Hollywood Squares (1998-2004)

This is chronicling the 90s-2000s version of Hollywood Squares.

Gameplay
Although there have been variations over the years in the rules of and the prizes in the game, certain aspects of the game have remained fairly consistent.

Two contestants, almost always a woman playing Os/naughts (called circles in the show) and a man playing Xs/crosses, took turns picking a star and following the traditional tic-tac-toe/naughts-and-crosses strategies, for which square to select. The star was asked a question and gave an answer. The contestants had the choice of agreeing with the star or disagreeing if they thought the star was bluffing. If the contestant was right, he or she got the square; if the contestant was wrong, the other contestant got the square, unless that caused the opponent to get three in a row. In that case, the opponent had to win the square on his or her own. A contestant could also win by getting five "squares" on the game board, thus preventing draws.

On rare occasions, a star would not know the correct answer to a question, but would be unable to come up with a plausible bluff. In such instances, the contestant would be offered the chance to answer the question to win or lose the square as above. Usually the contestants declined, in which case they incurred no penalty and the same star was asked another question.

Payoffs
In the beginning for the first four months, the payoffs were the same as the 80s version. Later the payoffs were doubled. Any contestant who finished the game with nothing still won the captured square amount. In addition, if a player going for a five-square win could not win the square, then the opponent won the square (and the game) by default.

The highest front game score was $12,000 (won by a Mr. X named Tom); also the highest in the overall history of the show.

The tiebreaker was the same as the previous versions except that the player who has won more games, more squares overall or won the last game played (whichever came first) had the option to play the question or pass it to his/her opponent, with a miss by either player giving the opponent the win (and captured square amount) by default.

Secret Square
For the first few months, there were two Secret Square games; the first in game two, and the second in game three. Later, should the Secret Square's prize not be won in the second game, it carried over into the third game. Starting in season two, only one Secret Square game was played each day, but it did revive the progressive prize filled jackpot featured in the daytime version of the original. This was now called the "Secret Square Stash".

Bonus Game #1
For the first three seasons as well as early in the fourth season, the show revived the Peter Marshall bonus game in which the winning contestant picked a star and won a prize inside the chosen star's envelope, with the biggest prize being a new car. Later months had the contestant make a judgment on the star's answer to one final Secret Square-style question in order to win the prize. Failure to do so in the first season won a consolation prize of $2,500 in cash.

Bonus Game #2
After several taped weeks through the fourth season, a new bonus game was instituted. In this bonus, the winning contestants picked a star to partner with in this round. As before each star had an envelope, only this time instead of prizes, they contained money amounts, ranging from $1,000, all the way to $5,000. The amount revealed by the selected star became the scoring amount for the round. Now the winning contestant had 60 seconds to answer as many three-choice questions himself/herself as he/she can for the value inside the envelope. The star partner can help by conferring but only the contestant can answer. When the time was up, host Tom gave a category to one final open-ended question, and the winning contestant decided whether or not to answer that question in a "Double or Nothing" fashion. This bonus was the more complicated and controversial of all bonuses and there were very few contestants picking the option of going for the final question, and it was terminated after season four, with the highest payout being $60,000.

H2
In 2002 at the beginning of season five, Whoopi Goldberg left the show and former Happy Days star Henry Winkler took over as executive producer and sub announcer. The new announcer at that time was semi-regular Jeffrey Tambor, and subbing during Game Show Week was Price is Right and Press Your Luck announcer Rod Roddy. Plus, the set was completely overhauled for a new and literal golden look to the show, with the contestants standing instead of sitting as in previous seasons. Also there were now rotating center squares with one of them being the original Master of the Hollywood Squares Peter Marshall during Game Show Week (he also hosted the main game portion on Thursday of that week). In addition, the theme song was changed to a remixed version of "Square Biz" by Teena Marie, called "Hollywood Square Biz".

Also starting with the fifth season, all Secret Square questions were visual questions.

In season six, the show revived the best 2-out-of-3 game match format with each game being worth $1,000 ($2,000 for the whole match). If a player didn't win any money during this season, he/she received acknowledged parting gifts. The scoring format from the first five seasons was used during theme weeks where certain groups of people (lifeguards, celebrity lookalikes) played. In addition the "Secret Square Stash" was discontinued, allowing different prizes to be played for each match, regardless of whether the previous match's prize was won or not. Also world's faster talker John Moschitta became the new announcer with first announcer Shadoe Stevens being the sub announcer during the second Game Show Week.

The Master Returns
On December 12, 2002, during Game Show Week, both Marshall and Bergeron traded places with each other. This was the only time Marshall would host an episode of Hollywood Squares since the his version went off the air in 1981. In the episode, Marshall hosted the first portion of the show, with Bergeron taking over for the bonus round much later in the episode.

