What Might've Been: Rodeo Drive (1990)

Rodeo Drive is to Beverly Hills what Madison Avenue is to New York City. The difference, of course, is that Rodeo Drive is mostly for shopping.

In 1990, producer Jay Wolpert, who'd previously developed the original Double Dare for Goodson-Todman & CBS, then started his own company and developed Whew! & Press Your Luck, also for CBS, sold Lifetime a game based on the tony thoroughfare. Rodeo Drive bowed in February 1990, but only got 13 weeks of new episodes before being consigned to reruns and eventual cancellation.

Actress-impressionist Louise DuArt (ex-The Krofft Supershow) was tapped as host, and it wound up being her only hosting job to date. Those of us who were teens watching the Supershow got a good look at the attractive cutie behind the wig and makeup of Kaptain Kool & the Kongs' Nashville, and wondered what took her so long to land another gig in front of the cameras? She was just a perfect fit, using celebrity impersonations when necessary to the game, and should've earned consideration for another hosting job after Rodeo Drive was cancelled.

Today, Louise is married to former ABC programming executive SQuire (that's how it's spelled, folks) Rushnell, still doing stand-up. Jared Oswald takes us back to the premiere of Rodeo Drive:



GSN really needs to take a look at picking this up for kicks. After all, they tried out another Lifetime castoff, Shop 'Til You Drop, a while back.

Rating: A-.