The Mad Dash

The Mad Dash is a television game show created by Sidney M. Cohen which first appeared in 1978 on Canada's CTV network and ran until 1985. The series proved to be a family favourite based on Canada's BBM ratings, and was also popular in parts of the northern United States, where CTV affiliates were available to Americans living near the Canada–United States border, both over the air and via cable. Pierre Lalonde was the MC, and Nick Holenreich was the announcer for the show, which was taped at the studios of CFCF-TV in Montreal, with production moving to CFTO-TV in Toronto in 1983.^[1] This classic series is included in the collection of Canadian icons in the 2006 feature film Souvenir of Canada based on the book by Douglas Coupland. The series was later rerun on GameTV in Canada, from 2007 to 2010.

Gameplay

Two pairs of contestants competed in a life-sized board game. One member of each pair elected to be the "dasher" who would actually run the life-sized game board, while the "roller" remained at the host's podium. The board was a single winding path segmented into spaces which were marked to indicate the effect of landing on that space. The two dashers began the game at the "start" square of the board with the goal being to reach the "win" space at the other end of the path.

To move them along the board path, a multiple-choice question was asked of the rollers, and the first to buzz in and answer correctly was given a roll of an oversized six-sided die. Five of the die's faces had standard pips from 1–5, indicating the number of spaces for the dasher to move; the "6" side instead had a "$" symbol, which would add $10 to the team's bank any time it was rolled, and allow another roll. Rolling the "$" three times in a row would add a $50 bonus.

The team whose dasher reached "win" first won any cash or prizes banked during the game. Teams would have to roll the exact number required to land on "win"; a roll higher than the distance to win required the dasher to continue backwards after reaching "win". If the winning team had not banked any prizes, they were given a roll of the die multiplied by $10, or $100 for rolling the "$". Any money was awarded in cash directly after each win. Winning teams returned to play another game, continuing until they were defeated or won 10 consecutive games, whichever came first. Teams were also allowed to play another game after their first loss.

Spaces

Spaces on the board were of various types. Spaces with blue borders banked the prize indicated on the space; if a team landed on a prize they had already banked, they were given an additional roll. Green spaces banked an indicated money amount (or one square which doubled the team's banked money). At one point, the remaining squares were either red or yellow and had an effect on the game itself: Red spaces typically had a negative effect, such as moving backwards, or losing cash or prizes. Yellow spaces were everything else; typically squares which could result in moving forward. The spaces had effect any time they were landed on, whether the dasher was moving forwards or backwards. Some spaces on the board remained constant, while others changed from game to game. In other episodes, additional colours were used for these spaces.

Common spaces

Roll Forward - Roller rolls the die for the dasher to move forward.
Roll Back - Roller rolls the die for the dasher to move backward.
Roll Over - Roller rolls the die for the opposing dasher to move forward.
Change Places - The two dashers switch places; the dasher who moved from "Change Places" is deemed to have landed on their new space, and takes its effect.
Free Roll - The team gets a free roll.
Miss Turn - Opposing team gets a free roll.
Back to Start - The player on the board must walk back to the START square.
Go Broke - Team loses all banked cash, but prizes are left intact. If the team has an insurance policy from "Happy Birthday" (see below), it can be used to negate the effect of this space.
Return Prizes - Team loses all their banked prizes, but cash is left intact. An insurance policy can be used to negate the effect.
Dash - A true-or-false question is asked to the dasher. The roller rolls the die with the dasher moving forward if they gave a correct answer, and backwards if they did not.
Breakaway - The roller rolls the die; the dasher is given that many seconds, from one to five, to run freely along the board path towards the "win" space, stopping wherever they are when the time runs out.
Dice Game - The player at the table rolls with two dice. If it results in two $ symbols, the team gets $100 and another chance to roll. In addition, the player on the game board path moves the total number shown on the dice.
Card Game - The roller draws from an oversized deck of playing cards. The dasher moves forward the number of spaces drawn, with ace being a one, unless a face card is drawn, in which case the roller must roll the die causing the dasher to move backwards.
Happy Birthday - The dasher spins two wheels, one with five money amounts and an insurance policy, the other showing all the months of the year. The team wins the money spun; if the second wheel stops on the player's birth month, the money is doubled. If the first wheel lands on the insurance policy, they receive a policy which can prevent them from losing cash or prizes later in the game.
Pot of Gold - A series of prizes that are instantly won (not banked), win or lose, no matter the outcome of the game.
Thin Ice - A true-or-false question is asked to the dasher. If they give a correct answer, they can take a prize from their opponent's bank. If they do not, the opposing team can take one of their banked prizes. If a correct answer is given, but the opponents have no prizes, the team is given the chance to move forward up to five squares, paying $10 per square.
Mini-game – One space on the board requires the dasher to play a set mini-game, and is marked with the name of that game. The mini-games usually required some physical activity, including Shooting Star and The Mad Darts. The mini-game usually had a variety of possible outcomes including affecting either player's banked cash or prizes, position on the board, like Back To Start, or offering bonus rolls, like Roll Forward.
Brains or Brawn – The dasher chooses to take either Brains - a question or Brawn - a physical stunt. If successful, the roller rolls the die and the dasher moves forward. If unsuccessful, it means that the dasher goes back.

Mini Dash

If there was too little time to play an additional game at the end of an episode, one or more audience members would be called up, one at a time, to play a Mini Dash. Each played for a different prize, and was offered a choice of five envelopes containing questions; a player would have to answer two of three correctly to win the prize. In at least some episodes, two of the five envelopes contained an instant-win and an instant-loss respectively.

Other versions

The Mad Dash has also been produced internationally. The most successful new version was produced for Polish television (Duety do Mety, literally translated to "Duos to finish line") in 2002.

References

↑ Canadian Network Takes A Mad Dash With Classic Game Show - The Special - In Your Face Media and Culture

External links

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