Definition

Definition was a Canadian television game show, which aired on CTV from 1974 to 1989, and filmed at its flagship studio of CFTO-TV in Scarborough, Ontario. For its first season, the show was hosted by Bob McLean, with Jim Perry as announcer. Beginning the next season, Perry moved in front of the camera to take over as emcee, with veteran Toronto weatherman Dave Devall filling the vacancy in the announcer's booth, positions they both held for the rest of the show's run.

Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir^[1] , the creators of The Newlywed Game, created the series, resulting in the show being syndicated for some international audiences as well. It was a Glen-Warren Production for the CTV Television Network.

Definition was essentially a variation on the word game Hangman. Two teams of two competed, originally a contestant and celebrity and from 1985 on two pairs of regular contestants. The teams would take turns guessing letters in a phrase for which Perry had offered a pun as a clue.

Definition was one of the longest-running game shows in Canadian television, and made host Perry a household name during the 1970s and 1980s. Perry hosted Definition concurrently with hosting Headline Hunters, as well as several game shows in the States, including Card Sharks and Sale of the Century. Between 1978 and 1981, Perry hosted three game shows at once, Card Sharks, Definition and Headline Hunters, and was the first emcee in North American television to simultaneously host three different game shows.

Dave Michaels hosted the pilot for Definition. Michaels had previously announced the Nicholson-Muir game show Matches ’n Mates with Art James and later anchored news for KABC-TV and CNN during the first Gulf War.

The game has often been compared to Wheel of Fortune, an American game show, also based on hangman, that debuted at around the same time (1975).

Rules

The challengers began the game one with one teammate "giving away" a letter to their opponents. The usual strategy involved "giving away" a rare letter, such as Q, Z or X. However, the longer a puzzle went unsolved, the more difficult it would become to safely choose a letter that wasn't in the phrase, and some phrases did contain the rare letters as well.

If the giveaway letter did not appear in the puzzle, then the other teammate would "take a letter" that he/she believed was in the puzzle. A correct letter at this point would give that team a guess at the puzzle. If no guess was given, or an incorrect answer was given, then the opposing team would get control of the puzzle.

In the event that one team gave away a letter that was in the puzzle, the other team would get a free guess at the puzzle. Right or wrong, that team would then get another turn.

The first team to solve two puzzles — later changed to three — won the match and advanced to a bonus game. In said game the team faced one final definition, in which the letters would be revealed one by one in alphabetical order. If they solved the puzzle the team received a small merchandise prize and $10 for each unrevealed blank. If they failed to solve the puzzle $10 was given as a consolation prize. Five consecutive wins allowed the players to play for a bigger prize like a refrigerator.

The show, while popular, was also frequently mocked for the cheapness of its prizes, which were usually small appliances, pen and pencil sets, or other small courtesy gifts. Only the show's annual championship tournaments offered expensive prizes, such as a car or a resort vacation. In stark contrast, Jim Perry's other game shows, Card Sharks and Sale of the Century, gave away tens of thousands of dollars in cash in prizes on a regular basis.

In later years, at least one puzzle per episode was selected from viewer mail.

Theme music

The show's theme song was taken from an instrumental jazz piece by Quincy Jones, "Soul Bossa Nova". It was sampled by the Ontario hip hop band Dream Warriors in their 1991 hit "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style", and was later also used as the theme music for Mike Myers' Austin Powers movies.

Later seasons of Definition used a new arrangement of the song which was not as readily recognizable.

Adaptations

A British version of Definition aired on the ITV network from 1978 until about 1986 produced by HTV West and was originally hosted by Don Moss and then by the late Jeremy Beadle. British audiences also witnessed the Jim Perry hosted version when it aired on UK cable station, Living TV (formerly UK Living) in the 1990s.

References