Winning Streak

The tournament-like word game show that didn't quite click in with viewers.

Broadcast
NBC - July 1, 1974 - January 3, 1975

Packager
Bob Stewart Productions

Host
Bill Cullen

Announcer
Don Pardo

Gameplay
Two contestants (one a returning champion), raced to see who can first spell a word that fits into a given category. They faced a game board of 16 letters (see right) with the category into which the word must fit displayed above it.

On a player's turn he/she chose a letter, and a question in which the answer began with that letter was read by host Cullen (just like in his future show Blockbusters). Each question was a toss-up, and the first player to buzz in got a chance to answer. A correct answer won the contestant that letter, but an incorrect answer automatically gave the opposing player the letter. The player who won the chosen letter earned the privilege of either placing the letter in any one of the seven positions on a display in front of them or discarding it. Either way, the player in control had the right to choose another letter. The first player to make a word that fit into the given category won the round and moved on to the bonus board.

Bonus Board
The winning contestant faced a board of 18 squares, numbered 1-18 around the frame of the board. The first six squares on the top row hid money amounts from $100–$200 while the rest, down both sides and on the bottom, hid letters.

To start, the winning player selected one of the six money squares; that became the starting dollar amount. The player would then select one of the 12 letter squares and had five seconds to give a word that contained that chosen letter. If the given word was acceptable, the contestant won the starting amount and had a chance to either double it by selecting another hidden letter and giving another acceptable word with all uncovered letters, or stop and take his/her earnings to that point.

This continued until the player elected to quit with their winnings, gave an unacceptable word, or failed to come up with a word within the time limit.

Part Two
When the Money Board round ended, another first-round match was played with two new contestants, while the winner of the first game watched the action from a podium on the side of the stage. The gameplay was identical to the first round, as was the bonus game. If either one of the winners of either match lost his/her money on the bonus board, the other player became the champion; if both winners stopped with money, they faced off against each other in a "final showdown" round.

Final Showdown
The top winner had the option of playing first or deferring to their opponent. Then, both contestants took turns playing the Money Board round described above. They kept playing until one player failed, at which point the other player became the day's champion and won the combined total of the money won by both players from their bonus board rounds (in the photo at right, $2,120).

Winning Streak replaced Stewart and Cullen's Three on a Match, swapping time slots with Jeopardy! NBC placed Streak at 10:30 AM (9:30 Central) against CBS' strong Gambit; as such, Streak made no impact against its competition and ended after six months along with Jeopardy!

Its replacement was a show still airing today in syndication – Wheel of Fortune.

Episode status
The series was likely destroyed by NBC as per network practices of the era. One episode exists, and has been aired on Game Show Network.

The episode, during Winning Streak's original run, was pre-empted on August 9, 1974 by coverage of President Richard Nixon's resignation due to his deep involvement in the Watergate scandal that spanned the past two years; due to the pre-emption, the day's episode was "tossed aside" and saved when the rest of the run was (presumably) destroyed.

Links
Rules for Winning Streak Winning Streak @ Game Show Utopia