User:Daniel Benfield/Unsold Pilot Theatre

Given the ever-changing landscape of radio and TV, it's no surprise that various game shows have gone unsold. In some rare cases, such as Grill Me, the pilot gets aired as a one-off special. This includes pitchfilms, sales presentations, and sizzle reels.

While I enjoy watching pilots regardless of whether they sold, the unsold ones tend to be a bit more interesting since you can perform an "autopsy" on what was wrong with the show, which tends to lead to some good brainstorming on what you'd fix and how. Sometimes the show's pretty much perfect and it was just pitched at a bad time, while other times a show can be completely unsalvageable.

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. All footage is copyrighted by their respective copyright holders, and I'm using that wording because there's way too many of them to list here.

2 Heads are Better than One
Taped October 6, 1990; hosted by Peter Tomarken

Kinda slow, boring, and hard if the uploaded footage is any indication. Peter's always a bright spot, though, and the sound effects and think cue are recycled from Supermarket Sweep (which had debuted them about a month earlier when they started Season 2).


 * October 6, 1990 (La Rue & Kim vs. Alex & Chris; montage including slate, intro, and bonus round)

The $10,000 Sweep
Taped August 4, 1972 at ABC Studios in New York City; hosted by Jack Clark

Nice idea that would've been a good pairing with Jeopardy! Also notable for having its recording date on a giant check during the intro, which matches existing tickets of the taping.

Interestingly, one player is Bob Lyon, who later appeared during the debut week of The $10,000 Pyramid.


 * August 4, 1972 (Coleman & Tom {Game 2} vs. Cindy & Sue, with Judy & Joe and BOB LYON & Jackie playing later; taped from GSN {alternate copy})

Aces
Taped 2005; hosted by Matt Schallenburger & Amy McCarthy

A "guy quiz" where the players bet, casino-style, on whether they can answer the question. High bid gets a shot at the question for the total of all the bets; missing a question rolls the cash and prize to the next question.

If it weren't for the presence of Mark Maxwell-Smith as a consultant, I'd have probably dismissed this out of hand as being fake. Even so, it's little more than blatant pluggery for the website, and the fact the bonus round is a hand of blackjack on the website feels a bit...off...to me, given that some gambling websites have had evidence of cheating.


 * 2005 (Erik/Vaughn/Matt/Andy; has slate, glitchy video during credits, ends during credits)

All-Star Charades
Taped November 3, 1977; hosted by Jim Lange

Has the casts of two shows competing and Charlie O'Donnell announcing, but that's about all I can figure out.

The show was planned for weekly syndication in the 1978-79 season, distributed by TAT Communications/Tandem Syndication (Broadcasting 12/12/77, Page 66; Broadcasting 3/20/78, Page 50). The 10/23/78 Broadcasting has an advert for All-Star Charades as a five-a-week strip "Available January, 1979." on Page 41, with a distributor of Columbia Pictures Television.

Interestingly, the charade-based game show that went to air in January '79 was Celebrity Charades, with the same production company and distributor mentioned in the '78 advert. I'm not 100% sure, but this would seem to suggest that this pilot became a very different series.


 * November 3, 1977 (Forever Fernwood vs. One Day At A Time; intro only, B/W video)

Babble
Taped February 3, 1984 at NBC Studios in Burbank; hosted by Tom Kennedy

Uses the Celebrity Charades theme. Each week (this was shot for NBC daytime) would have a "Visiting Team" challenge a "Home Team" of Norm Crosby, Marcia Wallace, and James Hampton. "From time to time" (Tom's words), probably once or twice a week, a guest celebrity would give clues sent in by a home viewer for the six other celebs to figure out.

Thanks in part to Adam Nedeff and Matt Ottinger, this (pretty surprisingly) ended up being aired by GSN on October 5, 2014 as part of their "Tylenol Time Capsule" stuff. Got about 80,000 viewers, which isn't bad for a crappy star-studded unsold 1980s pilot but ranked below pretty much everything else on the network schedule.


 * February 3, 1984 (Friday: Visitors are Meredith MacRae/Brad Garrett/Gwynne Gilford; Players: Heather, Liz, Stephanie, BETTY WHITE {reading clues sent by Francis Allen}; taped from GSN with no crunch!, missing first second or so {alternate copy of first and last segments, with slate!})

Banko
Taped late 1985; hosted by Wink Martindale

Barry-Enright's attempt to stay on the air as Tic-Tac-Dough and The Joker's Wild were in their final seasons.

Shot for the 1986-87 syndication season (and plugged as early as the 12/4/85 Variety), to be distributed by 20th Century-Fox Television. The show was to have guaranteed $250,000 in winnings per week: game cards for viewers were to be distributed to gas stations and convenience stores by the Wallace Company, and while 26 weeks of daily shows would be produced new cards would be distributed to make repeats possible; viewers would call an 800-number if they were eligible to win a prize (Broadcasting 12/30/85, Page 82).

Shortly into 1986, it was reported that Banko was said to have concluded "a major group deal", but that Fox executives wouldn't disclose clearances (Broadcasting 2/10/86, Page 59). Later, it was reported that the upcoming FOX network (then apparently called FBC) had no plans to include any of Twentieth's new syndicated first-run shows in the lineup, including Banko (Broadcasting 5/12/86, Page 48). Shortly afterward, Twentieth was replaced as syndicator by Colbert Television Sales, who had already been distributing Barry-Enright shows since 1976 and wanted to get supermarkets involved (Variety 7/23/86 Weekly, Page 41).

I think FOX not wanting the show might have been the nail in Banko's coffin. If the network that hasn't debuted yet doesn't want a show the similarly-named syndicator is trying to distribute, despite the by-all-indication slim chance it has of making it on the air otherwise, you've probably scared away anybody else who was interested.


 * Late 1985 (Greg vs. Kimberly; montage, including intro)

Beat the Chimp
''Taped June? 1998; hosted by Tim Vine''

Based on the '97 British game Fluke (also hosted by Vine), the only difference being that a chimp was one of the contestants, guessing for every question.

One question/clip is about June 15, 1998 in the past tense, suggesting it was taped within a few days of that.


 * June? 1998 (Rick/Brandi/Craig/Jo Anne {Chimp: "Tonka"?}; first 90 seconds and full Round 1)

Beat the I.R.S. (Legally)
Taped 1985 at WESTERN Video & Film; hosted by Bob Goen

In July 1989, Pat Sajak walked downstairs from his CBS talk show to the CBS daytime Wheel of Fortune, chatting with Goen and Vanna White. During this, Bob talked about a few of his prior shows, mentioning one called Beat the I.R.S., to which everybody had a good laugh.

In December 2012, it popped up on YouTube, having been recorded by videoarchives1000 (suggesting it was a one-off syndicated special). So yeah, turns out that's actually a thing that happened.

As for the show itself, the game and set aren't too bad (the contestant area looks kinda like it was recycled from The Cross-Wits), although the bonus round has a bit of a flaw in that if the first answer given is wrong, the rest are just there to see how much merchandise you can gather up.

Whether this is actually a pilot is unclear: there's a disclaimer at the end which indicates that the show is for entertainment and educational purposes only with no prizes actually awarded, but "nothing shown was actually awarded" is standard procedure for pilots. Still, if it's not actually a real game show they definitely put in a lot of effort to make it feel like one: Goen hosting, John Harlan as announcer, Ray Horl and Peggy Touchstone producing (the latter fresh off Jim Lange's Name That Tune), and a decent set and format.


 * 1985 (Sabrina vs. Jim {Part 3})
 * [After Goen signs off, John does a plug for the Beat the I.R.S. home game, with a board that looks like a slightly modified Monopoly one. This may suggest this isn't actually a pilot, but this kind of tongue-in-cheek humor had been used years earlier on Matchmakers, which very definitely was a legit pilot.]

Beat the Odds (1975)
Taped February 7, 1975 (at least three pilots); hosted by Chuck Henry

A Bill Carruthers revamp of the 1960s game for ABC which isn't bad, although the set feels a bit too bland given the general push for pastels and flashiness at the time.


 * February 7, 1975 (Pilot #3: Doralyn vs. Lynda {Part 4})

Big Spenders
Taped October 27, 1974/1975, probably in Los Angeles (at least two pilots); hosted by Pat Harrington Jr. (1974) and Jack Clark (1975)

Another Bill Carruthers/Warner Bros. collab, this time for NBC, with married couples playing auction games for prizes based on how much their spouse estimated the shown prizes to be.

Notably, the sound used while the non-betting spouse is setting up the other's bidding maximum is one that'd become much more well-known on Wheel of Fortune about seven years later.

Mike Burger's review of the Clark pilot is here.


 * October 27, 1974 (Harrington Pilot: Ray & Janet/Steve & Jeanette/Andy & Marcy }Today's Balance: $6,576}; ends after first Item Up For Bids auction)
 * [Part of the first auction is a TV with AM/FM clock radio, with the clock showing a time of 9:49.]

Birds of a Feather
Taped 1980s?; hosted by Howard Q. Stevens

I...have no idea, other than that it was a Nicholson-Muir show. Probably early 1980s.


 * 1980s? (Bartenders {Champs} vs. Bodybuilders; intro)

Body Talk
Taped October 11-12, 1990 at Television City Studio 33 (at least two pilots); hosted by Vicki Lawrence

Goodson's third attempt at Showoffs, shot for ABC daytime, and as far as I know it's his last concept. Kinda wish the bonus round didn't suck, though. The theme, recycled from TKO, later saw on-air use with Illinois Instant Riches in 1994.

Mike Burger's review of what I'm guessing is Pilot #1 is here.


