JACKPOT! (1985 - 1988)

‘Jackpot!’ did something no other game show did

“Jackpot!” had already been a hit TV game show south of the border 10 years earlier when it was brought back to life in Canada.

Airing from 1985 to 1988 on Global Television in Canada, the revived version also aired on American cable channel USA.

The show featured a large number of contestants – 16 in total – who played for an entire week in hopes of winning the Jackpot.

One contestant was chosen as the King or Queen of the Hill and would then ask one of the other 15 players in the bleachers for a riddle. If the King or Queen could correctly answer the riddle they kept playing and the money in the Jackpot grew. If they found the player who was holding the Jackpot! card and correctly answered that riddle, both that contestant and the player holding the riddle split the pot. 

The contestant continued on until they got a riddle wrong in which case the contestant who read the riddle got to move to the King or Queen spot. 

Contestants could also win a Super Jackpot if the number in their Jackpot reached a Target Number determined at the beginning of the game.

“Normally contestants are competing with each other to get the prize. In this show it seemed to be that contestants were rooting for everybody on the show,” says Bill Elliott, who directed the Canadian version of “Jackpot!” 

“It was like all the contestants banded together to win the Jackpot and it was something I’d never seen before in any kind of other game show that I ever did.”

The Canadian version was hosted by the late Mike Darrow, which allowed the revival to be considered Canadian content. The production also saved money by filming in Canada as the prize money was worth less with the country’s weaker currency.  

Following its Canadian run, “Jackpot!” continued to air in California until 1990.