Sale of the Century (stylized as $ale of the Century) is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being the short-lived game shows Letters to Laugh-In and Name Droppers. The series aired until July 13, 1973, and a weekly syndicated series began that fall and ran for one season.
The rights to the show were purchased in 1980 by Australian TV mogul Reg Grundy, who produced a similar show called Great Temptation in the 1970s. Grundy subsequently launched an Australian version of Sale of the Century. Grundy's modified format was then used in a revived American Sale of the Century that aired on NBC from January 3, 1983, to March 24, 1989. It was one of three NBC game shows premiering on the same date, along with Hit Man and Just Men! (both of which aired for only 13 weeks), and—like its predecessor—spawned a syndicated edition that ran from January 7, 1985, to September 12, 1986. Grundy's format has also been adopted in other countries.
The game consists of contestants answering general knowledge questions. At certain points during the game, the player currently in the lead is offered an "Instant Bargain", a prize to keep regardless of the game's outcome, in exchange for a certain amount deducted from that contestant's score.
Actor Jack Kelly hosted the original series from 1969 to 1971, then decided to return to acting full-time. He was replaced by Joe Garagiola, who hosted the remainder of the daytime series plus the one season in syndication. Jim Perry then hosted both the NBC and syndicated 1980s versions. Al Howard was the executive producer of the initial 1969–1974 version, and for a short time was co-executive producer of the 1980s version with Robert Noah.
A short-lived revival of the series entitled Temptation, like the 2005 Australian revival, debuted in syndication on September 10, 2007, following a September 7 preview on MyNetworkTV. This series ran for one year.
Game format Contestants answered general knowledge toss-up questions posed by the host, earning $5 for a correct answer or losing that amount for a miss. Unlike most other game shows of the time, though, only the first contestant to buzz in could answer a question; a miss took it out of play for the other two.
At certain points during the game, the contestant in the lead participated in an "Instant Bargain" and was offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise at a bargain price. The selling price for the item, generally the value of one or more questions, was then deducted from the contestant's score, and the prize was theirs to keep regardless of the game's outcome.
Depending upon the version, question values either remained at $5 or increased as the game progressed. Additional Instant Bargains were also offered. The contestant in the lead at the end of the game was declared the champion and used their final score to purchase a larger prize, or played a separate end game, which varied depending upon the version of the show.
1969–1974 From 1969 to 1973, the game featured three contestants, who all began with $25. Midway through the game, the question values doubled to $10. At first, the final round consisted of 30 seconds of $15 questions. Later, this was replaced with five $20 questions (called "The Century Round", as the total value of the questions was $100). If a contestant's total was reduced to zero (or lower), that contestant was eliminated from the game.
At certain points during gameplay, all contestants were offered the opportunity to purchase merchandise at a bargain price. The first contestant to buzz in after the prize was revealed purchased that prize, and the price was deducted from his or her score. The prices of all prizes offered were expressed much as one would hear in a department store (ending with "and 95 cents"), and the prices increased as the episode progressed (e.g., $7.95, $11.95, $14.95, $21.95). All prize values were rounded up to the nearest dollar before being subtracted from the score of the contestant who purchased the prize. Each Instant Bargain was hidden behind a curtain, and contestants could not buzz in before the curtain opened. A contestant who did buzz in early was penalized by having the cost of the Instant Bargain deducted from their score and being locked out of purchasing the prize.
The "Open House" round was played in early episodes of the original version, usually about halfway through a particular episode. Five prizes were presented to the contestants and each could buy as many of them as he or she wanted; they had five seconds to list each of the items they wanted to buy. Unlike Instant Bargains, multiple contestants could buy the same item. This was later replaced with an "Audience Sale" round in which three members of the studio audience guessed the "sale price" of an item. The one that bid closest without going over won the item. The three contestants could increase their score by correctly guessing which audience member would win.
During the last thirteen weeks of this series, and the aforementioned follow-up weekly syndicated series, two married couples competed instead of three individual contestants. Each couple was given $20 at the start of the game. On the syndicated version, the first round consisted of questions worth $5, and in the second questions were valued at $10. A series of five questions worth $20 each were asked to conclude the game. If either couple's score reached $0, both couples were given an additional $20.
The winning contestant or couple was given the opportunity to spend their score on at least one of several grand prizes at the "Sale of the Century". Contestants either purchased a prize with their winnings and retired, or elected to return the next day and try to win enough to buy a more expensive prize. Champions could buy more than one prize. Also, when contestants chose to return the next day, they were asked which prizes they were considering buying. As long as the contestant kept winning, those prizes remained while others were replaced by more expensive ones.
