Wordplay: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

On Wordplay, two contestants playing in turn, chose one word from nine possibilities on a game board (examples: fantasia, turgid, avuncular, cudgel, hoodoo, germane). Each of the three guest celebrities gave a definition. The player tried to choose the correct definition and if successful won a cash amount (this varied) associated with the word. The player with the most money after six words were played, won the game. In the bonus round (called "Speedword") on the first show only, the day's champion tried to go from one side of the game board to the other by guessing words from two definitions associated with that word in forty-five seconds. The player earned $100 for each word correctly guessed or a bonus that started off at $5,000 and was increased by $2,500 each time it was not won. Players could stay on for a maximum of three days. In 2017, Buzzr re-aired the pilot and first three episodes of the series.

Series details

• Title: Wordplay
• Format: Game Show
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 1986-12-29
• Final broadcast date listed: 1986-12-31
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: NBC
• Network country: United States
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 56643
• IMDb ID: tt0135116
• TVDB ID: 75107

Cast and credited roles

• Tom Kennedy — Host
• Charlie O'Donnell — Announcer

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1986-12-29; final listed air date 1986-12-31.

Source and licence

Adapted from Wordplay on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.