History Series / FindersKeepers

* ProductPlacement: Mr. Gameshow, and some of the items in the store-based rooms, especially the Toy Shop. Every player also got to keep the pair of Converse sneakers he/she wore on the show, just as ''Double Dare'' contestants kept their Reeboks. Also, every crew member (including the host) wore a pair of the company's shoes.

* NoOSHACompliance: Completely averted. The winning team always wore helmets and elbow/knee pads during the Romp, and Eure often commented about the emphasis on safety and the use of materials that would not hurt anyone. He even took a plate from the Kitchen and smashed it over his own head without injury to make the point.

* RansackedRoom / TrashTheSet: The premise of the show.

** Eure gave the title of a 1988 hidden picture featuring one boxer punching another so hard he has flipped upside-down as "A One-Way Ticket to Palookaville", a reference to the famous "ICouldaBeenAContender" scene in ''Film/OnTheWaterfront''.

** The hidden pictures round, as the gateway to the room trashing for which audiences really tuned in, was gradually made easier over the series' run. In the first Eure season, there were four clues in the first hidden picture round and four or five in the second, so it was quite common for one, two, or even three of the eight rooms to go unsearched, requiring Eure to pad the episode's run time by bantering with the contestants. In the second season, the pictures had six clues each, so it was far less common (but not unheard of) for rooms to go unsearched. And in the Toffler era, the pictures were the size of a wall rather than displayed on a monitor and the hidden items were pre-identified via a set of colorforms, and rooms almost never went unsearched.

** One of the hidden picture artists in the Eure era was a caricaturist, drawing pictures featuring Creator/BorisKarloff as Film/{{Frankenstein|1931}}'s monster, Creator/BelaLugosi as Film/{{Dracula|1931}}, Creator/CharlieChaplin, the Creator/MarxBrothers, Creator/TomSelleck as Series/MagnumPI, Creator/BruceWillis and Cybill Shepherd as Dave and Maddie from ''Series/{{Moonlighting}}'', Ralph Macchio as Daniel from ''Film/TheKarateKid'', Music/{{Madonna}}, Music/MichaelJackson, [[Film/PeeweesBigAdventure Pee-wee Herman on his bike]], and many others.

** In the Eure era, the romp record was 66 seconds, and contenstants sometimes had to find hidden objects in one or more rooms to find the next clue card. In the Toffler era, the clues were much more straightforward, with the cards often visible as soon as the contestants entered the room, and at least three teams finished the romp in under a minute (the record was 40 seconds).[[note]] Although the Toffler era also saw at least three teams find just ''one'' clue card in the romp.[[/note]]

** The ''very'' earliest taped episodes featured no pink paint around the hall window on the top floor, as well as unusual room configurations - one episode featured what might be the only appearance of the Kids' Room prior to the second Eure season, while another episode or two had a ''principal's office'' as a room, never to be seen again afterwards. Some of the sound effects differed as well. And while the instant prizes for most of the 1987 season were trips to either Walt Disney World or Space Camp, some of the very earliest episodes featured portable televisions or phone/answering machines as the instant prize.

* NintendoHard: The Romp during the Eure era (the Closet in particular derailed many Romps due to the sheer number of hiding places). Inverted many times in the Toffler era, as most of the clue cards could be seen before the kids even entered the room.

** In the Eure era, the romp record was 66 seconds, and contenstants sometimes had to find hidden objects in one or more rooms to find the next clue card. In the Toffler era, the clues were much more straightforward, with the cards often visible as soon as the contestants entered the room, and at least three teams finished the romp in under a minute (the record was 40 seconds).[[note]] Although the Toffler era also saw at least two teams find just ''one'' clue card in the romp.[[/note]]

* AncientTomb: One of the rooms.
* AntiClimax: Some of the Romps never really got going, with the contestants finding only two or even just one clue card. On at least two occasions in the Toffler era, the winning team found the first clue card in less than 10 seconds, but then spent over 80 seconds in a fruitless search for the second card due to a misunderstanding of the clue.
* BlatantLies: The prizes aren't actually in the house as stated in the intro (see top of page).

** The ''very'' earliest taped episodes featured no pink paint around the hall window on the top floor, as well as unusual room configurations - one episode featured what might be the only appearance of the Kids' Room prior to the second Eure season, while another episode or two had a ''principal's office'' as a room, never to be seen again afterwards. Some of the sound effects differed as well. And while the instant prizes for most of the Eure run were trips to either Walt Disney World or Space Camp, some of the very earliest episodes featured portable televisions or phone/answering machines as the instant prize.

** The hidden pictures round in the Eure era had a few differences in the first episodes to be filmed. The pictures themselves appeared without the wind chime sound effect used later, while missed objects were circled with a yellow telestrator pen rather than indicated by darkening the picture except for a light circle around the object.

** The ''very'' earliest taped episodes featured no pink paint around the hall window on the top floor, as well as unusual room configurations - one episode featured what might be the only appearance of the Kids' Room prior to the second Eure season, while another episode or two had a ''principal's office'' as a room, never to be seen again afterwards. Some of the sound effects differed as well. And while the instant prizes for most of the Eure run were trips to either Walt Disney World or Space Camp, some of the very earliest episodes featured portable televisions or Kodaphones as the instant prize.

* ProductPlacement: Mr. Gameshow, and some of the items in the store-based rooms, especially the Toy Shop.
** Every player got to keep the pair of Converse sneakers he/she wore on the show, just as ''Double Dare'' contestants kept their Reeboks. Also, every crew member (including the host) wore a pair of the company's shoes.

