Headline Chasers is a syndicated game show that ran daily from September 9, 1985 to May 23, 1986, with reruns airing until September 5. The series was hosted by Wink Martindale, who also created the series and was its executive producer, with Johnny Gilbert serving as announcer. The show was a co-production of Wink Martindale Enterprises and Merv Griffin Enterprises with King World Productions, Griffin's partner for his other syndicated game show offerings, as distributor. Headline Chasers was recorded at TAV Celebrity Theater in Hollywood, the same studio which housed The Merv Griffin Show (which, at the time Headline Chasers premiered, was still in production). This show pitted two couples against each other solving Hangman-style word puzzles designed to look like newspaper headlines, as well as answering questions about the subjects of these puzzles, in an attempt to win money. Conception Wink Martindale claimed he came up with the idea for the show while reading the Los Angeles Times, although the game was nearly identical to the Canadian game show Headline Hunters hosted by Jim Perry, which had first aired in 1972. He then created a pilot titled Front Page, which he submitted to Merv Griffin Enterprises. As Martindale was both host and producer of Headline Chasers, he stepped down from his role as host of Tic-Tac-Dough in 1985, where Jim Caldwell succeeded him. Game play Main game Headline Chasers was played in three rounds, referred to on-air as "editions" by Martindale in keeping with the newspaper theme of the program. Married couples competed against each other. In the first edition, a newspaper headline with various letters missing (referred to as an "altered headline") was presented to both couples, as well as the date on which the described event was reported. The value of each headline began at $500 and decreased by $100 for each clue provided. As a clue was presented, additional letters were placed into the headline. The first couple to buzz-in and correctly solve the headline received the money, and Martindale then asked two toss-up questions based upon the headline for $100 each. Three altered headlines were played in the first round. After several weeks of shows, a voice (mostly Gilbert's) would tell the home viewers how many words were in each headline. During the second edition, the couples attempted to identify the subjects of magazine covers and video clips, which were purposely distorted in some way.