Supermarket Sweep

Question rounds

Similar to the original version, all three teams started with a base time of 1:30. Through a series of three rounds, contestants were asked a series of questions, usually centered around knowledge of products found in a grocery store. Each correct answer added ten seconds to a team's base time of 1:30. Questions included identifying a product that was missing letters, determining the brand of a product via an edited picture, and identifying a product based on a series of facts. Occasionally, questions centered around pop culture, movies, or stories found in checkstand tabloids.

Other questions centered around identifying the price of an item. This was accomplished in several different ways; two popular methods included determining which item in a set of three did not fit the designated criteria (e.g. +/- $3.00), or which item was incorrectly priced. A mainstay in the second round gave contestants the opportunity to add 30 seconds to their time banks if all three contestants gave the correct answer.

Occasionally, the second question round was replaced with one of the following games:

• "30-Second Shootout" – At the beginning of the second segment of the question round, both contestants on a team played an individual game, which banked the team 30 seconds of Sweep time. Each team took turns by playing the game individually. The format usually consisted of a contestant guessing a series of words (usually five to seven letters) using clues given by his or her partner. The first letter of each correct answer was a letter in the name of a brand name or item from the market, which the guesser then had to determine to earn the Sweep time. Each of the teams had 30 seconds to achieve this and if a word was inadvertently revealed by the clue-giver, the team forfeited the opportunity to add additional time. On some episodes, an alternative format was used with a picture of a product shown. Each clue changed the product's picture. Also, the teams who played second and third couldn't use clues given by a previous team; teams were disqualified if they did so, and thus lost their opportunity to add 30 seconds to their Sweep time.

• "Snack Attack Movie Game" – Three questions about movies worth 10 seconds each were asked. The contestant who answered the last of the three questions correctly earned the right to take a taste test of a food item in the market; correctly identifying the item earned that team a $50 bonus for the Big Sweep. If the contestant guessed right on a second chance (multiple choice at that point, and consisting of a maximum three choices), that team earned $25. Originally, the question related to the item only had two choices and only the correct choice earned the $50 bonus.

The final round was the "Round Robin" game. This round featured both team members alternating questions; each correct answer added an additional ten seconds to their time bank. The most common format featured a brand name that had its letters scrambled. The emcee would then offer a maximum of three clues to help contestants zero in on the correct answer. Occasionally, an alternate format was used that omitted the word scramble; instead, Ruprecht would offer five clues.

Big Sweep

The "Big Sweep" was the chance for the teams to run throughout the supermarket and take products from the shelves with the seconds they had earned in the front game. One player for each team was designated as the "runner," with the job of collecting items in a shopping cart, and the teams were assigned numbers based on their accumulated time: 1 for the most, 2 for the second-most, 3 for the least.

The clock for the Big Sweep was set to the leading time, and it started when Team 1 was sent into the market. Teams 2 and 3 were sent in when the clock displayed their respective times. If any of the teams were tied, they were sent into the market at the same time.

A camera operator would follow each shopper throughout the Big Sweep. In each finished episode, the footage was spliced together to create one near-real-time highlight reel, and the announcer would add a play-by-play commentary to the reel, describing the items being placed in each contestant's cart.

At any time, runners could bring full carts back to their partners' checkout counters and exchange them for empty ones. With the exception of certain bonuses, items had to be in a team's cart (either the runner's current one, or a full one already delivered to the checkout) when time ran out in order to count toward their total.

The main rules for the Big Sweep were:

• The teams could only take up to five of each item.
• If an item was knocked off a shelf or otherwise upset or damaged, the runner who did so either had to replace the item on the shelf or put it in his/her cart, or take a $25 penalty for each item. Teams were also penalized for running into supermarket displays, cameramen or any other personnel.
• Only the runners could be in the market; their partners were required to remain at the checkout counter behind a red restraining line and unload the groceries unless specifically allowed across it by producers (who usually only did so to allow a contestant to retrieve a dropped item or bonus, or if there was a bonus moneymaker that involved the partners, such as can stacking or a recycling machine).

The product limit, which was absent in the original ABC version of the show, was added to prevent a team from overloading their carts with expensive items, such as poultry, laundry detergent or over-the-counter drugs. The store was stocked with at least 15 items of each product, ensuring anyone could have as many of a given item as they were allowed if they chose it.

In most episodes early in the show's first season on Lifetime, costumed characters such as Frankenstein's monster, a gorilla or a creature named Mr. Yuck ran through the aisles during the Sweep. If the character came near a contestant or vice versa, the contestant had to turn around and go in the other direction. The characters were dropped later in the season.

A variety of opportunities to earn additional cash were available during the Big Sweep. Examples included completing a shopping list of items provided by the emcee, grinding a designated amount of coffee beans, or finding a mystery product. One constant throughout the run was retrieving what the show termed a "bonus item". Examples of bonus items were stuffed animals, giant signs, or inflatable versions of consumer products. Each bonus item had a sticker that disclosed its value--the maximum value of a bonus item was initially $200; later raised to $250. Special tournament episodes had an additional bonus item worth $300. (Ruprecht referred to the $250 item as the "super bonus" and the $300 item as the "super super bonus.")

Once time expired, a bell rang to signify the end of the Big Sweep and the runners had to stop whatever they were doing and return to the checkout counters. All of the products were scanned while the show took a final commercial break, and the grand totals of each team's takes were revealed when the show returned, beginning with Team 3, and ending with Team 1. Each team's groceries were tallied and any bonuses/penalties were applied to determine the final totals. The team with the highest score won their Sweep total in cash and advanced to the Bonus Sweep for a chance to win an additional $5,000. The other teams received parting gifts. Sweep totals included cents in the first season, but were subsequently rounded to the nearest dollar.

Bonus Sweep

In the Bonus Sweep, the winning team was sent on a treasure hunt and given 60 seconds to find three different items in succession. Ruprecht read a clue to lead the team to the identity of the first item, and once he was done the team darted into the market to try to find it as the clock started. The correct item was tagged with a large circular token bearing the show's logo and a clue for a second item to be found. This item in turn had a clue for a third item, which had a bundle of $5,000 in cash hidden behind it. In order to win, the team had to find all three items and have their hands on the money before time ran out. If they fell short, they received $200 for each item they had found.

Originally, if the team found the final product and the $5,000 before either of the other two, they automatically forfeited the bonus round. However, after the first two seasons, this was changed so that an overhead announcement was made reminding the team to find the first two products, then return to the third product and claim the cash.