Mad Libs

Host
David Sidoni
Broadcast
Disney Channel: July 1998-Mid 1999
Packagers
Slam Dunk Productions Dick Clark Productions Disney Channel

"It's time for the show where (anything can happen because) your imagination/creativity fills in the blanks! It's! Mad Libs! And now, here's your host, David Sidoni!"

Mad Libs features two teams of two children played a game based on the book series of the same name.

Gameplay

Main Game

Two teams played a series physical/mental games while trying to score points, and win prizes.

Round 1: Viewer Mad Lib

In the first round, a videotape of a kid home viewer was shown. The kid recited a Mad Lib previously written by that home viewer. When it was done, the Mad Lib then became a game played in a 45 second time limit. Sometimes the game was a race to the finish and required no time limit.

Here's what a typical Mad Lib would look like:
"When I go to school, I eat my _ (noun) _, then I brushed my _ (landmark) _. Finally I grabbed my _ (barbershop item) _ and took the _ (fruit) _.

And here's how it would read when finished:
"When I go to school, I eat my CACTUS, then I brushed my EIFFEL TOWER. Finally I grabbed my SCISSORS and took the BANANA.

Then the contestants would take (fake) scissors to bananas.

Another example would be like this:
"Every day, I feed my cat _(name of person)_ some _(name of a cereal)_. He likes it so much that he _(past tense verb)_ all over the _(around the house)_.

And after completing it Mad Lib, it might read:
"Every day, I feed my cat JOHNNY some CHEERIOS. He likes it so much that he DANCED all over the LAMP.

Contestants would try to put toy cats on lamps.

The team that won the stunt scored 20 points, if both teams tied, they both got the 20 points.

Round 2: Madder Than You

In the next round called "Madder than You", host Sidoni gave a category. Then the contestants came up with a series of words, phrases and names that fit the category. Teams went back and forth by holding & passing a white ball with the show's logo on it (referred to on the air as the hot potato). The process continued until one of these things happened:

A player gave a word that doesn't fit the category
A player repeated a word, plus a different form of the same word
A player passed the hot potato before giving an answer
A player ran out of time

If any one of those errors happened, five points went to the other team, and a new category was played. The girls were first in giving words, followed by the boys; partners on both teams alternated between categories. The round lasted for two minutes (2:00) (2 1/2 minutes in earlier shows with the timer not showing).

Round 3: Mega Stunt

In Round 3 both teams played a stunt in which they could actually make a Mad Lib. The stunts changed from show to show. Each item was marked with a word, and the idea was to place four words on their own Mad Lib wall, match them up to the four categories by the color of the word (red, blue, green & black). The first team to get the four words completed the Mad Lib, and earned 20 points. After the stunt, the Mad Lib was then revealed and read.

Round 4: Mixed-Up Mad Libs

This round was a combination of elements from Whew!, and Shop 'til you Drop's Shopper's Challenge Round. In the final round of the main game, host Sidoni read a series of Mixed-Up Mad Libs (all statements with a crazy word inserted into each one). The contestant's job was to buzz-in and correct the statements with the right word. A correct answer was worth 10 points, but an incorrect word gave the opponent a shot at correcting the statement. After each statement, contestants from both teams switched places. The round lasts for 90 seconds (1 minute and 30 seconds), and the team with the most points when time runs out won the game. If there was a tie at the end, one last Mixed-Up Mad Lib was read, and the first team to buzz-in with the correct word won the game. But if the contestant buzzed in and answered wrong, the opposing team automatically won. The winning team went on to play the Maximum Mad Lib for a grand prize, while the losing team took home parting gifts including The D show on CD-Rom, a subscription to Disney's Blast Online and a copy of the Mad Lib books.

Bonus Round: Maximum Mad Lib

In the Maximum Mad Lib (or the Max as it sometimes referred to), the winning team decided who would give and who would receive. When the decision was made, the giver placed five words (given to that player inside an envelope) and placed them anywhere in the five clue areas during the final commercial break. Afterwards, the giver had 90 seconds to get get his/her partner to say those words. The host would give the category for each word.

The clue areas change from show to show, and their names were as follows:

Stuff It - the giver would put marshmallows in his/her mouth and then say the word with his/her mouthful. It was up to the partner to identify what the giver was saying. Similar to the controversial party game Chubby Bunny, this was the only clue area to appear with the same rules in every episode.
Lick It - the giver would write the word on glass with his/her tongue using pink cake frosting.
Spell It - played the same way as Lick It, except that the giver would write the word with ketchup and mustard.
Draw It - played like standard Pictionary. The giver would draw a picture of the word using fingerpaints (sometimes markers), and the receiver tried to identify it.
Act It - simple charades. Self-Explanatory.
Mold It - the giver used play-doh to make something that looks like the word.
Rip It - played like Mold It except with paper. The giver used paper to make something that looks like the word.
Sing It - played like Pyramid except the giver had to sing out a description of the word (which is one of the ways the Pyramid players describes the word). But the giver could not sing the word, sing any part of the word, sing the essence of the word, or sings "starts with (the initial letter)". If anyone of those things happened, that word was disqualified from play.

Each time the receiver said the word, the team won the word. They could pass on a word and come back to it with time leftover. When the time was up, the five words were then inserted into the Mad Lib which was then read host David. Next the words that were guessed were checked one-by-one, because one of the words was the grand prize word. If the team got that word, or if the team got all five words before the 90 seconds was up, the team won the grand prize. If not (or if the team got zero words), the winning team still won a consolation prize.