Supermarket Sweep

For more information on the British version of Supermarket Sweep, see Dale's Supermarket Sweep.

David Ruprecht on the set of Supermarket Sweep at NBC Studios.

Supermarket Sweep is a game show that originated on ABC and aired from December 20, 1965 to July 14, 1967. The show was revived by the Lifetime Television Network on February 5, 1990, and ran until August 14, 1998. It was further revived by PAX (now ION) on September 18, 2000, and ran there until March 26, 2004.

The premise of the show involved teams of two contestants, one of whom would run about a supermarket filling carts with groceries. The team securing the largest cash total worth of groceries won the game, and was given a chance to win an additional $5,000.

In the 1960s version, Supermarket Sweep was broadcast from various Food Fair supermarkets, mostly in the New York tri-state area. For the 1990, 1993 and 2000 versions, a mock supermarket was set up in a television studio.

The host for the 1965-67 ABC version was Bill Malone; the announcers were Wally King from 1965-66, and Richard Hayes from 1966-67. The host for the 1990-96 Lifetime and 2000-03 PAX versions was David Ruprecht; the announcer was Johnny Gilbert from 1990 through 2001, and Randy West for the rest of the show's run.

Gameplay (1965 version)

Two teams, usually married couples, competed. Each contestant began with a base time of one minute. In the first part of the game, the teams were shown a grocery item and asked to guess its retail price. The contestant who came closest won the item and an additional 10 seconds to their time. Six items were played.

In the second part of the game, one contestant from each team went on a shopping spree through the market, using the time accumulated in the first half of the game. After each contestant had run their sweep (unlike the latter versions, each contestant ran the sweep separately), the total value of the groceries in each player's cart was determined. The team with the higher total won the right to return to the show and play in the next game. Both teams kept the groceries they had picked up.

Gameplay (1990-2002)

File:Supermarketsweep.gif

Supermarket Sweep

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Supermarket Sweep Logo from 1990 to 1993 coupled with Lifetime Television logo from 1984 to 1995

The gameplay of the 1990, 1993 and 2000 versions of Supermarket Sweep consisted of three segments: the question round, the Big Sweep and the Bonus Round. The game was played between three teams of two related individuals, such as a parent and child, spouses, siblings or best friends. No team was eliminated until the end of the Big Sweep.

Round 1

At the beginning of the game, all three teams started with a base time of one minute and thirty seconds (1:30). Any time they scored during this round was used in the Big Sweep. The first round was split into two sub-rounds, each player on a team participating in one sub-round. The full round ended with a 6-question (originally 4) (8 in the Twin Car Giveaway Tournament) Round Robin.

Mini-sweep

Beginning in 1991, every sub-round began with a mini-sweep. In the mini-sweep, a toss-up question was asked with a particular product in the store as the answer. The team that correctly answered it earned ten seconds, as well as a chance for one of the two members of the team to run into the market to retrieve the product, which was marked with the show's logo. If the product was returned in 30 seconds or less, the team won $50, which was added to their final total at the end of the Sweep. Shortly after its introduction in 1992, the money was doubled to $100 if the product was brought back within 20 seconds.

When the mini-sweep was first introduced in 1991, only one was played per show (at the beginning of the first question round.) Later on up through 2001, the second mini-sweep was added (only during specials in 2000 through 2003).

Pricing Games

During each sub-round, different The Price Is Right-style games were played. These games varied from day to day and could include any of the following:

• 1, 2, or 3 - contestants were shown three products and had to vote on which one cost under or over a certain amount, which does not sell for a certain amount, which was on sale, or which cost the most.
• How Many? - David asks the players how much of one product one can buy for a certain amount of money.
• County Fair - This format involves testing a person's sense of knowledge of a particular gadget.
• Higher or Lower - Generally played on early episodes, a product was shown with an incorrect price, and players had to guess whether the actual price was higher or lower than the one shown.
• Too High, Too Low, or Just Right - A variation of the above. A product was shown with a price, and players had to guess whether the price shown was too high, too low, or just right.
• What's Wrong - Three items have three marked prices; one has an incorrect price and contestants guess which item has the wrong price.
• What's Right - A variation of the above. Three items have three marked prices; one has the right price and contestants guess which item has the right price.

If a player was correct, he/she earned 10 seconds for his/her team; however, if all three players were right, 30 seconds (20 seconds until 1992) were added to all three teams' times.

