Monopoly (game show)

First round

Three contestants played, each represented by a color (red, gold, and green).

In the first round, the players attempted to take control of the eight groups of colored properties on a giant Monopoly board. To do so, they had to solve crossword-style clues. The first letter of each answer was given to the players, and each side of the four-sided board, referred to as "blocks" (with the block containing the five properties between the Go to Jail corner and "GO" referred to as the "high rent district"), had a different starting letter for clues. Each clue was a toss-up, and answering correctly won money equal to the value of the property, from $60 for Mediterranean Avenue to $400 for Boardwalk. Answering incorrectly deducted that value from a player's score. In the event that all three players failed to answer a clue, the property value was cut in half and another clue was read.

Each color group, referred to as a monopoly, had to be controlled by one of the players before play moved on to another. Once a player controlled a monopoly, the total monetary value of its properties was added to his/her score. The lowest monopoly value was $120, which was for Mediterranean and Baltic Avenues. The highest was $920, for the three-property monopoly consisting of Pacific, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania Avenues.

If the properties in a monopoly ended up under the control of multiple players, a series of toss-up clues were played between them to determine ownership. A player who owned two properties in a group of three had to give one correct answer in order to take full control, while the player who owned the third had to give two. If all three players each owned one property, the first to give a correct answer challenged one opponent and took over the property of the other, and the remainder of the showdown followed the two-player format. An incorrect answer on the initial toss-up forfeited that player's property, which was then awarded to one of the others through a second toss-up. In the case of the Mediterranean/Baltic and Park Place/Boardwalk monopolies being split between two players, the first to answer a clue correctly took control.

Big Money Round

During the commercial break following the completion of the first round, the players used the money they had earned to build houses and hotels on their properties. These cost $50 and $250 respectively, regardless of the properties' position on the board, and players had to build evenly within a color group. The number of houses/hotels on a property determined the amount of its rent, which was used as the value of its clues.

Once the players' construction purchases had been revealed and the corresponding cost deducted from their scores, the Big Money Round began. An indicator light started at "GO" and moved clockwise around the board, according to the total of two oversized dice rolled by the show's hostess. Every player received a $200 bonus whenever the indicator light passed or landed on "GO."

If a property was landed on, O'Donnell called out its rent value and Reilly read a question to the player who owned it. A correct response added the rent value to his/her score. A miss incurred no penalty but allowed either of the opponents to buzz in under the same rules as the first round, with an incorrect answer deducting from that player's score.

Squares other than properties affected the gameplay as follows:

The second round was played until time was called. At this point, all houses and hotels were sold back to the bank at their original purchase price and the money was credited to the players who owned the properties, regardless of who had originally built them. The player with the highest total won the game, kept his/her money, and advanced to the bonus round.

Bonus Round ("Once Around the Board")

The champion tried to complete one full clockwise circuit of the board within five turns while staying out of Jail. He/she first had to choose four spaces - one each on the maroon/orange and red/yellow sides, and two on the green/blue side - to become Go to Jail spaces. The original Go to Jail space remained on the board, for a total of five.

The champion started at "GO" and rolled the dice to move around the board. As long as he/she did not land on a Go to Jail space and had turns remaining, he/she could quit the round and take $100 per space passed. Rolling doubles awarded an extra turn. If the champion landed on a Go to Jail space at any time, the round ended and he/she forfeited the money.

The champion won $25,000 for passing "GO" without running out of turns, or $50,000 for landing on "GO" exactly. If he/she ran out of turns and had avoided Jail, he/she still collected $100 per space passed.

Production information

Merv Griffin created the series and served as executive producer. Monopoly was paired with Super Jeopardy! for its 12-week run on ABC.

Coincidentally, host Mike Reilly competed on the television game show Jeopardy! in 1989. Reilly later worked as a waiter before being selected a year later by producer Merv Griffin to perform as a contestant on the pilot for Monopoly. After the pilot with Peter Tomarken as host was taped, Reilly was selected as host.

International version

A Welsh version of the show, hosted by Derec Brown aired on S4C for a brief period in 1992.