Information about Now You See It

For the 2005 Disney Channel film, see Now You See It...

Now You See It
Now You See It Logo for Now You See It
Starring	Jack Narz (1974-75), Chuck Henry (1989)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	30 Minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS (1974-75, 1989)
Picture format	NTSC
Original run	April 1, 1974 – July 14, 1989

Now You See It is an American television game show in which contestants try to find words hidden within a jumble of letters. The series ran in two incarnations from 1974-75, and in 1989. The original series currently airs on GSN at 1:30AM EST on Wednesday mornings (Tuesday late nights).

Broadcast history

Now You See It, a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, had two runs on CBS. The first version ran from April 1, 1974, to June 13, 1975 at 11 a.m./10 Central, with Jack Narz hosting. The second version ran from April 3 to July 14, 1989 at 10:30 a.m./9:30 Central, with news anchor Chuck Henry hosting. Before that, Jack Clark hosted a pilot for a possible revival of the show in 1985. (Although this version did not make it to air, copies of this pilot have circulated among video tape collectors.)

The first version struggled against two NBC shows, The Wizard of Odds and High Rollers. Both of those games were hosted by Alex Trebek.

Johnny Olson was the original announcer of the show, with Gene Wood substituting. Wood also announced the 1985 pilot. The announcers on the 1989 version were Mark Driscoll and Don Morrow.

All versions of the show used the instrumental theme "Chump Change," composed by Quincy Jones.

Rules of the game

Contestants played a game based on a wordsearch concept. The game boards in all versions of Now You See It had four rows ("lines") with 14 letters of the alphabet ("positions") in each row. The host of the show read general-knowledge trivia questions with single-word answers that were concealed within the jumble of letters on the board. Unlike a wordsearch, the answers on the board were always written horizontally in one line, from left to right.

Although the premise of the show remained the same, the main game was played differently on each version of the show.

1974-75 version

This show had two formats in its 70s run.

Format #1

Elimination Round

The first round of Now You See It under its original format began with four new players randomly split into two teams with one "outside" and one "inside" player each. The "outside" players turned their backs to the board as Narz read a question. The first "inside" player to buzz in could guess which line the correct answer appeared on. If the correct line was guessed, the "outside" player for that team turned around to give the position number and the word. If correct, the team earned points equal to the sum of the line and position numbers. Halfway through the round, the inside and outside players switched roles. The team that was in the lead when time ran out won the elimination round.

Qualifying Round

In the qualifying round, the two contestants on the winning team competed against each other. A string of 16 concealed letters was shown to the contestants, and the host read a crossword-style clue. The 16 letter string began to reveal one letter at a time until a player buzzed in and answered correctly, or only one letter was left in the word. If a contestant buzzed in and gave an incorrect answer, the opponent was given a free guess before any more letters were revealed. If nobody guessed the word with one letter left, nobody scored. The host then read another clue, and began revealing letters; the next answer could use letters from the end of the previous answer in the string. The first player to guess four words correctly won the round and a prize package.

Championship Round

The winner of the qualifying round competed against the show's returning champion in the "championship round." This round was played like the elimination round, except that there were no partners. Contestants gave both the line and position numbers of correct answers in order to score.

Originally, a correct answer allowed a contestant to answer subsequent questions without buzzing in until he gave a wrong answer, at which point his opponent was given an opportunity to answer and steal control. If the opponent missed as well, the next question would be a toss-up. This was scrapped after only a couple episodes, and all questions became toss-ups.

The contestant who had more points when time ran out won the game and played the "solo round" for a chance at a cash jackpot. If the winner won the jackpot in the solo round, the runner-up of the championship round came back on the next show as the "designated champion."

Bonus Words

For a short time in this version, contestants were asked to scan the board and write down one "bonus word" on an index card at the beginning of each half of the elimination round, and the championship round. A contestant or team would earn 10 bonus points if the correctly answered a question with one of their bonus words.

