Lingo (American game show)
{{infobox television |
show_name = Lingo | image = | caption = | format = Game show | runtime = approx. 22 minutes (per episode) | creator = N/A | starring = Chuck Woolery, Stacey Hayes (2003), Shandi Finnessey (2005-current) | country = USA | network = GSN | first_aired = August 5, 2002 | last_aired = N/A | num_episodes = 280 | imdb_id = 0329871Lingo is an American television game show that GSN produced along with other companies. Versions of Lingo have also existed in other countries.The first US attempt at airing Lingo was in 1987. It was produced by Ralph Andrews (in association with Bernstein/Hovis Productions) in Canada for syndication in the US. This version of the show has become somewhat controversial, with allegations that the cash-strapped producers didn't pay some winning contestants their prizes. Despite the show's checkered run, versions of Lingo were subsequently produced in the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Quebec, France, Sweden, and, most notably, the Netherlands.
On August 5, 2002, Game Show Network started airing the first episodes of its version of Lingo. The first 20 episodes were recorded in the Netherlands, on the set of its Dutch counterpart; subsequent episodes were produced in the US. Three more seasons, each consisting of 65 episodes, began in December of 2002, December of 2003, and August of 2005 respectively. A fifth season premiered on April 3, 2006. GSN is currently holding back ten unaired Hawaiian-themed episodes from the fourth season.The host for the 1987 version was Michael Reagan, son of then U.S. President Ronald Reagan, with Dusty Martell as co-host. The host for the last five weeks was executive producer Ralph Andrews with a new co-host, Margaux Mackenzie.
The host for the current version is game show veteran Chuck Woolery. Co-host Stacey Hayes joined the show in the third season; in early episodes of that season, there was a second co-host but that role was quickly eliminated. Shandi Finnessey, Miss USA 2004, took over the role as co-host since the start of the fourth season. Randy Thomas, a female announcer known for doing Hooked On Phonics ads, was the offstage announcer in the second season, with Stacey Hayes acting as announcer in the third season.Original 1987 VersionMain GameThe game is played between two teams. At the start of the game, each one gets a "Lingo" card with 25 spaces on it. The champ's card contains even numbers, and the challenger's contains odd numbers. Seven numbers on each card are automatically covered at the start of the game (The challenger's numbers get covered by red circles while the champion's numbers are covered by blue circles). The team in control (beginning with the challengers) is shown the first letter of a five-letter mystery word, after which they must try to guess the word and spell it out. After each guess, a red square is placed around letters that are in the correct position, and a yellow circle is placed around letters that are not in the correct position (but are in the word). If the team fails to identify the word within five guesses, fails to answer at anytime within their five second time limit, or gives a misspelled or nonexistent word, the other team gets a chance to guess; if there is more than one letter unrevealed, one of those letters is revealed, and the team is given five seconds to make a guess. If there is only one unrevealed letter in the word, it is not revealed, but during the five seconds of thinking time, the team is allowed to confer. By the way, if the team in control guesses the word on the first try, they win a $1000 bonus. Note that the five-letter words were randomly selected by the show's Amiga computer.
The first team to solve the word gets a chance to pull two lingo balls out of a hopper in front of them. Eighteen of the balls are labeled with numbers corresponding to the numbers on the board. Three of the balls are red; if one of these is pulled out, the team loses their turn. Also in the hopper are three prize balls (one of them being a jackpot ball which starts at $1,000 and increases by $500 every game the jackpot isn't claimed) which can only be claimed if the team won the game. The first team to make a lingo wins the game, $250 (along with the prizes from the prize balls) and the right to play in the final "No Lingo" round. Later in the show's run, the prize was $500 for a vertical or horizontal Lingo, $1000 for a diagonal Lingo, and $2000 for a Double Lingo (two lines completed with the same ball).No LingoThe winning team plays a bonus round called "No Lingo". The team is shown another Lingo card, with sixteen numbers automatically covered before the start of the round, arranged in a star shape along the diagonals, middle row and "N" (middle) column; the center space, where the free space is on a normal bingo card, was left uncovered. The contestants were given $500 to start. They're shown another five-letter mystery word in which the first letter and one of the other four letters are shown. Each time the team misses the word, one draw is added (increasing the danger of making a lingo), and missing the word entirely gives the team seven pulls. After the draw is completed, if the team avoids making a "lingo", their money is doubled to $1000. They can either take that $1000 and quit, or go on and try to double their money to $2000 this time (this option is offered to them each time a draw is completed during the round). Also in the hopper this round is a gold ball which, if drawn, was an automatic win at that level â€" the prize is doubled on the spot, and a new word is played unless the team elects to stop and take the money. (The gold ball was also returned to the hopper when drawn.) The numbers on the card were all even numbers, and all the even numbers from 1 to 75 (37 in all) were present on balls in the hopper, so a number drawn might not be on the card at all. (In the main game, the numbered balls always represented numbers present on the card.)
