Catch 21

Last updated

Catch 21
Catch212019Logo.png
Genre Game show
Created by Merrill Heatter
Presented by Alfonso Ribeiro
Starring Mikki Padilla
Witney Carson
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons5
No. of episodes365
Production
Production locations Hollywood Center Studios
Hollywood, California (2008–11)
Caesars Entertainment Studios
Las Vegas, Nevada (2019–20)
Running timeapprox. 22–26 minutes
Production companiesScott Sternberg Productions (2008–11)
Merrill Heatter Productions
Game Show Enterprises (2019–20)
Original release
Network Game Show Network
ReleaseJuly 21, 2008 (2008-07-21) –
January 21, 2020 (2020-01-21)
Related
Gambit

Catch 21 is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). Created by Merrill Heatter (who also produced the show's predecessor Gambit ), the series follows three contestants as they play a card game centered on blackjack and trivia. The show is based on a popular online game from GSN's website and aired for four seasons from 2008 to 2011. It was hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro, with actress Mikki Padilla serving as the card dealer.

Contents

The show received positive critical reception as a whole, the series itself was hailed as "a fun game with a solid concept" while Ribeiro was praised as "hands-down, one of the best game show hosts out there." Additionally, the series was acquired by Bounce TV in 2013, with the network hopeful it could "add fuel" to the channel's growing momentum. GSN revived the series on October 14, 2019, with Ribeiro returning to host and Witney Carson as the card dealer. As of 2021, reruns air on its sister channel GetTV.

Gameplay

Main game

2008 version

Three contestants are each given a card to start a blackjack hand from a standard 52-card deck shuffled prior to taping. The host reads questions and the first contestant to answer correctly is dealt a card. The contestant who answers correctly can freeze their hand, preventing them from receiving additional cards or reveal the next card from the top of the deck. [1]

After revealing the card, the contestant can either accept it for themselves or pass it to one of their opponents who has not yet frozen. If keeping a card, the contestant in control is given another chance to freeze. However, once a contestant has frozen, the remaining contestants must freeze at a score higher than that contestant, ties are not permitted. A contestant is eliminated from the round if their hand exceeds 21. [2]

The process is repeated with additional questions and cards until two contestants have frozen or busted. A contestant whose score reaches 21 exactly instantly wins the round. Beginning in season two of the original series, a bonus prize is given to the contestant regardless of the outcome of the game. [3] If two contestants bust, the remaining contestant automatically wins the round. If only one contestant has not yet frozen or busted, no additional questions are asked; the remaining contestant continues drawing cards until either beating the highest frozen hand or busting. The winner of the round receives a power chip to use in the bonus round, assuming that contestant gets that far. The original series used point scores in the first two rounds, with 100 points awarded for a correct answer, and 500 points for winning the hand. After two rounds, the contestant with the lowest score is eliminated. [2]

If there is a tie for the lowest score, the players involved participate in a high-card draw. Each player is given the choice of taking the first or second card off the top of the deck, without being able to see either card before making their selection. The player who draws the higher card advances.

The two remaining contestants play one more round involving the same toss-up question format, but point scores are not kept. The contestant who wins the round receives $1,000 and two additional power chips (originally one), [4] then moves on to the bonus round. [2]

2019 revival

The 2019 revival changed several aspects of the game:

  • Other than the cards, there is no point scoring in any round.
  • The question and answers are shown on-screen. Also, the contestants must wait until the entire question is read to ring in.
  • There is no longer a bonus prize for the first 21.
  • If two players win the first two hands, those two players play the third round, and the third player is eliminated. If the same player wins the first two hands, a tiebreaker is played between the other two players.
  • In the tiebreaker ("High Card Playoff"), an additional trivia question is played. The player who answers correctly is shown the top card from the deck and chooses whether to take that card or pass it to their opponent and take the next card from the deck. The other player is given the second card; the higher card wins. (If there is a tie, an additional question is played.)
  • Winning the final round gives the player their required number of power chips based on the hand or hands they have won. On some episodes, the player is given an additional chip for winning the match.

Bonus round

The winner now controls three separate hands, each staked with one card. A new deck of 52 cards that has been shuffled and cut is used. Cards are drawn for the contestant, one at a time and the contestant then chooses a hand in which to place each card. The contestant can use a power chip to dispose of an unwanted card. [1] If the contestant is in danger of busting on any hand, the contestant can end the round after successfully placing a card if a 21 is scored in at least one hand; a contestant cannot stop immediately after playing a power chip. [2] Getting 21 in one hand wins $1,000, in two hands wins $5,000, and if 21 is scored on all three hands, the contestant wins the grand prize of $25,000. [2] If the contestant busts on any one hand, the bonus money is forfeited and the game ends. On some episodes in season two, the top prize was increased to $50,000 with the other payouts remaining the same. [5]

The 2019 revival has altered the payout structure to a 21 on one hand awarding $2,500, $5,000 for two, and $25,000 for all three.

