Audience: "THE LAST WORD!"
The Last Word was a syndicated Game Show created by Merrill Heatter and hosted by Wink Martindale. Jennifer Lyall helped with announcing duties.
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.
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.
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.* Reruns continued until January 5, 1990.
Game show tropes in use:
- Bonus Round: The 60 Second Challenge
- Consolation Prize: 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.
- Game Show Winnings Cap: Contestants stayed on until they lost twice against the same opponent, or played the 60-Second Challenge six times.
- Personnel:
- The Announcer: Jennifer Lyall, who appeared on camera throughout.
- Game Show Host: Veteran host Wink Martindale.
- Progressive Jackpot: Each bonus round loss added another prize to the jackpot. There was no limit, it just kept on building until someone won it.
This show provides examples of:
- Golden Snitch: 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.
- Home Participation Sweepstakes: 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.
- Pilot: One was filmed in Los Angeles on December 18, 1988, and featured a number of differences.
- Burton Richardson was the announcer.
- The assistant was a woman named Jana White, no doubt hired because her name sounded similar to the assistant on another word game show. Unlike Jennifer's heavy involvement, all Jana really did was type out the words on a computer.
- Each word could only be up to seven letters long.
- Each word in the main game was worth a flat $100.
- Recycled Soundtrack: The prize cues were previously used on Bargain Hunters, a home shopping themed game show from 1987. Merrill Heatter made that one too.
- Timed Mission: 60 seconds to get 10 words in the bonus round.
- Title Scream: The audience shouted the title in the intro.
