Supermarket Sweep
Supermarket Sweep is an American television game show. The format combined an ordinary team-based quiz show with the novel concept of a live, timed race through a supermarket. In the timed race, cameras followed the teams with shopping carts through a large vacated supermarket with several aisles; the value of items thrown into the cart determined the winning team. The original show was broadcast on ABC from December 20, 1965 to July 14, 1967. Revivals aired on Lifetime from February 5, 1990 to June 16, 1995, and later from April 3, 2000 to May 23, 2003, with reruns airing until March 26, 2004.
ABC's Supermarket Sweep was broadcast from Food Fair supermarkets, mostly around New York City. For the Lifetime version, a mock supermarket was created at Hollywood Center Studios. It was modeled after a Hughes Family Market. The first season of the PAX version was taped at Santa Clarita Studios in Santa Clarita, California. Beginning on November 20, 2000, the show moved to NBC Studios, with that series' set modeled after a Unified Western Market.
The host for the ABC version was Bill Malone. The announcers were Wally King from 1965 to 1966 and Richard Hayes from 1966 to 1967. The host for the Lifetime and PAX versions was David Ruprecht. The announcer was Johnny Gilbert from 1990 to 1995 and again from April to June 2000, with Randy West taking over for Gilbert in July 2000 and continuing for the rest of the series.
Leslie Jones will host a new version of the show on ABC, which began filming in the spring of 2020.
Gameplay
1965–1967
Three teams competed. Each team began with a base time of 1:30. In the first round of the game, one contestant from each team was shown a grocery item and were asked to guess its retail price. The team who came the closest won the item and an additional 15 seconds to their time. Four items were played.In the second round of the game, the contestant from each team who did not play the first round went on a shopping spree through the market, using the time accumulated. Bonus items worth $10–$100 were also spread throughout the store. All teams kept every item they picked up, with the team with the highest total in groceries, bonus prizes and other items winning the right to return to the show and play in the next game. Teams remained on the show until they were defeated or until they reached the winnings cap of $20,000.
1990–2003
The gameplay of the Lifetime/PAX version of Supermarket Sweep consisted of three segments: the question round, the Big Sweep, and the Bonus Sweep. The game was played between three teams of two related individuals, such as a parent and child, spouses, siblings, or best friends, initially called to play by an object they were holding. Beginning with the Big Sweep, the team members would put on sweatshirts of the same color, with each team ranked depending on how much time they earned in the question rounds. In the first season, the sweatshirt colors for teams 1, 2, and 3 were light blue, red, and yellow, respectively; the sweatshirt colors of teams 1 and 2 were swapped in subsequent seasons.Three new pairs of contestants appeared in each episode, with no running "returning champions;" select winners could make a second appearance in the show's recurring tournaments.
Question rounds
Similar to the original version, all three teams started with a base time of 1:30. Through a series of three rounds, contestants were asked a series of questions, usually centered around knowledge of products found in a grocery store. Each correct answer added 10 seconds to a team's time bank. The first two question rounds were played by one team member, with team members swapping positions after the first round. Questions included identifying a product that was missing letters, determining the brand of a product via an edited picture, and identifying a product based on a series of facts. Occasionally, questions centered around pop culture, movies, or stories found in checkstand tabloids.Other questions centered around identifying the price of an item. This was accomplished in several different ways; two popular methods included determining which item in a set of three did not fit the designated criteria, or which item was incorrectly priced. A mainstay in the second round gave contestants the opportunity to add 30 seconds to their time banks if all three contestants gave the correct answer.
Occasionally, the second question round was replaced with one of the following games:
- "30-Second Shootout"Each team played this round individually. One member was given a list of words and had 30 seconds to get their partner to say as many of them as possible. The first letters of these words spelled out a brand or product name; if the partner could guess it, the team received 30 seconds of Sweep time. If the clue-giver said one of the target words, the team forfeited their turn. A variant of this game required one member to describe three particular brand names for their partner to guess, with 10 seconds awarded for each correct solution.
- "Snack Attack Movie Game"Three questions about movies worth 10 seconds each were asked. The contestant who answered the last of the three questions correctly earned the right to take a taste test of a food item in the market; correctly identifying the item earned that team a $50 bonus for the Big Sweep. If the contestant guessed right on a second chance, that team earned $25. Originally, the question related to the item only had two choices and only the correct choice earned the $50 bonus.
