Jackpot/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.



  • Funny Moments: As noted in a book of bloopers by Kermit Schaefer:

Questioner: First you open my drawer, then you make a sale. What am I?
King of the Hill: A hooker!
(the correct answer was "a cash register")

  • Moment of Awesome: The $38,750 Super Jackpot win.
  • Replacement Scrappy: Mike Darrow, although to be fair he got the longest-running version.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks:
    • Lin Bolen's changes, instituted on June 30, 1975.
      • Most egregiously, the questions changed from riddles to general-knowledge questions of the yes-no, true-false, and multiple-choice varieties.
      • The Target Number and Multiplier were dropped, with the Super Jackpot being established for a random amount from $2,000 to $10,000 (far less than the $20,000+ Super Jackpots offered previously, and could actually end up being worth less than the Jackpot).
      • If the Jackpot Question was found, the Expert could either try to answer it right then, or go for the Super Jackpot by answering all of the other remaining questions in the game, including the Jackpot Question. If the Expert missed any of the remaining questions, the Jackpot was reset to $0 and a new Super Jackpot value was set — but if the Jackpot Question was the last one picked, the Super Jackpot was discarded.
    • The 1984 pilot. Not only did a bonus round ("Riddlegrams", recycled from Shoot For The Stars and later into Double Talk) not fit with the show's premise, but all riddles were worth $150 and there was no Super Jackpot (leaving the Jackpot Riddle until last added $5,000 to it).