Uh Oh! (game show)

Uh Oh! was a Canadian television game show created by Rick Watts (who also served as producer and director of the show's first five seasons) and Frank Young. Following a sneak preview at YTV Psykoblast on August 16, "Uh Oh!" aired from August 22, 1997 to April 19, 2003 on YTV, and was a spin-off of the popular variety show "It's Alive!", which also aired on YTV. "Uh Oh!" was part of "It's Alive"s game show segment during its third season, but existed as a parody during its second season. As of 2019, "Uh Oh!" is the third longest-running show on YTV, behind "Hit List" and "Video & Arcade Top 10", both of which aired for 14 and 15 years respectively. For its entire run, "Uh Oh!" was taped at Global Television in Toronto, Ontario. The series ended on April 19, 2003.
Background and premise.
"Uh Oh!" was inspired by a game show parody sketch on "It's Alive!" during its second season, where contestants were chained up and answered questions. If a contestant answered incorrectly, a man known as "The Punisher" would pour slime on them from the rafters. In the third season of "It's Alive!", realizing that the game show parody could actually work as a real game show, "Uh Oh!" debuted as part of the slate of game shows during the show's segment. The game was much shorter than its spin-off, with the game consisting of one round of two spins each. Quickly becoming the most popular game show in the segment, the game was played more frequently than its other games. Shortly after "It's Alive!" ended in 1997, "Uh Oh!" later became a show of its own that same year, playing with exactly the same rules as when it was on "It's Alive!", except that there were now two rounds, with an additional round between the two rounds called Slime Tour, which was based on the obstacle course segment from "It's Alive!" involving different teams who were competing against each other in their own competition.
The game was played with three colour-based teams that would be battled against with each other in each game. The goal of the game was to have more points than the other two teams to take home the grand prize. Teams would consist of two players each and would be either Blue, Green, or Red. Audience members would also pick sides and wear clothes of the colour they supported. Each team member would either spin the wheel for half of the game or participate in whichever activity the wheel lands on. The team members would participate in games which would nearly always involve goo and would be silly. If won, games would provide points for the respective team. In the "Uh Oh!" sketch on "It's Alive!", and the later series, Blue went first, then Green and Red.
"Uh Oh!" was sponsored by Post Honeycomb for later episodes in Season 1. As mentioned, Fruit Gushers became the official sponsor of "Uh Oh!" for seasons 5 and 6.
Gameplay.
Opening.
The game begins when Mr. Voiceman ask the audience a question: "What do you say when ... (insert type of usual but funny predicament: For example, "When you press the eject button on a toilet seat?")? ", and the audience would respond "UH OH!" with the main theme song heard. After the opening sequence, Mr. Voiceman would introduce the show's main host, Wink Yahoo with a statement themed to his opening question: "The only (Canadian/North American) TV personality who... " with a response of cheering from the audience. Wink would respond in kind to Mr. Voiceman and introduce the show's other hosts. Wink would ask Mr. Voiceman to introduce the teams and its two players, who were thereupon introduced followed by the introduction of The Punisher. Afterwards, Mr. Voiceman's duties were minor throughout the game: to announce the prizes won by the studio teams, Slime Tour players, and lucky audience members.
Round 1.
During Round 1, one player from each team are designated to spin a 12-space segmented wheel which featured a variety of possible activities or results that could occur. Their partner, who was located at the other end of the studio and equipped with goggles, was designated to perform the activity that the wheel landed on. Each team take turns spinning the wheel, with two cycles through the three teams. On many episodes, Wink would explain the rules like this:
In the first round, the wheel itself spun, and had pegs around the circumference. The chosen spot was denoted by a spring-loaded pointer that "clicked" past the pegs. Distribution of the spaces on the wheel changed throughout the show, but the first round spaces remained constant. In Season 1, spaces on the Round 1 wheel included 2 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 2 "The Dump" spaces, 2 "Win and Spin" spaces, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space. In Season 2, the Round 1 wheel was changed slightly with spaces including 3 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 1 "The Dump" space, 2 "Win and Spin" spaces, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space, and remained that way for the rest of the series. At the end of the round, Mr. Voiceman would announce the grand prize on the show's next episode.
The Slime Tour (Round 2).
The second round features the Slime Tour, which features some footage shot at another location elsewhere across Canada. In its first season, the Slime Tour was played mainly in Yukon. Three contestants, dressed in Yellow, Orange, and Purple, competed in a themed obstacle course race. As mentioned, the Slime Tour was played the same way as the obstacle course segment on "It's Alive!". After the contestants were introduced, the three teams within the studio had to select which colour contestant they thought would win the race. If they were right, they earned 35 points; otherwise, no points were awarded if they pick the runners up.