Mini-Sweep
Beginning in the show's second season in 1991, a Mini-Sweep was played at the beginning of the first round. A toss-up question was asked with a particular product as the answer. The team that correctly answered the question earned 10 seconds, as well as a chance for one team member to run into the market to retrieve a package of that product marked with the show's logo. If the product was returned within 30 seconds, the team won $50 towards their Sweep total. The team won no bonus if the runner failed to find the marked package, returned it after time ran out, or returned an incorrect item or unmarked package. Originally, contestants were only required to bring back any one package of the item in question.A year after its debut, the bonus was doubled to $100 if the product was brought back within 20 seconds. Starting with the fifth season, a second Mini-Sweep was added at the beginning of the second round; while this was later discontinued as a regular feature, it would be used during special weeks on the PAX version.
Big Sweep
The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout the supermarket and take products from the shelves with the seconds they had earned in the front game. One contestant from each team was designated as the "runner," with the job of collecting items in a shopping cart, and the teams were assigned numbers based on their accumulated time: 1 for the most, 2 for the second-most, 3 for the least.The clock for the Big Sweep was set to the leading time, and it started when Team 1 was sent into the market. Teams 2 and 3 were sent in when the clock displayed their respective times. If any of the teams were tied, they were sent into the market at the same time.
A camera operator would follow each shopper throughout the Big Sweep. In each finished episode, the footage was spliced together to create one near-real-time highlight reel, and the announcer would add a play-by-play commentary to the reel, describing the items being placed in each contestant's cart.
At any time, runners could bring full carts back to their partners' checkout counters and exchange them for empty ones. With the exception of certain bonuses, items had to be in a team's cart when time ran out in order to count toward their total.
The main rules for the Big Sweep were:
- Each runner could take no more than five of any one item.
- If an item was knocked off a shelf or otherwise upset or damaged, the runner who did so either had to replace the item on the shelf or put it in his/her cart, or take a $25 penalty for each item. Teams were also penalized $100 for running into supermarket displays, cameramen or any other personnel, including opponents.
- Only the runners could be in the market; their partners were required to remain at the checkout counter behind a red restraining line and unload the groceries. The partners could cross the line only with permission from the producers, typically to pick up a dropped item or bonus or to take part in a bonus activity that required their participation.
In most episodes early in the show's first season on Lifetime, costumed characters such as Frankenstein's monster, a gorilla, or a creature named Mr. Yuck ran through the aisles during the Sweep. If the character came near a contestant or vice versa, the contestant had to turn around and go in the other direction; if the contestant's cart hit the character, a penalty was also imposed. The characters were dropped later in the season.
A variety of opportunities to earn additional cash were available during the Big Sweep. The one constant throughout the entire run of the second series was a group of giant "bonus" items placed throughout the market in plain sight. Attached to each of these items was a peel-off sticker that concealed a value between $50 and $250. Each runner could take only one bonus, and its value was added to the team's total only if it was returned to the checkout counter before time ran out.
Later in the Lifetime series, Supermarket Sweep began employing more ways for the teams to build up their sweep totals. The first such method employed was called the Shopping List, where teams could earn an extra $250 for bringing three specific grocery items back during the course of the Big Sweep. Over the years, more variations on that theme would be used; for instance, the team's might be asked to fulfill a bread order or retrieve magazines.
Other ways for teams to earn money included:
Teams received money for these tasks only if they were completed in the manner specified by Ruprecht before time ran out.
Once time expired, the runners had to stop whatever they were doing and return to the checkout counters. All of the products were scanned while the show took a final commercial break, and the grand totals of each team's takes were revealed when the show returned, beginning with Team 3, and ending with Team 1. Each team's groceries were tallied and any bonuses/penalties were applied to determine the final totals. The team with the highest score won their Big Sweep total in cash and advanced to the Bonus Sweep for a chance to win an additional $5,000. The other teams received parting gifts. Sweep totals included cents in the first season, but were subsequently rounded to the nearest dollar.
Bonus Sweep
In the Bonus Sweep, the winning team had 60 seconds to win $5,000 by finding three particular items in succession. Ruprecht read a clue to lead the team to the identity of the first item, and the clock started immediately afterward as the team ran into the market. The correct item was tagged with a large circular token bearing the show's logo and a clue for a second item to be found. This item in turn had a clue for a third item, which had a bundle of $5,000 in cash hidden behind it. In order to win, the team had to find all three items and have their hands on the money before time ran out. If they fell short, they received $200 for each item they had found.Originally, if the team found the final product and the $5,000 before either of the other two, they automatically forfeited the bonus round. However, after the first two seasons, this was changed so that an overhead announcement was made reminding the team to find the first two products, then return to the third product and claim the cash.
