Starface

Starface is an American television game show which ran on GSN on August 1, 2006 to November 4, 2006. Reruns aired until January 2007.

Format

The show, originally known as Fame Game in its early development stages, was hosted by Danny Bonaduce and was a trivia-based game involving questions about celebrities and other elements of pop culture. Three contestants competed, with the winner playing a bonus round for the grand prize. The show was taped at Hollywood Center Studios.

Main game

In round one, contestants ring-in to answer questions worth 50 points, with no penalty for a wrong answer. In the first question of the round contestants attempt to identify a celebrity from a photo. Follow-up questions are then asked related in some way to the celebrity. Also commonly featured are questions labeled as the "Celebrity Train Wreck", which relate to a celebrity who has recently experienced life troubles, or "National Enquirer Hot Corner", which feature celebrities who area considered sex symbols.

In round two, correct answers are worth 100 points. Also, at least one set of questions in this round feature a puzzle question under one of three segments. For "Below the Beltway" (introduced by the first few bars of Hail to the Chief), pictures of a politician (past or present) are shown, which pan across the screen starting at the person's waist, and going up his/her body, and contestants are tasked to identify the person. "See Cups" featured pictures of a female celebrity, starting at the person's breasts, and zooming out from the body. "Yearbook" included pictures of a celebrity starting at youth and moving through maturity. At the start of each segment, a clue is given for each stage of the reveal, after which players can ring-in and guess. An incorrect guess locks the player out for the rest of the reveal. All three players are once again eligible to answer follow-up questions. Also occasionally used is the "15 Minutes of Fame" category, which featured people who only became famous because of a relation to a celebrity. The answers to the follow-up questions are often designed to disparage the would-be celebrity.

A segment titled "Mug Shot" is commonly used to finish round two. As its name suggests, a mug shot of a celebrity who has been arrested. Some of the follow-up questions are usually based around the crime committed.

In round three, the contestants each put on a mask of the same celebrity. Questions are about that celebrity are read, and the players must phrase their answers in first-person form. Each correct answer is worth 200 points, and the player with the highest score at the end of the round wins the game and advances to the bonus round. If a tie occurs, a tie-breaker question is asked. A contestant who answers correctly wins the game, and a wrong answer loses the game.

Bonus round

The player is shown pictures of two different items (celebrities, animals, food, etc.), and is read a series of statements. Each statement pertains to one of the two options. If the player answers ten questions correctly in 60 seconds, he/she wins a trip; otherwise, $100 is awarded for each correct answer.

Broadcast history

GSN decided not to renew the show for a second season due to poor ratings. In early November, the show was replaced by I've Got a Secret in the 9:30 PM time slot, leaving only a 3:30 PM weekend airing until January 2007, when the show was completely removed from the schedule and Match Game PM took its former weekend slot.

Sounds

The show was famous was recycling certain sound effects. The correct answer ding is the correct letter sound from Wheel of Fortune, while the wrong answer buzzers, buzz-in sound, and time's up buzzers came from Shop 'til You Drop. The 60-second music cue during the bonus round was later made into the 90-second cue used during the bonus round of Merv Griffin's Crosswords.

References