Lingo (partially found first season of American game show; 2002)

Logo used for the first season.

Status: Partially Found

Lingo is an American game show that originally aired in syndication from 1987 to 1988. The show featured two teams of contestants competing to solve five-letter words and complete a row of numbers, in a similar vein to Bingo. The show has since been revived twice by GSN: one airing from 2002 to 2007, and one in 2011. The series was revived in 2023 on CBS with RuPaul as host. While plenty of episodes have resurfaced over the years, the same can't be said for the first season of the 2002 version.

Format

Two teams of two contestants participated in each episode. The team in control would be given a five-letter word, with the first letter provided. They had five chances to solve the word, with the letters lighting up to indicate their placement. Each team member who correctly identified the word would draw a Lingo ball to mark off a number on their card until they received a Lingo, at which point a new card would be loaded. After two rounds, the team with the most points would move on to Bonus Lingo.

In Bonus Lingo, the winning team had to guess as many five-letter words within two minutes. After that, they were given a Lingo card with a set of numbers marked off. Each contestant had a chance to draw a Lingo ball, based on the number of words successfully guessed. If a number row was connected, they would win the grand prize.

Availability

The first season of the 2002 version of Lingo aired from August 5th to 29th, 2002, consisting of 20 episodes. As of the writing of this article, only two episodes are currently available online. However, all 20 episodes are known to be on the trading circuit.

Episode List

#	Episode Title	Airdate^[1]	Status
1	Melissa & Donna vs. Luis & Steven	August 5th, 2002	Found
2	Tony & Adam vs. Mara & Kelly	August 5th, 2002	Lost
3	Anda & Elke vs. Elisabeth & Christopher	August 6th, 2002	Lost
4	Jennifer & Martin vs. Christina & TraShawna	August 7th, 2002	Lost
5	Michael & Ben vs. Tanny & Jim	August 8th, 2002	Lost
6	Sharon & Cheryl vs. Alanna & Dani	August 9th, 2002	Lost
7	Sherrie & Kathryn vs. Mark & Mary	August 12th, 2002	Lost
8	Paula & Celeste vs. Joe & William	August 13th, 2002	Lost
9	Kim & Linda vs. Jennifer & Jan	August 14th, 2002	Lost
10	Joy & Nicole vs. Karen & Margaret	August 15th, 2002	Lost
11	Christina & Ronnie vs. Rob & Greg	August 16th, 2002	Lost
12	Neal & David vs. Victoria & Julie	August 19th, 2002	Lost
13	Mary & Robert vs. Agnes & Joan	August 20th, 2002	Lost
14	Christina & Grant vs. Tayna & Shay	August 21st, 2002	Found
15	Tamara & Fiona vs. Ellen & Brian	August 22nd, 2002	Lost
16	Merilee & Meredith vs. Michelle & Sara	August 23rd, 2002	Lost
17	Lisa & Jodi vs. Amanda & Andrea	August 26th, 2002	Found
18	Ellen & Chiara vs. Jean & Don	August 27th, 2002	Lost
19	Boaz & Andrea vs. Beth & Kristy	August 28th, 2002	Lost
20	Michael & Tania vs. Stefanie & Ellen	August 29th, 2002	Lost