Top Card was the second game show to premiere on TNN (now called Spike TV), replacing another TNN game show Fandango with Bill Anderson. The show lasted from April 1989 - March 1993

Top Card was a show based on Blackjack (ala Gambit), where three contestants tested their country musical knowledge to win prizes.

Gameplay

The Main Game
The game is played in three rounds. In all rounds nine categories are played (the outer eight are entertainment categories and the one in the center is the Wild Card category which can be about anything). The player in control chooses a category to answer a question from. All questions are toss-ups (except when one or two players froze which will be explained later) and the first player to buzz-in gets to answer. A correct answer won the card behind the category. When the card is revealed, he/she can either take that card or reject it & take the top card from a deck in front of the hostess. If the contestant elects to take the card behind the category, the card & category are removed from further play (except for the Wild Card, if that happens it stays on the board but a new card goes behind it); otherwise the card & category stays in play if the contestant chooses the top card. Either way the contestant also gets to choose another category.

Like in blackjack, the object of the game is to get to 21 or get closer to 21 than the opponents without going over (anything over 21 equals a bust & elimination from the round). Also like in blackjack, every card has value regardless of the symbol that goes with it.

These are the values:
10s & Face Cards = 10 points
Number Cards = the number on the card
Aces = 1 point & only 1 point

At anytime during the game after choosing to take either card, a player can freeze on his/her current score forcing the other player(s) to play out with one of the player(s) whom beat the first frozen player's score receiving the option to freeze. The first player to freeze get one last chance to play after the other player(s) have froze.

The first player to reach 21, or if the other players are eliminated or don't have enough points, wins the round.


Round One
Three contestants play this round with the first player whom reached 21, or if the other players are eliminated or don't have enough points, winning the round and advancing to the Championship Round. The other players play the next round.


Round Two
The two losers from round one play this round. In season one, a Wild Card question was asked to determine control; for the rest of the run, a category in the upper left was asked. The first player whom reached 21, or if the other players are eliminated or don't have enough points, wins the round and advances to the Championship Round to face the round one winner. The other player is eliminated from the game but goes home with parting gifts.


The Championship Round
The winners of the first two rounds play this round. The first player whom reached 21, or if the other players are eliminated or don't have enough points, wins the round, the game, becomes champion & goes on to play Top Card Plus. The loser goes home with parting gifts.


Second Season Notes
In the second season, the number of subjects are reduced to eight & the Wild Card category is replaced by a Top Card question which can only be played if it's the only one left. The card & category are removed from the board no matter what.


Top Card Plus
In Top Card Plus, the winner plays for prizes including a grand prize.


First Season Version
To start, the hostess draws five cards from the Top Card deck to determine a starting bankroll which is $100 times the total number of the cards drawn (Ex: 3h, 10c, 4h, 5d, Kd X 100 = $3,200). Now on the Top Card board instead of categories, there are prizes; each one has a price. The winning player can choose which prize to buy with the bankroll he/she has along with the hidden card. As in the game he/she can choose to keep that card & add it to his/her score or take the top card in front of the hostess. After each choice the player can elect to stop & take the prizes won up to that point or risk losing the prizes & keep on playing knowing that if he/she goes bust (over 21), the game is over & the prizes are lost; but to make matters possibly worse the contestant can also lose the prizes if he/she finds a hidden joker lurking somewhere on the board behind one of the prizes. However if the winning contestant hits 21, not only he/she keeps the prizes but he/she also wins a grand prize which is chosen in a blind draw from a special deck of cards. The grand prizes in the first season include a fur coat, a trip, a piano, or one of three cars.


Second Season Version
In the second season, Top Card Plus now offers cars. To start, the winning player chooses which car to play for. The main game categories are still on the Top Card board although the prizes are still up there too, but they're hidden along with the cards. The winning player has four chances to win the car selected by him/her. As in the game, the winning player can choose which category to answer a question from afterwhich the prize is revealed. A correct answer allows him/her to see the hidden card behind the prize and (as long as it's not the joker) can choose to keep that card & add it to his/her score or take the top card in front of the hostess; but an incorrect answer causes the turn to be dead. Again after each choice the player can elect to stop & take the prizes won up to that point or risk losing the prizes & keep on playing knowing that if he/she goes bust (over 21) or finds the joker, the game is over & the prizes are lost. However if the winning contestant hits 21, not only he/she keeps the prizes but also the chosen car.

Note: In either version, if the contestant finds the joker on the first pick, the game does not end; instead the player can still win the remaining bankroll in the 1st version or the selected prize in the 2nd version by hitting 21 (in the remaining turns); except he/she now has to take both the hidden card & top card. The player can however stop at any point & take $10 a point (Ex: 20 X 10 $200).


Hosts & Hostesses
The show always had a host & hostess. The host for the first two seasons was Jim Caldwell (late of Tic Tac Dough) & his hostess was Blake Pickett. They were both replaced for the remainder of the run by Dan Miller (whom went on to host 10 Seconds a show that would replace Top Card and later rodeo coverage on TNN) & Paige Brown.