Shop ‘Til You Drop

Shop ’til You Drop is an American game show that aired on various broadcast television networks from 1991–2006. The series was hosted by Pat Finn from 1991–2002, followed by JD Roberto from 2003–2005. Co-hosts/announcers included Mark L. Walberg (1991–1994), Jason Grant Smith (1996–1997), Dee Bradley Baker (1997–2002), and Don Priess (2003–2005). From its premiere through 2002, the backdrop of Shop ’til You Drop was a 14-store, two-story shopping mall.

The show ran on Lifetime from July 8, 1991 to September 30, 1994, with reruns aired until May 31, 1996. After four months, the show moved to The Family Channel as The New Shop ’til You Drop, where it ran from September 30, 1996 to August 14, 1998.

PAX (now ION) reran episodes of The Family Channel version from April 19 to October 29, 1999, followed by the final Lifetime season from November 1, 1999 to March 31, 2000. On April 3 of that year, PAX launched a new mall-based Shop ’til You Drop series and continued until 2002. A new warehouse store-based version began airing on PAX on October 6, 2003 and aired until 2005; reruns of that series continued until 2006.

A PAX episode from 2000 aired as part of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time series on Game Show Network (GSN), featuring a 950-point total by a winning team. The network purchased the rights to the one episode and does not currently own rights to any reruns. Click here to watch a clip from the show »

Bomberman

Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft. The original game was published in 1983 and new games in the series are still being published to this day. Today, the commercially successful Bomberman is featured in over 70 different games. With over 10 million units of games sold, the series “has since become known as the first name in multiplayer games,” despite older games being capable of holding more than two players at the same time (like Atari 2600′s Warlords, released on 1980, that features 4-players gameplay). Click here to watch some Nintendo gameplay »

McHot Dog

In his 1977 autobiography, CEO Ray Kroc prohibited the company from selling hot dogs, regardless of potential demand, as he regarded them as unhygienic; however, hot dogs were introduced in 1995 at some Midwestern located stores (at the option of the franchise-holder) as a summer item. UK stores sold hot dogs during the late nineties on the McChoice menu (later PoundSaver). Also, at least one American restaurant offered Oscar Mayer hot dogs at some time, notably in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and McDonald’s locations at Toronto Metro Zoo and SkyDome in Toronto offered hot dogs until 1999. In Tokyo locations, hot dogs were available in 2001, and have been reintroduced for 2009, dubbed the “McHot Dog.”

Ranger Rick

Ranger Rick was originally titled Ranger Rick’s Nature Magazine. Ranger Rick is a children’s nature magazine that began publication in 1967 by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine offers activities for children, ages 7 and up, in order to spark their interest in the outdoors and become more actively involved in the environment. The magazine’s primary intention is to instill a passion for nature and promote activity outdoors. Children are growing increasingly distant from their environment, which raises a concern that conservational efforts in the future will diminish. However, Ranger Rick has taken this disinterest into account and has made some changes in its content to attract children and therefore promote environmental activism. NWF also publishes two companion magazines, Big Backyard, which is aimed at ages 3–7, and Wild Animal Baby, which is aimed at kids 12 months old to 4 years old.

Mall Madness

Mall Madness is a shopping themed board game released by Milton Bradley (later versions are titled as Electronic Mall Madness).

The original game was released in 1988, and an electronic talking version was sold starting in 1989. Milton Bradley updated the game in 1996 with a new design, and another updated version was released in 2004. Most information in this article is based on the original game’s version. Click here to watch a commercial for Mall Madness »