Format #2

The format of the show was changed toward the end of the show's run. The elimination round was dropped, and two new players competed in the qualifying round. This time the first player to guess five words correctly won a prize package and faced the returning champion in the championship round. The championship round was played the same way except point values were doubled when somebody reached 50 points (Example: a word on line 4 and in position 5 multiplied by 2 was worth 18 points), and the first player to reach 100 points played the solo round. Under this "straddling" format, a game could stop at the end of one episode and resume at the beginning of the next.

1985 pilot

Two teams of two players competed for the whole show.

Round One

During the first round, one partner was given a word to define (much like The $25,000 Pyramid), and the other partner had to find that word on the board within 15 seconds. If successful, the team earned as many points as there were seconds left on the clock (e.g., eight points if there were eight seconds left). Each team played four words, with the winning team earning 20 bonus points.

Round Two

In the second round, the host read clues to words on a new board, and the first contestant to buzz in and correctly identify that word earned 20 points. The first team to reach 100 points won the game and chose one player to play the solo round. After that, the players on both teams switched positions and played another game. The team with the most money at the end of both games would have returned on the next episode.

1989 version

Qualifying Round

Two new contestants competed to find the answers to the host's questions. Scoring was determined by how much time was left on the clock when the contestant buzzed in; the clock started at 100 points and decreased by 5 points as each 1/3 second passed. If nobody guessed the correct answer when the clock reached 25 points, the host gave the line number that the word was on. Halfway through the round, points were doubled and the contestants were given a new board. The first player to reach 1,000 points won the round and competed against the show's returning champion in the championship round.

Championship Round

In this round, the host gave a category, and a new board containing six possible words in that category was revealed. The first contestant to buzz-in and find one of those words was given 20 seconds to find the five remaining words to win the board. If unable to do so, the opponent was given an additional five seconds to find one word, with the contestant hitting his/her button once he or she finds a word, winning the board if successful; otherwise, the board went to the opponent. Each board was worth money; the first board was worth $200 and each board after that was worth $100 more than the previous one. The first player to reach $1,000 or more kept their money and won the game and played the solo round. The other player gets nothing but parting gifts.

Solo round

The bonus round on this show was better known as the "solo round". It was played the same on all versions of the show. The winner of the main game was given a new board and 60 seconds to find ten words on that board. Once the host read a clue to one of those words, the contestant used an electronic pencil to circle the word that was being guessed and call it out. The contestant had the option to pass at any time and return to that question later. Each correct answer was worth $100, and if all ten words were found before time expired, the contestant won a cash jackpot. In the 70s version, a returning champion would immediately retire after winning the jackpot, thus making the player they beat in the championship round the designated champion for the next game. In the 80s version, a returning champion would return a maximum of 5 days (regardless of how many jackpots he/she won).

The jackpot amounts varied in each version:

Version	Base Value	Increment
1974-1975	$5,000	$1,000 each time not won, up to $25,000
1985 Pilot	$5,000	--
1989	$5,000	$5,000 each time not won, unlimited

Australian children's version

From 1985 to 1993 a children's version of Now You See It aired on the Seven Network in Australia. It was hosted by Mike Meade until 1990 with Sofie Formica taking over until the end of the show. For much of its run the show was also "co-hosted" by a robot named "Melvin" who was a Tomy Omnibot toy.

In 1998, Beckers along with Fremantlemedia revived the show. Broadcast on the Nine Network, it hosted by Scott MacRae. In 2000 the show was renamed Download to coincide to new millennium. Regardless of the name, it lasted for three years until it was cancelled in 2001.

Line Games

The Line Game is played the same as the qualifying rounds of the 70s version. The host read a clue, and the answer was revealed one letter at a time. (sometimes using one or more letters of the previous word). Letters were revealed until someone buzzed in and gave the correct answer and score or if only one letter was left in the word. Each subsequent word uses one or more letters of the previous word is The first player to guess four words correctly won the round and a prize package.

Two line games are played and the winners of the line game plays the Big Board round.