Question Round

Players were asked a series of questions worth 10 seconds to their sweep total. The theme of the question round could be anything from day to day. (see below)

List of various games during the question round

• Slogan - David reads a series of questions with a popular slogan in it, and the players buzz-in to figure out what product goes with the slogan.
• Product ID - David shows the player the photo of a product, but with the brand name removed. Using the photo and David's clues, the players buzz-in to identify the product.
• Snack Attack Movie Game - Three 10 second questions about movies were asked to the players with the last one not only worth 10 seconds but also a chance to play the "Taste Test" for extra money for the Big Sweep (which will be described below).
• This or That - This is where the questions involved had 2 choices each (referred to as 50:50). As usual, 10 seconds were added to each team's total upon a correct guess, but an incorrect guess added 10 seconds to each of their opponents' totals.
• Fact or Not A Fact - This is a variation of "This or That" except the players are given a statement about a particular product, and must answer with either "Fact" or "Not A Fact" (also known as "Opinion"). Once again as usual, 10 seconds were added to each team's total for each correct answer, but an incorrect answer added 10 seconds to each of their opponents' totals.
• Six Choices - The players were shown six choices, three or four of them were correct answers to a series of questions.
• Three Right - This is a variation of "Six Choices" except the players were shown six answers on each question with three of them being right. What makes this game different is that not just one player can buzz-in and give a correct answer, all three players can buzz-in meaning that all three players can give a correct answer and earn 10 seconds on each question.
• Word Games - Players try to identify product names or items by virtue of clues read by David. There were three variations of word games; the first two were played like the Speedword rounds on Scrabble and the Toss-up rounds from Wheel of Fortune:
  • Random - The word was revealed one letter at a time at random.
  • Reverse - So called because the word was revealed starting with the last & working their way to the first.
  • First & Last - The first & last letters of a name of a product or brand name were revealed, then David reads three clues about the product.
  • Missing Letters - A product's name is shown with missing letters and the contestants fill in the missing letters by guessing the correct answer.
• Animal Sounds - The player were shown four animals, and "Farmer" David read a series of questions that pertains to some or all of the animals. When answering, the players must give the animal by its sound.
• Twisted - In this game, players are given statements about products, but with a funny twist. Using those twists, they must identify the products. For example, "You wouldn't find a BBQ sauce called 'Cow's Ear', but you would find a BBQ sauce called 'Bulls-Eye'."

Special Games

• 30-second shootout - at the beginning of the second half of the question round, both contestants on a team played an individual game, which could bank the team 30 seconds of sweep time; each team took turns playing the game individually. The format usually involved the partner guessing a product using "Pyramid"-type clues involving a list of words (where the first letter of each word would be a letter in the name of the product). Each team had 30 seconds (the Lifetime run had 40 seconds) to achieve this, and if a word was accidentally blurted out by the clue-giver, that disqualified the team automatically. In the PAX run, if the player can't think of something, they'll say "Pass" and move on to the next clue. At the end of 30 seconds, the clues must stop, and then the host will reveal the remaining letters they received before the team takes a guess for additional 30 seconds of sweep time, and once a word is completely spelled out, instead of just pronouncing, the clock stopped and the host would ask what he/she spelled out. On some episodes, an alternative format was used with a picture of a product shown. An additional rule was that once a clue was used on one of the words in the list, it could not be used again. This format was removed in 1994.
• Taste Test - The player who answered the last "Snack Attack Movie Game" question correctly gets a chance to take a Taste Test of a food item in the market (he/she can have as much as he/she wants), and then must identify the food for a $50 bonus for the Big Sweep.
  • Note: In some episodes players who won the right to take a taste test only received one chance to choose one of two choices. Other episodes allow players playing this type of game to have two shots; the first without choices for the initial value of $50, and the second with two or three choices for half-price or $25.

Round Robin

After the second sub-round, all players competed in the Round Robin ("Scrambled Letters"), where a scrambled brand name or item was shown on the screen, and three clues were given to identify the actual name. If nobody answers after the last clue is given, all 3 clues are repeated quickly. On some episodes, an alternative format was used with five clues and no scrambled name. Once again, if nobody answers after the last clue is given, all 5 clues are repeated quickly. This format was removed in 1994. Each team that buzzed in and answered correctly received 10 seconds of Sweep time. The Round Robin originally consisted of four of these questions (for a possible total of 40 seconds); after one or two seasons (like in 1992), it was lengthened to six questions (for a possible total of one minute (60 seconds)). During the Twin Car Giveaway Tournament Finale, it was lengthened to 8 questions, each correct answer worth $50 instead of 10 seconds. Also all 3 clues are not repeated quickly. All three teams switched places with their partner after each question.

