Choose Up Sides


Aired
Pilot, September 24, 1953 NBC Saturday Mornings, January 7, 1956 – March 31, 1956
Run time
30 Minutes
Host
Bob Kennedy (1953, Pilot) Dean Miller (1953, Planned; WCBS?) Gene Rayburn (1956)
Announcer ("Mr. Mischief")
Don Pardo
Origination
Hudson Theater, New York City, New York

Choose Up Sides was a children's game show in which the audience was divided into two groups, the "Space Cadets", and the "Bronco Busters". ("Space Rangers" and the "Cowboys" on the CBS version).

In 1953 a pilot was made for CBS, hosted by Bob Kennedy. The show was reportedly picked-up by CBS with the intention to air it nationally every weekday afternoon (5-5:30PM). It was set to premiere on Monday, November 2, 1953 with Dean Miller as host, but CBS backed out at the last minute and this version never aired on national television. ^[1] The show may have had a local run on WCBS from November 2, 1953 until November 12, 1953 with Dean Miller hosting. ^[2]

The show was given a second chance by NBC in 1956 with Gene Rayburn as host. This version aired Saturday mornings from January 7, 1956 until March 31, 1956.

Gameplay

CBS Version

In the CBS Version, a child from each team competed in stunts, and then gained points on a ring-toss board with each peg marked with a number of points. The child who won the stunt would throw two rings for their team and the child who lost would throw one. The show had three "magic numbers" each show, which if the team's point total match would Choose Up Sides win them 10 extra points, and a special prize for the child who tossed the ring. The process repeated with different children from each team until the show ran out of time.

All children on both teams received a "sportsmanship prize", such as a camera, and the members of the winning team, along with several home viewers chosen from a pool of write-ins, won a grand prize, such as a watch.

NBC Version

In The NBC Version, the children competed against each other doing stunts. The stunts were the type one might have seen on Beat the Clock (another Goodson-Todman Production). The winning team for each stunt scored 100 points. The losing team was allowed to do something else to earn 25 or 50 points. Their consolation stunt was dictated to them by a character called "Mr. Mischief", a crude figure that had been drawn on a wall that had ears and eyelids that moved. The time limit for the stunt would be set by a balloon in his mouth which would inflate until it burst.

Finishing up the show was a Choose Up Sides contest called the Super Duper Doo stunt. Each week a child was chosen to compete in an additional stunt for the possibility of winning a grand prize at the end of a several week period. Because the show was so short-lived, the only stunt that was done for the Super Duper Do was having contestants blow 16 sheets of paper off a podium, trying to get them to land in a wastebasket that was set in front of them. The prize promised was a television set.

If time allowed, there was the possibility that there would be a team stunt at the end of the show to allow a team to catch up on points.

The four children on the winning team won such prizes as watches or bicycles for their effort.