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The Last Word is a game show seen in syndication in the United States and on the Global Television Network in Canada that was produced by Merrill Heatter Productions and ran for 65 episodes from September 18 to December 15, 1989, with reruns continuing until January 5, 1990. The host was Wink Martindale, and the co-host/announcer was Jennifer Lyall. It was taped in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the Los Angeles-produced pilot, Burton Richardson was the announcer, and Jana White operated the computer and acted as co-host. The show was distributed by Turner Program Services.
Gameplay[edit]
Two teams consisting of a celebrity and a civilian contestant competed to guess group words that had something in common in order to win cash and prizes. The civilians received all winnings credited to their teams. Among the celebrities who appeared include Jill Whelan, Ted Lange, Susan Ruttan, and Gordon Jump.[1]
Main game[edit]
A puzzle consisting of three rows of blanks was displayed, representing three related words, and one letter of each word was filled in at the outset. The player in control pressed a button to stop a randomizer that flashed around the board. If it stopped on an empty space, that letter was filled in and the player could either try to guess the word or pass control to the opponent. When a player guessed, the remaining letters were revealed one at a time, starting from the leftmost, until either they had all been revealed (indicating a correct guess) or a letter came up that differed from the guess. However, the final letter of any word remained hidden on an incorrect guess.
A correct guess awarded the option to either guess another word or pass, while an incorrect guess gave control to the opponent. If the randomizer stopped on a letter that had already been filled in, the player had to choose one unrevealed letter in any word to be filled in and the opponent took control.
The player who solved the last word won the puzzle, regardless of who solved the first two, and received prizes for the team based on the number of words he/she had solved in that puzzle. The first team to win two puzzles won the match and advanced to the bonus round. Only one person played for each team at any given moment; the first two puzzles were played by one celebrity and the opposing civilian, and the third (if necessary) was played by both civilians.
If time ran out in the middle of a puzzle, all the words were revealed and a new puzzle was played at the start of the next episode.
Bonus round: The 60 Second Challenge[edit]
The winning team had 60 seconds to solve 10 puzzles. For each puzzle, two one-word clues were given and the letters of a third word were revealed one at a time until only one letter remained. Multiple guesses were allowed from either member. The team won a $100 gift certificate for each correct answer, and solving all 10 won a prize package which had a new prize added to it for each attempt in which it was not won; the largest jackpot awarded during the show’s brief run was $46,500.
The civilians switched celebrity partners after each bonus round, and the first civilian to win two matches became champion and remained on the show to face a new challenger, competing until they were defeated or held their title for a total of six matches, whichever came first.
References[edit]
- ^ TV Guide Guide to TV. Barnes and Noble. 2004. pp. 357. ISBN 0-7607-5634-1.
External links[edit]
- The Last Word Rules
| Host |
| Wink Martindale |
| Hostesses |
| Jana White (1988) Jennifer Lyall (1989) |
| Announcers |
| Burton Richardson (1988) Jennifer Lyall (1989) |
| Broadcast |
|
Pilot: 12/18/1988
Syndication (Daily): 9/18/1989 – 12/15/1989 (with reruns through 1/5/1990) |
| Packager |
| Merrill Heatter Productions |
| Distributor |
| Turner Program Services |
The Last Word was a word game where a group of words share a common bond, and where the last word means everything.
Gameplay[]
Two teams consisting of a celebrity and a civilian contestant competed to guess a series of groups of words that had something in common in order to win prizes. The civilians received all winnings credited to their teams. Among the celebrities who appeared include Jill Whelan, Ted Lange, Susan Ruttan, and Gordon Jump.
Main Game[]
To start, a puzzle consisting of three rows of blank squares (indicating how many letters were in each word) was revealed along with three free letters (one in each row). The player in control pressed a button which caused a yellow square to move around the board. When it landed on an empty square, a letter in that square was revealed and then the player had to decide to either take a guess on any word in any row or pass control to his/her opponent (that player also had the option to guess at the start of a turn); but if the yellow square landed on a square that already had a letter revealed, then the player had to choose which row & square in which to reveal a free letter.
When guessing the word, if the player guessed correctly they won that word; but if he/she guessed wrong, the computer typed in, from left to right, the letters that were correct (up to the first incorrect letter), except for the last letter, which remained hidden. After making a correct guess, he/she had the option to either guess another word or pass control. The first team to guess the last word in the group of three won the game. If they had solved only the last word, they won a rather cheap prize; two words won a better prize, and solving all three words and winning the game won the first two prizes & a bonus prize for that game. A game win was signified by a star lit up on the team’s podium. A best two-out-of-three match was played with the winning team becoming champion and advancing to the bonus round.
Unlike most celebrity-civilian word games, the arrangement of which people played in each game varied. In the first two games, the celebrity from one team competed against the civilian player from the other team. In the tie-breaker, both civilian players competed.
If time ran out in the middle of a puzzle, all the words were revealed and a new puzzle was played at the start of the next episode.
