Blankety Blanks

Game Format
Two contestants, including a returning champion, competed. The contestants were always a man and a woman – at no point did two people of the same gender compete. The object was to match the answers of the six celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank statements.

The main game was played in two rounds. The challenger was given a choice of two statements labeled either "A" or "B." Kennedy then read the statement. Many of the show's questions were designed as double entendres, such as "Joan and Paul went to bed and Joan asked Paul to 'blank' her".

The celebrity panelists wrote their answers on cards, after which the contestant gave their answer. Kennedy then asked each celebrity in turn, beginning in the upper left hand corner, to reveal their response. The contestant earned one point for matching answer (or reasonably similar as determined by the adjudicator – producer Tony Connelly who was dubbed by Kennedy "Tony the moustache twirler").

After completion of the round, Kennedy read the statement on the other card for the defender and play was identical.

The challenger again began Round 2, with two new questions, unless he/she matched everyone in the first round. Only panelists that a contestant didn't previously match played this round. If the players tied with the same score at the end of the round the scores were reset to 0–0. Play continued until there was a clear winner.

In the second round on the 1996 revival, the contestant who played second in the first round chose to play with either the top row or bottom row, leaving the other row for the opponent. Each match in this round scored two points

The winner of the game went on to play the Super Match. The contestant had to match a word in a fill-in-the-blank phrase with the most popular response given in an audience survey. The contestant could consult three panelists for suggestions. The most popular answer in the survey was worth $100, the second-most popular $50, and the third most popular $25. The contestant won the amount of the answer they matched with. On both revivals, the answer values were $500, $250, and $100.

If a contestant failed to match any of the three answers, the bonus round ended. If successful the contestant had the opportunity to win 10 times that amount in the "Head-To-Head Match". In this part of the game, they must match another fill-in-the-blank response with a celebrity panelist of his or her choice. If successful, he/she won the money accumulated in both parts of the round. Either way, the winning contestant could keep playing until defeated by another challenger.