Baby Races

"Baby Races" is a game show that aired on the Family from September 12, 1993 to August 27, 1994. It was hosted by comedian/impressionist Fred Travalena, and the announcer was Gene Wood. The executive producer was longtime Goodson-Todman employee Robert Sherman.

Gameplay

The contestants on the show were young children whom came with their parents to play in a series of events. Two teams play on each show.

Events

Some of the events were:

*Sandbox Golf - the children play miniature golf. They try to put a golf ball into a hole using miniature golf clubs. Sometimes they threw the golf ball in the hole, but still got credit for it.
*Cow Catcher - the children ride on their daddy's back and try to round up some toy cows and place them in a corral. Note: The father always dressed in a horse costume for this game.
*Paint by Numbers - the kids throw number shaped sponges dipped in paint at their fathers. At one time, a kid just walked up and put the paint covered number sponges on his dad, but still got credit for it.

All games were played in a 45 second time limit (with the exception that the first game, the only one where the children competed directly, sometimes lasted for 30 seconds), and each item in each game was worth one point.

The toy store

At the end of the game, each kid received a certificate showing his or her total score, and also got to choose a prize from a "toy store" in front of a video wall. Participating adults also received prizes.

The games were played for fun, not competitively; as Travalena said, "Everyone's a winner on "Baby Races".

Trivia

*This was Fred Travalena's second game show, having hosted one before called "Anything for Money".
*Baby Races was recorded in front of a studio audience at Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, FL.
*In 2005, TV's Most Outrageous Moments on NBC used a clip from the show depicting a young contestant telling Fred Travalena he couldn't participate because he "had to go potty".
*Some contestants were selected from auditions held in Florida cities, with day care centers receiving fliers in advance inviting prospective contestants to try out.
*This was Gene Wood's second-to-last announcing work in game shows. He'd do some work with GSN before retiring for good.