Big Sweep

The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout the store and grab whatever they could off the supermarket shelves. The clock was set at the time of the team who had been the most successful at the question round. The shopper for this team was sent out into the market by himself, with the other runners being allowed to enter when their time remained on the clock. This could result in a situation where one team swept the question round and had a full minute or more to sweep the store by themselves.

The three main rules were as follows:

• Teams could only take five of each item;
• Any items that were dropped and/or knocked over had to be put back on the shelf or in one's cart;
• Only one member of each team could be in the store at a time. The other team member was required to remain at the checkout counter to load these groceries from the first team member after the final bell rang out during the commercial break.

The first rule, absent in the ABC version of the show, was written to prevent a team from overloading its cart on the known expensive items, such as poultry, laundry detergent and over-the-counter drugs. Any item counted toward a team's total as long as it was in the cart by the end of the run. The runner could bring the cart back to the team's register at any time, at which point it would be emptied while the runner took a second cart.

Teams could also be penalized money, although this did not happen very frequently. A team was penalized $25 for every item they dropped and did not pick up; in addition, penalties could be incurred for running into cameramen or other show personnel.

In the show's first season on Lifetime (the 1990-91 season), a monster, such as Frankenstein, someone dressed as a gorilla, etc. "lurked" in the aisles during the Sweep; if he came near a contestant or vice versa, the contestant had to turn around and go the other direction. The character and rule were dropped in 1991.

Bonuses

Many extra bonuses were available at different times during the show's run. Each contestant could take only one of each type of bonus (also known as "Big Moneymakers"). Some of these included:

• Bonus Specials - Scattered throughout the market were stuffed animals, inflated balloons of products, or cardboard promotional signs for products with bonus tags on them. The shopper was credited with the item if he got it back to the check-out counter before time expired, assuming he got it over the red line by the registers without breaking it. An opponent could steal the item from a contestant if he left it unprotected before getting it over the line. These oversized products and/or signs could be worth anywhere from $50 to $200. In later seasons, a fourth bonus worth $250 (the "Super Bonus") was added to the market; during certain special weeks, another was added (a $300 "Super Super Bonus"), which replaced the $50 bonus. This is the only bonus feature to appear in every episode.

• Millstone Coffee - if a contestant ground a bag of coffee in the store grinder, sealed it and put it in his cart before time ran out, he/she would receive a $100 bonus. The trick was that to grind the coffee, the runner had to keep his/her hand on the grinding button until the entire contents were processed. Very often a contestant would hold the button down with one hand and grab nearby items with the other. During the last season (the 2002-03 season), this bonus was increased to $200.

• Brach's Candy - The contestant had to bag candy within a range of 0.98-.1.02 pounds (98¢-$1.02), and put it in the cart before time ran out. Successfully returning a bag of candy won the contestant $100. As with the coffee, the candy bonus increased to $200 during the final season.

• TV Mystery Product - The Lifetime version introduced in the 1993 season. By pushing a button underneath one of the three television monitors in the store, a contestant would receive one word in the brand name of a product in the store. Any team with this item in their cart would win an additional $250. When this game first made its debut, the word was revealed by touching the screen itself ("touch television" technology was quite new at the time); however, the words took an incredible amount of time to reveal, if the monitor worked at all. In the PAX run, this changed to two monitors.

• Splitting The Name - This was a variation for the TV Mystery Product, used in the PAX run. A particular product's name was split in half, and each half of the product's name was on a TV monitor. If the team found the product, they would win an additional $250.

• Instant Coupon Machines - With the advent of these machines in stores across America, the show picked up on the fad and placed some of them in the store. A contestant could win bonus money by grabbing a coupon and locating the object on the coupon. This bonus feature only lasted from 1995-96 and again from 2000-01.

• Double Coupons and Triple Coupons - Similar to the above bonus, certain items had double- or triple-value coupons located on or near the actual item that would multiply the value of said item by two or three. The limit of five was still enforced.

• Stack Job - Three bags, each containing 21 soda cans, were placed at the back of the market. The sweep runner could go pick up ONE bag, bring it to their partner at the checkout, and their partner would attempt to build a pyramid with all 21 cans. If successful, they received a marker worth a $100 bonus. (This was later increased to $150.)

