Editing Game show (section)

==Bonus round==
A bonus round (also known as a bonus game or an end game) usually follows a main game as a bonus to the winner of that game. In the bonus round, the stakes are higher and the game is considered to be tougher.<ref name="Graham">Graham, Jefferson, "Come on Down!!! The TV Game Show Book", Abbeville Press Publishers, New York, 1988.</ref>

The game play of a bonus round usually varies from the standard game play of the front game, and there are often borrowed or related elements of the main game in the bonus round to ensure the entire show has a unified premise. Though some end games are referred to as "bonus rounds", many are not specifically referred to as such in games but fit the same general role. There is no one formula for the format of a bonus round.

Until the 1960s, most game shows did not offer a bonus round. In traditional two-player formats, the winner – if a game show's rules provided for this – became the champion and simply played a new challenger either on the next show or after the commercial break.<ref name="Graham"/>

One of the earliest forms of bonus rounds was the Jackpot Round of the original series ''[[Beat the Clock]]''. After two rounds of performing stunts, the wife of the contestant couple would perform at a jackpot board for a prize. The contestant was shown a famous quotation or common phrase, and the words were scrambled. To win the announced bonus, the contestant had to unscramble the words within 20 seconds. The contestant received a consolation gift worth over $200 if she was unsuccessful.

Another early bonus round ended each episode of ''[[You Bet Your Life]]'' with the team who won the most money answering one final question for a jackpot which started at $1,000 and increased $500 each week until won.

Another early example was the Lightning Round on the word game ''[[Password (American game show)|Password]]'', starting in 1961. The contestant who won the front game played a quick-fire series of passwords within 60 seconds, netting $50 per correctly guessed word, for a maximum bonus prize of $250.<ref name="Graham"/><ref>Schwartz, David, Steve Ryan and Fred Westbock. "The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows: 3rd Edition", Checkmark Books, Facts on File Inc., 1999, pg. xviii. {{ISBN|0-8160-3847-3}}</ref>

The bonus round came about after game show producer [[Mark Goodson]] was first presented ''Password'', contending that it was not enough to merely guess passwords during the show. "We needed something more, and that's how the Lightning Round was invited," said [[Howard Felsher]], who produced ''Password'' and ''[[Family Feud]]''. "From that point on every game show had to have an end round. You'd bring a show to a network, and they'd say, 'What's the endgame?' as if they had thought of it themselves."<ref>Graham, p. 54.</ref>

The "Super-Match", the game of ''[[Match Game]]'', served as the impetus for ''[[Family Feud]]''.<ref>Graham, p. 56.</ref>