User:Daniel Benfield/Scrabble 1984 Video Archive

NBC Daytime: July 2, 1984 - March 23, 1990 (taped at NBC Studios in Burbank)

Scrabble was a very fun show that, while based on the long-running crossword game, really had nothing in common aside from the game board and logo.

Repeats aired on USA Network from September 16, 1991 to February 3, 1995, then from April 17 to October 13, 1995. From what I can tell, they never aired episodes from the first few or last few months of the run and skipped all of the weird Spelling-format shows from '85.

For the short-lived revival, see User:Daniel Benfield/Scrabble 1993 Video Archive.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1984-90 Reg Grundy Productions and associated entities.

Pilot (1984)
Taped March 8, 1984

The pilot had, as pilots tend to do, different graphics for the most part (the logo was yellow-on-brown tiles, the game board and Sprint looked vastly different), plus there was no logo-sign hanging over Chuck's head and no numbers on the tiles.

The format, though, was very odd: the Crossword game was played for money rather than points, with four words played and the payouts doubled for the final word. The player with more money after the fourth word played the Sprint. All throughout the week, players competed to get the fastest Sprint time, and whoever had the record at the end of the week got a $25,000 bonus and came back as champ the following week. For this reason, the pilot was treated as a Friday show.

That said, things begin to fall apart a bit because they claim to have a returning champ (Laura Chambers) who's "already won" $2,400, but they later act like she hasn't played the Sprint before. And if Larry set the "current Sprint record", did he remain champ until somebody beat him in the Crossword game? If that's the case, wouldn't he have had multiple opportunities to better his own Sprint time (much like Classic Concentration would do with its yearly Tournament of Champions)? And if that's the case, there's a giant hole in this format: what if the Crossword winner on Monday manages to win every Crossword game in the week? Does s/he automatically get the $25,000 bonus after the last Crossword game on Friday, since nobody beat their Sprint time because nobody else managed to win the Crossword game? What if somebody managed to run for weeks like Thom McKee did on Tic-Tac-Dough four years earlier?

Ugh, this format makes no sense. ...Then again, I suspect this format was never the one they were going to go with. The pilot runs just over 17 minutes which, while it keeps things self-contained (one Crossword game, one Sprint), that's way less than the ~22 minutes most half-hour shows were getting at the time.


 * June 29, 1984 (Debut promo with pilot clips and audience testimony!)

Straddling Format (1984-86)
July 2, 1984 - September 26, 1986

The first two weeks of the series kept the "cumulative pot" element from the pilot: each letter placed was worth $25, with blue squares adding $50 and pink squares adding $100. The total amount went to whichever contestant guessed three words first. The subsequent Sprint was worth triple the Crossword pot.

The standard format debuted on July 16, with the first to solve three words getting $500 and the Sprint worth $1,500. In both cases, winning five games added $20,000 to your total, as did winning ten games.

1984

The cash bonuses for the pink and blue squares ($1,000 and $500, respectively) debuted on October 15 or 22, the earliest USA ever went in its repeats of the show.


 * July 2, 1984 (Premiere: Vanessa vs. Jack, with Jeff and Claude playing later {Designated Champ: Stuart}; has a Contestant Plug! {alternate copy})
 * [Stuart became the champ in a game played off-camera.]
 * July 4, 1984 (#3: Mary Jo vs. Jack {Game 3 - $4,100} at Sprint, with Steve and Christine playing later; taped from WTCN with commercials, begins at opening word)
 * [Still has the tiny nametags.]

Numbered tiles become blue (began 7/9/84); "Pot" format removed: winner of each Crossword now receives $500 and plays the Sprint for $1,500 (began 7/16/84)
 * August 3, 1984 (College Week, Day 5: Heidi vs. Richard, continued from yesterday {2-1 in Richard's favor} with Roy, Irma, Melanie, and Bill playing later {Champ: David, currently on Game 2 with $2,000}; begins during logo animation)
 * [By this point, the nametags have their standard size and appearance (pink or blue, unsurprisingly). "Letter placement" sound still plays twice each time.]


