This is the battlefield for our game of speed and strategy...
These are the letters which lead to victory....
On....
And here's the star of Blockbusters....
Bill Cullen!
Blockbusters alternate theme (rarely used) (2.20 MB, 2:24)
Broadcast History
Airdates: October 27, 1980-April 23, 1982, NBC
Host: Bill Cullen
Announcers: Bob Hilton, Rich Jefferies
Music: Bob Cobert
Origination: NBC Studios 2 and 3, Burbank
Packager: Mark Goodson/Bill Todman Productions
Main Game
Blockbusters was played on a 20 hexagon board, each with a letter on it. One team of two players (two related family members, no husband and wife, "Family Pair") played against a team of one player ("Solo Player").
The object of the Family Pair was to connect white-to-white, in as frew as five moves.
The object of the solo player was to connect red-to-red in as few as four moves.
Each letter on the board was the first
letter of the one word answer. A sample question is: "What S
discovered the oral polio vaccine?" Answer: Saban. Every question was
a jump in question, and the team who answered right picked
the hexagon to go to next. At the start of the game, one
letter was randomly selected to start the game. $500 was one for a
game win. A match was best two out of three, with the winner going to
"Gold Rush/Run"
Music for winning a game/match (1.01 MB, 1:06)
Gold Rush/Gold Run
Like in the main game, the "Gold Rush/Run"
was played on a 20 hexagon board. The catch this time was that on
most of the hexagons, there were more than one letter. The object was
for the player to move across the board, side to
side, in less than 60 seconds. A wrong answer put a
block up, and the player must work their way around it. Each correct
answer was worth $100, and connecting "gold to gold" won $5,000.
Early in the run, a Gold Rush was played after a win in a game, the
first being the "Gold Rush" for $2,500, and winning a second was the
"Super Gold Rush" for $5,000. Late in the run the name of the bonus game was
re-named "Gold Run."
Sound effect after losing the Gold Run (55KB, :02.8)
Facts
-John Hatton was the all-time winner on Blockbusters, with $120,000. Originally, John came on during the "10 game limit" and won $60,000. When NBC upped the game limit to 20, he came back and won $60,000 more!
-Bill Cullen won his only Emmy for "Best Game Show Host" while hosting Blockbusters.