Starcade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Starcade
Created by	James Caruso Mavis Arthur
Developed by	James Caruso Mavis Arthur
Presented by	Mark Richards (1982–1983) Geoff Edwards (1983–1984)
Narrated by	Kevin McMahan
Opening theme	Mindseed Edwin Anderson
Country of origin	United States
No. of seasons	4
No. of episodes	133 + 4 pilots
Production
Executive producer(s)	James Caruso Mavis Arthur
Production location(s)	Bridge Studios San Francisco, CA
Running time	23 minutes (approximately)
Production company(s)	JM Production Company Turner Program Services
Distributor	Turner Program Services Warner Bros. Television Distribution
Release
Original network	TBS (1982–1983) Syndicated (1983–1984)
Original release	December 27, 1982 (1982-12-27) – February 24, 1984 (1984-02-24)

Starcade was a super fun game show where players battled it out by playing awesome arcade video games! It was one of the first shows ever to feature video games.

The show first aired on a TV channel called TBS from 1982 to 1983. After that, it was shown on different local channels across the country until 1984.

The first host of Starcade was Mark Richards. Later, Geoff Edwards took over as host after the first 23 episodes. He stayed with the show until it ended.

Show History: When Starcade Aired

Starcade was made by the JM Production Company. It was shown on TBS and then later distributed by Turner Program Services. This show was the very first video arcade game show! It helped create the idea for other game shows that also featured video games, like Video Power and Nick Arcade.

One cool thing about Starcade was that it often showed off brand new arcade games that had just come out.

After Starcade finished, another game show about video games called The Video Game was made by the same company. It aired for a short time from 1984 to 1985.

Years later, Starcade reruns were shown on the G4 network. You could watch old episodes from 2002 to 2004.

How to Play: Starcade Game Rules

In Starcade, two players or two teams competed against each other. There were three rounds in total.

Round One: Arcade Game Challenge

Each round started with a quick question about an arcade game. The player who buzzed in first and answered correctly got to choose one of five arcade games in the studio.

• They had 40 seconds (this time changed to 60, then 50 seconds later on) to get the highest score they could on the game.
• If their game ended before the time was up, their turn finished, and they kept the score they earned.
• Then, the other player got to play the same game.
• The points each player earned were added to their total scores.

Rounds Two and Three: More Gaming Fun

The second and third rounds worked just like the first.

• In the second round, players had 40 seconds (later 50 seconds) to play.
• In the third round, they had 30 seconds (later 40 seconds).
• Once a game was chosen in any round, it couldn't be picked again.

Name the Game: Identify Arcade Classics

At the end of the second round (and sometimes the third round when the show first started), the player who was winning got to play "Name the Game."

• They watched short video clips and tried to guess the names of four different arcade games.
• If they correctly identified at least three games, they won a prize!
• If they named all four correctly, they won a second prize.

Team Play and Mystery Games

• When teams played, each person on the team had to play one game in the first round.
• One of the five arcade games was a "mystery game." If a player chose this game, they won an extra prize! (In very early episodes, it gave them 500 extra points instead of a prize).

At the end of the third and final round, the player with the highest score won the game! They also won a special bonus prize and moved on to the bonus round.

Bonus Round: The Grand Prize Challenge

In the bonus round, the winning player chose one of the two games that hadn't been played yet.

• They had 30 seconds to play this game.
• Their goal was to beat the average score that 20 other players had gotten on that same game.
• If they succeeded, they won the day's grand prize! This could be a real arcade game, a home robot, a jukebox, or even a vacation!

Making the Show: Behind the Scenes of Starcade

The very first try-out episode, called a "pilot," for Starcade was hosted by Olympic hockey player Mike Eruzione. It was filmed in San Francisco. This pilot had a very different way of playing the game.

• There were 24 players in total, sitting in three rows. Each row had eight players, and each player had their own arcade game system.
• Each row played a different game, like Defender, Centipede, or Pac-Man.
• Players had 30 seconds to get a high score. The person with the highest score from each row then played against each other on a game like Berzerk.
• The overall winner received their own arcade game (like Asteroids Deluxe) and an Apple II Home Computer System.

The winner then got to play a brand-new arcade game just for fun against a celebrity! For example, one winner, David Dyche, played Donkey Kong against actor Larry Wilcox from the TV show CHiPs.

This first pilot episode was shown as a special on some TV stations and was quite popular. Because of this, three more pilot episodes were made for the NBC channel. These new pilots had a game format that was more like the show we know. They were hosted by Alex Trebek.

Ted Turner liked the show and picked it up in 1982. Starcade then started airing on WTBS in December, still filmed in San Francisco. Mark Richards became the host because Alex Trebek was busy with another show.

However, Mark Richards seemed a bit uncomfortable on TV and didn't seem very interested in video games. So, after 23 episodes, he was replaced by Geoff Edwards. Geoff Edwards had never played video games before, but he quickly became a fan! He learned about the games by reading gaming magazines and even gave hints to the contestants. He even played and beat the super hard game Sinistar on a special segment. He loved games until he passed away in 2014.

The show's first theme song sounded like the simple, electronic music from old arcade games. Later, the theme song was changed to one made by "Mindseed" (Ed and Joanne Anderson). They also made music for other video games like Venture.

Sometimes, special episodes were made. For example, some episodes featured teams playing, and others focused on just one game being played over and over. Games that had their own special episodes included Cliff Hanger, Dragon's Lair, Pole Position II, and the 1983 Star Wars game.

Certain parts of the show used music from the game Xevious.

The last new episode of Starcade aired on February 24, 1984. Reruns continued to be shown until September 1984. TBS then showed reruns on Sunday mornings until January 1985.

Episode Status: Where Are the Episodes Now?

According to the official Starcade website, almost all the episodes still exist! Only episode #35 is missing. The show was rerun on G4 from 2002 to 2004.

On December 25, 2020, Wink Martindale shared one of the pilot episodes hosted by Alex Trebek on YouTube. It was only available for a short time before it was taken down because of a copyright claim.

A New Starcade?

In January 2017, a company called Shout! Factory announced that they bought the rights to Starcade. They plan to work with JM Productions to bring the series back! They also want to create other projects related to Starcade. We don't know yet when the new show will air.