Online game

The television version of the game was based on a popular online version from GSN's website. [1] In this version, the online player has five minutes to make as many hands of 21 as they can using four columns. The player can play a card in any of their columns as long as the subsequent total is 21 or less. If the card cannot be played in any column, it must be discarded. Each hand of 21 earns the player 50 points. Playing exactly five cards in a column earns the player a 50-point bonus (called a "5-Card Charlie"), making that column worth a total of 100 points. Additionally, the jacks of spades and clubs allow any column to be cleared immediately for 75 points (called a "Blackjack Attack"). [6]

Production

Alfonso Ribeiro.JPG
Alfonso Ribeiro, host of both versions
Witney Carson 2019 by Glenn Francis.jpg
Witney Carson, card dealer in the 2019 revival

The series featured executive producers Scott Sternberg and Merrill Heatter, [1] and premiered on July 21, 2008. [2] [7] The first season consisted of 40 half-hour episodes. [8] [9] Prior to the show's premiere, a 30-minute documentary The Making of a Game Show: Catch 21 aired on GSN, featuring exclusive footage and interviews with production staff and Ribeiro. [10] The name of the show is inspired by Catch-22 , a phrase describing a paradox that cannot be avoided due to limits or a rules contradiction. [11]

On February 18, 2009, GSN renewed the series for a 65-episode second season on April 6, 2009, which featured the addition of an extra power chip in the bonus round in order to increase contestant's chances of winning the top prize. [1] [4] A third season, which was announced on September 16, 2009, debuted on October 12, 2009, with some episodes featuring celebrities with a common bond (such as three The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air cast members or three former child stars) playing for charity. [12] The show's fourth and final season debuted on August 16, 2010. [13]

On March 21, 2019, Adweek reported that GSN would revive Catch 21, producing new episodes for the first time in nearly a decade. Ribeiro was chosen to return as host; Padilla, however, would not return and would be replaced with dancer Witney Carson. [14] The change reunited Ribeiro and Carson, who had previously been partners—and champions—on season nineteen of Dancing with the Stars. [15] Contestants cast for the revival were all current residents of Las Vegas, which is where the show is filmed. [15] The revival filmed its episodes in July and August, [16] and premiered on GSN on October 14, 2019. [17]

Reception

Critical reception for Catch 21 was generally positive. Carrie Grosvenor of About Entertainment argued that the series was "a fun game with a solid concept. It's definitely worth checking out." [2] Hollywood Junket also praised Ribeiro, calling him "hands-down, one of the best game show hosts out there... the fun, brother/sister type chemistry between himself and (Padilla) is rare and benefits the show greatly." [5] Additionally, Bounce TV expressed excitement when announcing their acquisition of the series in 2013, citing the series' popularity among GSN viewers and consistent ratings growth during its original run. [18] The network's chief operating officer Jonathan Katz commented, "We are very confident that the broadcast premieres of The American Bible Challenge and Catch 21 will add fuel to Bounce TV's skyrocketing growth." [18] The revival's October 14, 2019, premiere earned 459,000 total viewers with a 0.04 rating in the 18–49 demographic. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackjack</span> Gambling card game

Blackjack is a casino banking game. It is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. It uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as "twenty-one". This family of card games also includes the European games vingt-et-un and pontoon, and the Russian game Ochko. The game is a comparing card game where players compete against the dealer, rather than each other.

<i>Card Sharks</i> American television game show

Card Sharks is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Contestants attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row of oversized playing cards, then determine whether the next card drawn is higher or lower. The title Card Sharks is a play on the term "card sharp", a person skilled at card games.

<i>Sale of the Century</i> American game show

Sale of the Century is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being the short-lived game shows Letters to Laugh-In and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and a weekly syndicated series began that fall and ran for one season.

<i>Lingo</i> (American game show) American television game show

Lingo is an American television game show with multiple international adaptations. Contestants compete to decode five-letter words given the first letter, similarly to Jotto, with each correctly guessed word earning number draws to attempt filling in a Bingo card.