 * Summer 1984 (Clips of Davida vs. John {Champ: Lisa - $3,500}, with a pretty weird Sprint)
 * [Nametags have their standard size and appearance, although at least John and Lisa's are white.]

"Letter placement" sound now only plays once each time (began by 8/22/84); solving on a blue or pink square awards $500 or $1,000, respectively (began 10/15 or 22/84)
 * October-Early November 1984 (Begins with John {$1,500} vs. PETER CATELLA {Game 2 - $2,000} at Sprint, with Jeff, Norma Jo, Joyce, and Ron playing later; USA repeat)
 * [Chuck says this is Peter's "third day", suggesting that he was introduced near the end of a show, won his Crossword and first Sprint the next day, and said next day ended with John winning his Crossword game. Chuck goes into detail about the blue and pink squares offering bonus cash, which suggests they were introduced pretty recently.]
 * October-Early November 1984 (Begins with Joyce vs. Ron, continued from last time {Champ: Peter, currently on Game 4}; first Sprint round only)


 * October 19-November 9, 1984 (Friday: Clip of Francine {$1,000} vs. Peter {Game 7}; Sprint round only)
 * [Still has the "$1,500" graphic when Chuck notes it as the Sprint award.]
 * October 22-November 12, 1984 (Monday: Clip of Gary vs. Peter {Game 8}; Sprint round only)
 * [Gary says that "I spent the entire weekend thinking about [which Sprint envelope to pick]". Peter's wearing a different suit and tie than the clip with Francine, indicating that Gary won his Crossword game shortly before time was called for the day.]
 * October 23-November 13, 1984 (Tuesday: Clip of Dee-Dee vs. Peter {Game 10, going for the second $20,000 bonus!}; begins at second word of challenger's Sprint, ends after said segment)
 * [Peter's wearing a different suit and tie than the clip with Gary, and given the show's pacing at this point I'm thinking this is the day after.]

"$1,500" Sprint graphic no longer used (began by 11/20/84)
 * November 20, 1984 (Begins with Phyl vs. Rick, continued from yesterday with John and Gerre playing later {Champ: Alan, currently on Game 2 with $2,000}; taped from WNBC, with promos for Live At Five and Super Password!)
 * [Super Password promo is for a week with Joanne Worley, pinning this to the week of November 19, and since Chuck notes "tomorrow" at one point it's not the day before Thanksgiving (since I'm pretty sure he would've mentioned it if so).]


 * December 18, 1984 (Begins with Debbie vs. Bill {Game 3 - $3,500} at Sprint, with Jim?, Leanna, Becky, and David? playing later; USA repeat, video is a bit bright, low/muffled/"fuzzy" audio)
 * December 25, 1984 (Teen Week, Day 2: Begins with Shanah vs. Jeremy, with Aaron and Theresa playing later {Champ: Jason, currently on Game 2 with $2,500} and a classic blooper in Game 2! {Part 3}; USA repeat, video is a bit bright, audio is a bit muffled {alternate copy of the Game 2 blooper, same source but much better quality})
 * [Set decorated for Christmas. Five- and ten-time champs still get $20,000 bonuses.]

1985, standard Crossword format

In January or early February, the Sprint payouts were altered a bit: five- and ten-time champs now have their winnings augmented to $20,000 and $40,000, respectively. Some time after that, and definitely by mid-February, a Sprint rule was changed so players could only call one letter if two appear at once (previously, they could call every letter that came up).

Sometime in March, the Speedword began to be used in Crossword games if they went to a 2-2 tie (previously, they were only done if the third Stopper was found on a word and the other player had no guess). At the same time, the Sprint rules were altered so each player does the same set of three words; prior to this, the challenger picked from a pink or blue envelope, with the other being played by the champion.

