I’m Telling

1 9 8 7 – 1 9 8 8 (USA)
26 x 30 minute episodes

This NBC Saturday morning kids’ game show was an unfortunate ripoff of The Newlywed Game (that show’s producer, Chuck Barris, filed a $5 million lawsuit against the production company responsible for I’m Telling).

Three pairs of brothers and sisters tried to predict each other’s answers to personal questions while their sibling was offstage.

As with Newlywed, participants were encouraged to give embarrassing responses and get angry with each other for wrong replies.

The show’s main difference was that the prize values were higher – a $1,000 savings bond and a chance to play the “Pick-a-Prize Arcade” to win more than $5,000 in merchandise, including watches, bicycles, televisions, cameras, video games and musical instruments.

Such high stakes for such a trivial and exploitative activity guaranteed I’m Telling a spot on the list of worst daytime shows ever.

While most episodes featured ordinary contestants, some later shows pitted youthful stars of various NBC series – together with their real-life brothers and sisters – against each other, with each team representing a charity,

The only interesting aspect is that Laurie Faso, formerly the host of the well-regarded Marlo and the Magic Movie Machine, debased himself with this fiasco.

Host
Laurie Faso
Announcer
Dean Goss

Video