Love Me, Love Me Not (game show)

Infobox Television
show_name = Love Me, Love Me Not
format = game show
runtime = 30 minutes
starring = Ross Shafer
country = CAN
language = English
network =USA Network Global
first_aired = September 29, 1986
last_aired = September 11, 1987
num_episodes = 130

"Love Me, Love Me Not" was a Canadian game show based on the hit Italian game show "M'ama Non M'ama", which translates in English to "love me, love me not". It originally aired in Canada in 1986 and debuted later in the United States on the USA Network on September 29, 1986, the same day as the second incarnation of "Chain Reaction". Ross Shafer was the host, and Jane MacDougall was the co-host/announcer, later replaced by Marilyn Smith. Blair Murdoch was the producer.

Gameplay

Two contestants of the same sex competed against each other, facing a panel of three members of the opposite sex. Each game alternated between men "chasing" women and women chasing men. The two "eager rivals" competed to capture the whole panel, who did their best to avoid capture.

Round one

All the panelists started with $100. The champion contestant chose one of the three panelists, who asked a true/false question. All of the questions on this show pertained to love, sex, relationships, etc. The contestant had to correctly judge the statement in order to "capture" the panelist, otherwise the panelist received $100. The challenger did the same with one of the remaining panelists, and the champion tried to capture the remaining panelist.

Round two

Starting with the challenger, each player tries to capture one of the as-yet-unclaimed panelists. This time, if a contestant fails to capture a panelist, the panelist receives $200. Once all three players are captured, each player tries to capture one of their opponent's panelists until one player wins the game by capturing all three panelists, or the game reaches its limit of ten questions, nine if the champion was ahead when all three panelists were first captured. The winner of the game receives $1000 and advances to the bonus round, the "chase around the daisy." The panelist with the most money keeps it and goes to the bonus round with the contestant, while the remaining panelists each receive $100. Panelists stay on for five games or until advancing to the endgame.

By the time the show made it to the United States, the limit was expanded to twelve questions, and in round two each panelist earned $100 for evading a contestant and each contestant could aim to capture any panelist he or she did not already have, even if the other contestant has already captured that panelist.

Tiebreaker

If the contestants were tied with the same number of captures, the hostess read a question with a numerical answer. The champion gave a guess, and the challenger had to correctly determine if the correct answer was higher or lower, just like on "Card Sharks". If the challenger was correct, he or she won the game, otherwise the champion won. If two or more of the panelists were tied, each tied panelist would in turn read the winning contestant a statement. If either one fooled the contestant, that panelist received $100, otherwise the contestant received $100. This continued until the tie was broken or until the game ran out of questions. If so, or the game was already out of questions, and two panelists were tied, the one closer to the left (newer panelists started on the right-hand side) gave the first guess to a numerical question and the other had to determine if the correct answer was higher or lower. If all three of the panelists tied, they had ten seconds to write down their best guess to a question with a numerical answer. Whichever panelist won the numerical question gained an extra $100.

The Chase Around the Daisy

The winning contestant and panelist played on a giant daisy with eight petals numbered clockwise from 1-8. The contestant started at petal #1 and the panelist started on petal #6. The host asked the contestant a series of true/false questions, and the contestant advanced one petal for a correct answer, while the panelist advanced one petal for an incorrect answer. The contestant had to catch up to the panelist in 50 seconds or less. Later this time limit was reduced to 45 seconds, and ultimately 40 by the time the show made it to the US. If the contestant succeeded, that contestant won a new car (always a red 1987 Pontiac Fiero) plus $700 in cash. (later on the contestant would win just the car) If time ran out, the panelist won $100 of the contestant's $700 for each petal that separated them (in whichever direction was a greater distance). If the panelist caught the contestant on account of too many incorrect responses, the game ended and the panelist received $1400 (later a trip to the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Waikiki, Hawaii). In any case, the panelist returns as the next game's challenger. Players remain as contestants until defeated or winning the bonus round. If the contestant won the car, it was driven out on stage, originally by Blair Murdoch and later by Marilyn Smith.

Pilots

First pilot, "M'ama Non M'ama"

A pair of pilots one with men chasing women and the other with women chasing men, with the Italian title was produced by Pasetta Productions for ABC in December 1984. Alex Trebek was the host of these pilots, taped in Los Angeles. The format for these pilots had four panelists, who wanted to be captured. At the start of the game, one player chose one of eight petals from a daisy, which either read "Love Me," which allowed that player to start the game, or "Love Me Not," which meant that the opponent would start. Each petal also had a dollar amount from $50 to $150, which was put in the bank to start the game. A chosen panelist would select the category from a daisy that the player would be most likely to answer, in addition to giving a romantic statement toward the contestant. Every time a panelist was captured, the pot doubled. After the first round, the players alternated capturing the remaining panelists, but a player who made two mistakes lost a panelist to the opponent. The first contestant to capture three panelists won the game and the money in the pot. That contestant then got to choose which of the three captured panelists with whom to split the money and advance to the bonus round after posing a question to all three, and the other two panelists became contestants on the next game. The bonus round is the same as before, except that the panelist helps the contestant. If the contestant catches the panelist in 50 seconds or less, the two players split $1000 for each correct answer given and team up to answer a bonus question for the chance to win a car each.

This series was considered as a replacement for "Family Feud" until ABC postponed its cancellation, making a replacement unnecessary.

econd pilot, "Love Me, Love Me Not"

Steve Carlin produced another pair of pilots in December 1985, which was taped in New York but had the same title, set and music used for the series. Ross Shafer was the host and Jackson Beck was the announcer. There were four panelists, and the front game rules were the same as the series when it aired in the United States, with the first player to capture three panelists winning the game. The bonus round was played the same as on the ABC pilot, with the contestant winning a car if successful and the panelist winning $1000 for each of the contestant's correct answers. Otherwise, the contestant received $100 for each correct answer. It was this set of pilots that USA picked up for a series.

Notes

The series was produced at CKVU-TV in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Future "Kidstreet" and "The Next Line" announcer Kathy Morse worked on the show in a behind-the-scenes capacity.

This was Blair Murdoch's first game show as producer. He would produce many more shows at CKVU's studios until 1999.

Halfway through the run, the 2&7 logo for CFAC-TV Calgary would be shown next to director Stan Litke's name during the end credits.

Marilyn Smith would later appear on "Wild Guess" in 1988.

Ross Shafer is better known as the host of the 1990-91 version of "Match Game".

Rerun/Episode Status

All episodes of Love Me, Love Me Not still exist. The Canadian network TVtropolis, then known as Prime, aired reruns of the series, along with other Canadian game shows, in the late 1990s and in the early 2000s. The series currently airs on GameTV.

External links

* [http://usgameshows.net/wiki/tiki-index.php?page=Pilot_Mama_Non_Mama Rules for M'ama Non M'ama]
* [http://illustriousgameshowpage.com/love.html Chuck's Love Me, Love Me Not Rule Page]