Bargain Hunters

Bargain Hunters
Genre	Game show
Created by	Merrill Heatter
Directed by	Jerome Shaw
Presented by	Peter Tomarken
Announcer	Dean Goss
Music by	Score Productions
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
No. of seasons	1
Production
Producers	Art Alisi, Steve Friedman, Paul Gilbert
Production locations	Hollywood Center Studios, Los Angeles, California
Running time	approx. 22-26 minutes
Production companies	Merrill Heatter Productions, Josephenson Communications
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	July 6 (1987-07-06) – September 4, 1987 (1987-09-04)

Bargain Hunters is an American television game show. The show featured six contestants competing in a variety of games involving bargains, or reduced prices on merchandise; it also combined elements of home shopping by offering products for sale to home viewers. Created by Merrill Heatter, the show was hosted by Peter Tomarken and had Dean Goss as announcer. It debuted July 6, 1987, on American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The show received generally negative critical reception and low ratings, and was canceled in September 1987.

Format

Bargain Hunters combines elements of a game show and home shopping. Six contestants compete throughout, two each in three different games where they attempt to determine whether the value of an item is a "bargain", or reduced from its actual retail price. The winner of each game proceeds to the show's final round, known as the Super Savers Round.

In the first round, known as the Bargain Quiz, the host asks trivia questions about the value of an item, such as "If you had bought one of the original Cabbage Patch Kids dolls in 1983, would you have gotten a bargain at $48?" Answering the question correctly awards a point, while answering incorrectly awards a point to the opponent. The first contestant to reach three points wins a prize which is presented at the start of the round.

Two new contestants are selected for the second round, called the Bargain Trap. The contestants are presented a set of five prizes. Four are reduced in value and one, known as a "trap", is increased in value. The contestants alternate picking prizes that they think are reduced in value. A contestant who picks the "trap" is immediately eliminated from the round. If both contestants successfully pick all four prizes without picking the "trap", they are then asked to write down the amount by which they think the "trap" price was over-valued; the contestant who is closer then wins the round and all accumulated prizes.

For the third round, Bargain Busters, a third pair of contestants is shown a prize and a choice of three different prices, of which only one is the actual value. The contestants then choose which price they think is correct by pressing a button on their podium. Guessing correctly awards a point; the first contestant to reach three points wins all prizes which have been correctly guessed, and proceeds to the final round of gameplay alongside the two winners of the previous rounds.

In between each of the first three rounds, merchandise from each round is presented for sale at reduced price to home viewers, who may call a toll-free number to purchase the items.

The final round of gameplay is known as the Super Savers Round. The winners of the first three rounds are presented with seven items of merchandise, each marked down from its actual retail price. All three contestants pick the three items which they believe are reduced the furthest from their actual price. Afterward, each contestant is shown the amount by which each prize they selected has been reduced; the contestant who has saved the most money in this fashion wins the game and receives an additional prize.

Development

Bargain Hunters was created by Merrill Heatter for Merrill Heatter Productions. The show recorded at Hollywood Center Studios (now known as Sunset Las Palmas Studios) in Los Angeles, California. The show's host was Peter Tomarken, also known for Hit Man and Press Your Luck. Dean Goss was the announcer, Jerome Shaw served as director, and Score Productions composed the music. The show aired from July 6, 1987 to September 4, 1987, on American Broadcasting Company (ABC).

According to David Baber in Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, Tomarken recalled that test audiences reacted positively to his hosting but negatively to the show's format. Additionally, Tomarken noted that, unlike other game shows at the time, Bargain Hunters did not require potential contestants to take a test or play a practice game first.

During its tenure, Bargain Hunters was the lowest-rated daytime program on network television. As a result of its low ratings, ABC canceled it in September 1987 and replaced it with Home. Columnist Gary Deeb attributed the show's failure to the "fad" of home shopping becoming less popular over time.

Reception

In an article for United Press International, Mark Schwed was highly unfavorable toward several facets of the show's concept. He thought that it had "all the most irritating traits of game shows". Schwed perceived the show's merchandise as "nothing but junk", was critical of Tomarken's hosting and Goss's announcing, and also criticized the nature of the trivia questions in the show's first round. He also called the format "a bad imitation of others in the genre." Rick Bentley of The Town Talk was also negative toward the show's format, calling it a "thinly-veiled 30-minute commercial" and considering its gameplay derivative of The Price Is Right. Lynn Hoogenboom, in a column reprinted in Citizens' Voice, also observed that the show's structure had similarities to The Price Is Right, but also thought that the show's central focus on "bargains" gave it potential. The San Francisco Examiner writer Joyce Millman shared a similar opinion, and called the combination of formats "crafty".