 * October 11, 1990 (Pilot #1: Elaine Joyce/Marcia Wallace/Sharonlee vs. Bruce/Richard Simmons/Bill Kirchenbauer; Buzzr broadcast)
 * October 12, 1990 (Pilot #2?: Jacklyn Zeman/Marcia Wallace/Leanna vs. Brian/Richard Simmons/Bill Kirchenbauer; intro only)

Boggle
Taped 1988; hosted by Bill Rafferty

The first of five Parker Brothers properties that were to be developed by Martindale/Gilden Productions for the 1988-89 season, with Wink stating that all TV venues would be pursued: network, cable, and syndication. The deal also allowed Parker Brothers first refusal in developing a board game adaptation of any future Martindale/Gilden productions; the company already held the board game rights for Top Secret, which was slated to be released in August '88 (Broadcasting 5/16/88, Pages 54-55).

...Waitasec, 1988-89 season? That's a really short turnaround, isn't it? Regardless, Boggle later became a Dutch series with pretty much the same set, while Wink later adapted a simplified form of the original game into an interactive format for The Family Channel in '94.

And Top Secret? Yeah, we'll get to that one eventually...


 * 1988 (Russ & Susie {Champs} vs. Tammy & Art; montage including intro and bonus round)

Bonus Bucks Bonanza
Taped 1980s in Northern California; hosted by Jim Lange

Show produced and (to an extent) co-hosted by Martin Higgins in which home viewers bid Bonus Bucks (picked up from various retailers) on various items, with high bid at the buzzer winning it.

Per Martin, who also uploaded this pilot, "I did 10 "characters" selling merchant products that were auctioned by phone." Unfortunately, Martin also notes that "I cut out most of the "show" part and left the embarrassingly slapdash characters."; also unfortunately, most of them aren't exactly what I'd call "good".

And even with the editing, the pilot still runs over 38 minutes, suggesting it was meant to run at least a solid hour.


 * June 198? (Montage including intro, close, and the aforementioned...well, frankly I'll just call 'em "skits"; ends during credits)

The Buck Stops Here
Taped 1985; hosted by Jim Peck

A race against time that should've had a chance, even if the 1985-86 season was so overrun by games. Jim does his usual good job here.

The intro shows clips of three other teams, possibly hinting at another pilot or two having been done.


 * 1985 (Lisa & Matt vs. Sara & Jerry {Part 3}, with the Big Bucks Bonanza at $15,000; kinda-dark video, audio issues during intro, no credits)

Cash Tornado
Taped July 18, 1993 at Television City (very likely Studio 33); hosted by Jim Perry

A lottery game intended for licensing to various states (most notably in the form of Illinois Instant Riches), although it would've made a great companion to The Big Spin. As a result of this, all mentions of the lottery are simply "the Lottery", and the examples shown of the Keno, Treasure Hunt, and Winning Hand tickets have no "scratcher" portions.

Probably the most notable element is how close it is to the Doug Davidson Price Is Right, showing a transition between the 1993 pilots and '94 series. Several of these clips feel like Jim hosting Price with Gene Wood announcing, particularly some of the intro and from about 6:43-55.

A ticket for the taping calls the show Lottery Cash Explosion. I'm gonna take a stab in the dark and say it got changed because of the Ohio Lottery's Cash Explosion, which had been airing since 1987. Oddly, the official Television City website has no listing for this show under either title.

While I can't find any Broadcasting or Variety mentions of the show, the 12/13/93 Broadcasting notes, in a piece on Jonathan Goodson on Page 111, that Mark Goodson Productions was talking to states about creating lottery game shows, with a deal in place with Illinois (which eventually became Instant Riches). Later, Jonathan noted that his plan was to revolutionize televised state lottery programs the way his father Mark revolutionized the game show world; while Mark Goodson Productions would be sold off to pay estate taxes, the lottery division wouldn't be since "this division is my baby" (Broadcasting 8/8/94, Pages 21-22).

Incidentally, Cash Explosion has never adapted the Goodson lottery format (for the record, neither did Make Me Famous Make Me Rich)...and, somewhat ironically, has outlasted all of the lottery shows that have. Television can be very strange sometimes.


 * April 5, 1994 (Sales Presentation: Onstage players are Edna {Freefall}, Bettye {Grand Prix}, and ROGER DOBKOWITZ! {Force Field})

Catch Phrase (2006)
Taped February 5, 2006 (two pilots); hosted by Todd Newton

An attempt to bring the show back to the States, only offering cash this time. The main difference is in the bonus round, using the traditional "five-in-a-row" rules rather than the "make a left-to-right connection" the original British version had post-Roy Walker: $1,000 is awarded for each solved Catchphrase, with $10,000 for five-in-a-row and $20,000 for five-in-a-row with the M.

That said, the set is pretty much a projection-screen backing with an entirely CGI game board, meaning there isn't much real substance aside from the contestant area (it doesn't help that the graphics put on the backing are distracting at first), the Catchphrase animations are kinda ugly (a problem the later British seasons also had), and the players on at least one pilot are pretty obviously actors...and bad ones, at that.

While the format originator isn't mentioned outright, the fact it has All-New in the title hints at it (plus the Pasetta Productions logo is at the end). The sales reel basically puts forth that since this is sleek and all-new and updated for the 21st Century, plus all the success the format's had around the world, All-New Catch Phrase will do way better than the 17 weeks the original American version got.

Oops.


 * February 5, 2006 (Kiana {$52,000} vs. Matt)
 * [Todd notes that Kiana has been champion "for a few days".]
 * February 5, 2006 (Sales Reel with clips of the above pilot and one other {Kate vs. Jay})

Celebrity Table Tennis
Taped 1971 at Television City (Studio 31); hosted by ?

Uh...Isaywha? Seriously, you'd think this was a joke...but no, it's legit. Based on Johnny Gilbert's intro, it's four celebs playing in doubles (two-on-two) and singles (one-on-one) matches, likely for charity.

Based on blurbs in Variety (5/20/71 Weekly, Page 10) and Broadcasting (7/12/71, Page 46), the show was shot for syndication by Trustin-Pati Productions, specifically Trustin Howard (as producer and "writer", whatever the latter refers to) and Charles Pati (as executive producer). Neither seems to mention any host, though.

The intro appeared during a montage of game shows taped at Television City during the 50 Years from Television City special (April 27, 2002). I once read a theory that the researchers stumbled across this and thought it so strange it had to be included...and evidently, whoever was compiling the lists for the official Television City website thought it was a joke because it's not even listed!


 * 1971 (Peter Lawford, Bob Crane, Jo Anne Worley, Greg Morris; intro)

Combination Lock (2006)
Taped 2006; hosted by Marc Summers (Pilot #1) and Ty Treadway (Pilot #2)

Started as a 1996 pilot hosted by Ross King, and turned into a much fancier show that'd be pretty nice to see in full.

For whatever reason, Ty Treadway was picked for the second pilot despite Merv Griffin's Crosswords also being in development for the same upcoming season. And since Harry Friedman's involved, I can't help but wonder how he felt at seeing the guy who left Wheel and Jeopardy! to him pull out both the sell and the host. (Granted, Crosswords wasn't all that great, but still...)

Even so, I have to wonder who decided a noob host would be better than an established one. It was around this point that Price was doing host tryouts, with CBS denying Marc a chance because...because; I have to wonder if replacing him here was connected to that, especially since CBS owned the show's distribution arm King World (later folded along with "older show" syndication arm CBS Paramount Television into becoming CBS Television Distribution).

According to John Ricci, this pilot was bundled together with a reboot of The Joker's Wild, and the NBC-owned station group showed interest; however, apparently "red tape" got in the way, King World didn't like NBC's offers, and both projects were shelved.

In the end, only a clip of the onstage vault opening to show the money got airtime, as a Mystery Round intro sequence on Wheel.

Marc Summers
 * July 13, 2006 (Runthrough #2: Montage)
 * August 31, 2006 (Pilot #1 {Jackpot: $185,000}; montage)

Ty Treadway
 * Late 2006-Early 2007 (Sales Tape)

Concentration (1985)
Taped May 1985 (ten pilots); hosted by Orson Bean

The theme, graphics, and bonus round of the eventual series coupled with a weird set and logo plus a really stupid word-connections format. And they did ten of these (Variety 7/3/85 Weekly, Page 42)?!

Based on a recollection from one of the pilot players, there were two five-show taping days. It's possible these were meant to be aired as a "tryout" period, but holy crap they were insistent on this format!

This version was to be distributed by Victory Television as a five-a-week strip in Fall 1986 (Broadcasting 7/1/85, Page 75). It's noted again in the 1/20/86 issue on Page 97, but that seems to be it, aside from its mention in a huge list of Fremantle properties in the 4/21/86 Broadcasting (Page 93)...which I'm guessing is where some people think they have the rights to Chuck Barris, Barry-Enright, and Bob Stewart properties.


 * May 1985 (Lori vs. Hap)
 * May 22, 1985 (#1-002: Cindy vs. Joel; has slate!)
 * [Seems a bit more polished, with Gene introducing the players, but there's no logo during the intro.]

Classic Concentration II
Taped November 1992; hosted by Alex Trebek

One of NBC's planned schedule changes for the start of 1993 was replacing the Classic repeats with an hour-long version, and this is very likely what was planned – a tournament-style format, with a new preliminary jackpot-building game based on the '85 format (matching words to make phrases). Also notable is that the sound for making a match is from the Narz era.

More of an office runthrough than an actual pilot, but hey...


 * November 1992 (Montage)

Cop-Out!
Taped February 15, 1972; hosted by Geoff Edwards

Dull, boring, and broken. Eight celebs is way too much, and the game hinging on the last question probably wasn't the best idea.

Chuck Barris' Themes From TV Game Shows album shows a photo of another pilot on a much smaller set with just four celebs.


 * February 15, 1972 (Ann Elder, James Farrantino, Michelle Lee, Bill Bixby, Lois Nettleton, Larry Hovis, Della Reese, Richard Dawson; Cheryl vs. Frank; taped from GSN)

Crossword
Taped early 1966 (at least two pilots); hosted by George Fenneman

Basically the predecessor to The Cross-Wits, just a lot lamer and tamer. Oh, and nobody on the production side (including Fenneman) seems to know what they're supposed to be doing.

