Animal Crack-Ups

Animal Crack-Ups is an ABC game show which aired in primetime from August 8 to September 12, 1987, after which it aired on Saturday mornings from September 12, 1987 to December 30, 1989 and again from June 2 to September 1, 1990. It was produced by ABC Productions in association with Vin Di Bona Productions and hosted by Alan Thicke, who was on Growing Pains at the time. The program was based on a Japanese series, Waku Waku.

The show's theme song was "Animals Are Just Like People Too", created by Thickovit music (Alan and Todd Thicke and Gary Pickus).

Gameplay

Four celebrities competed. Host Thicke introduced a video clip about an animal; at some point, the video was paused and Thicke asked a question about the clip. The celebrities give their answers, after which the remainder of the clip was played, revealing the answer.

Any celebrities giving the correct answer received a point; score was kept by placing a stuffed animal (a monkey in the first season, a hedgehog in later seasons) in front of the celebrity's podium. The celeb with the most toy animals/points won the game and $2,500 for their favorite animal charity. If a tie occurred, the money was split between the charities.