For whatever reason, I got to thinking about Video & Arcade Top 10 today. For those of you who may not know (which is likely), it was a show that aired on YTV from - and I was floored when I read this - 1991 to 2006. I didn't remember it on TV for that long. That's pretty impressive for any television show, especially a cheesy game show.
Filmed in front of a live, studio audience in Toronto, Video & Arcade Top 10 was a head-to-head competition where kids would play against each other for prizes. Each contestant on the show also played for a home player and an audience member who would also win if their in-studio counterpart pulled off the big victory. I'd say if you were in elementary or junior high school in the 1990's, you're probably starting to remember what I'm talking about by now.
I remember there being a lot of Nintendo consoles on that show. It was rare that they played anything that was Nintendo related, so I'm guessing the Big N was one of the sponsors.
The winner received a copy of the game they were playing that day, which I always thought was pretty cool. Heck, second place won dinner for two at Medieval Times. Third and fourth place got Video & Arcade Top 10 T-shirts, something that I'd parade around my Grade 6 class in no problem. Needless to say, everyone was a winner.
The show had a number of segments to go along with the competition, like music and movie reviews. The one that stuck in my head was ‘Letter Time' with Nicholas Picholas (Is that his real name?). He used to sing that little ‘It's letter time...it's letter time' jingle before reading a post card. It's weird the things that stick with you.
The charismatic and quick-talking Picholas was probably the most memorable host on the show, mainly due to his weird name and the fact he hosted it for so long. But I looked up a few of the other hosts and two of them got their start on the show and went on to pretty steady TV and movie careers. Both Gordon Michael Woolvett and Lexa Doig boast a pretty long and active resumé on imdb.com. They both ended up on the sci-fi show Andromeda from 2000-2005 as one of their most notable pieces of work.
So to summarize, Video & Arcade Top 10 was totally rad, dude.