Small Talk was an American game show that aired on The Family Channel from September 30, 1996 to January 3, 1997; reruns continued until January 17. It was hosted by comedian Wil Shriner and produced by Reg Grundy Productions, now part of FremantleMedia. A slightly more successful British version was made by the BBC.
The game combined elements of Hollywood Squares & Child's Play.
Main Game
Three contestants faced a game board (the "Video Wall") of seven children, each on a different monitor. Before the taping, the children were asked a series of questions and their answers were video taped. The contestants guessed how they answered.
Rounds 1 & 2
In the first two rounds, a question with two choices was presented, usually about the children (such as "Would you rather watch T.V. or go to the movies?" or "Do men or women make better drivers?"). The contestants secretly predicted how the majority of the kids answered that question. The first contestant then selected one of the children, at which point Shriner read a just-for-fun question related to the main question; this may or may not be a clue to the child's answer of the main question. The contestant then guessed the child's response to the main question. At this point, the kid's answer was played. If the contestant predicted correctly, he/she scored points (scoring system described below). This same process is repeated with the second contestant, and so on. Each player gets two turns meaning that six of the seven kids were played. After the sixth kid was played, Shriner announced the majority answer, after which the contestants prediction would then be revealed. If any of them are correct, they earn bonus points (which is double value of the single kid portion of the round).
Here's the scoring format:
| Rounds |
1st Half |
Majority Bonus |
| Round 1 |
10 |
20 |
| Round 2 |
20 |
40 |
Speed Round
What made the speed round different from the other rounds are these:
- The contestants predicted immediately after selecting a child
- There was no majority bonus
- The questions were usually either general knowledge ("What is poison ivy?") or asked the children to perform a physical skill ("Do you know how to use chop sticks?")
Each correct answer was worth 60 points and the player with the most points won the game, $500, and advanced to the bonus round for an additional $1,000.
If the game ended in a two-way tie, the winner of an odd man out coin toss executed before the show played the first available kid. If the contestant predicted correctly, he/she won. If he/she was wrong, the other contestant won.
If the game ended in a three-way tie, everybody advanced to the bonus round, which is described below.
Bonus Round
There were four different incarnations of the bonus round:
Weeks 1-3
Shriner posed one final question. This time, instead of choosing a child verbally, lights around the children flashed around the board and the contestant stopped them by hitting a red button in front of him/her. When a child was selected, Shriner reposed the question, at which point the contestant predicted which answer that child will provide. If the player got three predictions right before getting three wrong, he/she won an additional $1,000 for a total $1,500.
Weeks 4-7
Exactly the same as above, except the contestant must now predict correctly three times before missing twice.
Weeks 8-13
The same as weeks four through seven, although the children all were asked different questions.
Three Player Mode
This round was played similar to the majority parts of the first two rounds. Each contestant in turn chose a child randomly in the manner described above. When a child was selected, the contestant secretly predicted how the kid answered. The child's answer was then played back, after which the contestants' predictions were revealed. A correct answer kept them in the game, but a wrong answer eliminated them. The last player left standing won the entire $1,500 prize.
UK Version
Notes
- The show premiered in a Family Channel game block in 1996, alongside The New Shop 'Til You Drop, Shopping Spree, Wait 'Til You Have Kids, and The New Family Challenge. Small Talk was the first of these shows to be cancelled.
- The series was the last series in the United States to use the Reg Grundy name prior to its retirement by Pearson PLC. Under Pearson and successor-in-interest FremantleMedia, versions have aired in several nations.
- The Video Wall in the bonus round was not random, like the Press Your Luck game board. Unlike Press Your Luck, however, Small Talk's board had only one set pattern, while Press Your Luck had five.
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