* ShowTheFolksAtHome: During the room searches in the Eure version, the camera would occasionally zoom towards the object's hiding place, and Eure himself sometimes pointed out objects HiddenInPlainSight, or made some sort of comment (such as "You saw that at home, didn't you?") if the contestants emptied out the hiding place but did not actually notice the object. On the Toffler version, an indicator popped up on screen to show approximately where the object was hidden.
** The UK version combined both approaches; initially, an indicator would appear on the screen to show where the object was hidden, but if time was running low, host Neil Buchanan would try to clue the players in to the object's location (sometimes all but telling them exactly where to look).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The hidden pictures round in the Eure era had a few differences in the first episodes to be filmed. The pictures themselves appeared without the wind chime sound effect used later, while missed objects were circled with a yellow telestrator pen rather than indicated by darkening the picture except for a light circle around the object.
** The ''very'' earliest taped episodes featured no pink paint around the hall window on the top floor, as well as unusual room configurations - one episode featured what might be the only appearance of the Kids' Room prior to the second Eure season, while another episode or two had a ''principal's office'' as a room, never to be seen again afterwards. Some of the sound effects differed as well.

* HiddenObjectGame: Natch.
* LargeHam: Harry Stephens, the final announcer, really leaned into each word during his opening spiel. "Iiiif YOU can find the LOBSTER hidden in this picture!!..."
** ...And then fell flat halfway through the most important parts of the spiel — "[=FINDERrrrrrrrs=] keepers" and "[=LARRyyyyyyyy=] toffler".

* NobodyPoops: None of the bathrooms in the American version had toilets. That didn't keep them from [[ToiletHumour being referenced]], though.
** Averted in the UK version, in which the bathroom did feature a toilet.
* OpeningNarration: See top of page.

* ShoutOut: Many of the "fantasy room" designs, to various {{Fairy Tale}}s, ComicStrip/BuckRogers, {{Dracula}}, and Literature/{{Frankenstein}}, just to name a few.

* SongsInTheKeyOfPanic: "Hurry" variant in the Romp, to an extent; the music started out with a somewhat "relaxed" rhythm, but picked up time to that of the normal "room search" cues with around 35 seconds to go.
** Also counts as a "Nearing the End" variant in both the normal searches and the Romp, with a key-change up every few seconds.
* TimeKeepsOnTicking: During the Romp, once the clock started, it ran continuously, even while teams were moving on to the next room. This put a premium on getting to the next room quickly. A wrong turn, especially when moving to the upper floor or lower floor could end up torpedoing the team.
** More blatant in the UK version, where the host would often hold up the team until they shouted out the answer to the clue. In the US, the host would read the clue and let the team get on with it (occasionally asking the team what they were looking for as they were going about it). Good thing, too, since 90 seconds is quite brutal enough without the team having to shout out the answer.

* ProductPlacement: Mr. Gameshow, and some of the items in the store-based rooms.

* ShoutOut: Starting with the second Eure series, the shop window in the General Store read "Klinghoffer's General Store", a reference to series producer Michael Klinghoffer.

Following the wild success of their first GameShow, ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'', {{Nickelodeon}} rolled out this show that fulfilled every kid's fantasy of tearing up his bedroom...and the kitchen...and the bathroom...and the sewer.

* CurbStompBattle: Several Toffler episodes in particular, one of which had a final score of $975-$25 (out of a possible $1,000).
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLNU_nPlvpQ Here is the fabled $975-$25 episode.]]

* CelebrityEdition: The syndicated version, along with the syndicated ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' and ''Series/FunHouse'', set aside a couple of weeks to pair young TV stars with civilian contestants ([[Series/MarriedWithChildren David Faustino]] and [[KnotsLanding Brian Austin Green]] for one week, [[CharlesInCharge Josie Davis]] and [[Series/SmallWonder Emily Schulman]] for the other week).

* CelebrityEdition: The syndicated version, along with the syndicated ''[[Series/DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' and ''FunHouse'', set aside a couple of weeks to pair young TV stars with civilian contestants ([[Series/MarriedWithChildren David Faustino]] and [[KnotsLanding Brian Austin Green]] for one week, [[CharlesInCharge Josie Davis]] and [[Series/SmallWonder Emily Schulman]] for the other week).

Not to be confused with the UrbanFantasy [[FindersKeepers webcomic of the same name]].

** LovelyAssistant: "Mindy".

* CelebrityEdition: The syndicated version, along with the syndicated ''[[DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' and ''FunHouse'', set aside a couple of weeks to pair young TV stars with civilian contestants ([[Series/MarriedWithChildren David Faustino]] and [[KnotsLanding Brian Austin Green]] for one week, [[CharlesInCharge Josie Davis]] and [[Series/SmallWonder Emily Schulman]] for the other week).

* CelebrityEdition: The syndicated version, along with the syndicated ''[[DoubleDare1986 Double Dare]]'' and ''FunHouse'', set aside a couple of weeks to pair young TV stars with civilian contestants ([[Series/MarriedWithChildren David Faustino]] and [[KnotsLanding Brian Austin Green]] for one week, [[CharlesInCharge Josie Davis]] and [[SmallWonder Emily Schulman]] for the other week).

* GettingCrapPastTheRadar: In a couple of Toffler episodes, the announcer described one of the rooms as the "bitchin' kitchen". Toffler ''himself'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klK-xNoi4SM&list=PL296FEE4E6474127F dropped the word]] as part of a clue on at least one occasion.