Underplayed Gems

Card Sharks (1978)

Card Sharks poster
Directed by
Paul Alter, Marc Breslow
Genre
quiz show
Country
United States
Length
3 seasons, 842 episodes
Rating
6.9 of 10 from 8 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this series is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

Contestants predict the results of surveys to take control of a row of large playing cards. Then they guess whether the next card will be higher or lower to win. The show has been revived several times since the 1970s.

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What happens

Card Sharks is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Contestants attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row of oversized playing cards, then determine whether the next card drawn is higher or lower. The title Card Sharks is a play on the term "card shark", a person skilled at card games. The concept has been made into a series four separate times since its debut in 1978, and it also appeared as part of CBS's Gameshow Marathon. The show originally ran on NBC from 1978 to 1981 with Jim Perry hosting. The show returned and ran from 1986 to 1989 on CBS with Bob Eubanks as host, accompanied by a syndication production with Bill Rafferty. Gene Wood was the announcer in both the 1970s and 1980s. Another syndicated production aired in 2001 with Pat Bullard as host and Gary Kroeger as announcer. A revival hosted by Joel McHale aired on ABC from June 2019 to July 2021. Each production has featured various assistants to handle the playing cards. Reruns of the older versions currently air on Buzzr. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

This page is from Underplayed Gems. Not quite it? You can browse by genre, country and year, or take this one into the 3D catalogue and ask the Catbot for something closer.