Crossword was shot for the 1966-67 syndication season as a daily strip, and its pilots were completed by the start of May; it was one of three projects that Official Films had for said season, the others being Stagecoach To Seven (a weekly Western action show) and It's A Matter of Law (a set of 260 one-minute programs that were, based on the info, PSAs by the American Bar Association), and it was reported that Official would decide by June 1 whether to go into full-scale production on any of these (Broadcasting 5/2/66, Pages 45-46).

The 1/2/67 Broadcasting lists Crossword as "now in production" on Page 76, but unless it sold to a few stations and/or went under the radar, I doubt it.


 * Early 1966 (Pilot A: Carolyn Jones & Michael Landon; Ammi vs. Patti; entirety of Game 1 and prize plugs of Game 2 missing)
 * [George plugs Carolyn as being from The Addams Family (which ended 4/8/66). Spiegel catalog shown at 9:07 of Part 2 is the Spring/Summer 1966 one.]
 * Early 1966 (Pilot B: Tippi Hedren & PAUL LYNDE!; Frank vs. Polly)
 * [George notes that Tippi will be going to London very soon to do Charlie Chaplin's new film with Marlon Brando and Sophia Loren (A Countess from Hong Kong, released 1/5/67; shooting began 1/25/66), and that Paul will soon be seen in the new Doris Day film Glass Bottom Boat (released 6/9/66).]

The Cube
Taped 2009?; hosted by Neil Patrick Harris

I have zero idea why this didn't sell, except possibly that CBS thought Americans just couldn't handle the mind-blowing awesomeness and natural drama/suspense of the worldwide franchise that is The Cube.

Seriously, every other country in the world that's bought the show does it flawlessly (or near-flawlessly) to great success, or at least great response. America...gets Minute To Win It, an overblown show on NBC and later GSN.


 * 2009? (Brief clip)

Doctor I.Q. Jr. (1953)
Taped November or December 1953 at the Little Theater in New York City; hosted by ?

A revival attempt, now for television, four years after the radio version (hosted by James McClain) ended. As with the radio show, children are asked questions for various amounts of quarters.

ABC, encouraged by critical response to the TV version of Doctor I.Q. (itself a revival that had debuted a month earlier), opted to try a revival of the children's version for TV as well. A timeslot (Saturdays at 8:00 PM Eastern) and start date (December 12) were set, but no host had been signed at that point (Variety 12/2/53 Weekly, Page 53).

Unfortunately, whoever they tapped to host the pilot (his name isn't given) is the biggest issue here, as he's pretty nervous and clearly overrehearsed. Seriously, you have Art Fleming right there; he even appears at the end. If he had been host (minus the gaudy outfit the actual host wore), I'm pretty sure this would've been far more watchable.

Granted, I remember reading that the reason the show didn't sell is because ABC couldn't get any sponsors, but still...


 * November-December 1953 (First player is a 10-year-old girl {Part 2})
 * [Several of the questions suggest it's December, and definitely before Christmas. 1953 is specifically named as the current year. All things considered, I suspect this may have been an aired pilot.]

Dollar a Second (1981)
Taped February 7, 1981; hosted by Bob Eubanks

Given the success of reviving Treasure Hunt, Barris opted to revive another Jan Murray game (presumably to pair up with the upcoming 1980s Treasure Hunt)...although in this case, it's even more strange than it was in the 1950s.

Probably the most notable element is Bob outright saying it's a pilot within the first minute.


 * February 7, 1981 (Players: Lori, Harry, Fulton & Donna; First Outside Event: A slot machine with a jackpot; taped from GSN {alternate copy})

Double Cross
Taped November 16, 1975 at Television City (Studio 33); hosted by Jack Barry

Essentially the prototype for Bullseye, although the idea of players having a "favorite category" later became a main part of the somewhat-derided one-on-one format of Play the Percentages.

All things considered, this was probably CBS' attempt to make amends with Jack after canning The Joker's Wild five months earlier in favor of Spin-Off and this mess.


 * November 16, 1975 (Paul vs. Tammy; montage including slate and intro)

Double Dare (1987 Spinoffs)
Taped July 29-30, 1987 (at least four pilots: two Celebrity, two civilian); hosted by Bruce Jenner

Ron Greenberg tried, he really did. Both with celebrities and without.

For whatever reason, someone in a position of power decided traditional Double Dare just wasn't gonna cut it outside of cable – the set's dull, with the Obstacle Course in particular being a haphazard mess; the stunts are dull and devoid of any real messiness, especially the traditional slime; and the focus seems to be on the Q&A rather than the stunts.

The main problem was trying to make the show for adults, whereas the parent show made it a selling point early on that Double Dare was for kids. These attempts are too far removed from the show that at this point had been airing for the past 10 months, and so I'm not really surprised that neither of these sold. As far as I know, the redone logo was the only thing used after this mess.

Ron, meanwhile, went on to do Fun House.


 * July 29, 1987 (Celebrity: Heidi Bohay & Wayne vs. Scott Baio & Holly)
 * [Intro shows clips of another pilot with Stuart Pankin.]
 * July 30, 1987 (Adult Civilians: Lisa & Greg Cripps vs. Nancy & John Dragon; montage including slate and intro, color issues during opening clip montage)
 * [Intro shows clips of another pilot with Ketelsen vs. Hatcher.]

Double Up (1987)
Taped 1987 (at least three pilots, based on the available footage); hosted by Jamie Farr

Shot for syndication, to be distributed by MCA Television, and apparently had married couples playing for up to $10,000. Jamie was promoted as being "from Double Up" when he appeared during both Game Show Host Weeks on Scrabble (November 1987, 1988).


 * 1987 (Sizzle Reel, with an appearance by Dick Clark!)

Duel in the Daytime
Taped August 22-23, 1981 at NBC Studios in Burbank (at least three pilots); hosted by Peter Tomarken

Way too loud, noisy, and nonsensical, although Peter's always a bright spot.

According to Mike Burger's review of Pilot #3, they did three takes of the bonus round in that taping: the first had a win that was evidently deemed too fast, while the second time the player failed to guess the subject even with two extremely helpful clues (or probably because the two clues revealed were "companion of" and "name that fairy").


 * August 23, 1981 (Pilot #2: Slate and intro)

Eavesdroppers
Taped 1987; hosted by Tom Kennedy

Players had to figure out the person, place, or thing being discussed in a displayed conversation. Eventually became the bonus round of Rodeo Drive, and amusingly said show's eventual host is also present here.

Eavesdroppers was shot for syndication, to be distributed by Access Syndication. The distributor was offering the show for a January 1988 start, and that the pilot (hosted by Tom) would be ready "early this month" (Broadcasting 11/9/87, Page 83).

Oh, and the "people" in the logo look freaky.


 * 1987 (Louise DuArt, Vic Dunlop, Melanie Noble, Dean Goss {who also announces!}; montage, including intro)

Every Second Counts (2009)
Taped 2009; hosted by Mark L. Walberg

A big-money game not related to the 1980s obscurity, for better or worse. Given the fact that they shared a production company, this was presumably intended to be paired with Slingo.


 * 2009 (Montage including intro and close)

Everything's Relative (1980)
Taped April 19, 1980 at ABC Studio TV-15 in New York (at least two pilots); hosted by Jim Peck

Probably the most notable thing about this (aside from Jim hosting a show that's miles better than 3's A Crowd) is that the set looks like a 1970s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? No, seriously.

(Amusingly, this was shot for ABC's benefit.)


 * April 19, 1980 (Egan {Marty/Pat/Monica/Craig; Champs} vs. Rosenthal {Bob/Helen/Larry/Michele} {Part 2})

Eye Q
Taped August 14, 1988 at Television City (Studio 33); hosted by Henry Polic II

Another attempt at reviving Eye Guess, now on a recycled Money in the Blank set, but this time the players don't even get to see the board of answers first! As a result, there's a lot of fumbling around in the dark that I'm sure was meant to be fun, but really just slows things down and makes no sense.

The bonus game has the winning team picking numbers off a 16-space board with their backs turned, hoping to make a straight line within a certain number of guesses (doing so in the minimum of four is worth $50,000)...which I'd expect from a lottery game show.

You'd think Bob Stewart would've learned after Punch Lines not to mess with Eye Guess... Funnily enough, this format did end up selling a decade later in Indonesia as Kontak, which ran on RCTI from 1998-2002 for over 900 episodes.


 * August 14, 1988 (Pilot #1: Kathy & Frank vs. Joan & Charlie; montage including slate, intro, and bonus round)

Finders Keepers (1985)
Taped 1985; hosted by "Nee-Fi" and "Sci-Fi"

JM Productions' attempt to stay around after The Video Game met the axe, in which kids went on a real-life treasure hunt. According to an older version of the Starcade website, this was pitched to ABC as part of their Saturday-morning lineup.

Not connected to the more well-known game show, although the phrase "where what you find is what you keep" is also present here.


 * 1985

Fortune Hunters
Taped August 19, 1983 at Television City (Studio 33); hosted by Bob Hanley

Jay Wolpert tries his hand at another series, this time with a format similar (in its basic form) to Dirty Rotten Cheater. The closing spiel is a bit derpy, though.


 * August 19, 1983 (Ray/Barbara/Bob/Carol; partial intro, partial Round 1, and close)

Fun for the Money (1985)
Taped 1985; hosted by Bob Hilton

Group W/Woody Fraser show in which three players bet on whether a chosen audience member can pull off a stunt. And hey, Charlie O'Donnell announces!

Shot for daily syndication, the show was originally pitched for a start in Fall 1986. It was later offered as a midseason replacement to run from February 3 to September 25, 1987, consisting of 26 first-run weeks and eight repeat weeks (Broadcasting 10/20/86, Page 50).