The obstacle course was generally made up of three different activities separated by a distance that would have to be run. Some of the activities required a physical skill; others simply required speed at completing a task. There was usually at least one task in each course that would get the contestant messy, and usually a task that required carrying something or wearing something throughout the rest of the race. The winner of the race won a prize for himself/herself with a different prize going to the runners up. During Season 4, the Slime Tour was sponsored by Sunny Delight with the sponsor located on the back of each of the contestants' shirts. During the show's run, the Slime Tour visited the following cities across Canada:
When the Slime Tour later changed its name to Field Games during the show's sixth and final season, all of them were played in Toronto instead.
Round 3.
The third and final round was played essentially the same as the first round, with the players switching roles with their partners. The wheel itself was replaced with an entirely different design. The wheel in the third round was stationary, and the indicator spun. The indicator was designed like a three-blade propeller; each blade was the colour of one of the teams, and framed the space on the wheel it landed at. A team landed on the space marked by the indicator of their colour. Spaces on the wheel were occasionally changed between seasons. Fixed spaces in Season 1 included 3 "Uh Oh!" spaces, 3 "Mayhem" spaces, 2 "Speed Round" spaces, 1 "The Dump" space, 1 "Win and Spin" space, 1 "Lose and Spin" space, and 1 "Trade and Spin" space. In Season 2, one of the Uh Oh! spaces was replaced with an "Uh Oh! Deluxe" space. In Season 5, the Uh Oh! Deluxe space was replaced with a "Pick It!" space, while in Season 6, it was replaced with a "Fruit Gushers" space.
During season 1, Wink interviewed both partners before starting the game action. It would often involve the previous round's action, and opinions for revenge on partners. The game ends when the team with the most points takes home the grand prize. If the game ended in a tie, a jump-in question was read. Whoever buzzed-in first with the correct answer won. Otherwise, their opponent would automatically win the grand prize. In a three-way tie, the two remaining teams would have a shot at the question. During early Season 6, an alternate tiebreaker was used in which the partners of the spinners involved in the tie bobbed for one Fruit Gusher each simultaneously at the Fruit Gushers station, this time with no time limit, and the one who gets the higher point value (colours don't count here) wins the points and the game. Towards the end of the season, the original tiebreaker was reinstated.
Credits.
During the credits, the voiceover would always read a silly statement in lieu of statements such as "Due to technical difficulties..." or "This program was edited for broadcast."
Prizes.
Prizes were awarded to the winning team at the end of each show and over the course of the series included Super Soakers, Mountain bikes, and stereos. Audience members would always receive Hubba Bubba bubble gum. Other prizes for the audience, amongst others, included Oreo cookies, the 1998 edition of the Canadian & World encyclopedia CD-ROM, Rock Candy, Planters Peanuts, Bop It (later, Bop It Extreme), various candies from Wonka, Voortman Cookies, New York Color, Juiced Up from Dare, Armstrong Cheese, Yoplait Tubes, Dippity Do Sport Gel, Fruit Gushers (the show's official sponsor in seasons 5 and 6).
On one of the earliest episodes in the first season, the first team to land on The Dump (indicated with a YTV basketball logo on the spaces) on the wheel would win 2 Rawlings NCAA basketballs, one for each team member, regardless of The Dump's outcome. On one episode, later that same season, "Uh Oh!" was not landed on at all during the show, leaving The Punisher depressed. Since the game ended a few minutes ahead of schedule, one lucky audience member would have a chance to win a Rawlings NCAA basketball by answering an "Uh Oh!" Style question asked by Sam. An incorrect answer resulted in The Punisher sliming that participant.
Broadcast history.
For the first 4 seasons of the series run, "Uh Oh!" aired every Friday at 6 PM following YTV's Flagship block "The Zone". An encore episode would air on Saturday at 1 PM. Starting with season 4, encore episodes of the series aired on Sunday at 3 PM. For its final two seasons, "Uh Oh!" moved to airing on Saturday at 12:00 Noon with no encore presentations.
Episode status.
All episodes of "Uh Oh!" exist, and have been rerun on YTV at early mornings at 4:30AM and 6:00AM until September 2004 and Discovery Kids until it became Nickelodeon in 2009. To date, the Season 1 episodes have never been rerun since the start of Season 2 in fall 1998. Several episodes of "Uh Oh!" have since been available on YouTube.