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PREMISE

Two teams of two players who have never met each other went on a shopping spree at six stores, each with four prizes, on a fictional street on stage. The object of the game was to match the desired prizes with visual clues given by the contestant in the quickest amount of time.


MAIN GAME

Prior to the show, one contestant from each team was shown the six stores, and from each store chose one prize they would like to have. At the beginning of the round, one player was isolated while the other stood on a pedestal in the "town square" (center of the stage) wearing various objects on his/her body that would give clues to the other partner about the prizes he/she selected. The player and host Pearson went over the items the contestant was wearing.

At this point, a randomly selected member of the studio audience helped to reveal the six stores for that day's show. This audience member was always referred to as "Denise DuJour" (or in the rare case of a male audience member, "Dennis DuJour.") After the reveal, the contestant was asked to strike a pose, after which the contestant's partner was broughut out. The partner was given 20 seconds to analyze the items on the posing contestant. When the 20 seconds expired, the contestant was released from his/her pose and met his/her partner for the first time.

On Pearson's cue, the partner ran to the first store, took down a picture of one of the four prizes, and ran back with it to show what prize he/she chose. If the prize the partner chose matches the first contestant's choice, a bell rang, the partner put the prize in the shopping bag (which was also the show's logo) and moved on to the next store. If the partner is wrong, a buzzer sounded, he/she had to listen to a clue posed by Pearson, then returned to that store and chose another prize. The first team established a time for the second team to beat, and the clock stopped after all six stores were completed.

After the first team's run, their time was announced. After a commercial break, the second team did the exact same thing (except with no store description.) If the second team beat the first team's time, they won the game; however, if time ran out, the first team won. The runner received a $500 shopping spree, and the strangely dressed contestant kept his/her chosen prizes. In addition, the winning team advanced to the Birthday Party to win more.


THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

The show's bonus round was the Birthday Party, in which contestants had to choose from among a selection of "gifts" for which celebrities might have a particular use. The game was played for a trip and for a predetermined amount of cash (originally $1,000, but later this could be doubled as explained below.)


Denise/Dennis DuJour's Double Up Derby

Starting about halfway through the first season, the winning team first played a mini-game called "Denise/Dennis DuJour's Double Up Derby" to determine how much money they would play for in the bonus round. Before the show, thats day's Denise/Dennis selected a prize from one of the six stores. The winning team was given a description from announcer Richardson about the prize Denise/Dennis had chosen. If the team guessed correctly, Denise/Dennis won that chosen prize (and was also given $100 win or lose.) In addition, the team would play for $2,000 in the Birthday Party instead of $1,000.


Main bonus game

After the team listened to a description of the potential bonus prize, the three pieces of the store setup rotated 180 degrees to reveal the Birthday Party setup (the background also changed from blue to orange). The left panel revealed the playing area, the center piece held a large representation of a Birthday Cake , and the rightmost wall held a wall of 12 to 14 items labeled the "Birthday Board".

In the end game, one team member "bought" presents for the other contestant to "wrap". Host Pearson went through the items 12 or 14 items on the Birthday Board. The game begins with a caricature of a famous celebrity (real or fictional and past or present) appearing at the end of a table. The buyer took down an item from the board that he/she thought was connected to the celebrity in some way and threw it to the wrapper. The wrapper then placed it in the box and slid it down the table to the celebrity. If the team was correct, the gift was accepted and another celebrity appeared; otherwise, the celebrity would "reject" the gift and push it back to the contestant. A contestant could pass; however, a the passed celebrity could come back to "haunt them" later on in the round. There was a total of seven celebrities. Each correct answer was worth $100; getting all seven right awarded the team the grand prize.


NOTES

  • The strangely dressed contestants were first placed at the door of the Ice Cream Parlor at center stage with their backs to the audience. This coincided with the end of the animated opening sequence, in which two window-shopping cartoon girls had their backs to the camera when it zoomed out to show a whole animated version of the street. This cartoon disappeared Bonanza -style (except with magic balls) to reveal the set, the computer-animated logo attached to a hot air balloon crossed the screen, and the contestants spread out to either side of the street to make room for Pearson's entrance through the ice cream parlor.


  • As ''Shopping Spree'' was a Jay Wolpert production, it employed several quirks typical of his productions. These included

  • --- An animated opening (seen in Wolpert shows such as '' Whew! '' and '' Blackout '')

  • --- A mini-game before the bonus round to increase the potential bonus payoff ('' Rodeo Drive '')

  • --- Rather unusual "losing horns" if the bonus was lost ('' Wait 'til You Have Kids '', ''Blackout'', later episodes of ''Rodeo Drive'', among others)


  • During the Double Up Derby in later episodes, that's day's Denise/Dennis held a cue card with a joke response after host Ron Pearson explained about the $100 salary prize for him/her (the first team while sitting on a bench also held a cue card to show everyone the time it took them to complete their round).


  • At the end of all episodes, Ron Pearson juggled things (Ron is a real life professional juggler) and sometimes balanced things on his nose. Occasionally, he would do crazy stunts using items from the Birthday Board (the winning team and that day's Denise/Dennis DuJour could also join in).



Second Season Notes

  • The strangely dressed person posed after his/her partner came out.

  • The Double Up Derby was now played at a special store called Toujours Du Jour. It usually replaced the fifth store of that day.

  • The flashing flame bulbs on the giant birthday candles were replaced with egg Strobe Light s.

  • If a "buying" contestant in the Birthday Party crossed a line from behind which he had to throw, a five-second penalty was assessed (this was done by Pearson counting down from five, a technique that was also employed on ''Whew!'' when a block was hit)