Get the Picture is an American children's game show that aired from March 18, 1991 to December 6, 1991 on Nickelodeon. Hosted by Mike O'Malley, the show features two teams answering questions and playing games for the opportunity to guess a hidden picture on a giant screen made up of 16 smaller screens. The show was taped at Nickelodeon Studios at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. The program's theme music and game music was composed by Dan Vitco & Mark Schultz, and produced by Schultz. Its tagline is The Great Frame Game.
40 episodes were taped for season 1 in the Spring of 1991; 75 episodes were taped for season 2 in the Summer of that same year.
Two teams of two players, one wearing orange jumpsuits and one wearing yellow jumpsuits, competed.
The object of the game was to correctly guess hidden pictures on a 16-square video wall, and to answer general-knowledge trivia questions to earn opportunities to guess. This was done in two separate rounds.
The gameplay described here is from the first season. Changes are detailed in another subsection.
In this round, an outline of dots representing something in a set category was revealed on the 16-square video wall. A series of general-knowledge trivia questions would be asked to the teams, with a correct answer earning that team $20 and a choice of a square. Once a square was chosen, the dots in it were connected to the rest of the puzzle and the team had five seconds to guess the picture. Guessing correctly earned $50, while an incorrect guess lost $20. There was no penalty for not guessing.
The round continued until time ran out. If a picture was being played when time was called, it would be revealed one square at a time until someone guessed correctly and earned the $50. Multiple guesses were allowed, with no penalties for incorrect guesses.
At various points in the game the teams would uncover Power Surges randomly hidden on the board. In round one, a square that hid one allowed the team to play a bonus game for a chance at $20 and see an actual piece of the puzzle instead of the connected dots. There were two of these hidden in each picture and every Power Surge in the round involved some sort of knowledge-based activity.
The second round featured an actual image hidden behind the video wall. Each of the squares' four corners were marked with numbers, and each question had either two, three, or four possible answers. As in Round 1, if a team failed to answer correctly (in this case, come up with the allotment of correct answers) the opposing team would be able to steal control by completing the allotment themselves. Giving the required amount of correct answers won a team $40, and the team was able to complete as many lines as there were correct answers in the question. Once the four dots on the outside of the square were connected, the part of the image hidden behind the square was revealed.
Pictures in round two were worth $75, with incorrect guesses still costing $20, and one Power Surge was on the board. This time the Power Surges were played at center stage and involved the players doing some sort of physical activity in order to reveal pieces of a picture puzzle.
Again, if time was running short the puzzle in play would be revealed one square at a time until someone guessed correctly for $75. Whoever was ahead when time was called won the game and advanced to the bonus round, dubbed "Mega Memory". Both teams kept whatever they had won with a house minimum of $100.
In the event of a tie, one final puzzle was played with the speed-up rules; whichever team guessed it correctly won the game.
Airport Security: The team would be shown some items as if they were being put through an airport security X-ray machine, and would have a 30 seconds to identify certain items that passed through. (Twelve total items in the first season, and eight items that start with a specific letter in the second season.)
Slap Happy: A picture would slowly be revealed on the screen through hands "slapping" it onto the screen. The team had to identify five pictures in 30 seconds.
Rebus Mania: The team would be shown a rebus and would have 20 or 30 seconds to solve it. Such rebuses include "Super Mario Bros." and "Marge and Homer Simpson".
What's In Common?: Four pictures were shown, and the team had 30 seconds to identify what they had in common.
It's Raining Pictures: Like it's raining, a picture was revealed one square down; the team had 30 seconds to identify five pictures.
Follow that Rhyme: Like Simon, three pictures shown, one at a time, a picture will reveal, and then they have to repeat what they've seen until they get eight times in a row.
Clue Me In: As in Pyramid and Password, one member gave a one-word clue for the other to guess. The team had 30 seconds to identify three items.
Find the Chiphead: Like Where's Waldo, the team was shown a picture. Using a telestrator called the "Videowriter", the team had to circle eight people with chip-type heads in 30 seconds.
Down in Front: People danced in front of music videos and the team had to identify the artists in them. (Either one in 20 seconds or three in 30 seconds, depending on the episode.)
Data Distortion: Pictures are twisted and distorted. The team had to identify five within 30 seconds. (In the second season they sometimes had to identify four in 30 seconds, or four in 45 seconds, depending on the episode.)
(You) Draw It: One contestant drew a picture on the Videowriter, while their teammate remained at the podium and tried to guess what was being drawn in 30 seconds. (A second season variant had the roles switched, with one of the partners explaining how to draw the picture, and the other partner trying to guess what he/she is drawing, sometimes after time ran out.)
Don't Be So Negative: The team was shown negatives and had to identify what they were. (In the first season they were of things and they had to identify all five in 30 seconds, while in the second season they were of celebrities and they had to identify four out of five of them with the 30 seconds intact.)
Don't Stay Out in the Sun Too Long: Played similar to "Don't Be So Negative," the team was shown images that were "solarized" by the sun, and they had to guess five of them within 30 seconds.
Rear Window: Contestants looked out the rear-window of moving binoculars. The team had to identify five pictures within 15 seconds (20 in the second season.)
Mike's Photo Album: The team was shown pictures of world landmarks with things blocking them (usually Mike's traveling companion Scooter Fishman) and they had to identify five of them in 30 seconds.
Matchmaker: The team was shown sixteen different images and they had 45 seconds to find the ones that go together.
Mike's Maze: Using the Videowriter, contestants had 45 seconds to navigate through a maze.
Seeing Double: Played similar to "Matchmaker," The team was shown eight pairs of an image, with each pair slightly altered, and they had 45 seconds to match all the pairs.
