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VIDEO: Flashback to Supermarket Sweep
In honor of my beloved Extreme Couponing's premiere (Wednesday at 9/8c, TLC), let's take a trip back to 1990 and watch the premiere of the game show Supermarket Sweep in its 1990s incarnation. It is as amazingly hokey as you recall...
In honor of my beloved Extreme Couponing's premiere (Wednesday at 9/8c, TLC), let's take a trip back to 1990 and watch the premiere of the game show Supermarket Sweep in its 1990s incarnation. It is as amazingly hokey as you recall: the overenthusiastic host David Ruprecht leads equally overenthusiastic couples through questions regarding the minutiae of products with old-school packaging that's so bold and pukey, it screams, "LARD INSIDE!"
Clearly, the Planters Cheez Balls aren't the only cheese balls on the show. The contestants, decked out in of early-'90s hideousness (truly the afterbirth of '80s style), then rush through the supermarket like ham-handling bats out of hell, while the announcer editorializes their every move ("Now Gary's going after big briskets of beef, and that's smart!" ... "Is she serious? Garden hoses?").
It all leads up to the possibility of taking home $5,000. I remember watching this 21 years ago and thinking, "Pfft," at that pittance. And yet, this is the best show in history. When you're at the checkout counter and you hear that beep, think of all the fun you could have if only they'd bring back Supermarket Sweep.
Watch all four parts of the premiere: