Finders Keepers (U.S. game show)

Finders Keepers
	Intro title for Finders Keepers.
Created by	Geoffrey Darby ; Bonni Grossberg ; Michael Klinghoffer ; Neil Krupnick ; Dee LaDuke
Presented by	Wesley Eure (Nickelodeon); Larry Toffler (Syndication)
Theme music composer	Edd Kalehoff
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	195 (Nickelodeon: 130; syndication: 65) [1]
Production
Production location(s)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (first two seasons); Los Angeles, California (syndication)
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s)	Games Productions; Nickelodeon ; Fox Television Stations Productions ; (1988-1989)
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises ; (1988-1989)
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon (1987–88); Syndicated (1988–89)
Original release	November 2, 1987 –; March 10, 1989

Last updated April 01, 2019

Finders Keepers is a children's game show that debuted on Nickelodeon in 1987 and later aired in first-run syndication starting in 1988. The show featured two teams of two children attempting to find hidden objects in different rooms of a house.

A game show is a type of radio, television, or stage show in which contestants, individually or as teams, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles, usually for money or prizes. Alternatively, a gameshow can be a demonstrative program about a game [while usually retaining the spirit of an awards ceremony]. In the former, contestants may be invited from a pool of public applicants. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor prize suppliers.

Nickelodeon is an American pay television network which was launched on December 1, 1977 as the first cable channel for children. It is owned by Viacom through its Viacom Media Networks division's Nickelodeon Group unit and is based in New York City. It broadcasts usually from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays, Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., and Sundays from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.. It is primarily aimed at children and adolescents aged 2–17.

Wesley Eure is an American actor, singer, author, producer, director, charity fundraiser, and lecturer. He is best known for appearing as Michael Horton on the American soap opera Days of Our Lives from 1974 to 1981, during which he also starred on the popular children's television series Land of the Lost. He later hosted the popular children's game show Finders Keepers in 1987 and 1988, and co-created the children's educational television show Dragon Tales in 1999. He subsequently published several books, and has produced plays and raised funds for HIV/AIDS and other causes.

Main game

The main game was played in two rounds, each with two halves. The first half of each round involved finding hidden pictures in a complex drawing, and the second half involved ransacking rooms in a large house built on-stage.

Hidden Pictures round

In the first half of each round, the object for the teams was to find hidden pictures drawn into a larger picture based on clues given by the host. On the Nickelodeon series the picture was displayed on a telestrator and the team used a light pen to circle the object. On the syndicated series the picture was displayed on the game board with plastic laminate stickers similar to Colorforms representing the objects, and the team had to run to the board and stick a laminate to the picture to show where the hidden object was.

Colorforms is a creative toy named for the simple shapes and forms cut from colored vinyl sheeting that cling to a smooth backing surface without adhesives. These pieces are used to create picture graphics and designs, which can then be changed countless times by repositioning the removable color forms. The name also refers to the specific registered trademark brand these products are produced under, as well as the company that manufactures the toys, Colorforms Brand, LLC.

Each correct item located earned $25 for the team and an opportunity to search one of four rooms in the house for that round. During the first half of the Nickelodeon series the players chose the rooms they wanted to search, but this was later changed so that each hidden object found awarded the opportunity to search a specific room.

Each picture had a maximum of six objects hidden within it. In the first half of the Nickelodeon series, an incorrect answer meant a room would go unclaimed. For the subsequent episodes and syndicated series, the round was played until all four rooms were claimed or all six clues were played.

Searching the house

The house consisted of eight rooms that could be whimsical versions of traditional rooms in a typical home (e.g., a living room, a bathroom, a den or a kitchen), or complete fantasy rooms, such as "Sherlock's Study," "Ali-Baba's bathroom", a sewer (which contained a pool of water), Tarzan's tree house, a pastry shop, or "Frankenstein's laboratory."

Sherlock Holmes is a fictional private detective created by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, forensic science, and logical reasoning that borders on the fantastic, which he employs when investigating cases for a wide variety of clients, including Scotland Yard.

Ali Baba character from the folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves

Ali Baba is a character from the folk tale Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. This story is included in many versions of the One Thousand and One Nights, which it was added to in the 18th century by Antoine Galland, who heard the story from a Syrian storyteller, Hanna Diyab. It is one of the most familiar of the "Arabian Nights" tales, and has been widely retold and performed in many media, especially for children, where the more violent aspects of the story are often suppressed.

Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel written by English author Mary Shelley (1797–1851) that tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a hideous, sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific experiment. Shelley started writing the story when she was 18, and the first edition of the novel was published anonymously in London on 1 January 1818, when she was 20. Her name first appeared on the second edition, published in 1823.

In each room, the host read a clue describing an object hidden within that room. The team had 30 seconds to find the object, and were given one chance to show it to the host once found. Each room in this round was worth $50, which went to the team if they found the object in the room. If the team either failed to find the correct object or showed an incorrect one to the host, the opposing team won the money.

Rooms were frequently set up with distractions to hinder the teams' searches, such as ping-pong balls falling onto them from cabinets or the ceiling, sprays of water or confetti, and (in later episodes) entire shelves collapsing.

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball back and forth across a table using small rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net. Except for the initial serve, the rules are generally as follows: players must allow a ball played toward them to bounce one time on their side of the table, and must return it so that it bounces on the opposite side at least once. A point is scored when a player fails to return the ball within the rules. Play is fast and demands quick reactions. Spinning the ball alters its trajectory and limits an opponent's options, giving the hitter a great advantage.

