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AH3RD:
OCTOBER 23, 1981


"Aces High! Deuces Low!
Let's Win Some Money, And Go-Go-Go!"

That was the final opening poem read by Gene Wood at the top of the 864th and final edition of Card Sharks, which aired on NBC.

Picking up where the previous game left off, Denise Lockhart defeated the previous champion, Michelle Jenkins, in Sudden Death, and went on to amass $1,000 in the final Money Cards round: her sequence of cards was 9D, 8C, 10D, JD replaced by QH, 7C, 5D, QS, and 3C. In the following round, whcih was the final one and pitted Denise against Victoria Sieber, host Jim Perry announced that there would not be another MC round, what with this being the final telecast and time being so treacherously short, and so a best 2-out -of-3 round was played, deciding a $5,000 winner! Denise flubbed it, enabling Victoria to win 5-grand and become Card Sharks' last ever champ.

In the show's final fading minutes Jim stood flanked by several members of Card Sharks' ever-reliable soundstage personnel as he, in his parting speech, did a summing-up on the show's original 3 1/2 year run on NBC:


"Well, that wraps it up for 3 1/2 years on Card Sharks. Thank you. Um, maybe I have a couple of moments, 'cause I think you might be interested in this. I've mentioned from time to time in the 3 1/2 years the way people have sent in poems and taken part in polls and have been a part in the show. We have polled in the last 3 1/2 years 3,875,000 people on Card Sharks, and I am delighted to say, in 3 1/2 years, we have given away $3,218,550 on this show to a lot of very nice people who've came down here as contestants. Thank you all who have sent in poems and were a part of the show.

"I do want to thank the NBC staff and crew; these guys and girls have been sensational with us for the last 3 1/2 years. Are grateful to all of you. We are grateful to you for your support that enabled us to have 3 1/2 years of Card Sharks on NBC, but I especially want to thank these people who are standing behind me, and, for one of the few times in my hammy life, I am going to get the hell out of the way here now as they roll the credits by so you could take a good look at these wonderful people from Goodson-Todman and Card Sharks who have made this thing go. I love each and every one of them. For Card Sharks on NBC, goodbye, my friends!"



Continued...

AH3RD:
Then Jim Perry placed down his microphone, stepped off the original set of Card Sharks forever -- and into gameshow TV history, leaving the show's production crew onstage. After the fee plugs wrapped, a special shot of announcer Gene Wood was shown as he delivered the 864th and final reading of Card Sharks' closing spiel:


"This Is Gene Wood Speaking For Card Sharks,
A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production!"

Then the long credits crawl precipitated a v e r y . . . s l o w . . . r o l l as they superimposed over the Card Sharks crew to accommodate the viewers at home to get a glimpse at and remember the faces of the men and women which have helped keep the show humming on NBC since April 1978.

The series' original run had expired, but the property itself did not. In late 1985, CBS decided that it wanted a big-money show on its daytime schedule, so they ordered a revival of the popular show Card Sharks (replacing the late Body Language, another Mark Goodson Production), calling it The New Card Sharks, but this new version differed in many ways from the original 1978-1981 NBC version hosted by Jim Perry. The set was changed, the music and most notably (in the first four weeks especially), The Money Cards was played differently (concering the process of changing cards), and there was a new host, Bob Eubanks, and new dealers, models Lacey Pemberton and Susannah Williams! Later on in the run, 10 people who had something in common began appearing in the front row of an auidence, and several times throughout the show, questions were asked about them. This version stayed in town between January 6, 1986 and March 31, 1989. There was a syndicated primetime edition on the side, lauched in fall 1986 and lasting for a year, hosted by Bill Rafferty.

In September 2001, yet another edition of the popular game was launched in syndication, emceed by comic Pat Bullard and with Tami Anderson as the new dealer. This failed on every level, and didn't even last beyond a full season.

Don Howard:

--- Quote ---OCTOBER 21, 1981
--- End quote ---

That was a Wednesday. The final show rolled on Friday the 23rd.



--- Quote ---Aces High! Deuces Low!
--- End quote ---

Not "ace is high--deuce is low"? I'll take your word for it.

GS Warehouse:
[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Oct 19 2003, 03:17 PM\']
--- Quote ---Aces High! Deuces Low!
--- End quote ---

Not "ace is high--deuce is low"? I'll take your word for it. [/quote]
They sound so much the same I don't think it really makes a difference.  On that show, it sounded more like "Aces high, deuces low".

Here's the summary of the front games:
Michelle vs. Denise
- G1: Denise wins; Jim brings his wife June onstage to throw to the first commercial.
- G2: In sudden death, Denise tries to win it herself, but misses the last card, giving the game to Michelle
- G3: Denise wins Q1 and gets good cards to win the match.  Michelle leaves with $3,650.

Denise vs. Victoria
- G1 Q1: Victoria wins the question and freezes after two cards.  Jim: Five hundred for the run doesn't sound quite as good as five thousand for the match.
- G1 Q2: Denise wins the question, but neither player advances.
[BUZZ BUZZ BUZZ]  From this point on, every question is sudden death.
- G1 Q3: Victoria wins the question, passes, and wins when Denise errs on the last card.
- G2: Victoria wins the question; Jim shows only her base card.  Knowing Denise cannot change her base card, Victoria passes, and Denise is stuck with an eight.  She goes lower and Jim turns over a nine.  Jim: Victoria comes on and wins the last five thousand dollars on Card Sharks!  Denise leaves with $1,200, Victoria with $5,200.

ChuckNet:

--- Quote ---The series' original run had expired, but the property itself did not. In late 1985, CBS decided that it wanted a big-money show on its daytime schedule, so they ordered a revival of the popular show Card Sharks (replacing the late Body Language, another Mark Goodson Production), calling it The New Card Sharks
--- End quote ---

Also, the original NBC series was rerun on some stations in 1982-83 (no, these were not new eps, as some sources errnously claim), and the ratings they pulled may have influenced CBS's decision to revive it.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

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