Get the Message (game show)

Did You Know?

• In 1986, an unsold pilot for a remake called Oddball, hosted by Jamie Farr, was made for NBC.
• The 1986 pilot version consisted of eight celebrities (four men and four women) and one contestant.

Main game

Two teams of three—men versus women—competed, each with one contestant and two celebrities. Celebrities saw a message and each wrote a one-word clue on an index card without discussion. The first team's celebrities showed and read their clues to their teammate, who tried to guess the message. If wrong, play passed to the opposing team. If both failed, one more clue round occurred; otherwise the message was discarded. Correct answers earned one point, and the first to three points won the game and $100. Originally contestants played only one game; later all competed for the full half-hour.

Bonus round

The winning team played the "turnabout game" bonus round. The contestant saw a message and gave one-word clues to each celebrity in turn; the celebrity guessed. A correct guess earned $100, but each additional word reduced the bonus to $50, $25, then $10. The contestant tried to convey three messages for a top prize of $300. Saying the actual message or part of it dropped the value to the lowest amount. Later the bonus became the "open game": celebrities saw a message and gave verbal clues, the contestant had one guess per message, and each correct guess paid $50 for a maximum of $150.