If they make a lingo at anytime during a draw, they lose the money they've earned up to that point, and the round is over, but if they can successfully identify five words and then avoid making a lingo, they win $16,000. For the team's second crack at the "No Lingo Round", they start with $1000 and work their way up to $32,000, and for their third and final No Lingo Round, they begin with $2000, and victory is worth $64,000. For potential winnings of over $112,000.
Later in the show's run, when the prize structure was changed for the main game, that main game prize was the opening "stake" for the bonus round. Up to five words would be played, which made the top prize $64,000 if the main game was won with a Double Lingo. Six balls were drawn if a word was not guessed at any level. Additionally, teams played until they were defeated twice in the main game.Current GSN VersionMain GameThe main game play is nearly identical to the original version, except that the object is to score the most points, instead of scoring a lingo first. A correct guess of a word scores 25 points. The team has five guesses at the word, though if the team does not guess correctly, the opposing team is given control of the word and is granted a bonus letter. Control of the word will also be given to the opposing team if any of the following situations occur: The team runs out of time, guess is spelled wrong (and doesn't spell another legitimate word), guess isn't the length of a five letter word, guess isn't a word, the guess is a word that has already been guessed, the guess does not begin with the established first letter, or if the guess is a proper noun. Also, the guess must also begin with the established first letter of the word, otherwise control passes to the other team, but this may have only been encountered in the fourth season. A bonus letter will not be given if four out of five of the letters have been identified. Doing this would simply solve the word entirely. If both teams miss a word at the point where a word only has one missing letter left, the word is thrown out and a new one is played.Lingo boardPlay is again similar to the original version, except that 10 numbers instead of 7 are marked off for each team at the start of the game. A Lingo scores 50 points, unlike the original version where scoring a lingo won the game outright. A Lingo also offers a "bonus letter" in the bonus game (see below). A new Lingo card is then assigned and the other team starts on a puzzle. A red ball (now often called a "stopper," perhaps owing to Chuck's Scrabble experience), when drawn, passes control to the other team for the next puzzle as with the original version. No prize balls are featured as was done in the original version.Second roundAfter time runs out for the first round, the second round begins. Lingo cards carry over from the first round. Point values are doubled, meaning a correct word guess is worth 50 points and a Lingo worth 100. Also, three "question mark" balls are added, and they can represent a number of the team's choice. After the second round is over, the team with the most points advances to Bonus Lingo.
A "Smapp" is when a person chokes the game on the final word, named after a contestant who did exactly that by guessing Smapp.TiebreakerIf there is a tied score at the end of the second round, and time runs out, a tiebreaker is played. A mystery seven-letter word is shown, and the first and last letters are displayed (think speedword from Scrabble). Teams must ring in on the red button on the podium with the correct word to advance to the Bonus Lingo round. An incorrect guess locks a team out, and gives a free letter to the opposing team. If that team does not know it, their opponents are unlocked and anybody can guess. If nobody knows what the word is, another letter is revealed, and continues to do so until a team figures out the word.
The main game rarely ends in a tie, however. This has only happened a total of three times so far in the entire series.Bonus LingoIn Bonus Lingo, the contestants try to guess as many words as possible within two minutes. For each correct guess, the team gets a chance to pull out a ball at the end of the round. Unlike the regular game, Bonus Lingo displays two letters instead of just the first letter, just like in the original version's endgame. The two letters supplied are not always the first two of the five (at least in the later seasons).
