Just days after a broadcast network said farewell to a game show where contestants called "higher/lower" with a deck of playing cards, a cable network launched another card game show based on Blackjack.
TNN's "Top Card" marked the return of Jim Caldwell. Blake Pickett from the just-cancelled "Fandango" moved over to TC as dealer.
In its first season, the show was a unique blend of "Gambit" and "Concentration". The idea being if you chimed in with the right answer to a question, you were show the card behind the chosen category. You could either take it off the board or draw the top card in front of Blake's deck. If you drew the top card, the card on the board went right back into hiding.
While this memory aspect of the game didn't quite catch on with players, the show won an aptly-named CableACE award in its first year (ACE standing for Awards for Cable Excellence; such awards ceremonies folded, pardon the pun, some time after the Emmys allowed entries from the cable universe to compete with the over-the-air networks).
From Season 2 through the end of the run, the show went from a blend of "Gambit" and "Concentration" -- to a blend of "Gambit" and "Fandango". The board now used a deck of 10 unsuited cards (Ace through 10 without duplicates; Aces were always worth one point to ensure 21 could be acheived in no less than three moves) and if you declined a card from the board for the top card, the card on the board and its category went bye-bye. The game relied more on luck and less on strategy. And reportedly, per viewers' wishes, the questions were all based on music (thus the show was billed as "the all-new musical 'Top Card'").
For Season 3, more changes -- in the cast. Gone was Jim "Red Box" Caldwell; enter Dan Miller. Ironically, his "American Magazine" talk show on TNN had a week of features on TC in conjunction with the second season premiere. (Don't ya love synergy?) The new dealer was Paige Brown -- although not new face to network viewers.
These days, Jim Caldwell's now concentrating on the wonderful world of infomercials. And if you're into that sort of thing, go to
www.futurethunder.com for more.
Blake Pickett went on to B-movie queen stardom and is now a fashion model/photographer. I would provide a link to her website -- but some of the models photographed are in states of undress, albeit artistically.
Dan Miller was last seen doing play-by-play of Mesquite Championship Rodeo. And as I think someone posted here previously, Paige Brown is working as a TV producer in Nashville.
