Jumble (1)

Jumble is an unsold television game show pilot, produced in 1988 by Ron Greenberg and Hillier Productions with Procter & Gamble Productions. It is based on the newspaper puzzle feature, but unrelated to the series with Wink Martindale.

Host
Richard Kline

Announcer
Charlie O'Donnell

Gameplay
Similar to Win, Lose or Draw, this game was played on a set designed to resemble a living room. Each of two contestants plays with a celebrity partner (Bill Kirchenbauer and Alaina Reed in this pilot, Roger E. Mosley and Rebecca Arthur in a pitch film).

Each team consists of a "yeller" and a "speller". The yeller has to unscramble a word within 15 seconds, just as in the newspaper feature. The speller's job is to rearrange magnetic letters, but cannot spell a word until the yeller correctly says it. A correct word credits the team with $50. If the team in control is incorrect, the opposing team is allowed to try. If both teams fail, the host places letters one at a time until one team gets it.

The highlighted letters, like the circled letters in the newspaper version, are then brought over to the cartoon puzzle. They have a few seconds to guess the punny phrase ("What Does Vanna White Say to the Preacher? Wedding Vowels!"). If they fail, either because of ignorance or a flash of dignity, they retain control of the puzzle. Three puzzles were played, the first worth $250, the second $500 and the third $1,000. Each puzzle had four words associated with it, so it would be theoretically possible, but extremely unlikely to win, without getting the third puzzle.

The bonus game was more of the same. The four words now are six and those words have a 60-second time limit. The words would be thematic—on this pilot the puzzle was about Siskel and Ebert, and each word was related to movies. Any word correctly guessed had its key letters moved over and the team had 15 seconds to guess the puzzle. Winning the puzzle won the contestant a 1989 Camaro.