Off the Charts: The team was given a wordsearch puzzle resembling an eye chart and they had to find four words with a common theme in 30 seconds with clues placed around the puzzle for assistance.
Kiss my Picture: Played similar to "Slap Happy," lips would kiss the picture, with each lip revealing a photograph of a celebrity. The team had to identify three celebrities within 30 seconds.
Splatter it On: Portions of the picture were "splattered" onto the screen. Teams had to identify four out of five pictures in 30 seconds.
Scrambled Pictures: A cartoon was out of place, and the team had to identify it in 15 seconds.
Extreme Close-Up: A camera would show an object very close-up and slowly zoom out to show the entire item. The team had to guess all three in 30 seconds.
Computer Printout: A picture was shown by "printing" (beginning in top like a computer). The team had to identify five pictures in 30 seconds.
You Can Count On It: Questions related to math were being called out, and players had to guess what number to the problem was. After 30 seconds, the teams had to guess what was the picture on screen.
Word Up: A wordsearch puzzle appeared on the Videowriter. One contestant circled as many hidden words as they could in 30 seconds while the teammate helped find words. When time ran out, they took a guess as to what theme the words fit.
Mike's Makeover: Played similar to "(You) Draw It," a picture of Mike appears on the Videowriter. One player drew the clue that was on the card (always shown to the home audience), and the partner had to identify it in 20 seconds.
Filler-Up Irregular: A video of an object being covered in a substance was shown in reverse. The team had 15 seconds to identify the object.
Digitized Display: Pixelated pictures would slowly come into focus, and the team had to identify five in 30 seconds.
Buried with the Mummy: The team had to guess five objects wrapped in bandages that were next to the wallpaper with the same design in 30 seconds.
This End Up: Pictures are shown upside down, rightside up, or sideways, and the team had to identify five pictures within 15 seconds.
Name That Theme: Pictures are hidden on the video wall that relates to a particular theme. The team had to identify four hidden pictures in 30 seconds. (In the second season, this was changed to identifying sixteen hidden pictures in 30 seconds.)
Falling Leaves: Just like autumn, leaves falls into place that forms a picture. The team had to identify three pictures in 30 seconds.
Wrap It: Played similar to "Buried with the Mummy," objects are wrapped in a pattern, which is the same as the background. The team had to identify four out of five objects in 30 seconds.
Hidden Pictures: Using the Videowriter, the teams had 30 seconds to circle five hidden pictures that were concealed in the picture.
To Half or Half Not: Pictures of famous celebrities had their faces mirrored, and the team had to identify three of them in 30 seconds.
Scrambled Faces: The team was shown four pictures of celebrities each cut into four squares and they had to identify all four of them in 30 seconds.
Find it in a Crowd: Played similar to "Find the Chiphead," the team was shown a wearable object on the Videowriter, and then a picture of an audience. They had 15 seconds to find the five audience members wearing it.
All physical Power Surges, except one, involved players performing tasks in order to reveal pieces to a picture. After the team completed the Power Surge, they were given one chance to guess what the picture was for $40; failure to do so earned $40 for the opposing team. The games continued until all nine numbers were revealed, time ran out, or a team ran out of objects.
Toss Across: Played similar to the Tyco game of the same name. The team playing had 30 seconds to toss computer chips in an attempt to flip over the nine game pieces. The pieces were three-sided and had numbers, punctuation marks, and the Get the Picture logo on them, with the object being to reveal the numbers. (The first few times this was played, two of the sides had numbers. Presumably to avoid having all the numbers being revealed early, this was quickly changed to only one side having numbers and the other having punctuation marks. The Get the Picture logo side remained intact.)
Ring Toss for Pieces: Same idea as "Toss Across", with the exception of the contestant having to throw rings over spots on a computer motherboard. The spots were not all in order, however.
Putting for Pieces: Similar to mini golf, with nine holes to putt into.
Shuffling for Pieces: Similar to shuffleboard, with the exception of contestants shuffling large floppy disks, trying to get the center of the disk onto designated spots, in numerical order from top to bottom. This game and the ring toss game used a larger grid than the Toss Across and mini golf games.
Jigsaw Puzzle: The contestants had 45 seconds to put a jigsaw puzzle together, retrieving the pieces from a podium and placing them on a giant jigsaw puzzle board. When time ran out, or if the puzzle had been completed, the contestants had to guess what the picture formed by the puzzle was.
The winning team faced a nine-square board that hid nine pictures, all in relation to a theme revealed before the round. The pictures were shown to the players for ten seconds, with the object being to remember where they were placed. A nine-numbered keypad was used by the players, with each picture hidden behind a corresponding number. For 45 seconds O'Malley would read clues one at a time and the team would hit the number on the keypad that they thought would reveal the correct picture. A team was encouraged to take turns, but this rule was not enforced.
For each correct answer up to six, the team split $200. The seventh and eighth matches won merchandise prizes, and if a team matched all nine pictures before time ran out they won a grand prize.
In season two, the rules were changed to the following:
The game was played for points instead of money.
A toss-up picture was played at the beginning of the game for 20 points.
All Power Surges were knowledge-based, and an additional Power Surge was added in Round 2. Every Power Surge took place at center stage.
The time limit in Mega Memory was reduced to 35 seconds, with the team splitting $100 for each of the first six matches. The "take turns" rule was enforced.
Instead of computer keyboard buzzers, the teams used blue plunger buzzers, and wore nametags on their jumpsuits.
Although the series ended first-run episodes on December 6, 1991, reruns aired weekly until March 13, 1993. Reruns aired on Nickelodeon GAS from the channel's launch on March 1, 1999 until its closure on December 31, 2007. Episodes of Get the Picture could be watched on Nick's own TurboNick service from 2007 until 2009.
The United Kingdom had its own version on Nickelodeon UK.
