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He grew to know the games so well that he preceded each game by giving the contestants a how-to tip to earn more points.

Edwards, wanting to appear knowledgeable about the games that surrounded him, began reading video game magazines and playing the games himself, and surprised himself by becoming a bit of an addict. The best-remembered host of “Starcade” was Richards’ replacement, Geoff Edwards, a Los Angeles disc jockey and expert prank-caller who had made his name as a game show host in the 1970s with two hits, “Jackpot” and “The New Treasure Hunt.” While he always brought charm and wit to the games he hosted, his performance on “Starcade” was distinctive for the unexpected passion he brought to the role. The arcade games showcased on “Starcade” included: Q*Bert, Dragon’s Lair, Space Invaders, Star Wars, Tron, Dig Dug, Mappy, Elevator Action, and Track & Field, among dozens of beloved titles seen on the two seasons of the series.

The winner of the day played a bonus round for a chance to win the perfect grand prize: a full-size video arcade cabinet for their home. Along the way, the contestants also had to answer trivia questions about arcade games, and a chance to win bonus prizes by playing the Name Game, a rapid-fire round that offered prizes for identifying video games just by looking at the screens for a few seconds. The players’ scores for each game were added together to determine the winner.

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“Starcade,” touted as “TV’s first video arcade game show,” pitted contestants against each other in a series of arcade games. Richards recruited contestants for several years at that show. Oddly enough, after “Starcade,” Richards got a job at “Jeopardy!” with Alex Trebek, the host he had been hired to replace.

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Richards, a veteran contestant who had appeared on multiple game shows, was offered the job after Caruso and Arthur saw him on the talk show “Donahue” discussing how to become a game show contestant. By the time Ted Turner agreed to buy the series for his superstation, WTBS in Atlanta, Trebek was no longer available, so Mark Richards became the host. Three more pilot episodes were shot with a streamlined format and a more traditional host: Alex Trebek. Olympic Hockey Team (the “Miracle on Ice” crew). The host of the pilot was Mike Eruzione, captain of the gold medal-winning 1980 U.S. Those 24 contestants were gradually whittled down to one, who would compete against celebrity guest Larry Wilcox (of TV’s “CHiPs”) in a game of Donkey Kong for the chance to win a grand prize.

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Though the idea was met with resistance (a few people in the TV business felt that video games were competition, and a few others felt that video games were bad for kids), JM Productions found enough support to produce a pilot.Ītari founder Nolan Bushnell personally helped recruit 24 contestants to play the pilot game. With the arcade and video game market booming, a game show based on video games seemed like just the thing. Originally, they formed JM Productions to create multimedia marketing materials for corporations, but by the early 1980s, they started moving into television production. “Starcade” was the brainchild of James Caruso and Mavis Arthur.