Game Shows Wiki
Curt Chaplin
Hostess ("Keeper of the Cards")
Deborah Johnson
Dave Herman
Syndication (Weekly): 7/9/1988 – 7/1989
The Phoenix Communications Group Inc.

Grandstand was a short-lived sports-themed quiz show.


Three teams of two (consisting of civilian contestants & celebrity athletes) competed to answer a series of sports-related questions.

Main Game[]

Round 1: Face-Off[]

In the first round, the players were quizzed on their partners' careers by the partners themselves. The teams played one at a time. Each contestant was asked up to seven questions and had 60 seconds to answer as many of them as possible. Should the contestant's athlete partners exhaust all the questions but the contestant did not answer them all correctly, they went back to the questions missed with host Chaplin asking those questions himself in the duration of the remaining time. Each correct answer was worth 25 points meaning that there were 175 points available; however, if the contestant could answer all seven questions correctly, he/she received a 25-point bonus for a maximum total of 200 points. At least one episode had five questions asked within 45 seconds in this round, with a contestant answering all five questions getting a chance to answer one more question in order to double the player's score.

Round 2: Fast Break[]

In Round 2, the teams were asked rapid-fire toss-up sports questions (many of them were visuals, others involved props). Correct answers were still worth 25 points. When a whistle was heard, the game shifted into a "2-minute warning" where all correct answers were worth double (50 points) without the film clips or props. The team with the most points at the end of the round won the game, a prize package and the right to play Touchdown for a grand prize.

Bonus Round: Touchdown[]

In this bonus, the action moved down a football-field game board in a round involving general sports trivia. To start, the winning team was given a choice of three categories, and then the round began. The team started at the 20 yard line, and then they had 60 seconds to answer as many questions under the chosen category as possible in an attempt to reach the endzone. Each correct answer advanced 10 more yards down the field and won $200 in prizes. If the winning team scored a touchdown (made it to the end) by giving eight correct answers, the civilian contestant won a grand prize vacation. On the way to a “touchdown”, desperate winning teams could call a "Time Out" and throw “the bomb”, which meant they had to risk their winnings on an all-or-nothing question.


Bob Burke


National Video Center, New York City, NY


This was the first of two game shows hosted by Curt Chaplin who went on to become hallway interviewer/announcer on The People's Court. His second and final one was ESPN's Designated Hitter. In the 2016-2017 season, he relinquished his interviewing duties to original People's Court host Doug Llewellyn, but is still announcer to this day.

The scoring displays used on the show were the same ones used on game shows played on the mathematical PBS TV show Square One Television.

YouTube Links[]