The 1973–74 syndicated version featured two different formats. Both offered three possible prizes (almost always a trip, a fur coat, and a car), only one of which the couple could win. Originally, each prize had a sale price, and Garagiola asked questions worth $100 each, which was added to the couple's score from the game. When the amount reached the sale price of a prize, the couple could buy the prize or keep playing for a more expensive prize. Later, this was changed to "The Game of Champions". The three prizes had sale amounts ($150, $300, and $600). The winning couple chose a prize and had to answer three questions (worth $50, $100, or $200 each, depending on the prize) in order to win.
1983–1989
Original format Three contestants competed each day, usually a returning champion and two challengers, and were each given $20 at the start of the game. Except for Fame Game questions, contestants earned $5 for a correct answer and were penalized $5 for an incorrect answer. A contestant's score, however, could not be reduced below $0. Contestants could buzz-in before the question was finished, but had to answer based only on whatever information the host had read to that point; only one contestant could answer a question.
Three Instant Bargains were played per game, with the prizes' retail values and sale prices increasing as the game progressed. In some cases, the host would reduce the price and/or offer extra cash to entice a contestant to make a purchase. During an Instant Bargain, only the player in the lead could purchase the prize available; in the event of a tie, the first player to buzz-in (if any) received the prize. For a brief time in early 1984, any contestant who bought an Instant Bargain could win back the money they spent by correctly answering a "Money Back Question" immediately afterward. Also, on occasion, any Instant Bargains that were not bought would be packaged as part of a "Garage Sale". If the player(s) in the lead did not elect to buy the Garage Sale package, the other contestants were invited to buy the prize set, unlike the normal Instant Bargains.
Three Fame Game rounds were played per game as well. The first half of each round consisted of a "who-am-I?"-style question, starting with obscure clues and proceeding to easier ones as the host continued. A contestant who buzzed in with a correct answer played the second half of the round; giving an incorrect answer eliminated a player from the round, but with no score penalty. If none of the contestants answered correctly, the second half of the round was skipped.
The contestant who answered correctly was given a choice of nine spaces on the Fame Game board, each displaying the face of a celebrity. Eight of the spaces hid either small bonus prizes or various amounts of cash, some of which offered the contestant a choice between taking either the money or an extra turn. Hidden behind one space was a $25 Money Card, which added that amount to the contestant's score. Spaces were removed from play as they were revealed. After the third playing, the host asked three final $5 toss-up questions to end the game. Beginning in 1984, the final three questions were replaced with the 'Speedround'. Jim Perry and the contestants would ask & answer as many questions as possible in 60 seconds, the leader winning when the clock hit zero.
The contestant with the highest final score became the champion. If the match ended in a tie, the tied players were asked one more question (originally in the Fame Game format, soon changed to an ordinary toss-up). Buzzing in and answering correctly won the game, while answering incorrectly resulted in a loss. In both cases, the losing contestants kept all cash and prizes they had accumulated, including their final scores in cash.
Bonus Round The champion was taken shopping and shown a gallery of prizes that were available for potential purchase. Originally, there were six prizes, with each one increasing in value and sale price, and they would be swapped out every five shows. Every new champion was given the choice to buy the first, least expensive prize with their winning score or bank the money and return to try to win enough for a more expensive prize on display. For each subsequent win, the champion would be presented with this decision to either buy the highest-level prize they could afford and leave the show or keep playing, as a defeat would result in them only receiving what they had managed to win in the main game.
Higher prize levels often featured merchandise such as fur coats, expensive jewelry, and opulent vacations, and the sixth level offered a luxury automobile or sportscar. If a champion reached the highest prize level with their total, they would be able to purchase all of the shopping prizes on display. For the first few months of the show, this would include enough cash to make the package worth $95,000. A cash jackpot was later added to the package, available for purchase after the car; the jackpot started at $50,000 and increased by $1,000 for each day it went unclaimed. Overall, with the addition of the jackpot, the entire prize package was typically worth over $100,000.
The syndicated series employed a slightly different set of rules for its shopping game. Like the daytime series, the syndicated Sale did have a total of eight prize levels. However, the cash jackpot was not available for purchase. Instead at the seventh prize level, a champion could opt to buy all six shopping prizes or continue on; if the champion won his/her next game with enough money, they would win the jackpot along with all six prizes.