Card Sharks
A game show of survey questions and higher-or-lower card predictions.
Card Sharks is an American television game show 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 is a play on the term 'card shark,' a person skilled at card games. The concept has been made into a series four separate times since its debut in 1978, and it also appeared as part of CBS's Gameshow Marathon.
Quick Facts
- Runtime
- 22–26 minutes (1978–2002); 42–46 minutes (2019–21)
- Genre
- Game show
- Creator
- Chester Feldman
- Presenter
- Jim Perry
- Bob Eubanks
- Bill Rafferty
- Pat Bullard
- Joel McHale
- Announcer
- Gene Wood
- Gary Kroeger
- Donna Jay Fulks
- Director
- Paul Alter (1978–79, 1986)
- Marc Breslow (1979–89)
- R. Brian DiPirro (2001–02)
- Lenn Goodside (2019–21)
- Producer
- Jonathan Goodson (1978–81)
- Mimi O'Brien (1986–89)
- Michael Malone (2001–02)
- Country
- United States
Facts from the source article.
Did You Know?
- The show returned and ran from 1986 to 1989 on CBS with Bob Eubanks as host.
- Gene Wood was the announcer in both the 1970s and 1980s versions.
Broadcast history
The original Card Sharks aired on NBC from April 24, 1978 to October 23, 1981, hosted by Jim Perry. It was the first new Goodson-Todman game show on NBC since Match Game ended in 1969. From its debut until June 20, 1980, it aired at 10:00 am ET. After a scheduling shuffle on June 23, 1980, it moved to noon/11:00 am, where it faced The $20,000 Pyramid, then Family Feud, and local programming. It remained there until its final episode. Until January 1987, it competed against Sale of the Century on NBC. It ended on March 31, 1989, replaced by Now You See It. A syndicated production aired with Bill Rafferty. Another syndicated version aired in 2001 with Pat Bullard. A revival hosted by Joel McHale aired on ABC from June 2019 to July 2021. Reruns of older versions air on Buzzr.
Production
All versions survive intact because Goodson-Todman prevented NBC from wiping their shows.
Merchandise
The first Card Sharks video game was released by Sharedata and Softie in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatibles, based on the 1986–89 format. It uses the single sudden-death question tiebreaker and awards a $100 bonus for an exact guess instead of $500. It does not include educated guess or audience poll questions. Endless Games published a home game in 2002 for the 25th anniversary, using visual designs from the 2001 production and gameplay from the 1986 format before the car game was introduced. A single-player online game on uproar.com used the 2001–02 logo and set but omitted poll questions; the site stopped offering game show games on September 30, 2006.
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