• Can Crusher - A variant on the above bonus. The shopping contestant would have to bring a bag of empty soda cans to his/her partner, who would then have to redeem them in an aluminum can recycling crusher for an extra $100. The catch was that the machine could only process one can at a time.

• Manager's Special - the host would tell what the special was over the loudspeaker. The contestant had to run back to a bin full of cans and find the specific item, with a red star on the bottom, for an extra $200. Bringing back one with no star resulted in no added money.

• Red Tag Special - Similar to the Manager's Special, Ruprecht would tell what the special was over the loudspeaker. The contestant had to run back to a bin (shopping cart) full of products and find the specific item, with a red tag on the bottom, for an extra $200. Bringing back one with no tag results in no added money.

• The $300 Movie - During the sweep, David would call "Activate the TV monitors" over the loudspeaker. Players could then press the button on one of the monitors to reveal a clue about a specific movie in the video tape display. Only one copy of the correct movie was available, and finding it earned a team $300.

• International Bread Center - Players would get specific breads, in specific amounts that David told them to get, and put them in a bag and seal it with a twist tie, for a $250 bonus. If the contestant got the correct breads, but did not seal the bag properly, no bonus would be awarded. The same rule applied if the contestant didn't get the right amount of specific bread(s) or if they got the wrong bread(s).

• Fruit Fantasy - Similar to the International Bread Center, players would pick up specific fruits, in specific amounts that David told them to get, and put them in a red basket, for a $250 bonus. If the contestant got the wrong fruit(s) or didn't get the right amount of specific fruit(s), no bonus would be awarded.

• Breakfast Break - Similar to the International Bread Center and Fruit Fantasy, players were told 5 specific breakfast items to get, and the partners could help them. Finding all 5 won an additional $250. After a couple of confusing playings, it was switched to only 2 items, with David announcing his voice over the loudspeaker. It was still confusing, leading to retiring this game.

• Super Sandwich - Players would make a sandwich according to David's specification, then seal it in a bag. If successful, they received a $200 bonus. There was also an alternate version where the runners went to the bread center to retrieve the bread, after which the partners made the sandwich. In both versions, players must use ALL of the ingredients provided to make the sandwich; leaving even one ingredient out (a few players forgot to put the lettuce in the sandwich) meant no bonus.

• Market Madness - A table with five of the same item (usually large cereal boxes or rolls of paper towels) was set up in the front of the market, along with three stationary shopping carts, one corresponding to each team. While running the sweep, players could pick up the items one at a time and place them into the cart for their team. However, another runner could then remove those items and put them into his cart. This could continue until the sweep time ran out, at which point the teams would receive $50 for each item in their cart, up to $250 total.

• Sweep Swipe - The inspiration for Market Madness. A display of two of the same item (usually Tootsie Roll gift boxes, sometimes giant Purina ONE bags) was set up in the front of the market, along with three tables, one corresponding to each team. While running the sweep, players could pick up the items one at a time and place them on the table for their team. However, another runner could then remove those items and put them on his table. This could continue until the sweep time ran out, at which point the teams would receive $100 for each item on their table, up to $200 total.

• Cracker Jackpot - A table was set up with many boxes of Cracker Jack; the shopping contestant had to tear through as many of them as possible to find a "prize" (which was a token with the shopping cart logo on it) for $250.

• Jolly Time Is Money - Similar to the Cracker Jackpot, a table was set up with many boxes of Jolly Time Popcorn; the shopping contestant had to tear through as many of them as possible to find a "shopping cart" token for $100 (later increased to $150).

• Shopping List - Before the sweep began, David would list three specific items. The shopper would have to pick up those three items during the sweep for a $250 bonus. The shopper could get the items in any order, but the final item had to be in their cart before the bell rang to receive credit. This was the first bonus feature besides the Bonus Specials to be introduced in the series.

• The Alphabet Game - Similar to the Shopping List, before the sweep began, David would list three specific items, using 3 consecutive letters of the alphabet and the products' names beginning with those letters. The shopper would have to pick up those three items during the sweep for a $250 bonus (later increased to $300). The shopper could get the items in any order, but all 3 items had to be placed in mini-baskets (if more had to be used, that was fine) located in the front of the cart to receive credit. Grabbing more than one of the same item, grabbing the wrong item(s), or not putting the items into the mini-baskets would not receive credit.

• Magazine Display - Similar to the Shopping List & Alphabet Game, before the sweep began, David would list four specific magazine titles. The shopper would have to go to the magazine display near the checkout counter and pick up those four magazines during the sweep for a $250 bonus.