The Return of the Key Game
H2 also re-instituted the key bonus round from the John Davidson version but with a new twist. The bonus was split into two halves, in the first half, winning contestant had 30 seconds to capture as many stars as he/she can. On each star host Bergeron read a true/false statement about the celebrity chosen, and all the contestant had to do was to agree (true) or disagree (false) on that statement. For each star captured, an incorrect key from a board of nine was eliminated. When time ran out or if he/she went through all the stars, Tom and the contestant went over to the keys alongside the grand prize he/she is playing for. The number of bad keys according to the number of squares captured were blacked out (with one additional key blacked out for each new attempt at the same grand prize during season five), and the contestant had to choose from the ones still lit. For themed weeks, one key is eliminated at the outset in addition to any keys eliminated for stars captured. For the final season (minus theme weeks), champions always had nine keys to work with regardless of how many times they were playing for the grand prize. Once the winning contestant chose a key, if that key worked, he/she won the grand prize; if not, then the winning contestant still picked up $500 (later $1,000 but reduced to $500 during the final season) for each square captured. The winning contestant can also win the grand prize if he/she captured all nine stars (which happened on four occasions) or got enough right so that the winning key would be the only one left.

Prize Structures
Here are the grand prizes for season five:
 * 1st: Car
 * 2nd: $25,000 (in safe)
 * 3rd: $30,000+ Trip Around the World (in steamer trunk)
 * 4th: $50,000 (in safe)
 * 5th: $100,000 (in safe)

Nobody ever made it to the final prize though the highest somebody tried to win was $50,000. During special weeks, the bonus was played for either $25,000 for charity, or a car during special non-celebrity weeks.

Here are the grand prizes for season six:
 * 1st: $10,000+ Trip (in steamer trunk)
 * 2nd: $10,000 (in safe)
 * 3rd: $40,000+ Luxury Car
 * 4th: $25,000 (in safe)
 * 5th: Trip Around the World (in steamer trunk)

Only one person made it to the final prize, but that contestant managed to win four of the prizes. During special weeks, the bonus was played for $10,000.

Returning Champions
In the first season there were no returning champions; at that time two new players competed every day. Starting in season two champions stayed on the show until they won five matches or defeated, and in matches with returning champions, the challenger always began the first game.

Tournament of Champions
Starting in Season Two, the show began having an annual Tournament of Champions each May, with the season's biggest winners returning to compete for additional cash and prizes. The format changed each season:

Season 2: Six five-game winners came back to play again. Play was as normal, except the Secret Square was worth $2500, which was added to the score. The bonus game was also played for cash, from $5000 to $15,000. The two contestants who earned the most money came back for a two-game final, playing by the same rules as the semi-finals. In addition to the other cash won, the champion won an extra $50,000. The final bonus round was worth up to $15,000.

Seasons 3 & 4: Eight four-game winners compete in a semi-final game. The two top winners return on Friday. The Secret Square prize was an actual prize, again added to the final score, but was the same each day so no one has an advantage. The champion won $25,000 and the trophy, and a Jaguar was among the prizes in the bonus game. Season 4's tournament was similar to that of the previous year, except that the bonus game winnings were taken into account. The final grand champion won a Mercedes-Benz in addition to the money.

Season 5: Season 5 had a "Close but No Cigar" week to decide who would join the seven undefeated winners in the normal tournament. The bonus round was played for a $25,000 Bloomingdale's shopping spree until Friday, when it was replaced by a cruise on the RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. The winner of the tournament chose one of the celebrities who then revealed a cash amount of up to $50,000 inside a sealed envelope.

Season 6: The winner of the tournament played the standard bonus round and chose one of the captured celebrities, one of whom was holding an envelope with up to $100,000 in it.

College Championship
Each year from season two to five had 14 college students competing. Seven quarter-final games were played. The four contestants with the highest overall totals move on to the semi-finals. The two winners played in the final game, where the winner won a $25,000 savings bond (later a car), as well as a trophy for their university. Secret Square and bonus round prizes were added to the totals to determine who moved on.

In 2001, Goldberg was not present during some tournament shows, having Caroline Rhea & other celebrity guests taking over center square. In the Finals, comedian Jiminy Glick (played by Martin Short) took over center square.

In season 5, the bonus round was played for $25,000 (savings bonds in the quarter-finals, cash in the semi-finals), and the grand champion automatically won a new Jeep Wrangler.

End-of-Show Disclaimers
"Contestants are briefed that some celebrities will be provided answers and possible bluff responses prior to taping. In addition, some celebrities may have access to all of the game material." - (1998-2002)

"Contestants are briefed that celebrities are informed of question topics and possible bluff answers prior to taping, and that the celebrities may discern correct answers during that process." - (2002-2004)

Trivia
On October 1, 1999, a well known happening occurred in which Gilbert Gottfried said "YOU FOOL!" after the contestants missed six consecutive tries on their decision whether they agreed or disagreed. The seventh time Gottfried and the contestant agreed, finally winning the square and the game.

Links

 * Woogazoid's 'Hollywood Squares' page
 * Curt Alliaume's history of the Hollywood Squares
 * Information on the 1998-2004 incarnation
 * David's Hollywood Squares Page
 * Rules for Hollywood Squares @ Loogslair.net
 * Josh Rebich's Hollywood Squares Rule Sheets part of his Match Game/Hollywood Squares Page
 * "Hollywood Square Biz" by Teena Marie ('02-'04 theme song)