Card Sharks (2001)

This is chronicling the ill-fated 2001 revival of Card Sharks. This version was once well-known for making drastic changes with mainly Candid Camera/Street Smarts-esque like video clips replacing survey questions while also having a bad reputation for being the most hated version of all time.

Pilot
Another pilot was shot on November 17, 2000, which was later retooled and became the format for the 2001 version but it was still drastic than the very successful incarnations of the 1970s and 1980s. Hosted by Pat Bullard while the dealer was Daphnee Lynn Duplaix instead of Tami Anderson while the announcer was Burton Richardson instead of Gary Kroeger from the 2001 series. While many elements of the eventual aired series came from this pilot, this also contained elements that were not used in the subsequent series.

All rounds used the "Hidden Camera" question format where contestants predicted the outcome of situations to win control. A contestant will watch the clip and when the video stopped at mid-point, the contestant in control must then decide what the outcome of the video is. A correct prediction earned control of the cards, but an incorrect prediction gave the opponent control of the cards. The contestants alternate turns doing this.

Round 1: Blackjack
Each time a player earned control they gained control a card and can choose to keep the card or change it. Just like in Blackjack, a player could stand if their hand totaled 12 or more. Once a player stood, the opponent continued to draw cards until they beat their opponent's hand or busted. The player who won this round received $200.

Round 2
Three cards were dealt and a question was played. The winner of the question was shown the first card and either chose to play the cards or pass the cards to their opponent. Whoever played the cards had to correctly predict whether the following cards were higher or lower than the previous card. If the player was successful, he/she won $300; otherwise, their opponent won the money. After the first set of three cards were played, another question and four cards were dealt, played in the same fashion for $400. Following this, a final question and five cards were dealt with the winner receiving $500.

Round 3: Classic Card Sharks
Each player was dealt with five cards from the same deck as opposed to separate decks, Questions were played as before and whoever earned control played their cards with the options and rules from the 1978-89 main game. The player who won the round received $1,000 with the first to reach $1,500 winning the game. Both players kept any money earned.

The Money Cards were played similar to the 2001-02 version. However, instead of $700 on each line, the money won in the main game were divided evenly based on the contestant's winning total among the three tiers and added to the player's total as the player progressed through the round.

Main game
The gameplay was drastically different from the successful incarnations of the 1970s and 1980s (along with the pilot from the early 2000s). Four players competed, two at a time, in a best-of-three match. Each round used a single row of seven cards. This version was still hosted by Pat Bullard however, the announcer was Gary Kroeger instead of Burton Richardson from the pilot while the dealer was former star of the hit MTV reality show The Real World: Los Angeles Tami Anderson (now Tami Roman) instead of Daphnee Lynn Duplaix from the pilot.

Perhaps the most jarring difference was the lack of survey, educated guess and "10 audience members" questions used on the previous versions from the 70s and 80s; instead, one player started the game in control of the cards and kept control as long as they kept guessing correctly. An incorrect guess passed control over to the other player unless it was on the last card of the row, when it meant an automatic loss for the player who guessed it wrong.

All four players were given two "Clip Chip" tokens to start the game, and if one of them wanted to change the card in play they would place the token in a slot on their podium. A video clip would play, with one of three possible options:


 * A situation (a la Candid Camera or Street Smarts) which was stopped before its resolution.
 * Someone introduces himself/herself and then asks which of two others he/she is associated with.
 * Someone trying to list answers related to a topic within 10 seconds, or sing the correct lyrics to an obscure song.

Correctly predicting the outcome of the clip allowed the contestant to change the card, while an incorrect answer did not.

Each game was worth $500. As before, two games were needed to win the match. The winner received a total of $1,000. The loser received an Argus digital camera as a consolation prize in addition to the $500 if they won a game.

The third game, if necessary, was played similar to the tiebreaker on the original Card Sharks with three cards. The difference, other than the fact that there was only one row of cards used, was that no Clip Chips could be used.

The two match winners then squared off in the Big Deal, one final row of seven cards. Clip Chips, if the players had any left, were still in play. Whoever won this final showdown won an additional $1,100 and advanced to the Money Cards. The loser of the Big Deal won a consolation trip to Las Vegas in addition to their previous $1,000.

