Treasure Hunt

Left: 1970s Treasure Hunt Logo; Right: 1980s Treasure Hunt Logo
Note: The 1970s version is not covered here... yet.

Note: Both of these caps are from the '70s version.

Broadcast History: September 14, 1981 to September 10, 1982, Five-a-week-syndication

Main Game: The game starts with Geoff going into the studio audience and asking members who were selected to hold their balloons up and then break the balloon. If the audience member holding the balloon has a star inside, then she is brought to the stage and is given the first pick at one of the mini treasure boxes. The contestant that opens the box and finds a mini pop-up surprise gets the chance to find the biggest treasure. There are 66 secret boxes ranging from various klunks to great prizes like a car or trip to a top cash prize. All the contestant has to do is pick a numbered box from 1 to 66 and the box is brought to the podium. Then Geoff goes to a commerical. After the commerical, Geoff would open the envelope and tell the contestant how much money is in there. Then he hands out the money to the contestant (a la The Joker's Wild). The contestant decides whether to take the money or risk it for what was inside the box. Geoff would often build up suspense and torture the contestant until he pulls out the item(s) from the box. Sometimes the item(s) lead up to a klunk or a nice prize. The price range of these prizes was between a 69¢ pack of prunes and $20,000 cruise to South America. But one box contains a cheque for a minimum of $20,000 cash. But if no one wins the cheque, the jackpot goes up by $1,000 every day it was not won to a maximum of $50,000. Anytime the cheque was won, the pot went back to $20,000.

Below: Caps from the 1970s version of Treasure Hunt...

INTERESTING FACTS AND TRIVIA

Chuck Barris recycled much of his music from his previous shows such as The Newlywed Game, The Dating Game, the Dollar a Second pilot, the Cop Out pilot, and others.

Sometimes a contestant kept the money and ended up giving up a cheque for a large sum of money. It would be a shame. At one time, a contestant kept the money and gave up a cheuqe for $46,000.

During some prize cues and skits, extras would be used to perform in various skits.

Treasure Hunt was originally created and hosted by Jan Murray. The 1950s NBC version had a light quiz involved along with the cash and prizes unlike in later versions where the quiz element was eliminated.

Home Games: None.

Episode Existence: All episodes exist. Game Show Network recently ran a marathon of eight episodes on April 14, 2001. Currently, this show is not running on GSN.

If anyone has more information on Treasure Hunt, e-mail me here.

Treasue Hunt is ©1981-1982 Chuck Barris Productions. No challenge to ownership is implied.