Choose Up Sides

Did You Know?

• Choose Up Sides began as a local program in New York in 1953 with Dean Miller as host.
• On September 11, 2017, Buzzr aired the first episode as part of their "Lost and Found" event.

Format

Two teams of children, the Space Pilots and the Bronco Busters, faced off for points and a prize. Each side had four contestants, typically three boys and one girl. The boys competed against each other, and the girls did the same. An adult assistant accompanied each team: Roger Peterson, dressed as a space commander for the Space Pilots, and Tommy Tompkins, dressed as a cowboy for the Bronco Busters. These assistants introduced each child to host Gene Rayburn. Every player then picked a postcard from a collection sent in by children nationwide. The winning team also earned a prize for the child who had mailed that postcard.

The stunts the children performed were similar to those on Beat the Clock. The team that won a stunt received 100 points. The losing team could try a consolation stunt, worth 25 or 50 points, dictated by a wall-puppet named Mr. Mischief, operated and voiced by Don Pardo. The time limit for stunts was originally a whistle that could blow at any moment, later replaced by a balloon in Mr. Mischief’s mouth that inflated until it popped. When a losing child went to meet Mr. Mischief, Gene walked alongside them with a silly walk, possibly a forerunner of the Monty Python Silly Walk sketch.

The show also featured the Super Duper Doo stunt. Each week, one child was chosen for an extra stunt, aiming to collect the most items over four weeks for a grand prize. The first stunt required standing in a box and tossing 15 playing cards at a ball covered with sticky tape, hanging from the ceiling; the prize was a boat rig. The second stunt involved blowing ten sheets of paper off a podium into a wastebasket in front of the child; the prize was a television set. What the third stunt was is not known. If time remained at the end of the show, team stunts were added to let one team catch up on points.

The four children on the winning team received bicycles if they were in the studio, and cameras for their home partners. The losing team got a sportsmanship award of ice skates for both the studio contestants and their home partners.

Pilot

In 1953, a pilot for a game show called "Choose Up Sides" was produced for CBS, hosted by Bob Kennedy. GSN later aired it on two dates: April 23, 2005, and November 27, 2007. Two teams, the "Space Rangers" and the "Cowboys," each had a large bleacher full of children. One child from each team performed stunts. After a stunt, the children earned points by tossing rings onto a board with numbered pegs. The winning child threw two rings for their team, while the losing child threw one. Each episode featured three "magic numbers." If a team's total points matched one of these numbers, they received 10 extra points, and the child who tossed the ring got a special prize. This cycle continued with different children until the show's time ran out. Every child on both teams received a "sportsmanship prize," such as a camera. Members of the winning team, along with several home viewers selected from write-in entries, won a grand prize, like a watch.