Money Cards
This version's Money Cards differed from the original three versions.

The Money Cards board was pyramid-shaped. Three rows of cards (three cards on the bottom row, two cards in the middle and one card on the top) were dealt, with the last card on the top row called the "Major Wager" (an updated version of the "Big Bet" seen in earlier versions in the 70s and 80s).

The day's champion's $2,100 were equally divided among each of the three rows ($700 per row).

Just as in the original NBC version, the winning contestant can change the base card on each row.

The contestant began with $700 on the bottom row. The top card from the deck was placed at the start of the row and shown to the contestant, who then made a wager based on whether he/she thought the next card was higher or lower, with a minimum wager of $100. Wagering continued until the contestant played the three cards on the bottom row or busted.

The last card on the bottom row was moved to the left of the middle row and the contestant received an additional $700. The contestant then played the next two cards as he/she did on the first row, wagering as he/she went along.

The last card in the middle row was placed next to the card on the top row for the final bet, the "Major Wager", and the contestant received an additional $700. The minimum bet on this card was at least half of the contestant's current total. The maximum total possible was $51,800.

Contestants could only change the base card on each row. A tie (push) originally returned the amount wagered to the contestant (as had been the case since late 1980), but it was later changed to a loss (from 1978-late 1980). If a contestant busted on the final card, he/she received $700 as a consolation prize. The most money ever won on this version was $27,450.

Unlike the earlier versions, the games were self-contained, starting with the semifinals and ending with the Money Cards. In addition, there were no returning champions, educated guess and no car games.

Trivia
Tom Bergeron was once offered the chance to host this version, but later turned it down.

Some of it's set and props from this version were later re-used for the short-lived Game Show Network/GSN reboot of the cult-classic 1980s game show Press Your Luck called Whammy!: The All-New Press Your Luck (shorten to Whammy! later on in 2003) hosted by Todd Newton and was also announced by Gary Kroeger from 2002 until 2003.

The "WOOSH!" sound effect from this version was carried over to the current syndicated version of Family Feud (starting with the O'Hurley version) since then.

Despite its short run at the time, this version did a week of special shows in October 2001 featuring Armed Forces members, firefighters and police officers called "America's Heroes", in order to celebrate the police and firefighters of 9/11. During that week, any money earned by contestants would also be matched by the production company in the form of a donation to the contestant's preferred 9/11-related charity.

This version only features one female card dealer instead of two female card dealers (i.e. Daphne Lynn Duplaix in the pilot and Tami Anderson [now Roman] in the series). In addition, this was the one and only version to do so.

Tami Anderson [now Roman] was reportedly a huge fan of the original 1978 version of Card Sharks with Jim Perry and even mentioned Perry's name in the first episode.

Many game show fans have referred to this version as Casino, ("Card Sharks in Name Only") or Card Guppies.

This was the one and only revival produced by Pearson Television (later FremantleMedia [North America], now Fremantle) to have never did a split screen-styled brief promo for their online Uproar game during the end credits.

Besides The Price is Right (1972 version) until 2007, this was the one and only version to feature the name, logo and announcement of "A Mark Goodson Television Production" said by Kroeger.

