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Blockbusters Online

Blockbusters  Online
Original Title :
Blockbusters
Genre :
TV Series / Game Show
Cast :
Bill Rafferty,Rich Jeffries
Type :
TV Series
Rating :
6.4/10

An updated version of the popular early-80's game show of the same name. While the original used pairs of family members as contestants, this version used a simpler, one- on-one format. ... See full summary

Blockbusters Online

An updated version of the popular early-80's game show of the same name. While the original used pairs of family members as contestants, this version used a simpler, one- on-one format. Presented with a grid of hexagons, each with a letter printed on it, one contestant had to make a horizontal line of five hexes, while his opponent tried to make a vertical line of four. For each chosen hex, a general knowledge question was asked, the answer to which began with the letter printed on the hex. Whoever gave the correct answer to the question got control of the hex and could choose the next hex to be used.
Series cast summary:
Bill Rafferty Bill Rafferty - Himself - Host 2 episodes, 1987
Rich Jeffries Rich Jeffries - Himself - Announcer 2 episodes, 1987

The buzzer sound for both contestants in this version was a combination of both sounds used in the original version.

The show's theme song is a stock music piece called "Run Don't Walk" that was released by the KPM Musichouse music library in the early 1980s. The song was composed by British composer Richard Myhill, but credited to the Music Design Group.


User reviews

Wishamac

Wishamac

The original "Blockbusters" was a difficult, challenging and tasteful show pitting one single player against two relatives, the idea being to test "whether two heads are better than one", as the tag went. This retreaded (in order to avoid the term revitalized, since it was not) version removed the unique aspect of 2 against 1 and made it just an ordinary, run-of-the-mill game show with just two players going up against one another to a computer-generated screen and a plethora of questions culled from "Hints from Heloise" and other silly rather than truly trivia-oriented topics. In the gold rush bonus round, a ludicrous handle bar sprung up from the floor which looked like one of those things used to move a cart along railroad tracks. Replacing the rather erudite Bill Cullen as host was the fleshy, smarmy Rafferty who often seemed to misunderstand the basic strategy of the game and sometimes even got mixed up as which direction the players were headed on the game board. In the earlier version, players tended to extend the playing time (and the suspense) by building a connection in a more vague and studied way. Here, it was basically connect the dots with no regard for whether that meant the game would be over far more quickly. Without the class of the original components and the conceit of two players pitted against a lone one (who had to be very bright in order to hold his or her ground), this became just another generic game show and sank very quickly.