 * 1985 (Nina?/Shelly/Leeza?; segment of an audience member trying to bounce three tennis balls into a cup held by a unicyclist)

Gambit (1979)
Taped October 19, 1979 (at least two pilots); hosted by Wink Martindale

Nice set and uses the eventual Las Vegas-era theme (although the intro uses a more "disco-y" version), but it feels a bit too "updated": the front game is still "closest to 21 without going over (get a 21 and win the Gambit Jackpot)", but the couples take turns solving word puzzles for the cards. The bonus round is "Gambit 6-Ball", a giant skeeball board (that long thing in the screencap to the right) filled with cash and prizes.

Don't get me wrong, the word puzzles eventually got reused by Heatter in The Last Word and The Price Is Right took "skeeball on a game show" and made SuperBall, but on Gambit...I dunno. The former could've been helped by having both couples in play for each puzzle, with the flashing lights stopping when either buzzes in, and I can't disagree with those who say the skeeball endgame would've made the show stand out.

In the end, Heatter-Quigley went back to the tried-and-true Q&A with Las Vegas Gambit. Of note, The David Letterman Show, which Gambit was partly replacing, mocked the revival's new "Living Deck" endgame (using blackjack, but now had 52 audience members, each holding a card) to end its last episode, with people dressed as playing cards dancing around the stage. H-Q had the last laugh on that one, though, since the Living Deck element had been tossed out after the pilot.

Whoops.


 * October 19, 1979 (Pilot #2: Dennis & Jody Van Sandt {$3,600} vs. Tom & Kathy Clarke, with Ron & Denise Smith playing later {Gambit Jackpot starts at $1,000}; has slate! {alternate copy of intro})

Gambit (1990)
Taped October 20, 1990; hosted by Bob Eubanks

Slightly different front-game format, with monitors for the contestants' cards, whereas the bonus round became a "beat the dealer" game. It's okay, overall; would've preferred somewhere for the physical cards to go, but hey...

Shot for ABC daytime, which had Match Game airing at Noon Eastern, whereas quite a few affiliates opted for local news broadcasts there instead. Given that, the fact ABC ditched the whole "daytime network game show" thing after canning Match in '91, and the fact the genre as a whole was slowly sliding downward (the 1990-91 season had a bunch of games on the schedules; the 1991-92 season had considerably fewer)...and I'm not really surprised this didn't sell.

The fact that Orion Pictures was undergoing financial difficulties at the time probably didn't help matters – they went bankrupt the following year and ended up selling their TV division to ABC.


 * October 20, 1990 (Karla {$5,200} vs. Tony, with Jim playing later {Part 2, Part 3}; no credits)
 * 1990? ("Runthrough" opening animation)

Casino
Taped April 16, 2002 at KTLA (at least three pilots); hosted by Ron Pearson & Tanya Memme

Merrill Heatter's first real attempt at rebooting Gambit for a new generation, shot for GSN. While it didn't sell here (I'd have lowered the stakes and shoved out Friend or Foe? because the Prisoner's Dilemma sucks hard, but that's just me), it eventually became Catch 21 with far less on offer.

Mike Burger has a review of Pilot #3 here.


 * April 16, 2002 (Lance/Renae/Tony; two minutes of clips)

Genesis
Aired April 23, 2000; hosted by Jim McKrell

Okay, seriously, what is it with Jim not being able to helm another series after Celebrity Sweepstakes ended in '77? As with his other unsold shows, though, this one isn't his fault – in this case, it's more the repetitive format than anything.

What cements this as a pilot is that the Holy Land Challenge is played by the week's five winning teams.


 * April 23, 2000 (First Baptist Church {Kay/Tamara/David/Charity} vs. First Christian Church {Bill/SUSAN SEAFORTH-HAYES/Jackie/Charlie} {Parts 2, 3, and 4})

Get Rich Quick!
Taped October 30, 1977; hosted by Steve Edwards

Bob Stewart's first attempt at what eventually became Go!, with a bonus round he doesn't seem to have used in any other show (a bit odd, since he was rather well-known for recycling). Shot for a daily slot, with returning champs.


 * October 30, 1977 (Lynnie Greene, Debralee Scott, Robert Urich, John Ritter; Kevin vs. Karen, with Denae? playing later; has slate!)
 * [The slate has "SHORT OPEN" and "GAME 1" listed below the tapedate. The former indicates that there was a longer intro planned at some point, while the latter seems to suggest this is Pilot #1 (since the second half of the show, consisting primarily of Game 2, doesn't have its own slate), but these are just guesses on my part.]

Going Going Gone!
Taped 1959 at KTLA; hosted by Richard Lewellen

Interesting Ralph Edwards game shot for KTLA (likely primetime, given Richard's comments of "this evening"), with a great set and elements that predate Let's Make A Deal by four years.

Each player starts with $300 and bid, auction-style, on their choice of cup (minimum of $10, with subsequent bids in $10 increments); high bid gets the choice. Thing is, only three of the four cups contain prizes; the last one is empty.

Round 4 gives each player their remaining bank balance in cash, which can be used in the same manner as before to buy from four boxes (bidding starts at $5, with subsequent bids in $5 increments). Two contain certificates for nice prizes, the third contains a lemon, and the fourth is empty. After three boxes are sold, the fourth is held by Richard for a home viewer. Any cash the players have left after this round is theirs to keep.

Richard does well here, mixing the cups quickly, being a good auctioneer, and predating Monty Hall in this style of hosting. Also of note: Tom Kennedy is the announcer, and appears on-camera to give Richard the name of the home viewer for Round 4.


 * 1959 (Mary Preziosco/Art Soto/Mrs. Aguilar {Round 4 Home Viewer: Eleanor Young of Arkansas}; missing nearly all of Round 2 and entirety of Round 3 {jumps from end of Round 2 shuffling to start of Round 4})
 * [Mrs. Aguilar says her first name after Richard asks her to introduce herself, but it doesn't seem to have been picked up by the microphone.]

The Gong Show (2000)
Taped November 2000 at Television City Studio 46 (two or three pilots); hosted by Tom Arnold

Adds segments where audience members show off their (alleged) talent; a very America's Got Talent-esque "Tom visits the homes of some performers" bit; and a "Clip of the Week" contest (the winner gets flown to the show), but that's about it. There's also a recurring character in John Farley, with a disturbing bit shown.

The format is classic Gong Show, with each panelist giving a score from 1-10 and the highest score winning. Intended for late-night syndication in Fall 2001, so it retains the "edge" of Extreme Gong minus the "let's mock ATGS" crap.


 * 2001 (Sales Reel, with clips of both pilots: ?/Nicole Sullivan/Jimmy Kimmel {although a few clips have an African-American lady in Jimmy's place; not sure whether that indicates a third pilot or something that happened during this one}, and Martin Mull/Kathy Griffin/Tommy Davidson)

Grill Me
Aired September 8 or 9, 1996; hosted by Jordan Brady

Pop culture Q&A set in a diner, where the scores pretty much don't matter since they're bumped up to a lot more (given they're playing for charity and all). USA aired this, and evidently decided against making it a series; probably a smart move on their part.

Of note, the contestant desks look to have been recycled from a previous USA game show, Quicksilver.


 * September 8-9, 1996 (Dweezil Zappa/Susan Olsen/Kristoff St. John; has commercials)

Hollywood Teasers
Taped 1993; hosted by Robb Weller

An attempt to fuse All-Star Blitz and Hollywood Squares without the bonus round of either.


 * 1993 (Ed O'Neill, Pamela Anderson, Don Rickles, Mayim Bialik, Mark Curry, Rita Rudner; Michelle vs. Mel; montage including intro and close)

The Honeymoon Game
Taped October 3, 1970; hosted by Jim McKrell

Couples compete in three different games over the course of 90 minutes. The first was a lame Newlywed Game clone, which creator Jack Barry realized and excised from the circulating copy (aired by Metromedia stations as a one-off special in Summer 1971). The fact the other two parts are a slightly altered Joker's Wild only makes the first look even lamer.

As for the Joker-based portions, which aren't exactly top-quality themselves, the Baseball slides and most of the prize slides are clearly recycled from the 1960s pilots.


 * October 3, 1970 (Bob Crane, Jaye P. Morgan, Edmond G. Brown, Don Drysdale, Mark Copage; Rebecca & Charles/Denise & Jim/? & ?/Judy & Felix/? & ?/Anita & Rod {ordered as they stand during the intro}; "hour-long" version, skew at bottom of screen nearly throughout that doesn't get in the way {alternate copy of first part of Round 2 Game 1})

House Party (1983)
Taped January 1983 at Television City (Studio 41); hosted by Mark Sweet

An attempted reboot of the classic Art Linkletter show, shot for CBS daytime, which looks like a lot of fun (although it sometimes borders on parody). And hey, Rod Roddy announces!

The show was done by Little Joey Productions, which did Babble in early '84.


 * January 1983 (Montage including intro and close)

Hype
Taped 1990s?; hosted by David Leisure

A show where statements, video clips, and stunts can be either real or fake. David is...kinda sucky as host, generally trying too hard to be funny.

Not sure when this was taped, but probably early 1990s based on the set design.


 * 1990s? (Olivia & Patrick vs. Karen & Darnell; ends after Round 1)

Idiot Quest
Taped 2007; hosted by Ryan Stout

Real oddity where being dumber than your opponents (and managing to fool the lie detector you're hooked up to, it seems) is what wins. Imagine if It Pays to Be Ignorant was played completely straight and actually serious, and you're halfway there.

Then again, this may have been an April Fool's joke by MTV, so hey...


 * 2007 (Intro and Round 1)

''I Predict
Taped September 28, 1987 at Television City (Studio 33); hosted by Monty Hall

Shot for CBS, it's pretty interesting, although the "wild guess" part of the format ("I'm thinking of a chess piece."; cue six or seven guesses) feels a bit off. A scan of the ticket is here.

According to Dean Goss, a pilot was shot with him hosting.


