least $10,000; this prize was often a car or a more extravagant vacation. If the champion failed to complete a line before time expired, he/she won money for each square claimed. $200 per square was given unless the champion solved the catch phrase in the M square; doing this doubled the consolation prize money to $400 per square. Champions were allowed to return for five consecutive days. If a champion won on all five of those days, he/she was awarded an additional bonus prize on top of whatever he/she had won to that point. At various points in the run, that prize was a car, $10,000 in cash, or one of the larger merchandise prizes featured in the bonus round. Overall, contestants on Catch Phrase could accumulate a total of $75,000. Host Art James made it a point to remind contestants and the viewing audience of this at the beginning of every episode. In the first taped episodes of the show, which aired in December 1985, the bonus round was played in a different manner. While the rules were still the same, there was a different series of prize levels. A straight line without the middle square still won a prize in the neighborhood of $5,000. If the champion made the line with the M square, he/she received a choice of three more extravagant prizes worth over $10,000 each. In addition, if the champion did not win the bonus round, his/her consolation prizes were determined by a random shuffle before the round started; each square hid a different prize behind it and the champion won the prizes behind whatever catch phrases he/she solved. Mascot Catch Phrase used an animated robot named Herbie as a mascot. He was colored golden yellow with a red nose and red triangle around his neck, and made frequent appearances throughout each game performing some sort of action as part of a catch phrase. For instance, Herbie would be seen carrying a piece of paper with the word "FISHER" written on it and the solution to the catch phrase would be Carrie Fisher. The British series had a robot mascot that looked almost identical to Herbie, but instead the producers named him "Mr. Chips". Sale, cancellation, and replacement 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