Grundy's modified format was then used in a revived American Sale of the Century that aired on NBC from January 3, 1983, to March 24, 1989.

Actor Jack Kelly hosted the original series from 1969 to 1971, then decided to return to acting full-time.

Unlike most other game shows of the time, though, only the first contestant to buzz in could answer a question; a miss took it out of play for the other two.

The selling price for the item, generally the value of one or more questions, was then deducted from the contestant's score, and the prize was theirs to keep regardless of the game's outcome.

A contestant who did buzz in early was penalized by having the cost of the Instant Bargain deducted from their score and being locked out of purchasing the prize.

Originally, each prize had a sale price, and Garagiola asked questions worth $100 each, which was added to the couple's score from the game.

In some cases, the host would reduce the price and/or offer extra cash to entice a contestant to make a purchase.

The contestant who answered correctly was given a choice of nine spaces on the Fame Game board, each displaying the face of a celebrity.

Eight of the spaces hid either small bonus prizes or various amounts of cash, some of which offered the contestant a choice between taking either the money or an extra turn.

The champion was given a chance to buy a bonus prize with the money earned in all main game wins to that point.

Six individual prizes were offered, which changed every five shows, and were arranged in ascending order of both retail value and sale price.

A new champion was always allowed to buy the least expensive prize for either its sale price or the entire first game winning score, whichever was lower.

On rare occasions, a champion would enter a match needing a certain amount for one prize (such as a fur coat) and win with a high enough score to reach the one above it (such as a car).

It was only revealed after the contestant either purchased or passed on a prize, and consisted of a cash bonus in addition to any money the host might have already offered.

[9] The shopping bonus round was later replaced with a game called the "Winner's Board", which was introduced in October 1984 on NBC and on November 18, 1985 in syndication.

On the Friday before the switch was made on both series, the champion was awarded the highest-level shopping prize he/she could afford with the money accumulated to that point.

At the start of this round, the champion selected one of three envelopes, each containing a set of six-word puzzles that served as clues to a famous person, place, or thing.

The clock began when the first word of a puzzle was revealed and stopped when the champion hit a plunger and gave an answer.

Passing was allowed, and the champion could continue playing after one wrong guess or failure to respond immediately upon hitting the plunger.

[11] Winning the car allowed the champion to return for one last match, with $50,000 available in the Winner's Big Money Game if he/she won.

Two months later, Lee Menning replaced her until December 28, 1984,[12][better source needed] when Summer Bartholomew joined the program and remained as co-host until the 1989 finale.

Sale of the Century premiered on September 29, 1969, on NBC's daytime schedule at 11:00 a.m. (10:00 a.m. Central), replacing the two-year-old Personality, which was hosted by Larry Blyden.

It aired at that time slot for the whole of its initial four years on the network, ending its first run on July 13, 1973, after which The Wizard of Odds—the first American program hosted by Alex Trebek—made its debut.

It faced competition with three CBS game shows airing at that same timeslot: The $25,000 Pyramid (for the entirety of 1987 and the spring of 1988), Blackout (which aired from January to April 1988), and Family Feud (which premiered in July 1988); as the late 80's progressed, however, NBC affiliates began pre-empting desirable time slots, including the 10:00 am hour, to extend their local or syndicated program offerings, leading to the point that daytime television game shows were no longer considered as a contributing factor.

Its place on the schedule was taken by Reg Grundy stablemate Scrabble, which had been airing in the afternoons for several years, in a shuffle that also saw Super Password end after four-and-a-half seasons (its timeslot of 12:00 PM was given back to its affiliates, which had used the slot to air local newscasts at that point) and the soap opera Generations inherit Scrabble's old timeslot of 12:30 pm.

[a] The revival series spawned an accompanying daily syndicated edition that premiered on January 7, 1985, and was distributed by Genesis Entertainment.

As part of the weekend beginning with that year's Black Friday, the network aired a four-hour marathon of episodes from the first season of the syndicated series to pay tribute to many retailers offering sales.

[17] As part of their "Game Show Greats" lineup, IGT released a video slot machine in 2003.

[18] Prior to purchasing the rights to Sale of the Century in 1980, media mogul Reg Grundy produced Great Temptation, a similar show that aired on Australian television from 1970 to 1974.

Reg Grundy Productions distributed the format internationally until 1995 when the company was sold to Pearson Television, which became known as Fremantle in 2001.