This is...

...where one word leads to another.

Broadcast History: January 14, 1980-June 20, 1980, NBC daytime
Host: Bill Cullen
Substitute Host: Geoff Edwards
Announcer: Johnny Gilbert
Executive Producer: Bob Stewart
Packager: Bob Stewart Productions

Chain Reaction is a classic but short lived word game. Each team has 2 celebrity players and 1 civilian player. The game starts with one word or phrase revealed at the top of the chain and another word or phrase at the bottom of the chain. The 6 words that fill the rest of the chain are all related to each other in some way.

Here's how this chain would work:     A fault is the cause of an earthquake.       An earthquake is a type of disaster.         A famous disaster is the Titanic.           The Titanic hit an iceberg.             An iceberg is cold.               If you stop smoking, you can go cold turkey.                 You can eat a turkey dinner.

The scoring is one point per letter in a correct answer. If there is a plus sign on a line and that word is worth double points. 50 points wins the game and earns the winner $250 (later changed to $100) and an opportunity to play the bonus game. The losing player receives $5 per point earned. It was changed to "parting gifts" with the advent of the third bonus round.

The many faces of the Chain Reaction bonus round

The goal in the end game was for the 2 celebrity players to form a question using one word at a time. The contestant had one chance to answer the question after one of the celebrities hit a bell. The way the end game was played did not change but there were 4 scoring methods in CR's 5 month NBC run.

Version 1 At the start of the round, $1 was given to the contestant. For every correct answer, a half zero was given. Hence, the contestant won $10 for 2 or 3 right answers, $100 for 4 or 5, $1000 for 6 or 7, and $10,000 for 8 correct answers. 60 seconds was given in this bonus round. It was incredibly difficult to win at least $1000.

Version 2 I call this the generous bonus round. In 90 seconds, the contestant had to give 9 correct answers. The scoring was the following: Number of correct answers Amount won 1 $1 2 $10 3 $100 4 $1000 5 $2000 6 $3000 7 $4000 8 $5000 9 $10,000 It certainly made up for the lack of money won during the first version of the end game.

Versions 3 & 4 In 90 seconds, a contestant had to get 10 correct answers. For each of the first 9 correct responses, the player got $100. The 10th answer was worth $10,000. After only a few episodes, the scoring system was modified again. This time, the $100 won during the main game was placed on the scoreboard. The contestant had to get only 9 correct answers in 90 seconds for $10,000.

The Chronology of Chain Reaction
Original air dates	Celebrity guests	Miscellaneous notes
Week 1 Jan. 14-18, 1980	Patty Duke Astin, Joyce Bulifant, Fred Grandy, Nipsey Russell	Only week with half zero bonus round
Week 2 Jan. 21-25, 1980	Joyce Bulifant, Didi Conn, Jay Johnson, Robert Mandan	First week with the second bonus round format
Week 3 Jan. 28-Feb. 1, 1980	Elaine Joyce, Vicki Lawrence, Richard Paul, Nipsey Russell
Week 4 Feb. 4-8, 1980	Joanna Gleason, Michael McKean, Jo Anne Worley, Richard Paul
Week 5 Feb. 11-15, 1980	Peggy Cass, Fred Grandy, Robert Mandan, Shelley Smith
Week 6 Feb. 18-22, 1980	Jay Johnson, Lois Nettleton, Soupy Sales, Debralee Scott	First week with the third bonus round format
Week 7 Feb. 25-29, 1980	Bart Braverman, Anita Gillette, Lois Nettleton, Soupy Sales
Week 8 Mar. 3-7, 1980	Joanna Gleason, Robert Mandan, Debralee Scott, Robert Walden	First week with modified third bonus round
Week 9 Mar. 10-14, 1980	Brian Patrick Clarke, Anita Gillette, Allen Ludden, Betty White
Week 10 Mar. 17-21, 1980	Anita Gillette, Fred Grandy, Gina Hecht, Nipsey Russell
Week 11 Mar. 24-28, 1980	Patty Duke Astin, Brian Patrick Clarke, Joanna Gleason, Nipsey Russell
Week 12 Mar. 31-Apr. 4, 1980	Joyce Bulifant, Jay Johnson, Judy Norton-Taylor, Robert Pine
Week 13 Apr. 7-11, 1980	Jack Carter, Wesley Eure, Vicki Lawrence, Gina Hecht	Geoff Edwards hosts Chain Reaction these 2 weeks
Week 14 Apr. 14-18, 1980	Constance McCashin, Richard Paul, Robert Walden, Jo Anne Worley
Week 15 Apr. 21-25, 1980	Didi Conn, Elaine Joyce, Ken Kercheval, Robert Mandan
Week 16 Apr. 28-May 2, 1980	Daryl Anderson, Jay Johnson, Susan Richardson, Betty White
Week 17 May 5-9, 1980	Steve Kanaly, Sharon Spelman, Sal Viscuso, Jo Anne Worley
Week 18 May 12-16, 1980	Brian Patrick Clarke, Anita Gillette, Ken Kercheval, Judy Norton-Taylor
Week 19 May 19-23, 1980	Wesley Eure, Anita Gillette, Vicki Lawrence, Ron Silver
Week 20 May 26-30, 1980	Brian Patrick Clarke, Nipsey Russell, Sharon Spelman, Laurie Walters
Week 21 Jun. 2-6, 1980	Daryl Anderson, Alison Arngrim, Gina Hecht, Nipsey Russell
Week 22 Jun. 9-13, 1980	Vicki Lawrence, Robert Mandan, Judy Norton-Taylor, Richard Paul
Week 23 Jun. 16-20, 1980	Joyce Bulifant, Jay Johnson, Ron Silver, Betty White

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