Presumably at the same time the "same set of words in Sprint" rule was added, and definitely by April 24, the Sprint board side of the Scrabble Cube was no longer seen head-on during Sprint rounds. Instead, the player shots and relevant parts of the Sprint board were done over a background that was blue on the top half and pink on the bottom half, a setup that remained for the rest of the run.

Five/ten-time champs now have their winnings augmented to $20,000 and $40,000, respectively (began 1/ or 2/85)
 * January-Early February 1985 (Begins with Irving vs. Tricia, continued from yesterday at 2-1 with Shelly, Paul, Ernest, and Dorothy playing later {Part 2, Part 3}; Champ: Sue {currently on Game 2 with $2,000}; USA repeat, video issues at start of most segments except the first, most of fifth and sixth player intros missing)
 * [Jay Stewart announces. Chuck plugs the Sweepstakes drawings as happening "next week". Letters placed into blue or pink squares still don't flash. Still has the original Sprint letter-picking rules.]

Letters placed into blue or pink squares now flash, Sprint rules altered a bit (began 1/ or 2/85)
 * January-Early February 1985 (Begins with Steve {$2,000} vs. Jeff {Game 6 - $20,000} at Sprint, with Michael, Susan, Frances, and Jim {who looks remarkably like George Carlin!} playing later; USA repeat from 1/15/93, begins at logo animation)
 * [Jay Stewart announces. Chuck somewhat notes the Sprint "pick one letter if two appear at once" rule, saying that it's become a bit slower. Chuck says "tomorrow" when signing off. Bonus money is not yet awarded with "Chuck Bucks".]


 * February 15-22, 1985 (Tournament of Champions, Finals: Begins with Annie McCormick vs. Jeff Gatlin?, continued from yesterday at 1-1 {Current Sprint Champ: Stephen Mayl?, at 13.0 seconds}; afterward, it's back to normal players: Al vs. Sunny, with current champ Mike Gilooly? {Game 4 - $5,000}; USA repeat)
 * [Charlie Tuna announces. Crossword players still walk up to their seats, and still do not have to buzz in to solve words. Sprint rounds still have the "Sprint board" side of the Cube shown on-camera.]
 * [Chuck notes that for the Tournament, Crosswords have the pink and blue bonus squares add money to the Jackpot. The Sprint has four words (making Stephen's 13-second run pretty impressive), and the player with the best Sprint time gets the cash. Wall behind Crossword players has tiles spelling out "TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS".]

Speedword now used for Crossword 2-2 ties, Sprint players now have the same set of words (began 3/85)

1985, "Spelling" Crossword format (began 4/85)

Players now had to buzz in to attempt to solve, then had to verbally add any remaining letters. The pot returned, now adding $50 for a white square, $100 for a blue square, and $200 for a pink square; the money was held in the pot until somebody solved three words, at which point s/he got the cash and played the Sprint for $1,500 as before.

Early in this period, there was no "building" money display when players attempted to call out the missing letters, and the front-game money graphics that were used had large round numbers with no dollar sign. At some point, probably early on, the money graphic was added to the "calling out letters" portion and got a more "square" font with a dollar sign.

Sometime after the above change, the pink squares began to add $500 to the pot. Probably at the same time, the "champ's total" graphic changed from a flashing white graphic at the bottom-center of the screen to a blue banner with white borders ("# wins", followed by a blinking cash total). Sometime after those changes, the show's logo was added to the "champ's total", "$20000", and "$40000" graphics.

I've seen some praise for this format, mainly that it felt more like the board game (you had to add any remaining letters to the board yourself, and if you misspelled they were taken back off and you were penalized) and rewarded those who knew the answer early, neither of which I can disagree with. Said people have also said that if the MOSQUITOS incident (I'll get to that later) didn't happen, the show may have stuck with this format for the rest of the run.


 * April 24, 1985 (Begins with Robert {$900} vs. Neil {Game 2 - $2,450} at Sprint, with Cindy, Steve, Pete, and Frances playing later; has commercials and a Contestant Plug, audio is a bit low)
 * [Jay Stewart announces. By this point, the Crossword players are already seated as the announcer introduces them. Interestingly, the Contestant Plug uses the pilot logo!]

