Love Me, Love Me Not

Host

Ross Shafer

Announcer/Hostess

Jane MacDougall (first few weeks) Mairlyn Smith

Broadcast

Global: 1986–1987

Packager

Northstar Syndications Inc.

OPENING SPIEL: "Welcome to the game of love, the game that makes the world go round, Love Me, Love Me Not, in which these three beautiful young women/handsome young men: (insert panelists), using all their feminine whiles/masculine charm, are determined to avoid being captured by two eager rivals: (insert contestants), who are just as determined to capture them all. Now, meet the star of Love Me, Love Me Not, your host, Ross Shafer!"

Love Me, Love Me Not was a romance-based quiz show produced by CKVU-TV Vancouver that "makes the world go round". It was based on an Italian format called M'ama Non M'ama (Loves Me, Loves Me Not).

Gameplay

Main Game

Two contestants of the same sex competed against each other, facing a panel of three members of the opposite sex. Each game alternated between men "chasing" women and women chasing men. The two "eager rivals" competed to capture the whole panel, who did their best to avoid capture.

Round 1

All the panelists started with $100. The champion contestant chose one of the three panelists, who asked a true/false question. All of the questions on this show pertained to love, sex, relationships, etc. The contestant had to correctly judge the statement in order to "capture" the panelist, otherwise the panelist received $100. The challenger did the same with one of the remaining panelists, and the champion tried to capture the remaining panelist.

Round 2

Starting with the challenger, each player tries to capture one of the as-yet-unclaimed panelists. This time, if a contestant failed to capture a panelist, the panelist received $200. Once all three players were captured, each player attempted to capture one of their opponent's panelists until one player won the game by capturing all three panelists, or the game reached its limit of ten questions (this total was nine if the champion was ahead when all three panelists were first captured). The winner of the game received $1,000 and the panelist with the most money kept it and also won the game.

Later in the run, the limit was expanded to twelve questions, and in Round 2 each panelist earned $100 for evading a contestant and each contestant could aim to capture any panelist he or she did not already have, even if the other contestant had already captured that panelist.

Tiebreaker

If the game ended in a tie, a tiebreaker question (always numerical) was asked to whichever side (sometimes both).

Main Contestants

The hostess asked the question to the main contestants if they had the same number of captures. In a manner similar to Card Sharks, the champion guessed what the actual number was, while the challenger guessed whether the champion's guessed was higher or lower than the actual answer. To win, the challenger's higher/lower answer had to be correct; but if the answer was the opposite or if the champion's guess was right on the nose, the champion won.

The Panel

2-Panelist Mode

If two panelists were tied in money, they continued asking questions (but only to the winning contestant), alternating turns until one of them fooled him/her first, at which point that panelist won an additional $100 and the game (the contestant received a $100 bonus for each correct answer in this case). If the maximum number of questions was already asked, the tied panelists would play the same question as the main contestants did. The panelist closer to the left (newer panelists started on the right-hand side) gave a numerical answer while the other guessed if the actual answer was higher or lower. The winner of the question won the game and the additional $100.

3-Panelist Mode

If all three panelists were tied, they each wrote down their best guess to the tiebreaker question, and the panelist with the closest estimate was declared the winner and received the additional $100.

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Losing panelists still received $100 and remained on the panel for a maximum of five games, or until they made it to the bonus round. The winners of the game went on to play the bonus game called "The Chase Around the Daisy".

The Chase Around the Daisy (Bonus Round)

The winning contestant and panelist played on a giant daisy with eight petals numbered clockwise from 1 to 8. The contestant started at petal #1 and the panelist started on petal #6. Shafer asked the contestant a series of true/false questions, and the contestant advanced one petal for a correct answer, while the panelist advanced one petal for an incorrect answer.

The contestant had to catch up to the panelist within 50 seconds (later reduced to 45 seconds, and ultimately 40). If the contestant succeeded, that contestant won $700 & a Pontiac Fiero (later on the contestant would win just the car). If time ran out, the panelist won $100 of the contestant's $700 for each petal that separated them in whichever direction was a greater distance (later, only the panelist won money in this case). If the panelist caught the contestant on account of too many incorrect responses, the game ended and the panelist received $1,400 (later a trip to the Best Western Plaza Hotel in Waikiki, HI).

For the first 5 episodes, the time limit was 50 seconds. In the first two episodes, the 50-second timer was displayed in white.

From the 3rd episode onward, the timer was displayed in yellow.

From the 6th episode onward, the time limit was reduced to 45 seconds. In the 6th episode, this was the 45-second timer looked like.

From episodes 7 to 18, this was what the 45-second timer looked like.

From the 19th episode onward, the time limit was reduced to 40 seconds.

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Win or lose, the panelist became the challenger in the next game. Players remained as contestants until they won the bonus round, or were eliminated.

Straddling

Games usually straddled episodes, meaning time could run out in the middle of a game, and it would have to be completed on the next episode.

End-of-Show Disclaimer

”Some of the information contained in the questions used in this program is taken from published sources. True questions are accurate only according to the source quoted.”

Music

Piero Cassano (composer)
José Mascolo (music arranger)

Trivia

The show itself was based on the Italian format that originally aired on Retequattro from 1983 until 1985 along with the two failed Alex Trebek pilots for American network ABC in 1984 as M'ama Non M'ama ("Loves Me, Loves Me Not").

Links

Rules for Love Me, Love Me Not

YouTube Videos

Intro for Love Me, Love Me Not
The Chase Around the Daisy Bonus Game