• Bonus Envelope - Halfway through the sweep, David would give a clue to a specific product with a bonus envelope next to it (from 2001-03 it was usually slogans, prior to 2001 it was usually meanings). After hearing the clue, the partners would run into the store and give the clue to the shoppers (later this was not allowed). If the shopper could locate the product and find the bonus envelope, the team won an additional $200.

• Video Envelope - This combines the Bonus Envelope and The $300 Movie. During the sweep, David would announce a clue from a specific movie that has an envelope on the back of the video. Then the partner would help the contestant locate the video that has the envelope. If the shopper could locate the video that has the envelope, the team won an additional $200. This was only used during the 2001-02 season. Like the Bonus Envelope, the partners could help on occasion, but only the shopper could touch the video (if the partner did, the bonus was voided).

• Big Box Of Cheer - In the back of the store there was a big box of Cheer detergent, with 4 colored envelopes on it, ranging from $25-$100. The shopper randomly picked one of the envelopes, and the money was added to the total if the envelope was in the cart before the bell rang. On the 2000-01 season only there was also a big box of Gain detergent.

• Frozen Yogurt - A frozen yogurt machine containing four flavors (Sweet Peachy-Peach, Triple-Fudge Chocolate, Berry-Berry Raspberry, and Vanilla Bean Dream) was located near the back of the supermarket. Before the Big Sweep, David announced three flavors and the order in which they should be dispensed. Shoppers grabbed a large plastic cup marked with two black lines, dispensed the required first flavor in the bottom of the cup up to the first line, second flavor in the middle up to the second line, and topped off the cup with the final flavor, then put a plastic top on the cup and placed the cup in a special plastic bucket attached to the contestant's shopping cart. A proper cup of frozen yogurt before time expired was worth $250. This was only used in the last Lifetime Season.

• Balloon Pop - Three shopping carts or large garbage bags filled with balloons were located in one of the back corners of the supermarket. Shoppers could bring back one cart/bag to the front of the supermarket for their partners to pop. Popping all of the balloons before time expired earned the team $150 (later increased to $200).

After all time had run out, all products were scanned during the commercial break, and the grand total of each team's efforts (including bonuses) was revealed after the break. The team with the highest grand total won the game, the cash equivalent of their sweep total and a chance at $5,000 (see below).

The $5,000 Bonus Round

In the Lifetime and PAX versions, Al Howard (also the original show's creator) added the Bonus Round, in which the winning team would have 60 seconds to find the fake $5,000 in cash hidden somewhere in the supermarket. To win the money, a team had to cooperate to solve a series of three clues ultimately leading to the prize.

A clue might be a poem that describes a type of product, with the brand name completing the main rhyme blanked out. An example might be "If you're sitting at home feeling all alone, have some chocolates from _______________", where the "chocolates" would hint at the fact that the next prize was in the candy aisle, and the rhyme would indicate that the specific product was Toblerone chocolate. Another clue might refer to a double meaning of a brand name; for example, it might refer to one's family having a tube of toothpaste on its coat of arms; the coat of arms might refer to a family crest, while the toothpaste would refer to the Crest brand of toothpaste. On occasion, clues would lead to a movie in the movie rack, a fruit or vegetable in the produce section, a flower in a special kiosk located at the front of the market that is used only during the bonus round, or a greeting card near the magazine rack.

The first clue was given by Ruprecht (after which the time started); the second clue was found on the first item, the third clue on the second item, and the $5,000 prize was on the third item. They had to find all the products in the respective order before they could take the money. If they found the money before they found the first and second products (it did happen, but very infrequently), Ruprecht's voice would be heard over the loudspeaker reminding them to find the other clues. The team had to have all three items and their hands on the money before the 60 seconds expired to win. If the team was unsuccessful, the team still won $200 for each item found.

Tournaments

During both runs of the show, special tournaments were held. During the first three seasons of the Lifetime run (1990-93), the highest money winners returned for a chance to play the endgame for $10,000. In the first season, the Sweep of Champions lasted for only a single episode. All subsequent Sweeps of Champions lasted for a week. The final PAX season (2002-03) featured Second Chance on some Fridays, in which the teams who won the Sweep and lost their first $5,000 in the bonus round will have a second chance to win another $5,000 in the bonus round.

