Long before Double Dare showered kids with slime for failing to perform simple tasks, there was Choose Up Sides. Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, creators of many other game shows, created this one for children who had the drive, the guts, the sheer determination to crush other children.

Contestants split up into two teams of four individuals; one team was called Space Pilots and the other Bronco Busters (space piloting and bronco busting being the two most popular occupations back in the 50s). Each team had an adult helper dressed in an outfit to match his team’s name and charged with the task of introducing the contestants. The teams would pick a postcard from a pile sent to the show by kids from around the country, detailing a stunt to be performed. If the team successfully completed the stunt, they were awarded 100 points and if they won, they shared the prize with child whose postcard they picked. The stunts usually involved tests of speed and dexterity, often with a little twist thrown in to make the kids really work for it. The team that failed the stunt had the opportunity to earn 25 or 50 points by performing another task, subject to a time limit. The winning team went home with bicycles, watches or other comparable prizes.

The game show started out on a local New York station in the early 50s and joined the NBC Saturday lineup in 1956. It failed to catch on though and cancellation reared its ugly head a mere three months later. Many of the episodes simply don’t exist any more but the Game Show Network recently started airing reruns of whatever Choose Up Sides is still available.