Bonus Round: 60-Second Challenge[]
In the bonus game, the winning team had 60 seconds solve 10 puzzles. Each puzzle had two words already revealed, they acted as clues to the third word, which was unrevealed (one letter was given at the outset). Letters in the mystery third word were revealed one at a time in random order (the last letter was not given) (similar to Scrabble’s Speedword). Each correct answer was worth a $100 gift certificate, but solving all ten puzzles won a jackpot grand prize package (which usually included a trip). Should that not occur, more prizes were added until won. The highest jackpot won during its short run was $46,500.
After the bonus round, both players switched celebrity partners for each new game, and the first player to win two matches became the champion and remained on the show to face a new challenger, competing until they were defeated or played six 60-Second Challenges, whichever came first.
Pilot Rules[]
The pilot was similar to the series, but it had several differences:
- The pilot was taped in Los Angeles, CA while the series was taped at BCTV in Vancouver, BC.
- There was a different hostess named Jana White who worked the computer and the announcer was Burton Richardson.
- Players stopped the square which was white with the use of a lever instead of starting the yellow one by hitting the button.
- Words were worth a straight-up $100 in cash to the winner of each round, for a maximum total of $300. $100 in cash per word was also offered in the 60-Second Challenge instead of just prizes; meaning that winning the bonus was worth $1,000 in cash and a jackpot prize package.
Stations[]
Stations that aired this included:
Dallas/Fort Worth — KDAF
Cedar Rapids — KOCR
Des Moines — KDSM
Portland, OR — KPDX
Los Angeles — KTTV
Green Bay — WXGZ
Chicago — WFLD
New York — WNYW
Philadelphia — WGBS
Baltimore — WBFF
Washington D.C. — WTTG
Albuquerque — KLUZ
Minneapolis — KMSP
Sacramento — KSCH
Greenville, SC — WYFF
Charlotte — WCNC
Greensboro — WXII
Norfolk — WTVZ
Denver — KMGH
Detroit — WXON
Huntsville, AL — WZDX
Trivia[]
Tony Reitano, one of the contestants from the pilot, would later appear in the 1990 Gambit pilot (another Merrill Heatter game show) and an episode of Jumble: The Interactive Game. Back in 1981 and before appearing on the pilot, he was one of the two top winners on The $50,000 Pyramid.
Additional Page[]
The Last Word/Catchphrases
Rating[]
Music[]
Michael Camilo for Score Productions
Sound Effects[]
The sound when a letter was revealed was the Fast Money answer reveal sound in Family Feud; also, the sound heard if the cursor stopped on a letter already given was the ring-in sound from Family Feud as well.
Gallery[]
Trade Ads[]
Contestant Plug[]
Set Pic[]
Tickets[]
Production Slate[]
Links[]
The Last Word Rules
YouTube Videos[]
Pilot Episode
- Part 1
- Part 2
Preview Episode featuring Jamie Farr and Michele Scarabelli
Series Premiere featuring Ted Lange and Jill Whelan of The Love Boat
Meredith MacRae and Peter Marshall
June Lockhart and Dick Van Patten
Contestant Rich Bowen
Pat Harrington Jr. & Edie McClurg
- Part 1
- Part 2
Chartreuse have launched a competition in the UK to find the best twist on the classic cocktail – The Last Word.
For every great classic cocktail in the world there are dozens of twists on it floating around from the sublime Tommy’s Margarita to the not so sublime Frozen Banana Daiquiri. For Chartreuse the iconic cocktail is The Last Word (find out all about The Last Word in an article by Chartreuse Ambassador Matt Dakers here) and they are tasking UK bartenders with finding the next great twist.
There are some big shoes to fill with the most famous twist being The Last Ward by the one and only Phil Ward from New York (he swaps the gin and lime juice for rye and lemon juice). However such and iconic drink with such a rich history is perfect for you to have a play with.
The first round was concentrated in Islington with Zilouf’s, Stuart Binks taking the honours with his ‘monsieur, I beg your pardon’ – watch a video of him making it here.
The Aberdeen leg of the competition takes place over the month of February in your own bars. To enter:
— Decide within your bar which bartender’s original and unique recipe the team will get behind and push over the month.
— By any means neccesary, promote this cocktail to your guests during the month of February — Facebook, Twitter and point-of-sale are just some of the channels (this is NOT a sales/volume-based competition).
— Points will be awarded for the following: drink recipe and mystery shopper. The point system is not disclosed.
— Drinks may be added to the cocktail menu for The Green Lounge at Orchid on Thursday 23rd February (doors 8pm).
— Any questions, email gomes@10dollarshake.com.
— Results will be announced at the end of February 2012. All bars are welcome to enter.
The competition will be growing in the coming months with some fantastic prizes up for grabs (and a feature in Bar Life UK). If you think you can have the last word send your recipes (and good quality photo) to gomes@10dollarshake.com by Friday 27th January.
Good luck!
Any Last Words? is a creative climate writing and illustration competition open to young people across the UK aged 16-25.
