Dream House (TV series)

Game Show created by Don Reid in which two couples competed to win a new house by answering questions. The original ran on ABC daytime from 1968 to 1970 (and in nighttime for six months in 1968) and was hosted by Mike Darrow; in it, two couples competed in a game of quick recall. The first player to buzz-in got to answer first, with a correct answer scoring five points. If s/he was wrong, the other couple could try to answer for 10 points. When a player gave a correct answer, s/he was locked out of the next question.

Two minutes before the end of the game, which lasted from four to five minutes, the point values doubled, and at the end was the "Catch-Up Round" in which the trailing couple could choose one last question from 10 to 50 points (if they answered correctly, the other couple got one last shot). The winning couple won a room of furniture, and seven rooms (four on the nighttime show) won a new house worth over $40,000, plus $7,000 cash to purchase land.

And therein lay the problem with the original series, which gave away over a dozen houses in its first year: TV Guide reported in mid-1969 that none of said houses was completed and some couples had to borrow much more than the $7,000 given to them. After this, the format was overhauled:

Three couples competed in Round 1, and all players were allowed to buzz in on every question. The points were doubled during the last two minutes of the round, and the two leading couples played Round 2 (done just like the original format). Winning five rooms offered an airplane as an incentive to quit, and couples who went all the way could take the house or $20,000 cash. Dream House was canned on January 2, 1970, replaced by All My Children.

The Revival aired on NBC from 1983 to 1984, hosted by Bob Eubanks. As before, two teams of two (usually married couples) competed; Eubanks read a true-false toss-up question, and a correct answer awarded $50 and control of a question board of four categories. Each category had a multiple-choice question and, after the couple gave their answer, the opposing team could challenge and give their own answer (but only two challenges were allowed per couple). Right answers won $100, plus $50 for an unsuccessful challenge.

The game was played in two rounds, and the leading couple after Round 1 won a prize. Round 2 was the same, except each team had a one-time opportunity to double the value of the question before Eubanks asked it. The leading couple after Round 2 won the game, received a room of furniture, and advanced to the bonus round (although both couples kept any money and prizes earned).

The winning couple faced the Golden Doors and attempted to enter its three-digit combination. The couple began with 12 digits (three rows of four), but could remove one digit from each row by answering up to three questions; a digit was also removed from each row for each day they returned as champs. Entering the correct combination, or winning a certain number of games (see below), won a house worth about $100,000.

In early 1984, the rules changed: The couple in control had to hit a plunger to determine the questions' value via the Money Machine, a light that stopped on $50, $100, $150, Prize, Turnover {gave control to the other team} or Number Off (a correct answer eliminated a digit in the Bonus Round if that couple won). Winning by a margin of $500–$950 awarded a prize (later reduced to $500), and a victory margin of $1,000 or more awarded a new car.

This version ended in June 1984, replaced the following Monday by Scrabble.


 * Big Win Sirens: The stock "NBC Sirens" sounded if a couple was successful at the--
 * Bonus Round: Eubanks' version had the Golden Doors.
 * Game Show Winnings Cap: Seven games on the original series and early Eubanks shows. The limit was then reduced to five, and later increased to six.
 * If a couple on the Eubanks version reached this limit, the "Golden Doors Circuit Breaker" was invoked, a special prop to denote a grand champion winning "Their Dream House".
 * Home Game: Milton Bradley made one in 1968.
 * Losing Horns: More of a subversion; a harsh two-tone buzzer sounded if the couple entered an incorrect combination at the Golden Doors.
 * Personnel:
 * The Announcer: Chet Gould on ABC, Johnny Gilbert on NBC.
 * Game Show Host: Mike Darrow on ABC, Bob Eubanks on NBC.
 * Progressive Jackpot: Subverted; instead of adding to the grand prize, a couple making a return trip to the bonus round received an additional number off the combination per day returning.


 * Hey, It's That Guy!: Bob Eubanks is, of course, most famous as the host of The Newlywed Game.
 * Keep Circulating the Tapes: The original series is gone, with only one daytime show existing from August 1968. About 10 episodes of the Eubanks run circulate.
 * Luck-Based Mission: In the Golden Doors round, the couple had to guess at the correct combination after eliminating incorrect digits. Even if they had one digit remaining on the top row and one on the middle row, the bottom row had one correct digit and at least one wrong digit.