 * September 28, 1987 (Pitchfilm {alternate copy})
 * [Consists of clips from multiple pilots, all hosted by Monty: Tami/Rick/Pat, Sheri/David/LAURA CHAMBERS, Deborah/Kim/Regina, and several contestants who aren't any of the aforementioned nine. To the surprise of...well, not really anybody...one round involves Let's Make A Deal.]

It's Up To You!
Taped 1961; hosted by ?

A group of students present their product ideas, then ask questions to two guests (Mr. X and Mr. Y) to determine which was a businessman and which was "a top television and movie star".

The show was co-produced by Trudy Forsher and Adolph Zukor II (Variety 5/18/61 Daily, Page 2), both of whom are credited below the logo.


 * 1961 (Partial intro and brief clips, from the 1996 special The Greatest Shows You Never Saw)

The Joker's Wild (1968)
Taped December 8, 1968/January 1969 at Television City Studio 41/31 (two pilots); hosted by Allen Ludden

Shot for CBS. "The Savers" is present, as are the Joker slides and logo, but nearly everything else is different. The biggest difference is that there's five celebs serving as "living categories", reading the questions themselves; the scoring system is also different.

The 1969 "pilot" seen below is actually a dress rehearsal with generic slides for the categories. Interestingly, rather than doing something like having staff members stand in as "celebs", there's none at all: Allen asks the questions himself, indicating that his podium was built to allow for this, and the cameras try to avoid showing the celebrities' area of the set (in other words, anything to the right of the slot machine). A side effect of this is that the game feels somewhat faster, and even shows that the format allowed for straddling at this early stage.

This said, the fact that celebs are present in the second portion of The Honeymoon Game (1970), itself nearly entirely recycled wholesale from this show, pretty clearly indicates that the main draw of The Joker's Wild was originally supposed to be the "living categories".

The official Television City website lists the '68 pilot taping as "Joker's Wild Preview".


 * December 8, 1968 (Pilot #1: Don Drysdale, Rosemary Clooney, Rich Little, Irene Moran, Pat Paulsen; Carol vs. Craig, then Sandra vs. Richard)
 * January 5, 1969 (DRESS NO-CLEB'S: Dinah vs. Charles, then Debbie vs. Doug; has slate! {alternate copy of first segment})

The Joker's Wild (2006)
Taped 2006 (two pilots); hosted by Mark Maxwell-Smith (Pilot #1) and Alex Cambert (Pilot #2)

Shot for syndication, to be paired with Combination Lock. Apparently (I can't confirm this), the format was the classic 1970s-80s style with more money on offer and Face the Devil offering a luxury car. The slot machine this time was a prop borrowed from Wheel of Fortune, which had used it as a player backdrop during a 2005 Vegas Week.

According to producer John Ricci, Mark Maxwell-Smith hosted the first pilot (marking his first onscreen role since being the Mirror Man in Season 2 of Masters of the Maze), while future GSN Live correspondent Alex Cambert hosted the second; Charlie O'Donnell came back for the ride as well.

Though no footage has gotten public, the intro and a Flash-based demo have been uploaded by Ricci as part of a montage of other Flash-based work.


 * 2006 (Intro {oddly, with a GSN logo in the corner} and Flash demo)

Keynotes (1986)
Taped August 4-5, 1986 at Television City Studio 33 (three pilots); hosted by Kevin O'Connell

A great format that found success in the UK and Australia. A later American attempt in 1989, hosted by Clint Holmes, added celebs.


 * August 5, 1986 (Pilot #3: Rochelle/Rod/Toni {Champs} vs. BEN WONG/Linda/Paulette; montage including slate, intro, and close)

Key Witness
Taped 1959; hosted by Vincent Price

Murder-mystery show planned for a weekly slot with a jackpot up for grabs, but there's several issues here, such as the rather predictable ending to the story.

Probably the biggest problem involves the Jackpot Question: Vincent says the players have 30 seconds to give the date and time of the murder, then proceeds to count so fast (while looking at his watch) they only end up getting 15 seconds! Given the timeframe, I have to wonder if that was a bold-faced attempt at rigging, although to be honest there isn't much about this show that wasn't done better by another game somewhere down the line.

Mike Burger's review is here.


 * 1959 (Case is "Tall, Dark and Handsome", with the Jackpot starting at $200 {Part 2, Part 3}; glitchy video at a few points {alternate copy of said "fast count" portion})
 * [At 7:05 of Part 1, the story-within-the-show displays the passage of time via several calendar pages, ranging from June 12-17 (Saturday-Thursday); interestingly, this means the story takes place no later than 1954 (the next year it could apply to being 1965).]

King of the Hill
Taped February 7, 1975 at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York (at least two pilots); hosted by Robert Earle

A solid word game with plenty of variety, a proven host, a great set and audio package, and a bonus game that later became the Card Sharks Money Cards.

I'm guessing that, since 1975 had so many game shows, there were so many getting on the schedules or being piloted that this one was lost in the shuffle.


 * February 7, 1975 (VTR #2: First King is Eileen {$3,400}, with challengers Honey/Bill/Sharon; has slate! {alternate copy... thing, no slate})
 * [For those curious, the categories are Five In Common (open)-The Name Game ($25)-Spelling ($50)-Initial Descriptions ($75)-Song Lyrics ($100)-What's Missing? ($125)-Back Words ($150, open)-Scrambled Phrases-Anagrams-The Numbers Game.]

Lucky Numbers
Taped May 18, 1985 (at least two pilots); hosted by Alex Trebek

The first attempt at revamping High Rollers for the 1980s, with the theme of the eventual revival. Set is nice, and Alex is always a positive, although I think Heatter may have changed too much of the format given the front game can last forever. (Still better than Heatter's quizless Dice Fever, though...)

Interestingly, the copyright notice lists the "dummy company" of The Blitz Co., Inc. – the same one used for All Star Blitz. This, coupled with a prize in Pilot #2 being themed to (and including lunch with the cast of) Dynasty, makes me suspect these were shot for ABC daytime.

On a side note, hostess Debbie Sue Maffett doesn't really have any purpose on-set aside from introducing the contestants. She does describe (and sometimes appear with) the various prizes, but they're all pre-taped videos. The camera sometimes cuts to reaction shots of her, but she seems to be in the same spot every time and wears the same outfit in both pilots, making said shots pretty much interchangeable.


 * May 18, 1985 (Pilot #1: Vicki vs. Jeryl)
 * [Jeryl was also on All-Star Blitz (1985) and Blockbusters (1987).]
 * May 18, 1985 (Pilot #2: Michael vs. Vicki {same as above!})

Malcolm
Taped 1983; hosted by Alex Trebek

Format's okay, but the main draw was the titular cartoon character (pun not intended). Oh, and Jack Barry was interacting with cartoons 30 years earlier on Winky Dink and You.


 * 1983

Match Game (2008)
Taped July 22, 2008 at Television City Studio 33 (two pilots); hosted by Andrew "Andy" Daly

Shot for TBS with a recreation of the 1973-78 set based directly on the old blueprints (the set used on Gameshow Marathon was a bit shrunk down and eventually thrown out). The two pilots were done as "clean" and "for late night", respectively.

That said...who thought it'd be a good idea to do this with a barely-responsive audience? And who thought it'd be a good idea to completely botch Super-Match?


 * July 22, 2008 (Clips of both pilots)

Matchmakers
Taped 1957; hosted by Ted Brown

Nice format, but the sponsor (New Pink Jazz) is definitely...something. Namely, nonexistent, with the most generic commercials you'll ever see, plugged by celebs including Audrey Meadows and Charley Weaver.


 * 1957 (First 3:39 and another bit of gameplay)

Matchmates
Taped 1985 at NBC Studios in Burbank, California; hosted by Michael Burger

Michael's first appearance as a game show host, although the format needs some tightening unless they intended to straddle. Grundy later recycled the bonus round into the Winner's Big Money Game on Sale of the Century, for better or worse; he also recycled the theme music for the Scattergories pilot.

According to Michael, "at the end of our taping, the president of daytime television, Brian Fronz said to Bob Noah who was the executive for Reg Grundy the production company behind the show, and yours truly, "Congratulations it looks like you have another show on the air!""

NBC chose Family Ties repeats instead.


 * 1985 (Lori & Al {Day 5 - $18,000} vs. Sandy & Kirk {Jackpot: $10,000})
 * [Michael notes that $10,000 is the Jackpot's base value and that the champs "stuck us for 18 grand yesterday". The champs are on their fifth day, suggesting that the Jackpot increases by $2,000 per day.]

Million Dollar Bowling
Taped 1961; hosted by Ralph Story

Hour-long show where bowlers can win $25,000...or $256,000...or an unprecedented $1,000,000! (Per the uploader, nobody won the Million.) The show was produced by Ralph Andrews, with Erwin Buckspan serving as co-producer for Trojan Productions (Broadcasting 2/20/61, Page 132).


 * 1961 (Intro)

Mind Readers
Taped October 30, 1978; hosted by Geoff Edwards

Not related to the Goodson-Todman pilot from '75 or their eventual 1979-80 series – this one, a Bob Stewart show for NBC (Variety 10/19/78 Daily, Page 6), involves two teams of people who fall under the same astrological sign. The theme is "Spring Rain", also used on fellow Stewart games The Love Experts (which had debuted a month earlier) and Jackpot (the unsold 1984 pilot).

On a side note, I find it kinda amusing that NBC shot down this show but within a year picked up a different show with a near-identical name, although I suspect they bought from Goodson-Todman on the strength of Password Plus.


 * October 30, 1978 (Virgo vs. Scorpio {$2,500}; intro)

Monday Night Quarterback
Taped late 1970 or early 1971; hosted by Jerry Kramer

I'm guessing (read: hoping) that someone told Bob Stewart "I bet you can't produce a really, really boring game show!" and Stewart took him/her up on it. I'm not into football, but I can understand its appeal; I don't even think football lovers could watch this.