"Building" money graphic added while players try to spell in the spaces; dollar sign added to pot graphic
 * Spring-Summer 1985 (Begins with Marsha vs. Paul, with returning champ Toni {Game 2 - $2,750}; taped from WDIV, almost all of Toni's portion of first Sprint missing, ends after first Sprint round)
 * [Charlie Tuna announces. Still has pink squares adding $200. Champs still have their total displayed with a flashing white graphic at the bottom-center of the screen.]

Pink squares now add $500; "champ's total" graphic now displayed in a blue banner with white borders ("# wins", followed by a blinking cash total)
 * Spring-Summer 1985 (Begins with Cindi vs. Rick, with Skip and Geny playing later {Part 2}; Champ: Tony {Game 4 - $5,300}; begins during opening word {alternate copy})
 * [Charlie Tuna announces.]

Logo (white-on-pink) added on top of "champ's total", "$20000", and "$40000" graphics
 * Spring-Summer 1985 (Begins with Damita Jo {$2,100} vs. Mitchell {Game 2 - $2,300} at Sprint, with Dru, Don, Dan, and Marcy playing later; first two Crossword player intros missing, audio is somewhat low and a bit muffled)
 * [Charlie Tuna announces.]

Uncertain placement
 * August? 1985 (Chris vs. Von; clip of the infamous MOSQUITOS round!)
 * [Okay, three things: one, this was probably the catalyst for the Spelling format. Two, why not draw more tiles? Third, for whatever reason the actual spelling of the word takes up the bottom portion of the screen, blocking out everything below the word area itself. While this wouldn't normally be a problem, this would presumably include the money graphic (as noted above, it originally wasn't there), and given there's a pink square involved it kinda doesn't help with placement (which, in this case, is just a guess).]

1985, standard Crossword format returns (began 9/2/85)

The "buzz in to solve" rule carried over, but that was pretty much it. By about the end of September, the "Chuck Bucks" were introduced, although they initially had no sound effect as Chuck laid down each bill.

From what I can tell, it was shortly after the Spelling format was removed that original announcer Jay Stewart left (presumably to concentrate on doing Sale of the Century), with Charlie Tuna replacing him.


 * September? 1985 (Clip of Ken vs. Randee, beginning during second Crossword puzzle)
 * [Jay Stewart announces. Chuck Bucks are present by this point, but no sound plays while Chuck pays them out.]

"Champ's total" graphic now displayed when Chuck introduces them at the top of the show; sound effect added for Chuck Bucks "payments"
 * Late 1985 (Begins with Craig vs. Denese, continued from yesterday {2-1 in Denese's favor} with Arlette, a different Craig, Steve, and Susan playing later; Champ: John Heaner {Game 10 - $26,000}, going for the $40,000 maximum!; has a Sweepstakes segment)
 * [Charlie Tuna announces. "Champ's total" graphic still has "win"/"wins" in lower-case.]


 * November 1985 (TV Players vs. Board Game Players Tournament, Day ?: Clip of the end of Jim vs. Denise, a very odd moment which likely would've been edited and retaped if it happened these days)

"Champ's total" graphic turns "win"/"wins" into "WIN"/"WINS"
 * Late 1985-Early 1986 (? {female} vs. Sang, with returning champ Steven {Game 2 - $2,500}; montage including first game's Speedword, Sang's infamous Sprint, and Steven's subsequent Sprint, average quality)
 * [There's a sign on the wall behind the contestants (part of it can be briefly seen at 1:08), but it's definitely not the logo; it seems to be for Teen Week. Based on Chuck's comments and the way things play out, Sprint players still do only three words.]

1986

At some point this year, the $500 and $1,000 bonuses were added to Speedword as well. (Not sure whether this came before or after the major format change.)