Originally founded by Connor Enright in 2019 at the University of East Anglia, the project is now directed by Writer and Illustrator Meg Watts alongside a team of UEA students and graduates. Last year’s competition and Anthology release was a huge success, and we’re excited to expand the competition!
The Any Last Words? project aims to create emotional and engaging stories about our climate and environment. We don’t want unrealistic dystopia, or a dry, purely factual report; we’re looking for work that cuts to your heart, that plays with possibility. We want to explore possible pathways of adaptation and mitigation (and their successes and failings), on whichever scale seems fit – will you write about a hilltop town that’s now an island, or a bee struggling to pollinate? Or is this a tale of global resource struggles, peppered with hints of colonialism?
Whilst we want our written submissions to educate and evoke emotion, we also like our illustrations too. Illustration entries could be anything from a photography project, to a comic, to a painting, to a poster, to an infographic… experiment as much as you feel. The only requirement is that’s it’s printable! The key is to communicate that “tomorrow is too late”; we need to tackle the climate crisis now, for every part of society, as decisively as possible.
For further submissions details, check here:
The Macallan reveals winner of ‘The Last Word’ photography competition — 5th December, 2012
The Macallan reveals winner of ‘The Last Word’ photography competition
And the Last word is…Personality
After attracting almost 1,000 entries, over 2,500 images and 2,625 votes, luxury single malt whisky, The Macallan has announced the winner of its Masters of Photography ‘The Last Word’ competition as Martin Faltejsek, from the Czech Republic, for his image entitled, Personality.
The global competition was launched in celebration of The Macallan’s third Masters of Photography Series, collaboration with the world’s most famous photographer, Annie Leibovitz.
Celebrating Annie Leibovitz’s world famous portraits, photography aficionados were invited to upload a portrait they have taken with one word — ‘The Last Word’ — capturing the mood of their photograph. The theme ‘The Last Word’ reflects The Macallan’s standing as the last word in luxury; the ultimate Scotch for the most memorable drinking occasion.
The global competition attracted an overwhelming response with over 2,600 votes cast by the public to shortlist the top 50 images. These were then appraised by esteemed judges from the Royal Photographic Society: Roy Robertson Hon FRPS, President of The Royal Photographic Society, Leo Palmer FRPS FPSA MPSA and Vanessa Slawson FRPS FBPPA ASWPP AFIAP DPAGB.
The judges said of the winner and the competition entries;
“The competition was very difficult to judge. The variety of subject matter and approach of the photographers provided the three selectors with an interesting but challenging task. A combination of great ideas and sound technique resulted in an excellent set of pictures. The competition was so fierce that many, quite outstanding images just failed to make the top ten positions. The winners should, quite rightly, be delighted that their work has been recognised”.
“The spontaneous yet controlled nature of [the winning] shot is very appealing. The setting and colour harmony works well to create a visually stimulating and thought provoking image.”
Martin’s photograph wins him and a friend two nights stay in Edinburgh before being taken to the home of The Macallan, Easter Elchies House, situated on the banks of the Spey. Here Martin will be treated to a full distillery tour and photography themed visit, sampling a selection of The Macallan’s finest whiskies. In addition, he will also receive a Fujifilm X-Pro1 camera.
The winners of the The Macallan Photography Masterclass:
-
First : Martin Faltejsek
The Story: Personality
“Embrace your imperfections, they make you who you are». I profoundly stand for this. In this photo I wanted to show human/our defencelessness and how vulnerable we are. Human personality is something really strange, weird, easy-to-hurt and suggestible. I simply do not get mean people.
-
Second: Jonathan Agami
The story: GENIE
Is that the singer of that band? Or is it «Your wish is my command?..» * Ivar, the leading singer of a Swedish band
-
Third: Gabor Dvornik
The story: Life
When you are young, you run and hustle, you dare, you get wounded and you do it again and again. If you are wise enough, you learn from your errors and will do better from day to day. Life gives this experience but is a costly thing — gives you scars and wrinkles to your face.
Entrants to the competition shared their work through Twitter, Facebook and google+, with The Macallan choosing their favourite weekly pictures to appear on a dedicated Pinterest board. Each week one portrait was chosen as ‘The Last Word of the week’ and became The Macallan’s Facebook cover picture for the following week with monthly prizes awarded by votes cast on Pinterest.
This is the second year that The Macallan has run a photography Masterclass celebrating its Masters of Photography Series. The Series features exclusive collaborations, conjoining the art of whisky making with the artist’s interpretation of the world of The Macallan. This year, Annie Leibovitz has interpreted the four single cask variants released for the first time and created four powerful images, featuring Scottish actor Kevin McKidd as her leading man. Leibovitz captures the brilliance of a moment where everything comes together, showcasing the stature of whisky as an icon of taste and masculinity and confirming The Macallan as ‘The Last Word’ in luxury.
To view the entries, please visit www.themastersofphotography.com.
www.themacallan.com
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