The game itself has two teams (one celebrity and one football player) watching footage of the St. Louis Cardinals (specifically, the games of September 27 and October 25, 1970) and, when the action freezes, trying to predict the outcome of the current play. This kind of thing works much better on shows based around hidden-camera footage, although Dick Martin's always a bright spot...and in this case, probably the only thing worth watching.

Bristol-Myers, which financed the pilot, was also responsible for pitching the show to syndication, including meeting with ABC's owned-and-operated stations in late March 1971 (Variety 3/24/71 Weekly, Page 43).

GSN has aired this a couple of times: one as part of "Super Games Sunday" (a Super Bowl-related marathon), the other as part of a "Game Show Turkeys" marathon one Thanksgiving. And just like turkey, this has the power to make you fall asleep.


 * 1970-71 (Dick Martin & John Hadl vs. Peter Lawford & Myron Pottios; taped from GSN, last two segments only, audio is a bit bad)

Money in the Bank
Taped 1980s at KOIN (Portland, Oregon); hosted by Mark Richards

A rarity: a pilot for a local series, in this case a show that's pretty much The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime minus nearly all the fun. Don't get me wrong, I like Mark Richards, but why does he insist on shoehorning the either-or question format into everything he makes? It's especially bad since he's a much better host on games with open-ended questions, such as the Season 1 Jeopardy! rehearsal games.

Also, and this isn't really relevant to anything, but a superimposed desk? Really? (It's obviously two unfinished podiums with Mark standing between them, as can be seen at 1:34.)


 * 1980s (Jan {Day 3 - $3,450} vs. Dave; full first segment {which goes nearly 10 minutes!} and full bonus round)

Money in the Blank
Taped July 26, 1987 at Television City (Studio 33); hosted by Kevin O'Connell

Shot for CBS daytime with a pretty nice format, and Kevin's always good to see. In a touch that's simultaneously cool and odd, the bonus game is the Three on a Match board!

The set was reused a year later for Eye Q.


 * July 26, 1987 (Pilot A: Teresa Ganzel & Nathan Cook; Frank vs. Gail; has slate!)

The Money Pump
Taped 2013; hosted by Kevin Frazier (never credited on the show itself)

Americanization of the Israeli format of the same name, shot for CBS with $1,000,000 at stake, which drops the longer teams take to answer questions. There's several issues here, one being that much like fellow Israeli import Who's Still Standing? this show buries anything good about the original format under "Americanization", which basically boils down to "every cliché about primetime network game shows since about 2006".

In other words, there's no reason for me to really care. That said, the fact the format allows for (and demonstrates) straddling was probably a strike against it for CBS, since primetime game show episodes tend to be self-contained so they can be aired in any order the network/company wants.

A short article on the pilot, from 4/26/13, is here.


 * 2013 (Aubrey & Drew, then Josh & Gary; no credits, though that seems to be intentional)

Money Words
Taped February 8, 1974 (at least two pilots); hosted by Mike Dar(r)ow

Pretty fun word search game, at least based on the available footage.


 * February 8, 1974 (Pilot #2: Ralph {Champ}/Helen/Dick; montage including slate, intro, and close)

Now You See It (1985)
Taped October 19, 1985 (at least two pilots); hosted by Jack Clark

Someone, long ago, nicknamed this attempt "Now You Pyramid It". The last thing I'm aware of that Jack hosted prior to his retirement in 1988 (itself likely due to the health issues that took his life shortly afterward).


 * October 19, 1985 (Pilot #2: Laurel & Alysen vs. Ronata & Tony; has slate, no video from end of Game 2 through first part of second Solo Round)

Oddball
Taped February 1, 1986 at NBC Studios in Burbank; hosted by Jamie Farr

Well, since 1960s long-runner Match Game worked so well by being supersized in 1973, why not try to supersize 1960s obscurity Get the Message in 1986? ...Yeah, I don't know, either.


 * February 1, 1986 (Pilot #1: Marla Gibbs, Lydia Cornell, Vicki Lawrence, Nedra Volz, Anson Williams, Tom Poston, Daniel Greene, Dick Martin; ends shortly after the contestants enter)

On a Roll
Taped February 23, 1986 at Television City Studio 33 (at least four pilots); hosted by David Sparks

...Boy, what a mess. I'm not saying "Hangman with dice" couldn't work, but with Wheel of Fortune already on for the past eleven years, The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime having debuted nearly two months earlier, and this format being a bit complicated...I'm not really surprised this didn't sell. The "Doublemint Twins" also didn't help things.

Audiovisuals are nice, though (main theme is "Working Girl March" from the film Tootsie, which was also used on the Star Words and Body Language pilots), for what that's worth. Also noteworthy: David somehow managed to lose his ability to host between this and when The New Cross-Wits began taping in June.

Notably, the Mark Goodson logo used here is the 3D style also seen in the TV's Funniest Game Show Moments specials and at least one of the Dawson Family Feud primetime specials.


 * February 23, 1986 (Pilot #1: Sharon vs. Tim, with the copyright card accidentally shown at 20:00!; Buzzr broadcast)
 * February 23, 1986 (Pilot #3: Sharon {same one as above!} vs. Bret; has slate!)

The Origins Game
Taped 1971/1976/1978/February 1982 (four pilots); hosted by Burt Ward (Pilot #1), Dick Patterson (Pilot #2), and Bob Eubanks (Pilots #3-4)

Filmation's attempt at a game show using both animation and live-action, where players have to determine whether a given origin for a word, saying, superstition, etc. is true.

There's an idea here, and Eubanks is always a plus, but the problem is that some folklore and word origins simply can't be proven. Even with all the technological advancements made since '82, you'd still need a good research team and high quality control because otherwise you're risking a Standards & Practices nightmare.

Bob Eubanks
 * February 1982 (Pilot #4: Kathy/?/?, then Jim/Sandy/Kevin; begins at Game 2)
 * [As one example of the kinds of S&P trouble this idea could've gotten into, Bob's explanation of the origin of "Quiz" is stated as fact when in reality (per this page) the word predates said story and had its own meaning. And even then, it's not certain whether the events Bob described even happened.]

Our Little Genius
Taped December 2009 in Los Angeles (eight episodes); hosted by Kevin Pollak

FOX primetime show in which an intelligent child, ranging in age from 6 to 12, answers questions for money with a top prize of $500,000 and a safety net of $10,000 (the third rung of ten on the money ladder). The child's parents had final say in whether their son/daughter continued in the game, with a panel of three experts present to assist in this decision based on how difficult the remaining questions were.

Genius was to debut on January 13, 2010 in a 45-minute slot right after American Idol, then settle into a regular hour-long slot on Tuesdays. However, about a week before the debut, Mark Burnett (whose company was behind the show) asked FOX to put the show on hold after discovering that there were issues with how "some information" was given to players during preproduction. "As a result, I am not comfortable delivering the episodes without re-shooting them. I believe my series must always be beyond reproach, so I have requested that Fox not air these episodes.” The network agreed, adding that the families who played would get their winnings.

It gets worse.

See, Hollywood Junket reported that players who missed one of the first few questions were allowed to retry with new questions, never mind that there was supposed to be that risk of players leaving with nothing (a staff member claimed this was a set rule, since it'd look bad if a "genius" missed the easiest questions). They also mentioned a game where the player said he didn't know the given category, taping was stopped, and when it resumed there was a new category the child knew; a staff member claimed it was a "technical error", and the categories were "mixed up by mistake".

In late February 2010, it was revealed that the FCC had received a complaint on December 17, 2009 by a parent stating that his child had received a list of potential topics and the answers to at least four questions the child either didn't know or about which he was unsure; when the child said he didn't know the British system of naming musical notes, the staff member gave the names of four notes that the child "needed to know". The child appeared for their taping on December 8, but it was canned when one of their parents raised issues about the rules and some of the planned questions to an attorney for Mark Burnett Productions. The letter also says that on December 7, the company sent out an addendum to the rules which allowed a one-time "opportunity, but not the obligation, to restart game play with a new question set." if the contestant missed one of the first four questions – the rule Hollywood Junket had called into question.

To put it simply, this show had all the markings of a rigged quiz. I'm not sure what became of the FCC's investigation, but Pollak went on to host the network's Million Dollar Money Drop...which also got into some issues, albeit in that case due to a few very poorly-researched questions.


 * January 2010 (Debut promo, with clips of what was to be the first aired episode)
 * [The clips include a few of the contestant making "snarky" comments which really aren't cute or funny. Given how Hollywood Junket noted the tapings had multiple reshoots of practically everything, I wouldn't be surprised if these remarks were coached (if not outright scripted).]

Party Line
Taped 1983; hosted by Gene Rayburn

Gene's first game show following the demise of Match Game turned out to also be the first attempt at Hot Streak, albeit with a different (and pretty hard) bonus round.


 * 1983 (Laurie/Judy/LAURA CHAMBERS!/Sue/Evelyn {$4,500} vs. John/David/Stu/Wayne/Bob, with Gene indirectly referencing Match Game during his intro)

Pass/Fail
Taped 1986; hosted by Edwin Newman

Fail.

Okay, seriously: quiz bowl-type show with teams of college students captained by a celeb who went to the same school. Winning the game awards a prize for that school, with a bonus prize for five-in-a-row. Edwin (who seems a bit ill-at-ease here) uses "tonight" before introducing the celebs and later mentions "weeks" when explaining how to win the bonus prize, both of which suggest this was intended for a primetime slot.

As noted by a YouTube comment, the "college students" don't really look or act like you'd expect them to (a couple of 'em look like they're in their 30s or so). Also, the score displays are superimposed, which doesn't look odd except when they disappear when the camera cuts back to Edwin (play at 0.25 speed around the 2:23 mark for one instance).


