January 6, 1986 "Card Sharks returns on CBS"

[groundchuck]

25 years ago on January 6, "The game where a turn of single card could mean big money." Card Sharks returned to television on a new network and with a new host. After a 3 and 1/2 year run on NBC, Card Sharks returned to CBS with Bob Eubanks as the host. It's the same high/low card game that had a good run on NBC where contestants had to predict whether the next card was higher or lower than the preceding card. The winner of the two games goes on to the "Money Cards" bonus round where a contestant could win thousands of dollars on the turn of the cards. Later in the fall of 1986, a syndicated nighttime version with Bill Rafferty premiered. What made the CBS version and the syndicated version stand out from the NBC version was "the push rule" which means that a double on the money cards did not win or lose money. The bet was carried over to the next card. The other "tweak" that made the CBS and syndicated version stand out was the addition of the "Car Game" and the "Prize Cards (on Raffferty's version). I guess the debate will always be with "Card Sharks": Who was the better host (Perry, Eubanks, or Rafferty) or which was the better format (NBC 1978-1982); (CBS 1986-1989); or (Syndicated: 1986-87)

[King888]

It's hard to believe that it's already been 1/4th of a century since the premiere of that revival. Bob still looks the same way he did back when he hosted Card Sharks in the 1980s, but not necessarily true about Bill. In my opinion, Bill Rafferty was way better than Perry and Eubanks because he wasn't overrated like the other 2 and never wasted game play time unlike Bob. Even though this refers to the premiere only of the Eubanks version, happy 25th anniversary to it.

[CardSharks8689]

I can't believe it's been a quarter of a century since Bob Eubanks revived Card Sharks. He did a marvelous job, IMO, and although some episodes had no Money Cards or Car Game (most likely after the car game debuted), we realize it would come eventually. I think his interaction with the players may have consumed time, but he did have to fill the time somehow.

Happy 25th anniversary to what I call the best version of Card Sharks EVER!!!