1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thelastword.png]] |
2 | |
3 | ->Wink Martindale: "What does everybody want?"\ |
4 | Audience: "THE LAST WORD!" |
5 | -->-- The call and response intro. |
6 | |
7 | ''The Last Word'' was a syndicated GameShow created by Creator/MerrillHeatter and hosted by Wink Martindale. Jennifer Lyall helped with announcing duties. |
8 | |
9 | Two teams of two competed, consisting of one civilian and one celebrity. Only one person played each round; the partners could not help them. The object was to guess three words with a common thread between them; each word could be up to eight letters in length. One letter was revealed in each word, and the contestant in control could either guess a word, or hit a button that would randomly pick a space in one of the incomplete words. Hitting an empty space revealed the letter, and the player could either guess the word or pass to their opponent. Hitting a space that already had a letter revealed would force them to reveal a letter of their choice, and control would pass to their opponent. Correctly guessing a word would keep control; getting it wrong meant the word was revealed up to the first incorrect letter, and the opponent took control. The last letter in a word could not be revealed. Whoever solved the last of the three words won the round; only solving one word got a small prize, solving two got a larger prize, and solving all three got both prizes plus one extra. |
10 | |
11 | The first team to win two rounds won the game. Each civilian would face the other team's celebrity in the first two rounds; if a third round is needed, the two civilians would face off. The winners would then play the 60 Second Challenge; each puzzle there had two words already revealed, while the third would be revealed one letter at a time in random order. As before, the last letter could not be revealed. Solving a puzzle was worth $100, solving all 10 in 60 seconds won a prize package that would grow for each unsuccessful attempt at it. Both civilians would switch celebrity partners for the next game; winning the best two out of three games meant you stayed on the show and played a new challenger. |
12 | |
13 | ''The Last Word'' taped in Vancouver, Canada; due to [=CanCon=] laws, they had to feature a Canadian personality on camera, explaining why Jennifer had such a large role on the show. ''The Last Word'' didn't last long, only running from September 18 to December 15, 1989.[[labelnote:*]]Some areas aired a Sneak Preview episode on Sep. 15; strangely, the champion there did not carry over to the series premiere.[[/labelnote]] Reruns continued until January 5, 1990. |
14 | ---- |
15 | !! Game show tropes in use: |
16 | * BonusRound: ''The 60 Second Challenge'' |
17 | * ConsolationPrize: Losing the bonus round won $100 for each puzzle solved. Oddly enough, it would come in the form of gift certificates or traveler's checks instead of actual cash. |
18 | * GameShowWinningsCap: Contestants stayed on until they lost twice against the same opponent, or played the 60-Second Challenge six times. |
19 | * Personnel: |
20 | ** TheAnnouncer: Jennifer Lyall, who appeared on camera throughout. |
21 | ** GameShowHost: Veteran host Wink Martindale. |
22 | * ProgressiveJackpot: Each bonus round loss added another prize to the jackpot. There was no limit, it just kept on building until someone won it. |
23 | ---- |
24 | !!This show provides examples of: |
25 | * GoldenSnitch: As the title implies, you only have to get the last word right in order to win the round. There's plenty of incentive to get them all though; the more words you get right, the better your prize haul. |
26 | * HomeParticipationSweepstakes: Canadians had the "Viewer's Last Word" contest. Two words were filled in, while a third only had one letter revealed. Home viewers could send in their answers for a chance to win a prize. |
27 | * {{Pilot}}: One was filmed in Los Angeles on December 18, 1988, and featured a number of differences. |
28 | ** Burton Richardson was the announcer. |
29 | ** The assistant was a woman named Jana White, no doubt hired because her name sounded similar to the assistant on [[Series/WheelOfFortune another word game show]]. Unlike Jennifer's heavy involvement, all Jana really did was type out the words on a computer. |
30 | ** Each word could only be up to seven letters long. |
31 | ** Each word in the main game was worth a flat $100. |
32 | * RecycledSoundtrack: The prize cues were previously used on ''Series/BargainHunters'', a home shopping themed game show from 1987. Merrill Heatter made that one too. |
33 | * TimedMission: 60 seconds to get 10 words in the bonus round. |
34 | * TitleScream: The audience shouted the title in the intro. |
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