 * 1986 (UCLA {Carol Lawrence/Doug/Erica/Sammie} vs. Brown University {David Groh/Andi/Jeff/Moira}; seems to end during credits)
 * [Edwin notes at 6:16 that a normal episode would have six rounds of film clips "and Lisa's field reports as well" (he later clarifies this as being "looks at college life"), but "for present purposes" they're going from Round 2 to the Challenge Round.]

Pass the Line
Taped 1954; hosted by Cliff Saber

A professional drawer draws a line, then a panelist copies the line; said line is then copied by the next person, and so on for ten lines. While the video quality is good (all things considered) and the split-screen effect is pretty well-done for the time, not even Jonathan Winters can save this.


 * 1954 (JONATHAN WINTERS, Erica White?, Jeff Kane, Marge ?; Artist: Ray White {alternate copy})
 * [Includes a sales pitch, for whatever that's worth (not much, actually).]

People on TV
Taped October 1990 at NBC Studios in Burbank (two pilots); hosted by Jimmy Cefalo

The popular magazine comes to TV, apparently shot for CBS daytime, but I don't think they'd have enough material to pull that off. Of note, several sound effects were borrowed from Supermarket Sweep.

Per this post at The Game Show Forum, there's a second "version" of the pilot with a different Round 3 (rather than a three-minute sprint with the questions increasing in value for the second and third minutes, the questions are in groups of four worth the same amounts), a bumper called "Picks & Pans" (critic Jim Nixon summarized a movie review and the players had to write down the correct title), and a Warner Bros. credit at the end. Said user never clarified whether the same players were involved with this pilot, however.

From what little I can find, around this time Millennium Entertainment also did a talk show pilot under a similar name for daily syndication.


 * October 1990 (Victoria/Bob/Jeanine)
 * [Has the three-minute "sprint" version of Round 3. Mike Burger's review is here, by the way.]

Pictionary (2000)
Taped early 2000; hosted by Graham Elwood

The third attempt at adapting the drawing game for television, this time for GSN with a top prize of $5,000.


 * Early 2000 (The Patriots {Amy/Wayne/Meilani/Christine} vs. Team Spice {Elizabeth/Bob/Sue/Deanna})

Pindemonium
Taped 1992; hosted by Ken Ober

Newlywed Game-esque show based around bowling. And hey, Ken's always nice to see.


 * 1992 (Sales Tape)

Play For Keeps!
Taped November 18, 1955, very likely in New York (at least two pilots); hosted by Sonny Fox

An attempted big-money revamp of Winner Take All, shot for CBS daytime. Unfortunately, this time it's just straight quizzing without the variety of the 1952 TV series or the distractions of the '51 TV run.

Still, it's probably better for the genre that it didn't sell, since if it ran long enough it could've taken Goodson-Todman down in the quiz show scandals through no fault of their own.


 * November 18, 1955 (Pilot #2: Mrs. Trudeau {$15,000} vs. Mr. Stevens, with Mrs. Plout {GREAT contestant!} and Ms. Morse playing later; Buzzr broadcast)

The Plot Thickens
Taped 1963; hosted by Jack Linkletter

John Guedel's next (and last, by all indication) way to keep Groucho in the spotlight after Tell it to Groucho tanked in '62. Nearly everything here is fine, partly due to the names pulled in on the production side: Rosemary's Baby producer and three-decade B-movie director William Castle in charge alongside Guedel, Psycho author Robert Bloch wrote the film-within-the-show, and the actors from said film who not only turn in a decent showing but somehow managed to keep a straight face and stay in-character while Groucho was questioning them.

So what's wrong with this? Jack Linkletter, who clearly took after Bert Parks in the "hosting style" department minus the charm and sincerity. It's particularly bad when he interacts with Groucho, who's clearly there to be himself (i.e., funny) – Jack decides to try and keep him in line, even chiding the sexist remarks to the bailiff-in-a-catsuit. And then Jack makes a sexist remark to said bailiff, making him (say it with me) a hypocrite.

As Mike Burger put it, "You have Groucho Marx on your show, so let him be funny. If you don't want funny, don't have him on the show, and kiss any longevity goodbye because even the strictest of panel shows like To Tell the Truth relied on some amount of levity." I honestly think Jack's hosting was the no-sale factor.


 * 1963 (Murder in the Crystal Ball: Dick Halley, Stan Ross, Jan Sterling, Groucho Marx)
 * [This isn't really related to anything, but I found it amusing: the film-within-the-show has a 1963 Screen Gems copyright credit when its logo appears.]

Pop Life
Taped circa 1993 at FOX Television Center in Manhattan (Studio 5A); hosted by John McKinley (best guess)

Shot for FOX, and involves questions about current media and the like. Each episode was to generally be focused around a specific schmuck current in the news.


 * 1993? (Mike & Drew vs. Kerrie & Tracy {Today's Potshot: Amy Fisher}; first segment only)

Pot O' Gold (1979)
Taped 1979; hosted by Art James

A game with a pachinko element where even though only $500 is needed to win, and contrary to Mike Burger's review, the outermost slots are worth...$50,000?!


 * 1979 (Montage including intro and credits)

Puzzle Roulette
Taped 1987 (four pilots); hosted by Jim Lange

Per Matt Ottinger, this was a revamped Catch Phrase with some roulette elements added. From what little footage is available, the show had a nice set and theme plus Dean Goss announcing.

In 1989, Pasetta took the show back to being more like Catch Phrase, now called The Puzzle Game. Lange was retained as host, with at least four pilots shot for CBS.


 * 1987 (Intro)

Puzzlers
Taped March 14, 1980 (three pilots); hosted by Pat Sajak

A Goodson-Todman format with a lot of variety...possibly too much, although it could've made for a good testing ground of other formats. Uses the Mindreaders theme.

The three pilots all had different outcomes, hence why three were taped.


 * March 14, 1980 (Laurie/Tom/April; Champ: Ann {$6,000} {alternate copies: intro; round seen during Game Show Moments Gone Bananas})

Pyramid Rocks
Taped Fall 1999; hosted by Bil Dwyer

Shot for VH1, with a few minor changes: singing was disallowed (probably for legal reasons), getting a score of 21 awarded a bonus prize (in this case, a "fully loaded" personal computer), and the Winner's Circle (also the front-game board) was played for $5,000.

A shame this didn't sell, since it would've definitely made a good companion to Rock & Roll Jeopardy! The show appears to have originally been called Rock & Roll Pyramid, based on ATGS posts from October 1999.

On a side note, despite the noticeably lower budget, there's on-set score displays. This may not seem like a big deal, but per taping reports the three Pyramid pilots taped before this (one in 1996, two in '97) and the two shot after this in 2000 didn't have 'em; neither did the first half of Donnymid Season 1, for that matter.


 * Fall 1999 (Ellen Cleghorne & Riki Rachtman; Michael vs. Jen; ends shortly after second category {alternate copy})

The $100,000 Pyramid (2000)
Taped December 6, 2000; hosted by Donny Osmond

Shot for syndication, which it did eventually get...just not like this. The set's darker, the logo's different, Randy West is announcer, the celebs actually walk out (albeit not together), and most of the classic format is intact (7-in-30, only the "essence" is needed for credit in the Winner's Circle, and there's returning champs). There's also a $500 bonus for getting 7-out-of-7, although it's not clear whether that's particular to one category (like the Big 7 of long ago) or all of them.

The main format change is with the Winner's Circle: not only does an illegal clue simply replace the category with a new one, the payouts are also altered. While the sizzle reel below suggests awards of $10,000-$25,000-$45,000-$70,000-$100,000 (hence the fifth and final win awards the titular amount), it was actually an admittedly far more sane $10,000-$15,000-$20,000-$25,000-$30,000. Hence, the fifth and final win results in a grand total of $100,000 (plus, apparently, any front-game money), which sounds like how they paid out cash in the Donnymid Tournaments.

Still better than the $1,000,000 pilot shot for NBC at the same time, though, where the first Winner's Circle was worth $125,000 (then another $125,000 for the second, $250,000 for the third, and $500,000 for the fourth) and the choice to leave or play another front game, as said money was taken away if you lost a front game or Winner's Circle (and hence why the front game paid $1,000 per word). As the linked page notes, how many players won the Winner's Circle three consecutive times, let alone four? And who would be willing to risk even $125,000?


 * December 6, 2000 (Sizzle Reel, narrated by Don LaFontaine!)

The $1,000,000 Pyramid (2009)
Taped June 2009 at Kaufman Astoria Studios in New York (two pilots); hosted by Dean Cain (Pilot #1) and Tim Vincent (Pilot #2)

The franchise returned home after 28 years and went back to what worked between 1973-91: classic-style set with neon tubing and bright colors, classic-style logo, and classic theme "Tuning Up" (in a nice touch, the New York-era original for Pilot #1 and the Television City-era version for #2). Heck, they even used trilons (though one would suspect if this had gone to series, they would've used monitors). Also in a nice touch, Alan Kalter returned to the mic long after having seen off the New York era by replacing Steve O'Brien on $50,000.

The 7-11 also made its triumphant return after being unceremoniously kicked out in April 1991, further restoring its original element of having a choice: go for all seven and $11,000, or play it safe and take $500 per word. The Winner's Circle was worth $25,000 for the first attempt and a total of $75,000 in the second, with the four best times and the four biggest money winners returning for a $1,000,000 League of Champions.

While CBS didn't pick it up (choosing Let's Make A Deal that year and The Talk in 2010), Michael Davies had proven that Pyramid as Bob Stewart had guided it and Jim Ryan/Ed Flesh had designed it could in fact work in the present day.


 * June 2009 (Behind-the-scenes clips and photos from both taping days)
 * June 2009 (Pilot #2: Caroline Rhea & Norm MacDonald; intro and Winner's Circle #1)

The $25,000 Pyramid (2010)
Taped June 23, 2010 in Hollywood, California (two pilots); hosted by Andy Richter

Shot for TBS, with a slightly altered format for an hour-long slot: the first two Winner's Circles were played for $10,000, with the front-game winners playing again for a shot at $25,000. The front game was also altered in two ways: the third and fourth categories of each game offered a bonus for 7-out-of-7, and each team had a "Double Down" option allowing them to play a category for double points.