Merchandise
Main Article: Card Sharks (2001)/Merchandise

Photos
Main Article: Card Sharks (2001)/Photos

Stations
Stations that aired this included:
 * New York – WWOR
 * Los Angeles – KCAL
 * Chicago -- WCIU
 * Philadelphia – WGTW
 * San Francisco – KTVU
 * Boston – WSBK
 * Houston -- KHWB (now KIAH)
 * Dallas/Fort Worth - KTXA
 * Denver - KTVD
 * Phoenix -- KASW
 * Minneapolis – KWMB (now WUCW)
 * Orlando -- WRBW
 * San Diego -- KSWB
 * Cincinnati -- WSTR
 * Sacramento – KQCA
 * Seattle – KONG
 * Cleveland -- WUAB
 * Pittsburgh - WCWB
 * Indianapolis -- WTTV
 * Baltimore – WUTB
 * Kansas City – KMCI
 * Milwaukee – WDJT
 * Norfolk - WTKR
 * Des Moines – WOI
 * Wausau -- WFXS (now WZAW-LD)
 * Louisville - WBKI
 * South Bend - WBND
 * Detroit - WWJ
 * Harrisburg - WPMT
 * Hartford - WTIC
 * Columbus, OH - WTTE
 * Washington, D.C. - WUSA
 * Tampa - WTTA
 * West Palm Beach - WFLX
 * Green Bay - WACY
 * Atlanta - WGCL
 * Rapid City - KOTA
 * Miami - WBFS
 * Rochester, MN - KTTC
 * Sioux City - KMEG
 * Austin, TX - KXAN
 * Duluth - KBJR
 * Quad Cities - WHBF
 * Champaign - WICD/WICS
 * Johnstown - WWCP
 * Chattanooga - WDEF
 * Richmond - WRLH
 * Omaha - KXVO
 * Quincy, IL - KHQA
 * Palm Springs - KMIR
 * Honolulu - KGMB
 * Greenville, SC - WLOS
 * Madison - WKOW
 * Fairbanks, AK - KXD
 * Shreveport - KTAL
 * Oklahoma City - KOCB
 * Peoria - WAOE
 * Beckley, WV - WOAY
 * Topeka - KSNT
 * Raleigh - WRAL
 * Birmingham - WTTO
 * Terre Haute, IN - WTWO
 * Evansville - WFIE
 * Victoria, TX - KVCT
 * Scranton, PA - WOLF
 * Salt Lake City - KJZZ
 * Jacksonville, FL - WTEV
 * Rockford, IL - WREX
 * Tallahassee, FL - WCTV
 * Valdosta, GA - WVAG
 * Cordele, GA - WSST
 * Grand Rapids - WOTV
 * Lansing - WSYM
 * Fresno - KFRE
 * Waco - KXXV
 * Wichita - KSAS
 * Twin Falls - KSAW
 * Utica - WFXV
 * Tulsa - KTUL
 * Tucson - KGUN
 * Tri-Cities, TN-VA - WKPT
 * Sarasota, FL - WWSB
 * Savannah - WGSA
 * Spokane - KSKN
 * Syracuse - WAWA
 * Springfield, MA - WGGB
 * Sioux Falls - KCPO
 * Santa Barbara - KSBY
 * Roanoke-Lynchburg - WBVA
 * Reno - KAME
 * Presque Isle - WAGM
 * Portland, ME - WPXT
 * Palm Springs - KMIR
 * Paducah - WQTV
 * Oklahoma City - KOCB
 * North Platte - KIIT
 * New Orleans - WWL
 * Nashville - WZTV
 * Mobile - WEAR/WGFX
 * Minot-Bismarck - KXMC
 * Macon - WMGT
 * Lincoln - KHAS
 * Las Vegas - KVWB
 * Lexington - WBLU
 * Laredo - KVTV
 * Lafayette, LA - KLAF
 * La Crosse-Eau Claire - KQEG
 * Knoxville - WTNZ
 * Joplin-Pittsburg - KOAM
 * Helena - KXLH
 * Harlingen-Weslaco - KGBT
 * Hagerstown, MD - WHAG
 * Great Falls - KRTV
 * Greensboro - WXIV
 * Greenville, NC - WCTI
 * Florence, SC - WFXB
 * Eureka, CA - KAEF
 * Eugene - KLSR
 * Erie - WSEE
 * El Paso - KKWB
 * Dayton - WHIO
 * Corpus Christi - KZTV
 * Colorado Springs - KXRM
 * Chico - KRCR
 * Cheyenne - KGWN
 * Charleston - WTAT
 * Casper - KGWC
 * Charlotte - WAXN
 * Butte - KXLF
 * Buffalo - WNYO
 * Burlington - WBVT
 * Binghamton - WBGH
 * Billings - KSVI
 * Bakersfield - KUVI
 * Anchorage - KYES
 * Amarillo - KAMR
 * Albany, GA - WSST
 * Albany, NY - WXXA
 * Abilene - KRBC

Links
Official Website

A review of the Card Sharks 2001 Pilot (via Internet Archive)

Card Sharks (Bullard) @ Jay Anton