Episode status
Seven episodes of the 1960s version survived. The Lifetime/PAX version remains completely intact. On April 11, 2015, the pilot episode for the Lifetime version was posted on YouTube by Wink Martindale as part of his "Wink's Vault" series of rare game show findings.Fremantle owns the worldwide format rights, including the American productions which it acquired in 2018. Since January 15, 2018, Fremantle's American digital subchannel Buzzr has been airing the 1990s series that originally aired on Lifetime, and has also aired the PAX episodes from the 2000s. Episodes from the Lifetime/PAX revival are available on Amazon Video through Buzzr.
In July 2020, 15 episodes of the 1990s series were made available on Netflix.
Revival
On October 13, 2017, it was announced that Fremantle had acquired the global rights to the format and that a revival of the show was in the works. Fremantle stated that the new incarnation of the show would incorporate "modern technology" into the program which reflects 21st century shopping habits. On August 27, 2019, Deadline reported that Leslie Jones had signed on as the revival's host and executive producer. Several networks, including ABC, NBC, and Fox, as well as Netflix, were said to be interested in acquiring the revived series. On January 8, 2020, Deadline confirmed ABC had picked up the series with Jones as host. On June 17, 2020, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fall of 2020 and air on Sundays at 8:00 P.M.Merchandise
A board game based on the original ABC version was manufactured by Milton Bradley in 1966.A video slot machine based on the Lifetime/PAX version was released to North American casinos by WMS Gaming.
International versions
Legend:| Country | Name | Host | TV station | Premiere | Finale |
| Arab League | El-Sawaq السواق | Ali Mahmoud | GEM TV | 2019 | present |
| Argentina | Sume y Lleve | Doris del Valle Emilio Disi | Canal 9 | 1987 | 1988 |
| Argentina | Sume y Lleve | Ana María Campoy Daniel Castex | Canal 9 | 1987 | 1988 |
| Argentina | Clink Caja | Beruga Carámbula | Canal 9 | 1996 | 1996 |
| Australia | Supermarket Sweep Australia | Ian Turpie | Nine Network | February 10, 1992 | February 4, 1994 |
| Brazil | ' | Band | August 30, 1993 | June 8, 1998 | |
| Brazil | ' | RecordTV | September 18, 2000 | January, 2001 | |
| Belgium | Iedereen Beroemd De winkelkarquiz | Frederic van Landeghem | Één | 2012 | 2012 |
| Canada | Supermarket Sweep | Tino Monte | Syndication | 1992 | 1995 |
| Canada | Supermarket Sweep | Tino Monte | Global Television Network | 1992 | 1995 |
| Canada | L'épicerie en folie Metro | Christian Tétreault | TQS | 1994 | 1995 |
| Chile | Supermarket | Pablo Krögh | Canal 13 | August 21, 1995 | November 21, 1997 |
| Chile | Supermarket | Juan La Rivera | Canal 13 | August 21, 1995 | November 21, 1997 |
| Greece | Σούπερ Μάρκετ Soúper Márket | Pounentis Matt | ANT1 | 1993 | 1994 |
| Greece | Σούπερ Μάρκετ Soúper Márket | Michael Tsaousopoulos | ANT1 | 1993 | 1994 |
| Japan | Ikkaku senkin! | Kazuki Kosakai | Nippon TV | April 7, 1991 | September 29, 1991 |
| Spain | Supermarket | Antena 3 | February 24, 1992 | 1992 | |
| Turkey | Süpermarket | Erdinç Doğan | 1993 | 1994 | |
| Turkey | Süpermarket | Yiğit Alici | Kanal D | 2009 | 2009 |
| Ukraine | Шоу Шара Shou Shara | Gennady Popenko Yulia Kovaleva | ICTV | 2013 | present |
| United Kingdom | Supermarket Sweep | Dale Winton | ITV | September 6, 1993 | September 6, 2001 |
| United Kingdom | Supermarket Sweep | Dale Winton | ITV | February 12, 2007 | August 31, 2007 |
| United Kingdom | Supermarket Sweep | Rylan Clark-Neal | ITV2 | September 9, 2019 | present |
| United States | Arrasa con Todo con Kmart | Carlos Calderon Carolina Delgado | Univision | February 7, 2011 | August 13, 2011 |
| Vietnam | Siêu thị may mắn Lucky Supermarket | Thanh Bạch | HTV7 | June 5, 2005 | February, 2012 |
| Vietnam | Siêu thị may mắn Lucky Supermarket | Quyền Linh | HTV7 | June 5, 2005 | February, 2012 |
| Vietnam | Siêu thị may mắn Lucky Supermarket | Minh Quân | HTV7 | June 5, 2005 | February, 2012 |
| Vietnam | Siêu thị may mắn Lucky Supermarket | Minh Béo Hồng Thiên Phúc | HTV7 | June 5, 2005 | February, 2012 |