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TTD89 Pilot
Tic Tac Dough 1990
Aired
Syndicated, September 10, 1990 - March 8, 1991
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Patrick Wayne
Announcer
Larry Van Nuys, Art James
Origination
Studio 6, Hollywood Center Studios, Los Angeles, California

This is chronicling the syndicated 1990 short-lived revival of Tic Tac Dough.

Game Format[]

Two contestants, one a returning champion playing "X", the other the challenger playing "O", faced a tic-tac-toe style game board. On the board are nine categories in nine boxes.

Before each turn, the categories shuffled around the board; the contestant stopped the shuffling of the categories by hitting their buzzer, picked a category, then Wayne asked a question. A correct answer won the box by placing his/her symbol in it, an incorrect answer meant the box remained unclaimed. The object of the game was to place three Xs or Os in a row, either across (horizontally), up and down (vertically), or diagonally.

Along the way, correct answers also added money to a pot. The outside boxes were worth $500, while the center box was worth $1,000, since the questions there were tougher; in fact they were all two-parters, and the player in control was given extra time to think it over.

The first player to get tic-tac-dough won the game, became Tic Tac Dough champion, took all the money in the pot, and went on to play the Tic-Tac-Dough bonus game. If the game ended in a tie (eight boxes for both players with no chance for a win, or the board was completely filled-up), a brand-new game was played with new categories, the pot was reset to zero and the value of all boxes increased by $500/$1,000 respectively.

The Red Categories[]

Certain categories appeared with red lettering. Those were very special categories. Some had special questions, some could affect the outcome of the game, and others allowed both contestants to play. None of them appeared in the center box, for none of them had two-part questions.

  • Jump-In Category – The host would read the question to both contestants, and the first one to buzz-in got a chance to answer. A correct answer won the box, but an incorrect answer gave the opponent a chance to answer for the box, by hearing the entire question. All Jump-Ins used either a category or the four W's (Who, What, Where, When).
  • Challenge – This was where the contestant who selected the box decided to either answer the question himself/herself or challenge his/her opponent to do the same. A correct answer or a successful challenge won the box.
  • Opponent's Choice – So called because the opponent got to decide from which one of two categories he/she wanted the player in control to answer a question.
  • Play or Pass – This was where the contestant in control could decide, after hearing the question, to answer that question or pass it up for another question.
  • Seesaw – One question with multiple answers was asked, and the contestants, starting with the player who selected the category, took turns answering the that question. Play continued until one of the contestants gave a wrong answer, repeated one, or ran out of time; if any of those things happened, the opponent won the box (the only time a contestant could win a box by default). The box could be also won by the contestant giving the last correct answer.
  • Auction – A question with multiple answers was read. Then the contestants, starting with the player who selected the category, bid back and forth on how many answers they wanted to give. Bidding stopped when a contestant bid the max number, or forced the other to play. The winner of the bid had to then give the required number answers he/she bid on. Completing the bid won the box, but an incorrect answer somewhere down the line, allowed the opponent to try and give just one correct answer to win the box.
  • Top Ten – A question with a number of ranked answers to it was asked. The contestant who chose the category had to then give the highest ranked answer on the list. Giving the number one answer or the higher ranked answer won the box; but an incorrect answer or a lower ranked answer gave the opponent a chance to answer.
  • Trivia Challenge – A multiple-choice question was asked to both contestants. The one who selected the box decided to either answer the question first, or dare his/her opponent to answer. The winner of the question won the box.
  • Take Two – The questions from this category had two clues. The contestant who chose the box could answer from the first clue just read, or risk losing the box by hearing the second clue and giving the opponent a chance to answer.
  • It’s a Dilemma – In this category, the first clue to the correct answer was read, then the contestant who selected the box chose how many out of the remaining five to hear; however, the opponent had to then decide who should answer the question.
  • Number Please – A question with a numerical answer was asked. The contestant who selected the box had to then take a guess, then the opponent guessed whether the actual number was higher or lower than the first contestant's guess. The actual number was then revealed, and a correct higher or lower guess won the box for the opponent, but an incorrect higher or lower guess or guessing the number on the nose won the first contestant the box.
  • Showdown – A series of two-part jump-in questions were asked. The contestant who selected the category had a chance to answer first, then the opponent got to answer. Play continued until one of them made a mistake, causing the opponent to win the box.
  • Three to Win – A series of Jump-in questions were asked to both contestants, and the first one to answer three questions correctly won the box.

Beat the Dragon (Bonus Game)[]

In this bonus game, the board now consisted of random tic-tac-toe symbols, a dragon, and a dragon slayer. The hidden spaces were shuffled around and stopped by the winning contestant. During the shuffle, the winning contestant decided which symbol s/he thinks will find the Tic-Tac-Dough with. The winning contestant started calling off numbers, and the first time the chosen symbol was found, $500 was put into the pot. Then each subsequent time that symbol was found, the money was doubled. Finding the dragon at any point "burned" the money; that's why he/she always got the option to stop and take the money or continue playing. If a Tic-Tac-Dough with the chosen symbol or the dragon slayer was found, the money was doubled (up to $8,000) and the winning contestant also won a prize package. Finding the dragon slayer on the first pick won $1,000.