 * February 14, 1986 (Begins with ? vs. ?, with returning champ Scott; taped from WESH with commercials, intro and credits only)


 * 1986 (Teen Week, Day ?: Marla vs. Rick; said game only)
 * [Has "TEEN WEEK" tiles on the wall behind the contestant area.]
 * 1986 (Tournament of Teen Champions, Day 1: Begins with Bernadette vs. Debi; USA repeat, ends during logo animation)
 * [I think this is the proper placement. Charlie notes that the TOTC is "starting today, and continuing for the next two weeks".]


 * Spring 1986 (Begins with Susie vs. Jake, continued from last time {2-0 in Jake's favor} with Karen and Glen playing later; Champ: Scott {Game 5 - $6,500}, going for a $20,000 payday; USA repeat)
 * [Susie says that she will be graduating "this June". Catalog plug after Game 1 is for the JT's General Store "Spring '86 in-home shopping catalog", and another during the fee plugs is for Sears' Spring/Summer 1986 catalog. Chuck says "tomorrow" when signing off.]
 * [Opening words are still not sent in by viewers. Still has the pink backwall with blue dots and no logo-sign on the wall behind the contestant area. Sprint players still do only three words.]

Self-Contained Format (1986-90)
September 29, 1986 - March 23, 1990

The standard front-game format debuted at the start of a $100,000 All-American Tournament, which lasted 13 weeks (four players Mon-Thurs, winners play Fri, those 12 play for the money). The Bonus Sprint debuted on the episode immediately after said Tournament.

By this point, several changes have been made to the set:
 * The backwall is "inverted" from pink with blue spots to blue with pink spots.
 * An audience area is added to the front of the set (i.e., audience members are now visible on-camera).
 * The show's logo is added to the wall behind the Crossword contestant area.

Also by this point, Sprints now require players to clear four words.

The original intro for this era started with a zoom in on a shot of the returning champ, which then zoomed out to the top-left corner of the screen to show the three challengers in a four-window shot, after which the current Bonus Sprint amount "strobed" in large characters in the center.

1986

Bonus Sprint added (began 12/29/86)

1987

Sometime between early February and March 30, 1987, the first part of the intro was altered to simply have the champ's picture zoom in, after which either the current Bonus Sprint total or the champ's current total appeared onscreen in much smaller strobing characters. The picture then zoomed out.


 * 1987? (? vs. ?, then Amy vs. James; Game 2 only)
 * January 1987 (Greg vs. ?, then Jennifer vs. Andre Francois Juan; Game 2 only)


 * 1987 (Thursday: Monica {Champ} vs. TERRY RAY {GREAT contestant!}, then ? vs. ? {Bonus Sprint is at $5,000}; begins just before Terry's interview, most of Game 1 missing, ends after first Sprint)
 * [This and the below are consecutive.]
 * 1987 (Friday: Marla vs. Terry, then Chris vs. ? {Part 3}; begins just before Terry's interview, second word of Game 1 and third word of first Sprint missing, Game 2 and first part of second Sprint missing, ends shortly after Bonus Sprint)
 * 1987 (Monday: Deedra vs. Terry, then ? vs. ?; begins just before Terry's interview, parts of Game 1 and first Sprint missing {including a small portion of the first word}, entirety of Game 2 missing, ends shortly before first word of Bonus Sprint)
 * 1987 (Tuesday: Sharon vs. Terry and David vs. ?, with a hilarious T-Shirt Plug!; begins at Game 1 player intros, part of Game 1 and first Sprint missing, Game 2 {minus the aforementioned plug} and part of second Sprint missing, ends shortly before first word of Bonus Sprint)

Intro altered (began by 3/30/87)

End-of-show fee plugs removed (began 12/28/87)

1988

Sometime this year, possibly around August (and definitely by October 26), Chuck stops having winning Crossword players come to his podium (and get bonus money, if applicable) before walking over to the Sprint area. Instead, he walks over to the contestant desk like he typically does for money handouts and throws to commercial from there.

Chuck walks over to contestant desk before throwing to commercial (began 8?/88)

1989

Sometime in late February (probably the 27th), the Chuck Bucks changed from a single set of identical bills to two distinct sets: a blue set for $500 bonus wins and a pink set for $1,000 bonus handouts.

