Pictureka! (TV series)

Pictureka!
Presented by	Cory Almeida
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	65+
Production
Executive producer(s)	Linda Ellman
Producer(s)	Linda Ellman Productions Hasbro Studios
Running time	30 Minutes
Release
Original network	The Hub
Original release	October 11, 2010 (2010-10-11) – January 13, 2011 (2011-01-13)
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

Pictureka! (sometimes referred to as Pictureka! The Series) was a game show based on the board game of the same name. It was shown on The Hub (now Discovery Family). The show was hosted by Cory Almeida; George Gabriel (referred to on-air as "G") was the on-camera musical director; he sang introductory songs, played the in-game contest music on both guitar and drums, and performed announcing duties.

Gameplay

Two teams (green and orange), each consisting of two kids and an adult partner, compete to earn points, called "fish points". The team with the most fish points at the end of the show wins a chance to win the grand prize trip.

Round 1 (Go Find Fish)

The kids on both teams run through the audience for 15 seconds, trying to retrieve as many of their own colored fish (orange or green) as they can. Each fish is worth 10 fish points.

Round 2 (Maze Craze)

After a short video introducing the teams, each adult partner (who is introduced while wearing a crazy costume) is given a chance to run through an on-stage "maze" and search for pictures as dictated by host Almeida. The kids can help their partner by directing them to the pictures. Each team has 60 seconds to find up to six pictures, and each picture found and deposited into the team's bin is worth 20 fish points.

Round 3

Both teams compete in one of the two stunts (varying from show to show); both stunts require the teams to find pictures and place them in a designated area, alternating turns with each picture found; both teams play the same list of items simultaneously. Once all of the items are found, the oldest child of the team must then take one final object and yell out, "Pictureka!" Each picture found is worth 40 fish points; the team that takes the final object earns a 25-fish point bonus, ending the round. Because this 25-point bonus is the only score that is not an increment of 10, it is impossible for this round to end in a tie.

Rock the Block

The first player on each team begins by knocking over a wall of over-sized blocks, each block bears a picture on each side. The active player must find a picture of the designated object and place it on a step, facing that picture outward. There are a total of five objects to be found, after which the player who placed the last object must take the "Finish Line Flag" at the top of the staircase to end the round.

Eyeballs and Oddballs

The players run through a playfield of shelves containing cutouts of various pictures. Once they find the picture, they must run through a ball-filled pit and place the object on their team's shelf. In this game, there are three objects to be found, and the player who finds the last object must then dig through the ball pit to find a special ball which bears the "Finish Line Fish" to end the round.

Round 4

Each team plays this round separately; the trailing team plays first. As in Round 3, the stunt varies between the two listed from show to show. In both of the stunts, host Almeida reads a category, and the active player must retrieve a picture that fits the category and dispose of it based on the stunt's rules in order to score. Both teams play the same list of categories; for this reason, the leading team is isolated while the trailing team plays. Each team is given 60 seconds to get as many pictures as possible; the team with the highest score at the end of the round wins and plays the Penguin Prize Hunt, while the runners-up win consolation prizes. If during the second team's turn, they surpass their opponents' score, or if the original trailing team fails to catch up, the game ends immediately. The 25-point bonus awarded for winning round 3 means that the game cannot end in a tie, as all other scoring is in increments of 10 points.

Three-for-One

In "Three-for-One", all three players on each team are harnessed together. Host Almeida reads a category, and the team must find a picture that fits the category; although the players on the team can help each other, only the player assigned to find that picture can actually pick up the pictures; once a valid picture is found and deposited in the team's bin, Almeida reads another category and assigns a different player to retrieve it, going in rotation among the team; if the active player selects an invalid picture, they must return it before getting another one. In addition, if an inactive player does pick up a picture, they must return it, even if it is a valid picture, although the active player can then pick up the same picture (assuming it's valid) and get credit for it. The first valid picture a team finds and deposits into its bin is worth 50 points; each one after that is worth 10 more than the previous.

Balloon Monsoon

In "Balloon Monsoon", players run into a field of balloons one at a time; the balloons bear pictures. They must find a balloon with a picture that fits the category, then bring the balloon to a designated "pop zone" and show the picture on the balloon to host Almeida. If the picture is valid, they must then pop the balloon in order to score and allow the next player to go in. In this variant, correct answers start at 80 points, increasing by 10 with each correct answer (earlier-taped episodes have the first correct answer worth 50 points).

Bonus Round (Penguin Prize Hunt)

The winning team is first given 10 seconds to study a grid of nine penguin pictures; each penguin is wearing a different outfit. Then, the team has 90 seconds to run through the onstage "maze" and find as many of those penguins as possible; the players take turns running through, bringing back one penguin on each trip, and placing it in the large onstage grid in the same position as in the original grid. After placing the penguin, they must tag the next player. Before tagging their teammate, the active player is allowed to rearrange any penguins he or she believes to be incorrect; in addition, the non-active teammates can guide the active player to correct penguins.

During the round, the active player can press a time-out button, stopping the clock and giving the team another 10 seconds to study the grid; the team is permitted only one time-out, and they must wait until after the time-out has ended to rearrange any incorrect penguins or find other penguins.

At the end of the round, the players find out which of the spaces they have filled with correct penguins; any incorrect penguins are removed by the host. One of the spaces has a "WIN!" card, while the other eight cards say "Oops". If the team has placed the correct penguin in this space (or they get all nine right), they win the grand prize trip. If not or if they get none right, they win a consolation prize.