Twin Car Giveaway

The last Lifetime season, which was the 1994-1995 season, began with a month long Twin Car Giveaway tournament, where the 12 teams with the highest Big Sweep totals for the first weeks of the tourney returned for the fourth week. The bonus round was still played for $5,000 every day during the first three weeks of this tourney. On the fourth and final week, the six teams with the highest Big Sweep totals returned for the Friday show to play for the cars. No bonus round was played during that week. On the Friday show, three teams first played the Round Robin game, where each correct answer was worth $50 towards their sweep total. Then, each team would have three minutes (unlike regular games) in the Big Sweep. This process was repeated for the other three teams. At the end of the show, the team with the highest Big Sweep total won the cars (which were Geo Trackers) in addition to whatever money they had accumulated in the tournament.

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The PAX run featured Family Week, Tournament of Heroes Week, You Can't Lose Week, Cruise to Paradise Week (known as "Carnival Cruise for two") (this theme week was offered to teams who lost on their first appearance of the show), and Double Your Money Week. No bonus round was played during any of these weeks (except on the trip giveaway weeks on the Lifetime run, and the three teams with the highest overall winnings returned on the Friday show to play for the trip, and on that particular episode, David and the winners celebrated at the end, Mexican-style, on account that their cruise is to Mexico). Two mini-sweeps were played during these weeks. The three teams with the highest Big Sweep totals returned on the Friday show to play for the grand prize ($10,000 on the Double Your Money, $5,000 on the Tournament of Heroes, You Can't Lose and Family Weeks, A Carnival Cruise on Cruise to Paradise Week). The finale of one Cruise to Paradise week during the last season of the PAX run, which was the 2002-2003 season, was the show's 1,000 episode, and the winners of the cruise won an additional $1,000 (in addition to their Big Sweep total that day) to go along with the trip.

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International versions

A syndicated Canadian version of the show, later aired on Global TV, was produced between 1992 and 1995, with Tino Monté as host and Dave King as announcer. The Canadian version had completely different, but partially similar-sounding theme music to the Ruprecht version, though the set appeared to be identical to its American counterpart. Originally, the bonus round had the winners looking for $5,000 as the US show, but later on, the winning team chose one envelope from a letter in the show's title, containing a prize they won, like a trip.

A British version of Supermarket Sweep was produced between 1992 and 2001 and aired during the day with Dale Winton as host and Bobby Bragg as announcer and it was produced by Fremantle Media for Carlton on ITV. This run famously became a cult hit with students. Filming for 60 epsides began in January 2007 at the Maidstone Studios, with it being produced by talkbackTHAMES. The rules were the same as the American show, except they were looking for £2,000 in the supermarket instead of $5,000. The original show had been taped at Central's Lenton Lane studios in Nottingham using a supermarket set created by either The Co-operative Group (Co-op), ASDA, or Somerfield, depending on the season, and the setup was a little different from the US show. The new version has a slightly different set from the original, and it has a new theme tune. The grand prize has also been upped to £5,000. UK Fun House announcer Gary King has also replaced Bobby Bragg as announcer.

An Australian version of the show was produced by Grundy, airing on the Nine Network between 1992 and 1994 with Ian Turpie as host. Col Mooney and Alan Glover served as announcers. The supermarket on this show was originally a Coles Supermarket, but this was later changed to a generic supermarket. Like the US show, the winners searched the supermarket to look for $5,000. The latter set was identical to the US show, as with most Grundy-produced game shows in Australia at the time, and it is presumed the theme song is identical to either the American or Canadian version.

Episode Status

Almost all episodes of the ABC version have been erased. The entire David Ruprecht version remains in existence. (Right now, GSN currently doesn't own the rights to Supermarket Sweep, but it will eventually)

Notes

• The original series was produced by Talent Associates, Ltd., the producers of the popular NBC sitcom, Get Smart.

• Each episode of the show's modern version ended with Ruprecht reciting the catchphrase "Next time you're at a checkout counter and you hear the beep — [a checkout counter beeps] — think of all the fun you could have on Supermarket Sweep!".
• In a episode of Married With Children a parody of the game can be seen, where Al and Peggy play against Jefferson and Marcy.
• The original theme and music cues from seasons 1-3 have been revamped in season 4 and beyond. However, bits of them are heard a few times in the last Lifetime season. Since then, the original music was never heard on TV since (for now).

External links

• The Supermarket Sweep Fan Page
• David Ruprecht's Web site, contains info on the show
• Supermarket Sweep (1965–1967) at IMDb
• Supermarket Sweep (1990–2003) at IMDb