The Lifetime/PAX runs usually taped six (sometimes five, and at least twice, seven) shows in a day. The tell-tale signs were the contestant pool in the audience in the intro, and the rotating Big Money Makers during the Big Sweep (the former was dropped in Season 2 of the PAX run). They would tape all the main rounds first, and then tape all the Big Sweep/Bonus Sweep rounds last. And during the tapings of the latter, they had to make sure David's clothes matched what he was wearing in the main rounds by double-checking those particular segments. The Buzzr reruns that began on January 15, 2018 marked the first time both runs were shown in taping order.
Specific trivia:
Creator Backlash: Within one day of the 2020 revival's first airing, two prominent voices of the Lifetime/PAX era spoke out against it.
Host David Ruprecht posted on the show's official Facebook page, calling it a "debacle".
Christopher Rhyne, who composed the theme music, was not pleased with the producers ignoring the agreement he made with them to feature his music. They replaced the Lifetime/PAX theme with "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa at the last minute.
Edited for Syndication: When Buzzr reruns the early Lifetime seasons, almost all of the episodes have the prize plugs removed, fading straight to the credits after David and the contestants sign off.
The November 18, 1994 Cruise to Paradise finals episode ended with David singing "La Cucaracha", strumming a guitar while wearing a sombrero and serape. The winning contestants had their own sombreros, and danced around while shaking maracas. Buzzr reruns remove this segment.
Executive Meddling: The 2020 revival almost used Christopher Rhyne's theme to open the show, but instead opted to go with "Push It".
Hey, It's That Sound!: The siren/clanging bell noise used for Bonus/Super Sweep wins and the Manager's Special was first used in the second season of The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime for whenever someone won the million; it was used in a few "adult"/Celebrity Double Dare pilots hosted by a pre-transitioned Caitlin Jenner in 1987, and finally by Fun House whenever someone found the Power Prize (or for its spinoff College Mad House, a team finding all 13 tags in the Mad House).
Only seven ABC episodes are known to exist, all viewable at the Museum of Broadcast Communications in Chicago. One fullepisode (March 28, 1967) and two minutes from another (1966) are known to circulate.
After 14 years off the air, Buzzr acquired the rights to air the Lifetime/PAX version in January 2018 and started with the 1991 season. Other than that, finding episodes really isn't a problem unless you're looking for 1990 shows (which are pretty scarce... even though most fans don't mind). Three 1990 episodes (#1002, #1063, and #1064) were shown on Buzzr on November 27, 2020 for a Black Friday marathon as well as for a Summer tournament event on June 30, 2023 respectively. However, only time will tell if both 1990 Seasons will be rerun regularly.
Money, Dear Boy: The whole reason why Talent Associates agreed to produce the original Supermarket Sweep in the first place. At the time, the company was losing money off of Get Smart due to production issues involving the show's star, Don Adams. Among other things, Adams insisted on doing his own stunts, and while it may have looked amazing on camera, Adams would frequently get injured in the process. As a result, according to Jay Sandrich, who was the producer of Get Smart during the first season, production would often be delayed as Adams would be recuperating from his injuries. In addition, Adams was also a compulsive gambler, and whenever he would rack up debts, he would always have to take time off to do side work such as performing stand up comedy just to replenish his finances.
Promoted Fan Boy: Leslie Jones admitted to being a huge fan of the show on the 2020 revival's premiere.
Real Life Writes the Plot: The idea for the show came from creator and executive producer Al Howard and his wife Alice having to wait in a very long line at the supermarket one day. In boredom, Al turned to Alice and said "How would you like to run wild through the market and grab everything you can get your hands on, and it won't cost you a cent?" The premise for the show came from that one conversation.
Saved from Development Hell: Fremantle acquired reruns of the Ruprecht versions in 2018 with the intention of planning a revival. Nothing else came out of it until 2020 with the announcement that production had started. While not officially announced by ABC, the reboot seemed to have hit another snag with the coronavirus pandemic that same year. The show eventually started airing on Sunday nights in October.
PAX revived the show on April 3, 2000, following nearly four solid years of repeats (Lifetime from 1995-98, PAX from 1999-2000). The show ran three more years in first-run, followed by another year of repeats before being removed entirely on March 26, 2004.
Fremantle announced another revival in January 2018 which made it to air in October 2020.
with the producers ignoring the agreement he made with them to feature his music. They replaced the Lifetime/PAX theme with "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa at the last minute.