The Big Board

The Big Board round is the same as the championship and elimination rounds in the 70s version & the qualifying round in the 1989 version. It uses the same scoring format of the 70s version. The host read a question and the first kid player to buzz in guesses the line number. If correct he/she then gives the position number and the word. Players score based on the line number & position of the first letter. The player with the most points when time runs out wins the game.

Solo Round

The solo round was played the same as in all the other versions, except that the winning kid player needs to find seven words with the help of the clues read by the host. Since this was a foreign kid's version (in Europe and Australia, children are not allowed to win any money on game shows), if successful, he/she wins a grand prize.

British Version

A British version of Now You See It aired in the early 1980s (originally, only in Scotland from 1980, then became national from 1981-1986), which was produced by Scottish Television and was originally hosted by Johnny Beattie, then it was hosted by Jack McLaughlin.

There was also a kids version in the UK hosted by Fred MacAulay, airing during the late 1980s (it aired a few years after Australia's was launched).

Episode status

All episodes are known to exist.

GSN currently re-airs episodes of the 1970s version every Wednesday at 1:30 a.m. Eastern time/Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. Pacific time, as of September 12, 2007. On November 1, this will expand to Wednesday through Sunday mornings ET (Tuesday through Saturday nights PT) at the same time, in response to the cancellation of quiznation.^[1]

The 1989 version has not been re-aired, at the request of host Chuck Henry, who is now an anchor and reporter with KNBC in Los Angeles. However, the tapes of the episodes he hosted have been converted to digibeta tape, which is required in order to air it on a cable or satellite channel. Apparently, FremantleMedia, which now owns the show rights, is preparing for the possibility of re-airs in case Henry changes his mind.

Trivia

In a vidcap of the game board from the intro of the original 1974-75 CBS version, the words "Line, Truth, Clock, Price, Match, Password, and Tattle" appear along with Now You See It. Those match with the Goodson-Todman game shows then airing on network and syndicated television, most of them revivals -- What's My Line?, To Tell the Truth, Beat the Clock, The Price Is Right, Match Game, Password, and Tattletales.

Some of the jazzy music cues in NYSI were re-used on The Price Is Right, among them including TPIR's consolation prize cue and a couple of grocery cues.

In a recent internet radio interview, Jack Narz commented on the fact that taping the show's first episode was nothing short of a nightmare; a 30-minute show took some two-and-a-half hours, largely on account of problems with the game board. He also mentioned that his podium was positioned in such a fashion, that it obscured the contestants' lock-out lights, forcing him to pause for a second so he could see who signaled. The problem was eventually solved, when the show's set designer, Ted Cooper, installed a light box on the emcee's podium, which was connected to the lock-out system. Narz also mused that the show debuted on CBS on April Fool's Day, aired for 13 months, 13 days and has its final airing on Friday (June) the 13th. As Jack said on the finale "I think somebody's trying to tell me something!"

Jack Narz hosted Concentration concurrently with Now You See It and was against himself in several parts of the US.

In the 1974-75 version when time's up on the main games (except Letter Game), a dingalng sound is heard, which also signified the end of the game of Tattletales (all versions).

In the 1989 version, the sound played when the board was revealed for the first time was the same sound used when a square was picked in Classic Concentration. Another Classic Concentration sound effect, the losing horns, was also used. Two ring-in sounds were used on the 1989 version: one was previously used on Tattletales (1974) and later on the 1990 version of The Joker's Wild and Masters of the Maze (jump-in sound); the other ring-in sound came from Family Feud and was used to signify the end of a round.

The 1989 finale was marred by several funny moments including contestant Carol buzzing in prematurely forfeiting the question to her opponent.

See also

• Camouflage: Has the same premise, but slightly different rules

Reference

External links

• Curt Alliaume's Game Shows '75: Now You See It
• Screengrabs of NYSI '89 at SuperShow 8000
• The Now You See It Rule Page
• Chuck Donegan's Now You See It Rule Page
• Pictures of the Australian Children's version of Now You See It
• Game Show Temple: Now You See It

The 1985 Pilot

• Info on NYSI's 1985 Pilot on Mike Burger's Game Show Pilots Page
• NYSI '85 Pilot Rule Page