Supermarket Sweep (British game show)


Supermarket Sweep is a British game show that is based on the original American version. Originally hosted by Dale Winton, it ran for exactly 8 years from 6 September 1993 to 6 September 2001 and then revived from 12 February to 31 August 2007 on ITV. It was revived again, but this time on ITV2 with Rylan Clark-Neal as host since 9 September 2019.
On 13 October 2017, it was announced that FremantleMedia had acquired the global rights to the format and confirmed that the series will return. A Fremantle representative stated that "the time is ripe to bring back this all-time favourite game show which has travelled with such success over the years." The company also stated that the new incarnation of the show would incorporate "modern technology" into the program which reflects 21st century shopping habits. On 9 July 2019, it was officially confirmed that Rylan Clark-Neal would host a new revival of the show on ITV2 later that year.

Format

The game consists of three teams of two, each with a clock that starts with 60 seconds on it. The teams then attempt to add as much time as possible to their clock by answering questions and riddles posed by the host. The time they accumulate determines how long they have in the 'Big Sweep' round to run around a studio mock-up of a supermarket, collecting shopping items. The team with the shopping trolley filled with items of the most value wins the chance to enter the final 'Super Sweep' prize round. Within the game there were a number of rounds.

Mini Sweep

The Mini Sweep is a question round. On answering a question correctly, they have 10 seconds added to their clock. The winning contestants are given a clue as to which item is required. The contestants then have to find the item with a "Supermarket Sweep" logo on within the supermarket and return to the start with it within 30 seconds for a bonus of £25 to their sub total. In the 2019 revival, a spot prize is won if the contestants find the item with the "Supermarket Sweep" logo within 30 seconds.

Games

There are a variety of possible games each week. Each correctly answered question or riddle is rewarded with 5 or 10 seconds added to the contestants' clock. Some games offer a bonus 30 seconds if all contestants agree on an answer and that answer is correct.
Original games were: Counting Calories, Rhyme Time, In Betweens, Totals, Memory Game, Higher or Lower?, Pick a Pair, Random Reveal, Reverse Reveal, Scrambled Letters, and Dale's Bluff. These games were introduced later in the series: Wordsearch, Alphabet Soup, and Odd One Out.
Games introduced in the 2019 version, which often feature guest appearances by other ITV-associated celebrities, include: Stars and their Buys, Shop till you Drop and Rylan's Rummage

Express Sweep

In the 2019 revival, one member of each team has 45 seconds to find all the items on Rylan's shopping list which have a "Supermarket Sweep" logo and put them into their basket. Each item is worth 5 seconds apart from one which is worth 10 seconds.

Round Robin/Dale's Daily/Supermarket Swap

If a team answer a question correctly, it wins 10 seconds, right or wrong, contestants then switch with their partners tasked with answering the next question. The categories can be: TV, Movies, Music, or Hot Gossip. In the 2019 revival, each correct answer wins the teams 5 seconds for their clocks and there were also "Supermarket Steal" questions in which if answered correctly allows a team to steal 5 seconds from an opposing team.

Big Sweep

This is the round where the contestants enter the aisles, starting with the team with the most time on their clocks and followed by the other two teams according to their times. The aim of this round is to gain as much value in their trolleys as possible in order to go on to the £3,000 Super Sweep game, at the end of this round the value of the shopping is calculated. Contestants however, were not allowed to take more than three of any one item when loading their trollies, however, in the 2019 revival, it was revealed that items in the host's Shopping List were made an exception to this rule, for example if Rylan had requested six Oranges or six bottles of Tonic Water. Various bonuses are available to boost their totals and there are penalties for dropped or broken items. The lowest ever total was recorded in a 1997 episode and constituted a "sub-total" of £0. They did, however, manage some shopping. This resulted in a grand total of £56.

Bonuses

Every episode featured a shopping list and inflatable bonuses as standard. By series 3, two of the other aforementioned bonuses would also be featured on each episode. However, in the revived version, the bonuses were just Pick-n-Mix, Managers Special, the shopping list and inflatables. Inflatables included a Wine Bottle, Bunch of Bananas, Single Banana, Burger, Plant, Guitar, Cake, Hammer, Microphone, Crayon, Carrot, Jukebox, Saxophone, Fish, Lollipop, Devils Trident, Golf Club, and Cactus which was added in 2007. In the 2019 revival, some of the inflatables that were added were Pizza, Ice Lolly, Mobile Phone, Monkey, Flamingo, Palm Tree, Watermelon, Keyboard, Pineapple, Stereo, and Doughnut.

Penalties

A penalty of £25 is given by the host to teams who:
The regular joke is that there would also be a penalty for "knocking over a cameraman". This would be added to the rules for the 2019 revival.

Super Sweep

The team with the higher Big Sweep total keeps their money and advances to the Super Sweep. The team has 60 seconds to find the £2,000 prize, by solving three clues. The first clue is given and time doesn't start until the clue has been read. The team must find the item from the clue to get the next clue. The second clue leads the contestants to the final item, behind which the money is found. The team has to find all three items and have their hands on the money before time expires. If they don't, they only leave with the cash equivalent of the value of the goods in their trolley.

Transmissions