Classic Concentration

NBC (ended 1991)

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Show Summary

Premiered: May 03, 1987
Status: Ended

Behind these numbers is a rebus. Can you solve it?''''(picture of an elementary school CLASS + picture of a man SICK in bed + picture of a CONvict + a picture of a penny is a CEMT + picture of a TRAY + picture of a person's SHIN + picture of a "GUIDE" pamphlet + "AT" symbol + batting tee + a girl wearing a "V"-necked white T-shirt + picture of a girl wearing a polka DOT bow on her hair + a boy telling his dog to COMe.''''After a 14-year sabbatical on NBC, the classic game show of rebuses and prizes returned as Classic Concentration.''''In many ways, Classic Concentration was the classic game show: trying to match prizes and guess the rebus before your opponent did to win your stash. Several new twists, however, were added to make this perennial favorite enjoyable as ever.''''This time, contestants faced a 25-space board (a 5-by-5 grid), shown on Sony electronic monitors; the entire gameboard was computer generated. Also, several bonuses were added throughout the run (explained later).''''But first, the game ...''''Rules''Two contestants, including a returning champion, competed to solve a rebus - a person, place, thing, phrase, etc., spelled out using phonetic sounds and pictures - hidden below the board of 25 numbers (1-25). One at a time, each contestant called out two numbers.''''Behind each square was one of the following:''''* A prize - Self-explanatory. At least one of the prizes was announced before the start of each new game (always worth $1,000 or more). Also hidden among the prizes was a trip, a piece of jewelry, and other prizes worth between $20 and several thousand dollars.''''* WILD! - Also self-explanatory, these provided an automatic match. After the second pick, Trebek then announced the other half of the natural match, allowing three (or sometimes more) pieces of the rebus to be revealed.''''A $500 bonus was given for uncovering two WILD! cards; on the rare occassion three WILD! cards were uncovered, the bonus was $1,000 (as well as five squares revealed at once).''''TAKE! - Introduced several weeks into the run, revealing one of these cards allowed the player to take one of his/her opponent's gifts at that moment. Or (unlike the original NBC and syndicated runs), he/she could save it for later and wait for a better prize.''''When a second pair of TAKE! cards were added in February 1988 (several months after the first pair were introduced), the cards were color-coded; one set was red and the other green. A color match was required to earn a Take card. Also, a correct match was required to have the option to use the Take.''''The first player to solve the rebus won whatever he/she had listed in his/her prize column; the loser received nothing but parting gifts.''''During the run, the rules for winning or losing changed, as thus:''''* May 1987-July 1988: Winner plays for a maximum of 5 games, loser goes home (unless in the case of an interupted game, when the loser gets to return the next day for another shot at becoming champion). Then it was the two loss rule.''* July 1988-June 1990: Two-out-of-three match, with the winner becoming champion.''* July 1990-September 1991: A contestant could stay until he/she lost twice.''''Bonus Round''The contestant was shown eight different cars (a wide variety of makes and models) and then presented a board of 15 squares. The idea was to match the names of 7 cars, remembering that the 8th car had no match.''''Each new champion was given a base time of 35 seconds to match the seven car names; the seventh match won the player that car. If time ran out, the next bonus game added five seconds more to the clock (40 seconds) until the car is won.''''Changes''In addition to the rules concerning championship reigns, there were several other changes to Classic Concentration during its four years of original episodes.''''Later in the run, a special FIVE BONUS CAR SECONDS space was added. If the player matched the two spaces AND won the game, five extra seconds was added to the time.''''In November 1989, a CASHPOT space was added, which provided a cash bonus if the player matched the space and won the game. This jackpot started at $500 and increased by $100 for each game it went unclaimed.''''Tournament of Champions''Like the original NBC series, Classic Concentration conducted an annual Tournament of Champions. The contestants with the highest cash winnings and quickest bonus round wins were invited back to play for either a trip around the world (1988) or an upscale car (1989-1991).''''All bonus rounds were played with the clock counting up. The first player to clear the bonus round was credited with his/her car, and all subsequent players had to beat that time. At the end of the tournament, the contestant having the quickest bonus round time won the grand prize.moreless

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Episode Guide

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S 1 : Ep 1

Premiere!

Aired 5/4/87

Cast & Crew

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Gene Wood

Announcer
Marjorie Goodson-Cutt

Model 2
Diana Taylor

Model 1

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History repeats itself. "Heidi Bowl II" happened.

9.4

"Superb"

By TriviaDude, May 16, 2008 Report Abuse

From 1987-91 (and from 91-93 in reruns), daytime fans had an NBC game that was a legend from 1958-73. I liked the new computerized board & the 25 grid square board as well.

However, in the 1989 Tournament of Champions, history repeats itself. During the middle of the final day of the last match, an NBC News Special Report happened where former President (Father) Bush had a conference. It lasted 30 minutes & joined Wheel in progress. The following Monday before the start of the show, they told what happened & who won the car. Does that sound very familiar? Go back to November 1968 when the New York Jets-Oakland Raiders game was cut in by Heidi! So Classic Concentration had "Heidi Bowl II".moreless

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Why don't GSN show Classic Concentration in reruns?
I found out about Classic Consentration when I got a handheld game of Concentration and I always thought it would be cool if GSN w...

By Antique22, Jan 18, 2012

01/18/12

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