Face the Music

1980-81 Game Show created by Sandy Frank Productions that expanded on the premise of its other music-based game show, Name That Tune. The show was hosted by Ron Ely of Tarzan fame. It was noted for its cheesy production elements, and it was not uncommon to see malfunctioning lights on-set or bloopers left in.

In the first round, contestants had to name tunes played by Tommy Oliver and his Orchestra (who also supplied said music on Tune), except they also had to identify the face of a famous figure who is related to the tune. The second and third rounds were essentially Name That Tune Plus; as the players guessed tunes in order to earn guesses to solve a main puzzle, whose clues were up to four songs.

A contestant was eliminated after the second and third rounds. The remaining player then earned the right to face the previous day's champion to win up to $10,000 by identifying a celebrity based on childhood pictures and songs that might be appropriate for said celebrity. Any contestant who won this game 5 days in a row was awarded a car; in Season 1, 10 consecutive wins retired the champion and earned him/her a trip around the world.

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The following Game Show tropes appear in Face the Music:

• Bonus Round: The Championship Game. A tune was played, after which the contestant who guessed it had 10 seconds to identify a celebrity based on their baby picture (or one from early childhood). If guessed correctly, the player won $10,000 in cash. If not, another tune was played and a more recent picture was revealed for $5,000 in prizes, with subsequent pictures being worth $1,000 less than the previous one (the last being a very recent picture of the celebrity). Whoever guessed the celebrity first won prizes at whatever monetary level the picture was worth and returned the next day to play the Championship Game again.
• Personnel:
  • The Announcer: Dave Williams for the first season, John Harlan for the second.
  • Game Show Host: Ron Ely.
  • Lovely Assistant: Lisa Donovan, who provided lyrics to some of the songs, similar to Kathie Lee on Name That Tune.
  • Studio Audience
  • Tommy Oliver and his Orchestra
• Think Music: A very cheesy bit during the 10-second countdown in the Championship Game, made even worse in Season 2.

Tropes used in Face the Music include:

• Badass: Sarabeth Rothfeld, the only champion to retire undefeated after 10 days.
• Catch Phrase: "I GOT IT!!!" whenever anyone buzzed in.
• Large Ham: Both Ron Ely and Dave Williams had their moments.
• No Budget: The potential prize haul was decent, but the show avoided stop-tapes like the plague, apparently didn't bother fixing chase lights, and used the opening from the pilot (which had a noticeably different set and four contestants) on many episodes.
• Spin-Off: Expanded on the concept of Name That Tune.
• Unexpectedly Obscure Answer: Many times, the clue for the baby picture in the Championship Game was "Young at Heart", leaving the players with little to no way of guessing the celebrity without carefully studying whatever facial features had developed on the baby at that point.