Win, Lose or Draw

SNEAK PREVIEW: Convy (whispering): "The following program is a sneak preview of a new TV Show, stars right here on this channel September 7. Roddy: Welcome to the quick draw game that everyone can play. Come on in and join the star of NBC's Easy Street, Loni Anderson! The Emmy-Award winning Golden Girl, Betty White! You remember him for the hit series Taxi, and now he has another one from Who's the Boss, Tony Danza! And Ladies and Gentlemen, Burt Reynolds! All here to play, 'Win, Lose or Draw'! and here's our host, Bert Convy!"

REGULAR SERIES: "Welcome to the quick draw game that everyone can play/everybody's playing. It's ‘Win, Lose or Draw’! Come on in and join our host Vicki Lawrence (Schultz)/Sally Struthers/Bert Convy/Robb Weller! With Vicki's/Sally's/Bert's/Robb's Guests: (Insert celebrities). And one more time, our host, Vicki Lawrence (Schultz)/Sally Struthers/Bert Convy/Robb Weller!"

That's right: Win, Lose or Draw is the game show based on Pictionary where two teams of three (two celebrities & one contestant) draw puzzles to help contestants win money.

Rounds 1 & 2
One member of the team playing had 60 seconds to draw a person, place, thing or phrase, and all the partners had to do was to guess the solution. When drawing, the drawer can't use letters, numbers or symbols; however, the only exception to the rules was that the drawer can write down a word that's part of the answer if any of the partners have said it. The drawer can also do "sounds like" by drawing an ear, followed by a clue. After the first 30 seconds, a doorbell would sound, and the drawer can either hand-off to one of his/her two partners or continue drawing. If the guessers can come up with the right answer, the team won $200, but a correct answer on a hand-off was worth half that amount or $100. If time ran out, the opposing team had one chance to guess in an attempt to steal the money. Violation of the said infractions split the value between both teams.

Round one had one of the celebrities from each team draw, and the answer is a famous something; round two had the other celebrities on each team and the contestants draw, and the answers could be anything (later a different category).

Later in season two in both versions, in the first round only, the drawers drew clues to a puzzle one at a time (with a maximum of eight or nine) during the next 60 seconds. If the team can guess the puzzle correctly they won the $200; otherwise, the opposing team can steal for the same amount. Round two was played as normal.

Speed Round
The final round of the game was called the Speed Round. In the speed round, the drawer had 90 seconds (1 1/2 minutes) to draw as many words & phrases as he/she can. Each correct answer was worth $100, and the drawer can pass no more than twice. The team in the lead went first followed by the trailing team; in case of a tie, the team that started the entire game went first.

Both contestants on both teams got to keep the money and the team with the most money at the end of the speed round won the game, and a $1,000 bonus for the contestant. If the game ended in a tie, the $1,000 prize was split and each contestant received $500 in addition to the cash already won.

Robb Weller's version
In 1989, Bert Convy left the syndicated version of the show to host his new creation 3rd Degree, giving the job to Robb Weller. When he took over, the format was altered quite a bit.

Rounds 1 & 2
The first two rounds were played the same way as the previous format, except that the drawer's partners did not start guessing until the first 25 seconds was up; in addition, the drawer no longer handed off to one of his/her partners. A correct guess after the first 25 seconds was worth $200, and after 30 seconds it was reduced to $100. A successful steal by the opposing team was worth only $50.

Speed Round
In the speed round, the drawer had 60 seconds instead of 90 to convey as many words & phrases to his/her teammates as possible. Each correct guess was worth $50 instead of $100, and the team could still pass twice. The team with the most money won the game but did not get a $1,000 bonus added to their score; they instead earned the right to play a bonus round.

Tie Breaker
If the game ended in a tie, a tie breaker was played with the last team to play the speed round going first. The drawer received a choice of two words, leaving the other for the other team to play. The first team established a time with their chosen word while the second team tried to beat the time using their chosen word. The team with the faster time won the game.

Bonus Round
The winning team played a bonus round similar to the speed round. The object for the drawer was to get his/her teammates to guess seven words/phrases in 90 seconds. The first correct guess earned $50, with each correct answer thereafter doubling the money. If the drawer passed along the way, all bonus cash earned up to that point was lost. Identifying seven drawings before time ran out won the contestant $5,000.

Champions on this version could stay on the show until they were defeated or won ten games.

(Note: These changes were occurred three months before the network version ended.)

Audience Game
Whenever there was time left in the show, a member of the studio audience came up on stage to play the game. He/she chose one of the teams to be his/her partners, then had the usual 60 seconds to draw a word or phrase. If the drawer can get the chosen team to guess the subject, the audience member won a prize.

International Versions
Countries that did their versions of Win, Lose or Draw include:
 * Canada (French language only)
 * France
 * Scotland (Gaelic language only)
 * United Kingdom

Merchandise
Main Article: Win, Lose or Draw/Merchandise

Rating
TV-PG

Music
Thomas Morrison

Inventors
Bert Convy & Burt Reynolds

Studio
CBS Television City, Hollywood, California

Spin-Offs
Teen Win, Lose or Draw - The original "kids" version of the show aired on the Disney Channel from 1989-1992.

Disney's Win, Lose or Draw - a formerly new "kids" version of the show that also aired on the Disney Channel in 2014.

Trivia
The living room set designed by veteran set designer John C. Mula was modeled after producer Burt Reynolds' living room.

The Sneak Preview episode from 1987 is the second game show pilot where Tony Danza and Burt Reynolds both appeared together, the first game show pilot they appeared together on was the 1985 pilot of Hollywood Squares.

In the opening of the Sneak Preview episode, the pictures only shows sketches of the Caricatures heads instead of the whole body.

At the beginning of the show after the participants played a quick round and while the stars were introduced, caricatures of the celebrities were shown on the giant sketchpad. There was also a caricature of the host as well. The caricatures were drawn by seasoned artist Overton Lloyd.

When Robb Weller became the host, the whole set was changed along with the show's logo though the fonts remained. Also a new version of the theme music was played, but after a few weeks, they switched back to the old theme music.

The Disney Channel did a short-lived remake/revival of the show with Justin Willman as the host and kid teams in 2014. (go to Disney's Win, Lose or Draw page for more information).

Links
The Win, Lose or Draw page @bertconvy.net (Archived)

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