Card Sharks
| Card Sharks | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Created by | Chester Feldman |
| Directed by | Paul Alter (1978–79), Marc Breslow (1978,1979–89) R. Brian DiPirro (2001–02) |
| Presented by |
Jim Perry (1978–1981) Bob Eubanks (1986–1989) Bill Rafferty (1986–1987 Syn.) Pat Bullard (2001–2002) |
| Starring |
Ann Pennington, Janice Baker, Lois Areno, Kristin Bjorklund, Melinda Hunter, Markie Post, Bettina (last name unknown) (1978–81) Lacey Pemberton, Suzanna Williams (1986–89) Tami Roman (2001–02) |
| Narrated by |
Gene Wood (1978–1981, 1986–1989) Gary Kroeger (2001–2002) |
| Theme music composer |
Score Productions (1978–81) Edd Kalehoff (1986–89) Alan Ett, Scott Lieggett, Gregory V. Sherman (2001–02) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| No. of episodes | 864 (NBC) 826 (CBS) 195 (1986–1987 Syn.) 65 (2001–2002 Syn.) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
|
| Producer(s) |
Jonathan Goodson (1978–81) Mimi O'Brien (1986–89) Michael Malone (2001–02) |
| Location(s) |
NBC Studios Burbank, California (1978–1981) CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1986–1989) Tribune Studios Hollywood, California (2001–2002) |
| Running time | 22–26 minutes |
| Production company(s) |
Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1978–81) Mark Goodson Productions (1986–89) |
| Distributor |
The Television Program Source (1986–87 Syndicated) Pearson Television (2001–2002 Syndicated) FremantleMedia (Current) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
NBC (1978–1981) CBS (1986–1989) Syndicated (1986–1987, 2001–2002) |
| Picture format | 480i NTSC |
| Audio format |
Mono (NBC) Stereo (CBS/Syn.) |
| Original release |
First run April 24, 1978–October 23, 1981 Second run January 6, 1986–March 31, 1989 (CBS Daytime) September 8, 1986–September 11, 1987 (Daily Syndication) Third run September 17, 2001–January 11, 2002 (Daily Syndication) |
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Based on the card game Acey Deucey, the game has two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than the previous one. The concept has been made into a series four separate times since its debut in 1978, and also appeared as part of CBS's Gameshow Marathon. The show originally ran on NBC from 1978 to 1981 with Jim Perry hosting; a revival ran from 1986 to 1989 on CBS with Bob Eubanks as host, accompanied by another version in syndication with Bill Rafferty. Gene Wood was the announcer on these three versions. Another syndicated revival aired from 2001 to 2002 with Pat Bullard as host and Gary Kroeger as announcer. All versions of the show had various female assistants to handle the playing cards.
Two contestants, one of which was typically the returning champion, were assigned an oversized deck of 52 playing cards and were dealt the first five cards for their row. The champion (or champion-designate if there were two new contestants) played the red cards on top while the challenger played the blue cards on the bottom. Each contestant's row of cards had a bracket atop it with their name on it, which was used to mark their "base cards." In the NBC version, the brackets moved electronically, while the CBS and syndicated versions had a dealer or even the host move the brackets manually.
Contestants alternated responding to questions starting with the champion to gain control of the cards. Survey questions were posed to groups of 100 people, all of whom were typically in a common demographic group (e.g., of the same profession, all male, all over the age of 50, etc.). Contestants were asked to predict how many of those 100 people responded in a specific manner. Their opponent was then asked whether he or she thought the actual number was higher or lower than the previous contestant's response. The actual number was then revealed, and if the opponent was correct, they played their cards first; otherwise, the contestant to whom the question was posed played first. In the 1980–1981 season, a $500 bonus was awarded to any contestant who provided the exact number of people responding to a specific question.
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