<i>Gambit</i> (game show) American TV series or program

Gambit is an American television game show based on the card game blackjack, created by Heatter-Quigley Productions. The show originally ran on CBS from September 4, 1972, to December 10, 1976, and was recorded at CBS Television City in Studios 31, 33, 41, and 43. On October 27, 1980, NBC revived the show as Las Vegas Gambit, as a replacement for The David Letterman Show, and kept it on its schedule until November 27, 1981. As the title implied, this edition of Gambit was recorded in Las Vegas at the Tropicana Las Vegas. Both versions were hosted by Wink Martindale and announced by Kenny Williams. Elaine Stewart was the card dealer for the CBS version, while Beverly Malden filled this role for the first half of Las Vegas Gambit, and was later replaced by Lee Menning.

<i>Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck</i> American game show

Whammy! is an American television game show that aired new episodes on Game Show Network (GSN) from April 15, 2002, to December 5, 2003. The series was produced by Fremantle North America, in association with GSN. The main goal of the game is to earn as much money and prizes as possible through collecting spins by answering trivia questions correctly, then using those spins on a gameboard to win various prizes and cash amounts while attempting to avoid the show's eponymous character, the "Whammy." Contestants who do land on a Whammy lose all their prizes accumulated to that point; four Whammies eliminates a contestant from the game. The program is an updated version of Press Your Luck, which originally aired on CBS from September 19, 1983, to September 26, 1986. The series was taped at Tribune Studios and was hosted by Todd Newton, with Gary Kroeger announcing. The show aired in reruns on GSN until 2017, and came back on May 11, 2020, up until October 1, 2021.

Spanish 21 is a blackjack variant owned by Masque Publishing Inc., a gaming publishing company based in Colorado. Unlicensed, but equivalent, versions may be called Spanish blackjack. In Australia and Malaysia, an unlicensed version of the game, with no dealer hole card and significant rule differences, is played in casinos under the name "Pontoon". It was first introduced about 1995.

Poker Royale is a television series on the Game Show Network (GSN), which featured No Limit Texas hold 'em Poker. The first series began on December 7, 2004. The eighth and final series, Poker Royale: Young Bloods II, began airing on December 9, 2005. The series host at its conclusion was John Ahlers, with commentary by Robert Williamson III and sideline reporting by Lisa Dergan.

<i>Top Card</i> American game show

Top Card is a game show that aired on TNN and produced by Reid-Land Productions, replacing TNN's original game show Fandango. The show aired from April 3, 1989 to March 26, 1993 and was based on the card game Blackjack.

Celebrity Blackjack is an American television show where celebrities played tournament style blackjack for charity. The show, which ran on Game Show Network, was hosted by Matt Vasgersian. Dave Stann was the dealer. Season 1 aired weekly from July 5, 2004, through August 9, 2004. Season 2 premiered October 12, 2004, and ran weekly through January 11, 2005.

The World Series of Blackjack is a televised blackjack tournament created and produced by the cable network GSN. It is a closed tournament; players are either invited to play or attempt to win a spot via a satellite tournament. Rounds are edited into 1-hour episodes and broadcast on GSN. Matt Vasgersian and Max Rubin provided commentary for the first two seasons. Tiki Arsenault was the dealer for Season 1 as Deanna Bacon was the dealer for Seasons 2 and 3 while Jessica Knight was the dealer for Season 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malaysian Pontoon</span> Malaysian variant of the pontoon card game

Malaysian Pontoon is a card game related to Pontoon and blackjack and, like those games, a descendant of Vingt-Un or Twenty-One. It is played by those in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, where it is usually just called pontoon. This game is similar to match play 21 or Spanish 21, while original pontoon, played in Britain, holds closer to the traditional Twenty-One rules, but can be quickly distinguished by the use of the terms "twist" and "stick".

Dealer's Choice is an American game show that aired from January 21, 1974, to December 12, 1975, in syndication for a total of 210 episodes, built around various casino-type games. Bob Hastings was the host for the first few weeks; afterwards, Jack Clark, who was better known at the time as an announcer for other game shows, took over as the host. Hastings and Clark, who wore tuxedoes as hosts of Dealer's Choice, were assisted by hostess Jane Nelson and by announcer Jim Thompson. The show was taped at the Tropicana Hotel in Las Vegas, but later moved to Los Angeles after its first season.

<i>Bingo America</i> American game show broadcast by Game Show Network

Bingo America is an American game show broadcast by Game Show Network. The series follows two contestants as they try to compete to win up to $100,000. Additionally, the series lets at-home viewers print bingo cards online that allow them to play along with the show to win small amounts of money for themselves.

The following is a glossary of terms used in the card game blackjack. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.

