I'm Telling!

Main game

Three teams competed, each (usually, but not always) consisting of a brother and sister. The front game was played in two rounds. In Round 1, the brothers were "teleported" to the "Isolation Zone" (or "Iso-Zone") using special effects and a video edit (i.e., taken offstage to a soundproof room). One of three pun-styled categories was chosen at random by hitting a plunger, and Faso read a question loosely based on the chosen category. Three questions were played, with each sister choosing one category, and all three sisters responded to every question.

After the sisters' answers were recorded, the brothers were brought back onstage and asked the same three questions. If a brother's response matched his sister's, the team scored points (25 for the first question, 50 for the second, and 75 for the third). If the responses disagreed, no points were awarded. Much like the adult Newlywed Game, more often than not, the siblings would usually argue over their conflicting answers. Round 2 was played in the same manner, but with the sisters taken offstage and the brothers providing initial answers. Question values were increased to 50, 75, and 150 points.

The game continued until both rounds were completed or one team had built up an insurmountable lead. The highest-scoring team received a $1,000 savings bond and advanced to the "Pick-A-Prize Arcade" for a chance to win bonus prizes. The other teams each received consolation prizes, including a copy of the I'm Telling! home game.

If two or all three teams were tied for first place after the second round, a tie-breaker question was asked to determine the winner. Before the show, the producers filled a large jar (dubbed the "I'm Telling! Fun Box") with many of the same object (usually cookies). Before the game, each team had to guess how many objects were in the jar, and write down their answer on a card. Whichever team came the closest to the actual number (without going over) would advance to the Pick-a-Prize Arcade.

Pick-A-Prize Arcade

At the end of the game, the set was rotated 180 degrees to reveal the Pick-A-Prize Arcade. Before the round was played, the team was shown a collection of 20 prizes available in the arcade, 10 designated for each sibling. Prior to the show, each chose the six prizes he or she thought the other would most like to have. The brother's prizes sat on yellow platforms while the sister's sat on pink ones.

After the home audience was shown what the brother had chosen for his sister, she marked the six prizes she wanted by hitting a plunger next to each of them. Once she finished, the process was repeated with her brother. A flashing light and siren indicated that a sibling had matched a prize chosen by the other. The team won the prizes that were matched; if they made a total of 10 matches between them, they won all 20 prizes. The structure of this round guaranteed that each player would win at least two prizes.

Broadcast history

Although the last first-run episode aired on March 5, 1988, repeats aired until August 27. Reruns were seen on The Family Channel from September 9, 1989 to September 8, 1990; August 29, 1994 to September 30, 1995; and October 30, 1995 to March 29, 1996.

Special episodes

While most shows featured brother and sister teams, special episodes were also aired in order to accommodate siblings of the same gender, known as "Brothers' Week" or "Sisters' Week", in which the teams would be all boys or all girls. Youthful stars of NBC's prime-time shows also played with their real-life siblings for charity on two episodes, known as "Celebrity Week".

Paul Walker appeared on the September 12, 1987 episode with his younger sister, Ashlie. Giovanni Ribisi appeared on the "Twins' week" episode with his sister Marissa.

Merchandise

A Board Game was released by Pressman in 1987.