Round two

Two teams playing the hidden picture round on the syndicated series (note the laminate stickers on the boards) Finders-Keepers-Gameplay.jpg — Two teams playing the hidden picture round on the syndicated series (note the laminate stickers on the boards)

The process repeated with a second hidden pictures round and set of rooms to search. The dollar values increased to $75 for finding a correct hidden picture and $100 for successfully finding a hidden object in a room.

One of the rooms in round two was the "Instant Prize Room". If the team found the hidden object in the Instant Prize Room (which was never revealed until a team entered it), they won a bonus prize in addition to the $100 for finding the hidden object. If they failed, the opponents won only the money and the prize went unclaimed.

The team with the most money at the end of this round won the game and advanced to the Room to Room Romp. Both teams kept all money earned.

Tiebreaker

In the event that both teams were tied at the end of the second round, they returned to the play area for a brief Hidden Pictures round. The first team to find two objects won the game and moved on to the Room to Room Romp.

Room-to-Room Romp

In the Room-to-Room Romp, the winning team had 90 seconds to find a hidden object in each of six rooms, in a sequence given to them before the round began. All six objects had tags attached, with each of the first five tags directing them to the next room and giving a clue for the object hidden there.

The team won a prize for each object found, increasing in value to a grand prize for getting all six within the time limit.

Broadcast history

The original version premiered on Nickelodeon on November 2, 1987 with Wesley Eure as host and Harvey as the announcer. Harvey was later replaced by Bob Lorman and then by Joe Conklin. New episodes continued to air on Nickelodeon until July 29, 1988.

John Harvey, simply known as Harvey is an American television and radio personality, often credited by his last name. He was the announcer for Double Dare, Finders Keepers, and History IQ. In addition to his announcer work, he hosted and built projects on Gimme Shelter, a home improvement program on The Discovery Channel in the late 1990s.

Joe Conklin is a Philadelphia comedian who has also been announcer on the Nickelodeon game show Finders Keepers

A first-run syndicated version, distributed by Fox Television Stations and Viacom, now CBS Television Distribution premiered on September 12, 1988 and was hosted by Larry Toffler with Harry Stevens announcing. The syndicated series ended its run on March 10, 1989, and began airing in repeats on Nickelodeon the following Monday (March 13), which continued until June 30, 1990. Nickelodeon GAS re-aired the series from 1999 until 2006.

A Brazilian version of Finders Keepers,called "Bobeou Dançou" aired by Rede Globo from July to December 1989. This version was hosted by Brazilian star Xuxa .

A British version of Finders Keepers aired on the CITV block of ITV from 1991 to 1996, followed by a brief revival in 2006. The first five series of this version was presented by Neil Buchanan, who was joined in the last series by Diane Youdale. Jeff Brazier presented the revival.

Production information

The music for Finders Keepers was written by Edd Kalehoff. The music package was updated when the show went into syndication.

The first two seasons of Finders Keepers was taped at WHYY-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (as was Double Dare ). The syndicated version was taped at Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles, California for the first season, before moving to the Fox Television Center for the second season. The sets of the Nickelodeon and syndicated versions differed slightly. The set of the Nickelodeon version consisted of a mock exterior of a house that included a door through which Eure entered at the beginning of the show. Prior to searching the house, the set would break away to reveal the house and rooms the teams would be searching. On the syndicated version, the play area and house shared the same set, with the house built stage left and the play area stage right.

Converse was a major sponsor of the show during its run, and every contestant and stage crew member (including the host) wore a pair of the company's shoes.

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References

↑ Shister, Gail (October 13, 1987). "Nickelodeon finds home in Philadelphia". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved July 2, 2013.

External links

Finders Keepers on IMDb
Finders Keepers at TV.com

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
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[1] Shister, Gail (October 13, 1987). "Nickelodeon finds home in Philadelphia". Ocala Star-Banner. Retrieved July 2, 2013.

Finders Keepers
Intro title for Finders Keepers.
Created by	Geoffrey Darby Bonni Grossberg Michael Klinghoffer Neil Krupnick Dee LaDuke
Presented by	Wesley Eure (Nickelodeon) Larry Toffler (Syndication)
Theme music composer	Edd Kalehoff
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	3
No. of episodes	195 (Nickelodeon: 130; syndication: 65)^[1]
Production
Production location(s)	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (first two seasons) Los Angeles, California (syndication)
Running time	30 minutes (including commercials)
Production company(s)	Games Productions Nickelodeon Fox Television Stations Productions (1988-1989)
Distributor	Viacom Enterprises (1988-1989)
Release
Original network	Nickelodeon (1987–88) Syndicated (1988–89)
Original release	November 2, 1987 (1987-11-02) – March 10, 1989 (1989-03-10)

v t e Nickelodeon game shows
BrainSurge Double Dare Figure It Out Finders Keepers Get the Picture Keep It Spotless Legends of the Hidden Temple Make the Grade Massive Monster Mayhem My Family's Got Guts Nick Arcade Nickelodeon All-Star Challenge Nickelodeon Guts Nickelodeon Robot Wars Paradise Run Scaredy Camp Think Fast Webheads What Would You Do? Wild & Crazy Kids You're On!
List of Nickelodeon programs Nick GAS