Card Sharks is one of American television’s most enduring game show franchises, created by Chester Feldman. It originally debuted on NBC in 1978, and has since been produced in four separate iterations across NBC, CBS, syndication, and ABC. The most recent version was an ABC revival, which aired for two seasons between 2019 and 2021.
The game pits two contestants against each other in a head-to-head format rooted in both strategy and probability. Each round begins with a survey question posed to a group of 100 people sharing a common trait or demographic. One contestant guesses how many of those 100 people responded in a specific way; the other then predicts whether the true number is higher or lower. The winner gains control of their row of oversized playing cards on the board and must predict whether each subsequent card drawn will be higher or lower than the one before it.
A contestant may also choose to “freeze” at any point, banking their position and returning control to the survey round. The ultimate prize round — known as the Money Cards — sees the winning contestant bet their accumulated cash against a final run of cards, with the potential to win a life-changing jackpot. During the ABC revival, contestants could win up to $640,000.
The ABC version introduced several updates to keep the format fresh for a modern primetime audience. Most notably, it added a male card dealer alongside the traditionally female assistants — a first for the franchise. The game show was hosted by Joel McHale, who brought a comedic irreverence to the proceedings, making the show feel less like a traditional game show and more like a lively primetime entertainment event.
