Shop 'Til You Drop is a long-running American game show.

The show began on Lifetime in 1991 and aired there until 1996, at which point it moved to The Family Channel. The show was cancelled in 1998.

The PAX network, which had been airing reruns of the original version, revived it in 2001, but cancelled it a year later. In 2003, PAX returned the show to its lineup, but with a completely new format.

Pat Finn hosted the original version and its PAX revival. The current version is hosted by JD Roberto. Mark L. Walberg, Jason G. Smith, Dee Bradley Baker, and Don Preiss (current) served as the show's announcers.

Original front game format
On the original show, two couples (married, engaged, or dating) competed. The show was set in a two-level "mall," which served as the show's set.

A coin-toss backstage before the show determined which couple would have the option of playing first. The team would be shown a stunt they would have to perform (think Double Dare or Beat the Clock), and be given the option to play the stunt or pass to the other team and wait for the second one.

Stunts usually involved pricing items or questions about celebrities, although there was an occasional Double Dare-esque stunt. The team would have a set amount of time (usually 1:00) to complete the stunt, earning 100 points if successful.

Upon the successful completion of a stunt, the team would then have a chance to go "shopping" in the mall by picking one of the stores on the lower level, earning a prize that was theirs to keep no matter what.

The second round was played the same way, with the other team getting the play or pass option, and the points for the stunts doubling.

One of the stores had the "Shopper's Special," and the team that picked it won a bonus trip.


New front game format
In the new version, two pairs compete (regardless of marital status). The show is set in a warehouse store (think Costco).

At the beginning of each round, the team in control is given a choice of two pun-laden categories. After choosing one, host Roberto will let the contestants know what the category entails, and then give the play-or-pass option to the team. Whichever team plays the question chooses one player to play the category.

Like the stunts in the previous version, the questions deal with pricing items or celebrities. The team is given 1:00 to come up with a set amount of answers. Doing so earns 100 points.

Unlike the previous version, where the teams would pick a store in the mall, the other member of the team would go into the store to grab a gift box from any department that had a flashing light. They'd run back to host Roberto, who would open the box and reveal their prize. Like before, the "Shopper's Special" was in play, and earned the team a bonus trip for finding it.

The second round was played the same, with the points doubling again.


Shopper's Challenge Round
On both versions, a 90 second speed round ended the game and was referred to as the "Shopper's Challenge Round." The host would read a question with three answer choices, and a correct answer earned the team 50 points. An incorrect answer gave the other team a chance to answer. The two players would alternate between questions.

At the end of the 90 seconds the team with the most points went on to Shop 'Til They Dropped. The losing team went home with whatever they had won.


Final Round
The winning team now had a chance to win a "dream vacation getaway," as the show always referred to it.

The object was to find six prizes with a total accumulated value of $2500 or more ($1000 during the Lifetime run), which would earn the team the trip. However, both versions differed.

Finn version: One of the team members was named the "buyer," and would stay at a table with six gift boxes. They would open the box, look inside, and decide whether or not they wanted to keep the item in the box (prizes usually were low end, although one was usually worth more than the others). They would then give the box (or the prize itself in later years) to their teammate, called the "exchanger," who would take it to any of the stores in the mall and bring back whatever was there or just decide to keep the item. Whatever the decision was, they would run over to the checkout table and ring a bell, at which point another box would be opened, and the process would repeat. The team would have 1:30 to exchange all six items, and if time ran out before they could they were credited with what they had done to that point.

Roberto version: The same objective faced the contestants, except they now worked in teams. One would open the gift box and hand off the item to their partner, who would then keep it or exchange it for any prize in a department with a flashing light. The partner would take it to the check out table, ring the bell, then come back to the table and hand off the next item to the first player, who repeated the process. Again, the 1:30 was the time the contestants had.