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Definition
| Definition | |
| |
| Premiere | September 9, 1974 |
| Finale | March 10, 1989 |
| Creator | Nick Nicholson E. Roger Muir |
| Host | Bob McLean (1974-75) Jim Perry (1975-89) |
| Network/Provider | CTV |
| Style | 30-minute game show |
| Company | Glen-Warren Productions, CTV |
| Seasons | 15 |
| Origin | Canada |
Definition is a Canadian game show which aired on CTV.
Definition's format was loosely based on the word game Hangman. Two teams of two competed, originally a contestant and celebrity and from 1986 on two pairs of regular contestants. The teams would take turns guessing letters in a phrase for which Perry had offered a pun as a clue. The game is similar to Wheel of Fortune, which debuted around the same time.
The challengers began the game one with one teammate "giving away" a letter to their opponents. The usual strategy involved "giving away" a rare letter, such as Q, Z or X. However, the longer a puzzle went unsolved, the more difficult it would become to safely choose a letter that wasn't in the phrase, and some phrases did contain the rare letters as well. If the giveaway letter did not appear in the puzzle, the other player "took" a letter that he believed to be in the puzzle. If the letter wasn't in the puzzle, control passed to the opposing team. However, if the letter was in the puzzle, the team got a chance to guess. Failure to guess correctly passed control to the other team. If the team's giveaway letter was in the puzzle, they lost control and the other team was given a free guess before taking their turn. Play continued in this manner until someone correctly guessed the puzzle.
The first team to solve two puzzles — later changed to three — won the match and advanced to a bonus game. In the bonus game, the champion team faced one final definition, in which the letters would be revealed one by one in alphabetical order. If they solved the puzzle the team received a small merchandise prize and $10 for each unrevealed letter. If they failed to solve the puzzle, $10 was given as a consolation prize. Five consecutive wins allowed the players to play for a bigger prize, such as a refrigerator. After the bonus round the champion switched sides to play with the other celebrity and continued switching until beaten or retired. The civilian teams did not switch sides.
The show was frequently mocked for the cheapness of its prizes (monetary awards in $10 amounts, small appliances or pen and pencil sets).