In the first season, thirteen numbers were marked off the card, and a Lingo would mean that the team would win a prize package consisting of a digital camera, a bookstore gift card, a watch, and a pocket PC. Win or lose, the team won $100 for each ball.
The bonus round for future seasons was different. The teams could now use bonus letters. One bonus letter was given for winning the game and one for each Lingo attained during the game. Also, the draw was changed. Twelve numbers were marked off in such a way that one number, if drawn, could provide a Lingo on the first pull (called a Super Lingo). The prize for reaching Lingo was $5000. If the team reached Lingo on the first try, the team won the $5000 plus a trip. For season 2 it was a $10,000 Jamaican vacation. For season 3 the prize was a trip to (Harrah's Entertainment) in Lake Tahoe. For season 4 the prize for an Super Lingo was changed to $10,000 cash.
Given that 12 of the 25 numbers are marked off at the beginning of Bonus Lingo, contestants need not earn more than 9 balls to be assured of winning the grand prize. (12 + 9 = 21, and it is not possible to have 21 of 25 numbers marked off in such a way that no Lingo is scored.) Usually, drawing 8 balls is plenty, because although it is possible to have no Lingos when 20 of 25 numbers are marked off, it is extremely difficult to do so given the way the initial 12 are arranged. On the first episode between the on-air winners and the online champs (aired, as a repeat, on August 5, 2006, one of the 5th-season episodes), the winning team scored 10 balls (with 1 bonus letter remaining unused!) and the round was terminated a few seconds short of the 2 minutes allotted. Contestants were told that earning 10 balls was the maximum, and that they were thus guaranteed at least $1000 (at $100 per ball). Left unstated was the certainty that they would win at least the $5000, since 22 of 25 balls covered must result in at least one Lingo. Logic would suggest that the producers of the show would be aware of this inevitability, and presumably left it unsaid in order to increase the dramatic value of the last part of the game.
Beginning in the show's fifth season (April 2006), a cash jackpot was added to the bonus round. This can only be won if a Lingo was made on the first draw. The Instant Jackpot started at $10,000 and went up $1000 for each show it wasn't won. It took just two episodes for the jackpot to be won for the first time, at $11,000. The jackpot has been won only three times in the season. The highest won to date was $35,000, on June 9, 2006.GSN.comIn addition to hosting the television show, GSN also maintains a web site featuring the game. There are several different versions of the online game: a free version where users play against each other, an interactive game where users play along with the show as it airs, and a paid version featuring tournaments with prizes. Occasionally, users of the paid version can win a trip to Los Angeles to play Lingo on the television show.GSN held a tournament of champions with particularly successful contestants from its second and third seasons. In the final tournament episode there was no bonus round. Instead the episode featured a third round where a correctly guessed word was worth 75 points and a "Lingo" was worth 150 points. The "question mark" balls from the second round carried over to the third round. At the end of the show, the team with the most points won a Suzuki Verona for each teammate.
A series of special competitions is now airing on GSN for the first time. Notably successful players from the fourth season face off against pairs of winners from the 2005 online Lingo tournament at GSN.com.
The network reruns earlier seasons of Lingo extensively on its current schedule.
Like any TV show Lingo has its detractors, but reviews have generally been positive. Fans of the show say the cleverly designed gameplay offers much play-along value for the viewer, Woolery maintains a friendly atmosphere with touches of humor, and the competition often generates real suspense. Critics have derided the show's paltry prizes, the sometimes anticlimactic bonus round, the questionable judging (in one episode "zesty" was not accepted as a word), and the introduction of Stacey Hayes as co-host in the third season.
There is a mini-game version of Lingo in GSN's late-night interactive series PlayMania (on which Finnessey is one of several hosts). Viewers try to guess a mystery word in a manner similar to the regular game. Each viewer gets only one guess, however.*GSN's Lingo site
*Chuck Donegan's Lingo Page
*Videos of the 1987 version of Lingo
*Lingo '87 Page @ The Game Show Universe
*The 1987 Lingo Page with the current version of Lingo in it @ xanfan.com
*David Livingston's Lingo Page
*Lingo Cheat! Webpage to assist in solving Lingo puzzles.
|
