Treasure Hunt (American game show)

Treasure Hunt (or The New Treasure Hunt) was a United States game show that ran in the 1950s, 1970s and 1980s. The show featured contestants selecting a treasure chest or box with surprises inside in hopes of winning large prizes or a cash jackpot.

1950s version (Treasure Hunt)

The earliest version of the show first appeared in the US from 1956 to 1959, first on ABC, later on NBC The original show was hosted and produced by Jan Murray. It involved contestants playing a quiz, with the winner going on a "treasure hunt" with a select number of treasure chests with prizes including a grand prize.

1970s version (The New Treasure Hunt)

Producer Chuck Barris bought the US Treasure Hunt format in the 1970s and revived the game in weekly syndication in 1973. This version, called The New Treasure Hunt, involved women (there were no male contestants) competing to select one of 30 boxes (aka "Surprise Packages") for a top prize of $25,000 (roughly $100,000 in 2006 dollars).

Geoff Edwards hosted the 1970s and 1980s versions. Johnny Jacobs was the announcer for most of the 1970s/1980s version until his death in 1982. Models on the 1970s version included Sivi Aberg (who would resurface after the show's ending on Barris' well-known classic, The Gong Show), Naome DeVargas, Jane Nelson and actress Pamela Hensley. Security was extremely tight, and no cue cards were used as a result.

The opening theme, closing theme, and the klunk cue were done by Chuck Barris, however the closing theme is credited to Elmer Bernstein. Some of Barris' other music used on previous game shows, such as the unsold pilot for Cop-Out, were reused. Music from other sources used on the series include:

"Put It Where You Want It" and "Funny Shuffle" by The Crusaders;

"The Boss Walk" by The Majestics;

"American Sundae" by Mark Wirtz (N.B. sometimes this song is titled as "America Sundae" as suggested by the lyrics sung in the music)

Gameplay

To begin, 10 female members of the studio audience were given small gift boxes. Three of these boxes contained cards with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 inside them. As host Geoff Edwards instructed them to open their boxes, the three contestants with numbers came down to the center of the stage. These three women then picked one of three jack in the boxes, the contestant with the number 1 getting first choice. The one who had the pop-up surprise earned the right to go on the Treasure Hunt, selecting one of the thirty boxes on display.

Once the box was chosen and after a commercial break, the contestant had the option of taking a cash payoff (ranging from $500 to $2,000 originally; later in the run these could be worth up to $2,500), or keeping the box instead and winning whatever was inside. This could be a prize package, vacation, automobile, a check for anywhere between $5,000 and $14,000, or a worthless prize called a "klunk" (a word created by Geoff Edwards himself, similar in meaning to that of zonks on Let's Make A Deal). One box contained a check for the grand prize of $25,000.

Skits

Upon making her selection, the contestant was not shown what she had won immediately; as this was a Chuck Barris production, the entire premise of this show was to capitalize on the female contestants' emotions. Host Edwards would go through a comedic skit with the contestant, usually using props, to mislead the contestant as to what she had finally won. Very often, a contestant would be shown a "klunk", only to have this lead to the actual prize, which could be just another "klunk", but was often much bigger. Edwards, who has acting experience, had to memorize up to 30 skits per episode (66 in the 1980s version) due to the lack of cue cards. No skit was involved when the top prize was won, other than the on-set hysterics following the revealing of the check; shrill sirens went off, confetti and balloons dropped from the ceiling, and on a few occasions late in the run, the contestant was swarmed onstage by Barris staff members.

Two games were played per show, each involving one half of the studio audience (the two halves faced each other, similar to seating at a sporting event.) If the check was found during the first half of the show, another was hidden for the second half; according to several fan sites, there was at least one episode in this version where the $25,000 was won twice.

At the end of each episode, if the top prize was not won, the box that had the check was revealed. But before doing so, Edwards would go on a monologue with the show's bonded security agent (in actuality, a studio security guard) named Emile Autouri in an attempt to strike a conversation with him, but to no avail. Eventually, Autouri did speak, only using the words "Yes I did" when Edwards asked him if he knew where the box with the check was.

