100. If the dared player missed, the darer could "Double Dare" with one more clue for $200. A correct answer on a Dare awarded $50, while one on a Double Dare awarded $100. The first player to score $500 won the game and played for $5,000 more in the Bonus Round, trying to stump three "Spoilers" with the right choice of clues to one more subject.
Not to be confused with Nickelodeon's Double Dare, which is a very different (and much messier) show.
This series provides examples of:
- The Announcer: Johnny Olson and Gene Wood shared this role.
- Bonus Round: "Beat the Spoilers," which pitted the champion against a panel of three people with doctorates in assorted fields. The champ was shown a subject and chose one clue at a time from a pool of eight, and had to present four of these clues to the Spoilers. Each time a Spoiler didn't guess the answer, the champ received $100; if a Spoiler guessed the answer, they received $100 and sat out for the rest of the round. The champ won $5,000 if at least one Spoiler remained stumped after the fourth given clue, but if all three got it right, the round ended at that point and the champ kept whatever money he/she had won.
- Downer Ending: One contestant had gotten three clues by all the Spoilers for a total of $900. Unfortunately, all three of them guessed right on the last clue.
- Epic Fail: Even after the maximum 10 clues, both players were unable to identify Louise Lasser, the star of Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman.
- One contestant playing the bonus round used up all four passes on consecutive clues, then got shut out by the Spoilers on the next one.
- Game Show Host: Alex Trebek, in his only game for CBS (and for Goodson-Todman as it was in 1976; in 1987, when he worked another Goodson show, that being Classic Concentration
in 1987, the company was by that time Mark Goodson Productions, and would also be with his short-lived go of To Tell the Truth in 1991, both of those being on NBC). - Game Show Winnings Cap: Anyone who reached/exceeded $20,000 in total winnings had to retire, but could play Beat the Spoilers one last time if they did it with a win in the main game. (Only one champ retired undefeated over the entire series run, taking home a total of $20,500.)
- Let's Just See What WOULD Have Happened: If a contestant declined to take a Dare or Double Dare, their opponent heard the next clue to see if they would have gotten it or not.
- Losing Horns: Type A. Recycled from The Price Is Right, minus the first two notes.
- Recycled Soundtrack: Probably as a payback for taking assorted sound effects from other CBS shows (including The Price Is Right's Losing Horns, the sound when the player pulls the giant bonus lever from the "Face the Devil" bonus round of The Joker's Wild, and that one sound from Penny Ante and Trivia Trap), the entire intro (music and all) was recycled on Card Sharks.
- Show the Folks at Home: Whenever a new subject was put into play during the main game, it was briefly shown on-screen for the home viewers' benefit. Anyone who wanted to play along could look away from the screen until a bell sounded.
- Sophisticated as Hell: Trebek, as is typical for his hosting gigs.
- Sound Proof Booth: Each contestant was placed in one, as were each of the Spoilers. When one contestant buzzed in, the audio to the opponent's booth was cut off and a set of shutters closed across the front to keep them from seeing or hearing anything.
