A Weird Idea That Actually Works

jeremycrimsonfox

Supermarket Sweep is one of those game shows I saw as a kid. Airing on Lifetime, Supermarket Sweep is basically a weird idea: a game show set within a supermarket, with all the questions based around food, but it actually works, especially in a time before I ever knew of the Food Network (where a show like this would have better fit).

Hosted by David Ruprecht, the game show pits three teams of two people against each other for the chance to win $5,000. The first two rounds start with a mini-sweep, which starts with a question, and whoever gets it right has ten seconds added to their sweep time and the teammate goes through the supermarket to search for the product that was the question's answer, with bonus money awarded based on fast he or she gets said product back to David. The two rounds add some variety, as each one has a different view each episode, but what is similar is the questions in them (as well as the round robin round at the end of round two) add time to a team's sweep time, which is used for the best part of the show: the big sweep.

The big sweep is neat as it has all three teams going through the supermarket to get the most in groceries and other bonuses (bonuses which also differ by episode) with commentary by Johnny Gilbert (who is best known as the announcer for Jeopardy!). The team has the highest amount afterwards goes on to the final round, where they have one minute to find three marked products tied to three clues (the third product hiding five thousand dollars in cash). Regardless of winning or losing, the team who got to the final round keeps their winnings, and the other two teams get parting gifts (so they don't leave empty handed).

This is a neat game show. The games are neat (like the 30 Second Shootout, which each team has thirty seconds to guess three products in the style of The $10,000 Pyramid), and the big sweep has some neat gimmicks (including inflatables of food mascots which has a random money bonus amount). This is a classic game show worth checking out.

score 10/10

jeremycrimsonfox 10 July 2020

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5893977/