Champions stayed on the show till they won 15 matches or were defeated, with the most won being 12.

Trivia[]

The show was distributed by ITC.

Stations[]

Stations that aired this included:

  • New York – WNBC (which dropped it after four months on the air on 1/7/1991)
  • Los Angeles – KCOP (which dropped it after eight weeks on the air on 10/29/1990)
  • Chicago -- WMAQ
  • Philadelphia – KYW
  • San Francisco – KRON
  • Boston – WBZ
  • Dallas/Fort Worth - KXAS (the station yanked it from its 2:30 p.m. time slot after two months to 1:30 a.m. and replaced it with The Judge)
  • Houston - KRIV
  • Phoenix -- KPHO
  • Minneapolis – KARE
  • Miami – WCIX (the station yanked it from its 4:00 p.m. time slot after two months to 2:25 a.m. and replaced it with the first half of Star Trek: The Next Generation)
  • San Diego -- KGTV
  • Cincinnati -- WLWT
  • Seattle – KIRO (which dropped it after four months on the air on 1/7/1991)
  • St. Louis – KMOV (the station yanked it from its 10:30 a.m. time slot after eighteen weeks to 1:30 a.m. and replaced it with Barbara DeAngelis' short-lived talk show)
  • Cleveland -- WJW
  • Pittsburgh - WPXI
  • Indianapolis -- WTHR
  • Baltimore – WBAL
  • Kansas City – WDAF (the station yanked it from its 3:30 p.m. time slot after three months to 1:30 a.m. and replaced it with the second half of Highway to Heaven)
  • Milwaukee – WITI
  • Norfolk - WTKR
  • Des Moines – WHO (which dropped it after nineteen weeks on the air on 1/18/1991)
  • Madison -- WMTV (which dropped it after twenty weeks on the air on 1/28/1991)
  • Wausau -- WAOW
  • Honolulu - KGMB (which dropped it after eleven weeks on the air on 11/25/1990)
  • Louisville - WLKY
  • South Bend - WNDU
  • Albany, NY - WNYT
  • Mobile, AL - WKRG
  • Detroit - WJBK (which dropped it after eleven weeks on the air on 11/19/1990 and replaced it with Graham Kerr's short-lived cooking show)
  • Grand Rapids - WOTV
  • Albuquerque - KGGM (the station yanked it from its 4:30 p.m. time slot after eight weeks on the air to 12:00 a.m. and replaced it with the syndicated version of Family Feud)
  • Harrisburg - WHP
  • Hartford - WVIT
  • New Orleans - WVUE
  • Amarillo - KFDA
  • Columbus, OH - WCMH (which dropped it after sixteen weeks on the air in favor of Hard Copy on 12/24/1990)
  • Washington, D.C. - WRC
  • Tampa - WFLA (which dropped it after four months on the air on 1/7/1991)
  • Portland - KPDX
  • Charlotte - WCNC (which dropped it after eighteen weeks on the air in favor of Head of The Class reruns on 1/7/1991)
  • Asheville - WYFF
  • Flint - WEYI
  • Atlanta - WSB
  • Las Vegas - KVBC
  • Sacramento - KOVR
  • Wichita - KWCH
  • Birmingham - WBMG (now WIAT)
  • Fort Myers - WINK
  • Lincoln, NE - KHAS
  • Denver - KTVD
  • Tallahassee - WTWC
  • Little Rock - KARK
  • Salt Lake City - KSTU
  • Rochester, NY - WROC
  • Buffalo - WGRZ
  • Springfield, MA - WWLP
  • Sheveport - KSLA
  • Colorado Springs - KOAA
  • Fort Wayne - WFFT
  • Oklahoma City - KOKH
  • Great Falls, MT - KRTV
  • Missoula, MT - KPAX
  • Billings - KTVQ
  • Butte, MT - KXLF
  • Helena, MT - KXLH
  • Bozeman, MT - KBZK
  • Hays, KS - KBSH
  • Dayton - WHIO
  • Jacksonville, FL - WJKS
  • Montgomery, AL - WHOA
  • Boise - KTVB
  • Raleigh - WRAL
  • Canada - CTV
  • Fresno - KMPH

International Versions[]

Main Article: Tic Tac Dough/International

Merchandise[]

No Merchandise

Photos[]

Tic Tac Dough 1990 ad

Trade Ads[]

Set Pic[]

Map[]

Episode Status[]

See Also[]

Tic Tac Dough
Tic Tac Dough (1978)
Tic Tac Dough (2000 proposed pilot)
Tic Tac Dough (2021 Pilot)

Link[]

Rules for Tic Tac Dough at the Game Show Temple

Video[]

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