Idiotest is an American television game show broadcast by Game Show Network (GSN). Hosted by Ben Gleib, the series features contestants in teams of two competing to answer brain teaser and puzzle questions. The winning team advances to a bonus round for an opportunity to increase their winnings to $10,000. The series was announced at GSN's upfront presentation in March 2014, and the first episode premiered on August 12, 2014 of that year. On December 15, 2018, the first season became available to watch on Netflix.

<i>The Genius: Rules of the Game</i> Season of television series

The Genius: Rules of the Game is the first season of The Genius debuted on tvN on April 26, 2013.

Gambit is a British game show based on the American version of the same name. It first aired on ITV from 3 July 1975 to 28 May 1985, hosted by Fred Dinenage from 1975 to 1983 and finally hosted by Tom O'Connor from 1984 to 1985. It was revived from 23 July to 5 November 1995 only in the Anglia region with Gary Thompson as host.

<i>Common Knowledge</i> (game show) American game show

Common Knowledge is an American television game show hosted by Joey Fatone that aired on Game Show Network from January 14, 2019 to August 13, 2021. On April 17, 2019, media reports stated that GSN had renewed the show for a 130-episode second season. On March 25, 2021, GSN renewed the show for a third season, which premiered on May 17, 2021.

<i>Master Minds</i> (game show) American game show

Master Minds is an American game show airing on the Game Show Network. The show debuted on June 10, 2019, under the title Best Ever Trivia Show, hosted by Sherri Shepherd and regularly featuring Ken Jennings, Muffy Marracco, Jonathan Corbblah, Arianna Haut, and Ryan Chaffee. The series was renamed Master Minds on April 6, 2020, with Brooke Burns replacing Shepherd.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Catch 21 Fact Sheet". GSN Corporate. Archived from the original on July 24, 2016. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Grosvenor, Carrie. "Catch 21 Explained". ThoughtCo. Dotdash. Archived from the original on April 1, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Catch 21. Season 2. Episode 1. April 6, 2009. Game Show Network.
  4. 1 2 "GSN's Hit Series Catch 21 Hosted by Alfonso Ribeiro to Return for Second Season Premiering April 6, Airing Weekdays at 6:30PM/5:30PM C" (Press release). GSN Corporate. February 18, 2009. Archived from the original on November 26, 2009. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Catch-21!: Some Riveting Games For Season Two!". Hollywood Junket. 2 April 2009. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ "Play Catch 21 – GSN Games". GSN.com. Game Show Network, LLC. Retrieved July 24, 2016.
  7. ↑ Stelter, Brian (July 7, 2008). "Blackjack Makes a Move From the Web to Television". The New York Times . Retrieved March 31, 2017.
  8. ↑ Dempsey, John (July 7, 2008). "GSN shuffles Catch 21". Variety . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  9. ↑ "Catch 21 situation for GSN". The Hollywood Reporter . Associated Press. April 6, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  10. ↑ Reynolds, Mike (July 7, 2008). "GSN Looks To Hit Big With Catch 21". Multichannel News . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ Hill, Michael P. (October 7, 2019). "Game Show Network keeps host, shuffles its look for new Catch 21". NewscastStudio.com. Retrieved October 22, 2019.
  12. ↑ "GSN Announces the Return of Hit Series The Newlywed Game and Catch 21, Premiering October 12" (Press release). GSN Corporate. September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Baggage and Catch 21 Both Return on August 16" (Press release). GSN Corporate. July 26, 2010. Archived from the original on August 17, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2014.
  14. ↑ Lynch, Jason (March 21, 2019). "Game Show Network Builds Audiences By Going Back to Basics—and Its Previous Name" . Adweek . Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  15. 1 2 Lawrence, Christopher (October 11, 2019). "Las Vegas a perfect match for Catch 21 game show". Las Vegas Review-Journal . Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  16. ↑ Moyer, Phillip (May 28, 2019). "Game Show Catch 21 Searching for Vegas Contestants with Blackjack Skills". KSNV . Retrieved October 21, 2019.
  17. ↑ Maloney, Michael (September 23, 2019). "Witney Carson Thinks Kel Mitchell Can Go All the Way on 'Dancing With the Stars'". TV Insider. Retrieved October 20, 2019. I'm doing Catch 21, a game show with Alfonso, which is premiering on GSN on October 14.
  18. 1 2 "Bounce TV Acquires Broadcast Network Rights to The American Bible Challenge and Catch 21" (Press release). Bounce TV. June 24, 2013. Retrieved July 25, 2016.
  19. ↑ Metcalf, Mitch (October 15, 2019). "Updated: ShowBuzzDaily's Top 150 Monday Cable Originals & Network Finals: 10.14.2019". ShowBuzzDaily. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.