Sometime between March 24 and the end of August, the first part of the intro was slightly altered: rather than hold on a shot of the champ during the first portion, as Charlie said "Today on Scrabble!" it "four-corner cut" from the champ to the logo graphic zooming in. The box then flipped horizontally as it zoomed out. For a time following this change, the champ's picture also flipped horizontally as it zoomed in.


 * February 23, 1989 (Annie {Day 2 - $2,500} vs. Bryan and Ella vs. Richard, with Chuck announcing that he's going to have another baby; USA repeat)
 * [This and the below are consecutive. Dates are guesses based on known info (for instance, given comments in later shows, this is a Thursday episode).]
 * February 24, 1989 (Annie vs. Brian. then Virginia vs. Super Newk {yes, really!}; USA repeat, begins at first player interview)

Chuck Bucks become blue and pink for said colored squares (began 2/27?/89)
 * February 27, 1989 (Annie {who sings a Scrabble song!} vs. Ed and Macaire vs. Eddie, with what seems to be an edit at 15:42; USA repeat)
 * [Chuck namedrops and explains the Chuck Bucks at 4:45, showing off the blue ones there and the pink ones at 6:30.]
 * February 28, 1989 (Stormy vs. Eddie, then Isabel vs. Michael; USA repeat, with a Contestant Plug!)
 * March 1, 1989 (Patty vs. Michael and Stephanie vs. Parnell, with a full credit roll plus Michael showing off two of Chuck's records; USA repeat)
 * [Chuck plugs the upcoming timeslot change (he says "All week I've been talking about this", but this is the first reference to it), and namedrops Wheel of Fortune. Interestingly, he notes that Wheel started out at 10/9 but was later moved elsewhere "and the show did better, I don't know why." This is probably just me with the benefit of hindsight, but Chuck's laugh afterwards may suggest that he knew the move probably wasn't a good idea; given that Scrabble ended a year later, it probably wasn't.]
 * March 2, 1989 (Natasha vs. Parnell and Meredith vs. Billy, with the timeslot change plugged; USA repeat, with a Contestant Plug!)

Show moves to 10:00 AM (began 3/27/89)
 * 1989-90 (Claudia vs. ?, then Tish vs Digger; begins just before Game 2 player intros, ends shortly after said game's outcome is decided)

1990

By the end of January, the aforementioned "flipping zoom-in" during the first part of the intro had the "flipping" part removed.

Shades of Things To Come (1990)
Taped August 1, 1990

Scrabble attempted to pitch its way into syndication via Group W, hosted by Steve Edwards (presumably since Chuck was already doing the syndicated Love Connection). Nearly everything was redone, with several changes that were kept for the eventual revival in 1993 (including the logo, music, and some of the set) revolving cube intact)...and several that weren't.

Apparently, somebody thought the "It's a [number]-letter word..." intro the original series used throughout its run just wasn't gonna cut it anymore, so they changed it to some computer graphics with a voiceover by a bickering couple. The gameplay appears to have been the same as it had been since '86 (including the Bonus Sprint starting at $5,000), except now each Crossword game had a category and the numbered tiles were replaced by numbered tile graphics that appeared over the current word.

Scrabble was originally planned as a midseason replacement in the 1990-91 season, but this later changed to a planned debut at the start of the 1991-92 season. Unfortunately, the 1990-91 syndication season was crowded with game shows, and as a result (combined with the continued success of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!) very few of them could gain a foothold, resulting in stations seemingly being burned out on the genre. In the end, this take on Scrabble didn't get off the ground, and it wouldn't be until about November 1992 that news would crop up again about the show coming back.

...But that's for another Video Archive. :)


 * Taped 8/1/90 (Davis {Champ} vs. Craig, then ? vs. ? {Bonus Sprint: $8,000}; montage including slate, intro, first word of Game 1, and Bonus Sprint)