Controversy

An often talked about incident on The New Treasure Hunt was the contestant on the 1970s version who was told she had won a vintage Rolls-Royce convertible, and then fainted. This incident was replayed on the CBS newsmagazine 60 Minutes. Producer Chuck Barris was proud of this fact, given the show's premise.

During the 1976-77 season, Barris wanted to make The New Treasure Hunt more sadistic, including a skit in which he would instruct Geoff Edwards to tell a contestant that she won "a brand new... car windshield!". Edwards wanted no part of Barris' deeds and was initially fired, but was brought back soon thereafter. The damage was already done, however, and the series ended in 1977.

Trivia

GSN ranked The New Treasure Hunt #49 in its Top 50 Game Shows of All Time.

1980s version (Treasure Hunt)

The New Treasure Hunt returned in daily syndication in 1981, with Edwards again as host; however, there were some notable differences. The title was shortened back to Treasure Hunt. There were now 66 surprise packages on stage, and instead of a flat $25,000, there was now a growing jackpot that started out at $20,000 and increased by $1,000 every day that it was not won. Once the jackpot reached $50,000, it remained at this amount until someone finally won it.

Geoff Edwards returned as host. Upon the death of announcer Johnny Jacobs, he was replaced by Tony McClay, another Barris staffer that had also done work on the 1970s version. The model on the 1980s version was Jan Speck, who has had acting roles in several 1980s movies. Chuck Barris had no direct involvement in the 1981-82 version other than packaging it (he shared executive-producer credit with Budd Granoff this time around), and Edwards has stated in recent years that he enjoyed this version more than he did with the initial 1973-77 version.

Again, two games were played per show, one with each half of the audience. In this version, the female members of the studio audience were given balloons. One of these balloons contained a card with a star on it. On Geoff's cue, the contestants popped the balloons; the lady with the star came down to center stage where she then faced the previous game's winner. There were now only two jack-in-the-boxes, with the challenger receiving the choice between them. As in the 1970s version, the contestant who had the pop-up surprise in her jack-in-the-box went on the Treasure Hunt.

In this version, possibly due to it being shown daily instead of weekly, the prizes were of significantly lesser value; however, winning the right to go on the Treasure Hunt also guaranteed a contestant the opportunity to play the next game for a chance to go on another one. The player selected from one of the 66 boxes, and again was given the opportunity to sell the box back to Edwards. However, the cash payoff was now only worth between $500 and $1,000. In addition, the extravagant prizes that characterized the 1970s version were gone. Winning contestants frequently only won one or two appliances, a trip, or a small room package; the cars were scaled back to inexpensive models (especially the Chevrolet Chevette); there were also no longer checks worth less than the grand prize. However, a 52-day cruise valuing over $18,000 was offered regularly, and was won at least once. The klunks, of course, remained.

Memorable contestants

At least four women in the 1980s version won the jackpot:

Diana Arispi, $23,000;
Becky Jacke, $20,000;
Rose Evans, $50,000;
Linda Sullivan, $21,000.

On one episode, when the jackpot was $46,000, a woman named Michelle Heron took the cash payoff instead, only to find out that her box contained the grand prize check for $46,000. This caused her husband, who encouraged his wife to take the sure thing, to walk out of the studio. Several weeks later, a contestant passed up the $50,000 grand prize before it was finally won by a Jamaican contestant, Rose Evans. Upon hearing the news that she had won it, she proceeded to bear-hug Edwards and pick him up and down a few times in the excitement of winning the jackpot. Edwards had a similar situation occur years earlier in the 1970s version when another Jamaican contestant found the box with a check for $25,000.

Other memorable moments

At the end of the show, if the check was not won, Geoff again visited with Emile Autouri to find out where the check was hidden, and again Autouri remained speechless except for saying "Yes I did". On this version, Edwards would also bring small children up to try to get Emile to crack a smile, but still to no effect. Autouri, however, did play on to Geoff's teasing several times, once pretending to fall asleep while Geoff was talking to him. After a $20,000 win in the second game, he responded "Yes I shall" when Geoff asked him to get another check ready for the next show. Finally, Emile broke character and asked for a cue card, catching Edwards totally off guard (this might be an inside reference to the fact that cue cards were still not allowed on the set.)

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