The show grew out of lip synching contests developed by William "Randy" Wood, who by 1982 had realized that his contests had grown so popular nationally that he needed to stage them on a broader scale. The planning process eventually grew into Puttin' on the Hits with Chris Bearde and Dick Clark serving as executive producers. Clark's son, Richard A. Clark, produced with Wood serving as the consulting producer. MCA Television served as distributor. Puttin' on the Hits was taped in Hollywood, California, at Universal City Studios.
Contestants would often dress up in costumes and use props to make their act more outrageous. This varied from a seemingly severed head singing "I Ain't Got Nobody" to an Aretha Franklin drag act using couch cushions for breasts. Other acts were more conservative and placed emphasis on performance.
The competition was conducted as many other televised performance contests (e.g. Star Search) were. Each act was judged by a panel of celebrity judges based on their originality, appearance & lip-sync abilities. The judges could award a maximum of ten points per category, and their score totals were combined to give an act a total score of up to ninety points. In the event of a tie, the judges made a final decision to determine each winner. Each season was conducted as a tournament. Winners of a preliminary round received $1,000. Winning in the semifinal round was worth $5,000 to an act. At the end of the season, the winners of the semifinals competed in a grand championship final with $25,000 going to the winning act. Each contestant was given complimentary gifts and a videotape of their performance.
Following the conclusion of the fourth season's tournament, the three previous season champions were invited back to compete once more against the winner of that season. The winning act won an additional $25,000.
Puttin' on the Hits has been credited with launching the career of the group Troop, and Jazzmun, a drag performer who can be seen in many contemporary television shows. Kato Kaelin was another notable contestant, appearing during the show's third season performing Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild".[2]
