Treasure Hunt (U.S. Game Show) - 1980s Version (Treasure Hunt)

1980s Version (Treasure Hunt)

The New Treasure Hunt returned in daily syndication in 1981. Geoff Edwards and Johnny Jacobs returned as host and announcer, respectively. After Jacobs left in late 1981 to deal with an illness that would eventually take his life in February 1982, Tony McClay replaced him and continued to the end of the run.

The gameplay remained the same, but there were some notable differences. First, the title was shortened to the original 1950s name, Treasure Hunt. There were now 66 surprise packages on stage, and instead of a flat $25,000, a jackpot that started out at $20,000 and increased by $1,000 every day until won or until it reached $50,000, at which point it remained at that amount until it was claimed. After the first jackpot was won on the fourth show, the jackpot was eliminated and the top prize was changed to a flat $20,000 for a brief period on this version. However, the jackpot was later reinstated and won four times: $23,000; $20,000; $50,000 and $21,000.

The model on the 1980s version was Jan Speck, who later had acting roles in various movies (many of which were directed by John Badham, whom Speck married shortly after TH completed its run). Barris had no direct involvement in the 1981–82 version other than packaging it (he shared executive-producer credit with Budd Granoff this time around); by then, he spent much of the year in France.

The show featured an entirely new closing theme by Milton DeLugg as well as the reuse of some of the music cues from the earlier version.