The Joke's On Us!

Host

Monty Hall

Announcer

Sandy Hoyt

Assistant

Sylvie Garant

Broadcast

Global Television Network: 1983-1984

Packagers

Take a Break Productions Global Television Network

The Joke's On Us! was a comedy game show where a panel famous funny people told jokes & punchlines and it's up to the contestants to decide which punchline is correct.

Gameplay

Main Game

The show pitted two contestants against each other. Each took turns listening to a joke told by one member of the panel, while the other panel members each delivered a different punchline to the joke. The contestant had to determine which of the punchlines was the original punchline to the joke; if correct, that player scored, otherwise the points went to his/her opponent. Values were 5 points in round 1, 10 points in round 2, and 50 points in the 3rd and final round (which was played slightly differently than the first two: Monty himself read the joke, 3 of the panelists supplied punchlines, and both contestants guessed on the same joke. The 4th panelist revealed the correct punchline). The player with the most points at the end of this round won the game and $250; in the event of a tie, a tie-breaker was played in the same way as a high-low question on Card Sharks.

Later episodes featured an all-cash format where correct answers were worth $25 in round 1 and $50 in round 2. The final joke was worth $100.

Add-a-Word Round

The winner played the "Add-a-Word" bonus round, based on an old party game. A phrase such as "I always forget my..." would appear on a board, under which eight letters would be uncovered one at a time. The celebrities had to go around twice adding a word to the chain that began with the next letter. For the above example, if "A" were uncovered, the first celebrity might say "I always forget my apples." Then if a "B" were uncovered, the second would have to say "I always forget my apples and my balloons." This would continue for all eight letters.

If the celebrity could not remember a previous word, the contestant could tell them. After all eight words were given, the contestant then had to repeat the entire phrase. The celebrities could not tell the contestant the next word, but could mime or gesture to assist. The contestant had 60 seconds to build the chain and repeat it in order to win $500.

The enforcement of the rules was not always strict, and celebrities occasionally gave the wrong word while building the chain or gave verbal clues while the contestants were trying to repeat the chain.

Inventor

Willie Stein & Nat Ligerman

YouTube Link

Diane vs. Doug (1983)