Smush

Last updated
Smush
Genre Game show
Presented by Ken Ober with Lisa Dergan
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time30 minutes
Production companies Diplomatic Productions
Greengrass Productions
Jellyvision
Original release
Network USA Network
ReleaseDecember 3, 2001 (2001-12-03) –
June 21, 2002 (2002-06-21)

Smush is an American game show which aired on the USA Network on December 3, 2001, to June 21, 2002. Hosted by Ken Ober and Lisa Dergan, the show features contestants competing to form a portmanteau given clues.

Contents

Gameplay

The show, set in a basement party atmosphere, featured four contestants trying to "smush" the answers to clues together to create a portmanteau. For example, the clue "A New England state + 'Flying Circus' man" would result in an answer of "Vermonty Python," formed by combining "Vermont" and "Monty Python". Smushes did not have to use the exact spelling of both words. For example, "Belly Lafghanistan" could be a combination of "belly laugh" and "Afghanistan".

Rounds 1 and 2

The host read toss-up sets of clues whose answers had to be smushed together. A correct buzz-in answer scored points, while a miss gave the opponents a chance to steal. Round 1 used pairs of clues worth one point each; the clues were read aloud during the first part of the round, then both read and presented visually near its end.

Questions in Round 2 were worth two points each. Most of these were asked as "Smush Tri's," with three answers to be smushed together, but some involved participation by stage crew members and had only two clues. The final question was a "Smush Quad," requiring four answers and awarding three points.

The lowest scorer at the end of each round was eliminated from the game.

Round 3 (Smush Chain)

The host read seven toss-up clues, one at a time; after each one, a contestant had to buzz in and smush together the answers to all clues up to that point in order to score. The answer to the first clue was always a standalone word or phrase and was not smushed with anything else. An example of a completed chain might be "Leap Yeardrum Major Tommy Thompson Twin Cities," by combining "Leap Year," "eardrum," "drum major," "Major Tom," "Tommy Thompson," "Thompson Twins," and "twin cities." The first clue was worth one point, the second clue was worth two points, and so on up to seven for the last clue. The high scorer at the end of this round won the game and advanced to the Money Round.

Money Round

The hostess wrote a word or phrase on a mirror with lipstick, which served as one half of five smushes that the champion had to solve in 45 seconds. The host read one clue at a time, whose answer had to be smushed onto either the beginning or ending of the given word. (For example, given the word "inbred" and the clue "Tom Sawyer's partner and star of his own Mark Twain book," the correct answer would be "Huckleberry Finbred," obtained by smushing "Huckleberry Finn" ahead of "inbred.") The champion could pass on a clue and return to it after playing through all five if time allowed, but a miss put the clue out of play. He/she won $8,000 for solving all five smushes before time ran out, or $1,000 per correct answer otherwise.

Critical reception

Noel Holston of Newsday gave the show a mostly-positive review. He praised the show for increasing the difficulty in later rounds, and for mixing pop culture and "broader knowledge". Although he was critical of the show's "low budget" visuals and payments to winners, and critical of Dergan's role in the show, he ultimately described it as "contagiously enjoyable if you're the sort who loves puns and wordplay." [1] Writing for a Dallas Morning News article which was reprinted in The News Tribune, Kevin McDonough said that the show "has the casual feel of a game played during a long car ride or at a party." [2]

Related Research Articles

<i>Reach for the Top</i> Canadian high school quizbowl

Reach for the Top is a Canadian academic quiz competition for high school students. In the past, it has also been a game show nationally broadcast on the CBC. Matches are currently aired online through Reach for the Top's official YouTube channel. Teams qualify for national rounds through several stages of non-televised tournaments held at high schools throughout Canada during the year which are known as Schoolreach.

The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. In the show, contestants answer questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's title refers to the game's slot-machine mechanism also having jokers.

<i>Now You See It</i> (American game show) American TV series or program

Now You See It is an American television game show created by Frank Wayne for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. The object of Now You See It is to answer general knowledge trivia questions by finding the answers hidden in a grid, similar to a word search puzzle.

<i>Chain Reaction</i> (game show) American television game show

Chain Reaction is an American television game show created by Bob Stewart, in which players compete to form chains composed of two-word phrases.

<i>Stump the Schwab</i> American sports trivia game show

Stump the Schwab is an American game show that aired on ESPN2 and ESPN Classic from July 8, 2004 to September 29, 2006. The show featured three contestants trying to defeat Howie Schwab, ESPN's first statistician, in a sports trivia contest. Stuart Scott was the show's host. The show also appeared on Canada's The Score Television Network.

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

Blackout is an American game show that was broadcast on CBS as part of its daytime schedule from January 4, 1988 until April 1, 1988. The program was created and produced by Jay Wolpert. The game features two contestants, each paired with a celebrity. Contestants attempt to solve word puzzles consisting of a sentence or short paragraph with four blank spaces. Players guess each missing word based on hearing clues recorded by their partner, but with the playback being muted or "blacked out" at certain places by their opponent.

