Hot Seat (game show)

Game play

Two married couples competed against each other one at a time. One spouse guessed what the other would say when asked three questions. The spouse in the "hot seat" had emotions measured by an electronic GSR device. Each question offered two choices; the player at the podium selected one answer, and the spouse responded negatively to each choice.

An arch above the hot seat displayed a meter indicating which answer was more of a lie; the answer with the most lights lit was considered correct. The three questions were worth $100, $200, and $400. The leading couple could take an additional $500 or play a bonus round; the unchosen option went to their opponents. In the bonus round, a correct answer won a trip and a new car, while an incorrect answer forfeited front game winnings.

Pilot

The pilot, recorded on January 17, 1976, followed the same gameplay except for the bonus round. The husband sat in front of a turntable while the wife observed lie-detector reactions from an isolation booth. The husband was shown three prizes—a washer/dryer combo, an expensive sports car, and a cheap iron with ironing board—and had to say "No, I would not like that prize" for each.

After the husband's third reaction, the wife chose which prize the couple would win. The third prize was modeled by a young woman in a bikini; the wife, unaware of this and seeing the lie detector spike for that prize, chose it. Upon leaving the booth, she screamed in agony at what the show had done.

Broadcast history

Hot Seat debuted on July 12, 1976, at noon Eastern, taking over the time slot from Let's Make a Deal, which had ended its twelve-and-a-half-year run the previous Friday. It faced CBS’s The Young and the Restless and NBC’s The Fun Factory, and for its final three weeks, 50 Grand Slam. Fred Silverman approved the series, hoping it would match the success of Gambit, another H-Q production on CBS, but it did not. When Hot Seat ended, a Don Ho variety show replaced it in ABC’s noon slot.