In Australia, the show premiered in 1997 on Nine with former Aussie Wheel of Fortune host John Burgess presiding, and was known as Burgo's Catch Phrase from 1999 until it ended in 2004.
At the beginning of each round, nine dollar amounts were displayed on a large video screen and one contestant hit his/her buzzer to stop a randomizer and set the value of each catch phrase.
Each catch phrase was slowly drawn on the video screen by a computer system, and a bell would ring to indicate when contestants could buzz in.
A correct answer gave the contestant a chance to solve the Super Catch Phrase, a completed picture hidden behind a grid of nine squares.
If this happened during a round, the Super Catch Phrase was revealed in its entirety and the first contestant to buzz in with the correct solution won the bank.
[2] In the first taped episodes of the show, which aired in December 1985, the bonus round was played under the same basic rules, but with a different set of prize levels.
When Catch Phrase was presented for potential affiliates at the 1985 NATPE Market & Conference in Los Angeles, Telepictures offered it as a barter series with a condition that, should it be cancelled before the 1985-86 television season ended, the stations airing it would receive a replacement at no additional cost if they wanted one.
In November 1985, a pilot for a game show called Make a Match was shot, and the response was strong enough that the company wanted to put it on the air.
The decision enabled Lorimar-Telepictures to invoke the condition and cease production on Catch Phrase, which company vice president Peter Temple said was showing “no upside”.
The following Monday, its replacement series, which had its name changed to Perfect Match following the pilot, began airing; it would run for the remainder of the season before it would also be cancelled.