VITAL STATS

Lifespan: November 1987 - June 1990
Hosts: Wesley Eure, Larry Toffler
Announcers: John Harvey ("Harvey"), Joe Conklin, Harry Stevens
Produced by: Geoffrey Darby, Michael Klinghoffer, Roseanne Lopopolo

Front Game Rules

Can you find the teacup in this drawing?Two teams of two kids competed. In the first part of each round, the teams were shown a drawing with several hidden pictures. The host read a clue as to the item in play, and the teams had 10 seconds to buzz in and locate the object. When the show was on Nickleodeon, the teams used a telestrator pen to circle the object; in syndication, there were cutouts that the teams would place on a full-scale version of the picture (obviously there were more cutouts than actual objects, creating decoys). If successful, the team earned $25 and the right to search a room of the "house" in the second part of the round.

A team ransacks one of the rooms to find the hidden objectAfter four hidden pictures, the teams went into the house. Each room had a hidden item that the team had to locate. The host read a clue and the team then had 30 seconds to ransack the room in search of the object. If successful, the team won $50. If they ran out of time, or brought the wrong object, the other team got the money.
The second round was played in exactly the same way. Each hidden picture found was worth $75, while objects in the house were worth $100. One room was dubbed the "instant prize room," which if selected enabled the team to win a bonus prize if they found the hidden object therein. After two rounds, the team with the highest score won the game. In the event of a tie, the teams went back to searching hidden pictures, with the win going to the team who could find two out of three.

End Game Rules

Time to tear up this house!The winning team now had 90 seconds to search up to six rooms of the house. In each room, the team was looking for an "object clue card," which divulged the next room to head off to, the clue to the next object, and the prize for finding it. Prizes escalated in value as the round progressed.


Loogaroo Looks it Over

Not a bad kids game. It seemed, however, that there was much more inspiration behind the show when it was being aired by Nick as opposed to when it went in syndication. The use of light pens to find the hidden pictures was a better idea than placing dinky little cutouts on a wall. I can't say anything about Larry Toffler, but I doubt he could've been that much worse than Wesley Eure. Wes looked really uncomfortable up there. Also, it seems as if the prize for the Instant Prize Room was more valuable than the prizes offered in the end game. Why?

Finders Keepers

Gameplay: 2 pts.
Host: 1 pt.
Presentation: 2 pts. (Nick), 1 pt. (Syn.)
Execution: 1 pt.
Total Score: 6 pts.



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