Mad Libs is an American children's game show based on the book/word game series. It aired on the Disney Channel from July 26, 1998 to mid-1999, and was hosted by David Sidoni. Dick Clark and J. D. Roth produced the show.

Blokken (Blocks) is a Belgian quiz show based on the video game Tetris. It is broadcast on VRT 1 and hosted by Belgian television personality Ben Crabbé. The show is the longest running quiz show on Belgian television, with 22 seasons. On 10 December 2017 the show aired its 5000th episode.

The Joke's On Us! is a Canadian game show that aired from September 1983 to 1984. It was hosted by Monty Hall, joined by Sylvie Garant as assistant very early on in the run, with Sandy Hoyt as the show's announcer. Taped at Showline Milton Stage in Toronto, Ontario in association with the Global Television Network, the show was created and produced by two American game show veterans, Willie Stein and Nat Ligerman. Each episode featured a rotating panel of four comedians, which included such famous personalities of the day as Alan Thicke, Nipsey Russell, Arte Johnson and Jo Anne Worley.

Codex is a game show that aired on Channel 4 from 12 November 2006 to 15 December 2007 and was hosted by Tony Robinson.

Camouflage is a television game show that aired on Game Show Network. Hosted by Roger Lodge, and billed as "the hidden word game where the answer is always right in front of you", Camouflage originally aired for 40 episodes from July 2 to 27, 2007. The show is a word game, with contestants searching for a hidden word or phrase in a string of jumbled letters. The show is produced by Enjoy the Ride Productions in association with McB Entertainment.

Rumor Has It is an American daily game show that aired on the cable channel VH1 from June 7 to October 28, 1993. Brian O'Connor was the host and John Ten Eyck announced.

<i>BrainRush</i> American TV series or program

BrainRush is a live-action game show on Cartoon Network, hosted by Lamorne Morris and, to a lesser extent, Sarah Karges. It first aired on June 20, 2009, with its last episode airing on July 22, ending after one season. It was part of Cartoon Network's late-2000s phase of live-action programming.

Pyramid is an Australian children's quiz show screening on the Nine Network from 2009 to 2015 hosted by Shura Taft. It is co-produced by Sony Pictures Television and produced by Sydney-based Ambience Entertainment. It began broadcasting on 1 September 2009 and is filmed in front of a live studio audience. It involves two teams competing in games of "vocal charades". The show is based on the 1979 United States game show The Junior Partner Pyramid, a children's variant of the Sony Pictures Television Pyramid franchise.

Download is an Australian children's game show which aired on the Nine Network from 2000 until 2002. Scott McRae hosted the show in 2000–2001; he was replaced by Nathan Lloyd in 2001–2002, while Emily Jade O'Keefe hosted the final season of the show. The co-host for the final season was Miss Bytes.

<i>Ask Me Another</i> (radio program) Radio show

Ask Me Another is an hour-long radio puzzle game show that was produced by WNYC and National Public Radio. It was hosted by Canadian American comedian Ophira Eisenberg and featured as its "in-house musician" or "one-man house band" independent rock musician Jonathan Coulton. Episodes of the show were usually recorded at The Bell House in Brooklyn, New York, however the show did go to various states across the country and recorded one or more episodes from those locations. The show was produced by WNYC Studios. During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the show continued taping episodes from the homes of the participants, without a studio audience.

<i>Ellens Game of Games</i> American TV series or program

Ellen's Game of Games, also known as Game of Games and stylized as ellen's GAME OF GAMES, is an American television game show that aired on NBC. In March 2017, NBC ordered six hour-long episodes of the series. Ellen DeGeneres serves as host, while Stephen "tWitch" Boss appears as announcer/sidekick. The series is based on game segments from DeGeneres' daytime talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The series premiered on December 18, 2017. On February 18, 2020, DeGeneres announced on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the series was renewed for a fourth season, which began airing on October 6, 2020. In January 2022, the series was canceled after four seasons.

<i>Get a Clue</i> (game show) American game show

Get a Clue is an American television game show hosted by Rob Belushi that aired on Game Show Network from January 6, 2020 to April 16, 2021.

<i>People Puzzler</i> American game show

People Puzzler is an American television game show hosted by Leah Remini and broadcast by Game Show Network. It premiered on January 18, 2021. The show is inspired by the celebrity and pop-culture themed crosswords in People magazine.

<i>Tug of Words</i> American game show

Tug of Words is an American television game show that aired on Game Show Network from November 8, 2021 to February 15, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Noel Holston (December 3, 2001). "Puns on the run, and the game's just begun". Newsday. pp. B27. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
  2. ↑ Kevin McDonough (December 3, 2001). "'Smush' is simple, silly, fun game show". The News Tribune. pp. SL6. Retrieved April 27, 2022.
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.