Runaround
Debut: January 01, 1972
Ended: January 01, 1973

This combination stunt and quiz show for kids debuted on NBC TV in the fall of 1972. A group of youngsters ages 8 to 12 would listen to music or watch a comedy skit or a demonstration. And then they would be asked asked a question pertaining to the music or the situation that they had witnessed EG's "Is a Sponge an animal,vegtabile or a mineral","What film used the song"The Candy Man"..Is it "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory", "The Wizard Of Oz" or "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!"? The possible answers to the question would be shown on a lighted game board on the other side of the studio. The kids would run to the game board and then the kids would run all over the game board to prevent their oppenents from standing on the section that had the right answer. But after a few second..the host would say"When you hear the click..you gotto stick"..When he clicked his little clicking device. The kids had to stop and stand on that part of the game board ..that had the right answer. When they stayed on that spot..the host would call up to the lighting director and ask"All Right..Who is right with the light"? And the kids that stood on the spot that had the answer EG"Animal","Willy Wonka" won that round and pick out tokens(Rubber ball)from a large glass bowl and place them in chutes near the seating section of the studio. Those kids that either moved off of the game board when the clicker was sounded or who didn't get the right answer..had to sit in th penalty box..until they would be called out and they had to answer another question based upon their knowledge on a certain subject"How many presidents served in The White House..before 1945"? The kid who is able to answer the most questions and obtain the most tokens..would win a collection of toy prizes and a trip with their family to either Hawaii,NYC or to Canada. The show was not a hit and it left the air after one season. Ventriloquist Paul Winchell was the series host and more often than not. He would have his puppet pals:"Jerry Mahoney" and "Knucklehead Smiff"perform a comedy skit that would lead into the questions that were posed to the contestants. This was Paul Winchell's last regular on camera tv stint. Following the cancellation of"Runaround"..he would confine his tv efforts to doing voice overs for cartoons and commercials and doing guest appearances on tv talk shows and specials.

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