Spicks and Specks (TV Series) - Games

Games

The show sticks to a simple quiz-show format, with host Hills asking the teams varying music-themed questions. Some rounds are played on an "open-to-all" basis, i.e. both teams can answer the questions, but in most rounds each team gets their own questions to answer – although the other team may answer the question if the first team doesn't know it. Scores are kept, but the prize for the winners is simply personal satisfaction. Regular segments include:

• Know Your Product, where each team chooses one of four given topics – three questions around this topic are then asked which either team can answer. The questions are usually ordered by points allocated and the number of answers needed. (e.g. first question is worth one point, but only one answer is needed, the second question is worth two points and requires two answers, and the final question is worth three marks and has three answers). This game is played first in every episode. In special episodes the topic is the show's theme which has 5 questions of which the 4th & 5th questions have 4 & 5 answers respectively.

• Substitute, where one panelist from each team sings three well-known tunes, substituting words from a text provided by Hills. This is usually a technical manual or some kind of text humorous given the context (texts used have included "Datsun 180B Service Manual", "2004 Australian Government Tax Pack" and "A guide to Yabbie Farming"). The other panellists of that team then guess the songs. This game is loosely based on One Song To The Tune Of Another from the BBC Radio 4 panel game I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and Adam Hills' own minor hit with Working Class Anthem, in which he sang the lyrics of the Australian National Anthem to the tune of Jimmy Barnes's Working Class Man.

• Cover Versions in which one contestant is chosen to draw a picture (in silence), representing either a song title or an album cover, as their panel attempts to guess which song it is. Contestants are not allowed to use words or numbers.

• Samplemania/Videomania, where five or six songs/music video clips are edited into one short 30-second clip. Players must identify the different songs/videos in the clip after they have all been played, and are not allowed to take notes.

• Turning Japanese in which the lyrics of well-known song are translated into Japanese using an online web translator. The lyrics are then translated back into English using the same translator. Contestants must guess the title of the song the mismatched lyrics are from.

• Please Please Tell Me Now, in which Hills presents part of a music video clip, and the teams must answer questions about the video.

• Musician or Serial Killer, in which in early episodes each panellist and then in later episodes each team is shown a photograph and asked to choose whether the subject is a musician or a serial killer.

• Sir Mix'n'Matchalot, where each team is given three famous people and three facts about each of these people. They have to match the fact with the correct person.

• Bottom 100 in which Hills provides each team with a choice of two awful songs and asks them to determine which was rated worst by a given group or list.

• Can't Buy Me, Love in which Adam reads out three celebrity themed items that have been found on eBay (e.g. A tour jacket, keychain with artist/band name). Some of these items are the usual merchandise, while others are down-right weird. The teams are then asked to place each item in order from cheapest to the most expensive.

• Common People in which the teams identify the commonality between three musicians.

• Malvern Stars on 45 in which a single contestant rides a bicycle which powers a record player. The speed each record plays at is determined by the speed at which the contestant pedals. The contestant must continue to ride until their panel correctly guesses as many songs as possible in the time limit.

• Mondegreens – which are misinterpreted song lyrics – is where the contestants are asked to guess which song contains the mistaken lyrics.

• Looking for Clues, where teams have to guess the name of a band from a cryptic clue given by Hills.

• Look What They've Done... (To My Song Ma!), where song clips have been changed and the players must identify the tracks. Most commonly, a guest artist or group is used to play the tracks in a different style from the original, however the songs have also been played through headphones played to maximum volume, through ringtones, over the top of each other, etc.

• Something's Missing, where the teams are shown album covers with an item or word blanked out, and they must identify the missing item.

• One out of Three Ain't Bad, where teams are given a relatively obscure musical story and are presented with three possible endings. Teams must select the true ending to the story.

• Word Up, in which teams are given five random words from the lyrics of a song, and they must then identify the song.

• You're The Voices, where a member of each team must stand next to the opposite team & sing a song from a book (by only singing la la la). The first team to get their member's song correct wins a point.

• All Shook Up, in which each team is shown a series of anagrams of musicians' names (e.g. "Bomb Early" – "Bob Marley"), and they have to unscramble the anagram. If nobody guesses the anagram immediately, Hills will give a clue.

• Two Little Words, where one member of each team is blind-folded by wearing the Spicks Specs and the others are given the name of a musician or band. The two other team members must get their team mate to guess correctly which musician they are given using only one one-word clue each. An example used by Adam Hills is Kylie Minogue, where one team member might say "Hot" and the other might say "Pants", or "Singing" – "Budgie".

• Counting the Beat, where one member of each team plays songs on a keyboard while the others try to guess the song. Keyboardists are given a list of numbers corresponding to the order in which they should play the notes, but are given no indication of the rhythm in which they should be played. Introduced in 2008.

• I'll Jumble For Ya, where one team member is given thirty seconds to correctly match ten song titles divided in half and mixed up on a magnetic board.

• Step Back in Time, where songs are played backwards and must be identified by the teams.

The final round of each program, The Final Countdown, is devoted to a generic musical quiz. This is a beat the buzzer round, and is the only round in which points are deducted for incorrect responses.

Many of these rounds have proven more popular than others. Substitute was used consistently throughout the early history of the show appearing in almost every episode (although later in the programs run was sometimes excluded in favour of Cover Versions occasionally), whereas some were only used every now and then and others used much less. Some other segments which proved to be popular early in the show's history but have been used less or even abandoned later : Musician or Serial Killer and Bottom 100 were both commonly used early in 2005, but are rarely later. Some games were also introduced later in the series, and occasionally a game will be temporarily changed in some way (e.g. Musician Or Serial Killer was changed once to ARIA winner or Audience Member on the ARIA special episode).

Despite points being awarded for each round, there are no prizes for the winners, except on rare occasions where Hills decides to award some convenient prop for comedic effect – a "Fools' Gold" sandwich identical to that eaten by Elvis, for example.