The 1982 "Tuning Up" is still present, and the logo has been given a 3D makeover with an odd-looking opening animation (the center piece swivels around between $500,000, $100,000, and $25,000 before slowing down to $25,000) that suggests a tournament which isn't explained in the available footage. I don't remember seeing anything at the time which even hinted at it, either.

By far the biggest change is to the set, now far more basic with seven screens surrounding the players and, in a weird bit of reasoning, had the players standing for the front game; per Davies, it was "bringing the show to its feet". I would've said the show had been brought to its feet in 2009 after the 1996-2004 attempts that, barring Pyramid Rocks, tended to miss the point, but hey...

And this isn't really relevant to anything, but I found it amusing: Greggo had been using the tournament-style format for his version at least three months prior to this taping session.


 * June 23, 2010 (Mo Rocca & Aisha Tyler; intro and Winner's Circle #2 of one pilot, or possibly a combination of both)

A Question of Scruples
Taped late 1980s?; hosted by Richard Kline

Based on the board game of the same name, but not to be confused with this pilot. That said, I'm pretty sure one of the scenarios (would you light up in a no-smoking area if there was nobody around?) uses footage of the Hindenburg explosion.

Unfortunately, the "Sizzle Reel" below is so haphazardly put together that I couldn't make sense of the format...assuming, of course, that they actually taped two or so pilots and didn't just record these bits.

On a side note, Rob Paulsen is the announcer. No, seriously.


 * 19?? (Anthony Newley, Lisa Hartman, Louie Anderson, John Ratzenberger; Players: Stacey, Zack, Joanne, Darla; Sizzle Reel compilation)

Quick on the Draw (1962)
Taped February 3, 1962 in New York; hosted by Paul Winchell with Jerry Mahoney

Children's game with the pictures drawing themselves and the bonus round played for a $2,500 college scholarship.


 * February 3, 1962 (Pilot #1: Merle Baldwin vs. Warren Wolfe, with Jason North and Deborah Brust playing later; first second or so missing, first part of second and third segments missing {alternate copies: full show, same cuts; first eight minutes, with slate and no cuts})

Rate Your Mate (1951 TV)
Taped 1951; hosted by Joey Adams

A planned CBS-TV adaptation of the concurrent radio game (also hosted by Adams for CBS), with a nice visual element added. Aside from a single mention in Variety (1/24/51 Weekly, Page 24), I haven't been able to find anything on this adaptation, though this was probably just a a radio episode with film cameras added (much like You Bet Your Life did two years earlier).

The UCLA Film & Television Archive has a portion of a different pilot, as the couple listed (Ed & Birdie Kane) isn't in the below. It's possible UCLA's holding is a one-game test film which led to CBS giving a go-ahead to film an entire episode, but that's just a theory on my part.


 * 1951 (Eileen & Joseph Berman?, Bob & Phyllis Belzo?, Rose & Sam Shiller? {Part 2})

The Riddlers
Taped November 4, 1977 at NBC Studios in Burbank (two pilots); hosted by David Letterman

Kinda-slow game based around riddles, with a team of five celebs competing against a team of five civilians who have the same job (such as dance instructors). 1970s Dave is always fun to watch, and in this case he's really the only thing that makes it worth watching.

Much later, in a 1991 Late Night interview with Michael McKean, the two briefly discussed this show after Michael brought it up. Oddly, Dave notes that there was no second pilot – instead, after #1, the producers came up to him and said "Iiiii think we got what we need, Dave..."


 * November 4, 1977 (Pilot #1: JoAnne Worley/Robert Urich/Joyce Bulifant/Michael McKean/Debralee Scott {$0} vs. Dance Instructors {Sherry/Rocco/Joan/Mark/Hartley; $4,000+}; taped from GSN, with commercials and "Raise the Dead" segments {alternate copies, no commercials or "Raise the Dead" segments: #1a, #1b, and #1c, seemingly lower quality; #2, good quality but horizontally-stretched video})

Run for the Money
Taped 1987 at ABC Television Center; hosted by Bill Rafferty

Reg Grundy quiz which became Going for Gold in the UK and Questions pour un Champion in France, though the music here appears to have been recycled from Keynotes. Mike Burger's review is here, by the way.

I'm not sure why the show didn't sell in the States, but the weird thing is that the only info I can find on "a game show called Run for the Money" is a Barry-Enright format that was piloted for NBC in late 1987, which had two couples answering questions about "everyday subject matter" (Variety 10/30/87 Daily, Page 31).


 * 1987 (Steve {Champ}/Christie/Doug/Nancy; average video, audio is kinda muffled)

''Says Who?
Taped May 28, 1971 in New York (most likely, based on the credits); hosted by Geoff Edwards

A game where celebs can answer questions as themselves, or as one of the other celebs. Likely meant for a primetime slot, since two contestants stay for the entire show and switch partners for each game.

I think Adam Nedeff summed it up best: "Two great emcees, one hosting and one playing, and both suffered back injuries from carrying this pilot."


 * May 28, 1971 (Betsy Palmer, Anne Meara, Peter Lawford, Bill Cullen; Lynne vs. Nathan; taped from GSN)

Scrabble (1990)
Taped August 1, 1990; hosted by Steve Edwards

Different host, a different intro (the first part, before the logo appears, is much less fun and much more annoying; I thought the panning crane shot of the Scrabble Cube was pretty cool, though), each Crossword game has a category attached, and the letters are chosen through some number graphics rather than the tiles. Aside from the host, which was a necessity given that Chuck was doing Love Connection, none of these are particularly good changes – more specifically, they feel like change for the sake of change, and I'm not surprised that the eventual '93 revival went back to the tried-and-true with these.

The redone Scrabble was pitched for daily syndication, to be distributed by Group W beginning in Fall 1991; Genesis Entertainment, which had distributed the 1985-86 syndicated Sale of the Century, had also vied for the syndication rights (Broadcasting 7/9/90, Page 35). Despite adding a 900-number interactive element, there was limited interest at NATPE '91 – the games introduced for Fall 1990 had for the most part failed in the ratings, resulting in stations being hesitant to go back to the genre; as a result, Group W declared that syndie Scrabble was "not going to happen" (Broadcasting 1/21/91, Page 6).

The final nail in the coffin was probably USA's announcement that it would begin airing the 1984-90 series (Broadcasting 7/1/91, Page 75), and as a result the Steve Edwards version is little more than an oddity that was simply pitched at the wrong time.

Mike Burger's review is here.


 * August 1, 1990 (Davis {Champ} vs. Craig, then ? vs. ? {Bonus Sprint is at $8,000}; montage including slate, intro, and Bonus Sprint)

The Scrabble Challenge
Taped December 16, 2002/July 2003; hosted by John O'Hurley (2002) and Lisa Kennedy Montgomery (2003)

Sticks pretty closely to the board game...which might have been its undoing.


 * December 16, 2002

Second Guessers
Taped December 29, 1969 at Miami Beach, Florida; hosted by Jack Carter (in-studio) and Jack Clark (on-location at the Miami Seaquarium and Miami International Airport)

...Well, I'm sure it looked good on paper. Only six questions are asked, and the thing's so bad that some of the 1,000-person audience can be seen leaving!

Easily the best part of this pilot is Jack Clark. Mind you, this pilot isn't as boring as Monday Night Quarterback, but it's pretty close.


 * December 29, 1969 (Second Guessers: Judy, Roberta, Harry, Don, Jerri, Dinah; Special Guest: Brenda Vaccaro; taped from GSN)

Shopper's Bazaar
Taped September (October 9?) 1973; hosted by Chuck Woolery

Holy crap, what a mess. Merv Griffin didn't like it, then-NBC head of daytime Lin Bolen didn't like it, test audiences didn't like it, and nearly everybody who's seen it since it surfaced in 2012 doesn't like it. Chuck is probably the only good thing about this mess.

An overhaul later, and we got Wheel of Fortune. Even later, Harry Friedman revived the Shopper's Special bonus round as the Prize Puzzle...and nobody likes it. :P


 * Fall 1973 (Pilot #1: Marilyn/Dawn/Maureen {alternate copy of opening segment})

Silent Partners
Taped 1950s?; hosted by Dennis James

From what I can tell, involves four players using strategy (possibly making bets, given the score displays visible at one point). Probably 1950s.


 * 1950s? (Partial intro and brief clips, from the 1996 special The Greatest Shows You Never Saw {which replaces the music in the last clip, for whatever reason})

Simon Says...
Taped 1971 in California; hosted by Bob Barker

Yes, Barker hosted a game show that didn't get past the pilot stage. In fairness, the concept's kinda weird anyway: Truth or Consequences with a giant computer, pretty much.

The show was created by Wesley J. Cox for DUNDAS, although neither name seems to have any other credits. Mike Burger's review theorized that this may have been a production by Barry and/or Enright since the theme is "The Savers".


 * 1971 (First player is Patricia; clips only)

Slingo
Taped 2008; hosted by Michael Burger

Based on the slot game of the same name, with a top prize of $250,000. And hey, Randy West announces!


 * 2008 (Montage including intro and close)
 * 2008 (Sizzle Reel that explains the format)
 * 2008 (Behind-the-scenes footage)

The Smart Alecks (1977)
Taped April 30?, 1977; hosted by Allen Ludden

Shot for NBC daytime (Variety 5/25/77 Weekly, Page 46), and basically the forerunner to shows like American Inventor and Shark Tank: a prospective inventor comes on, shows off his/her product, gets mocked by the celebs, and receives up to $1,500 from a People Panel after the celebs give their opinions.

In this case, the inventors had losers all the way around, making for an even more fun time than it would've been had they actually been good. :P "From time to time" (Allen's words), the show would present a "Smart A" award to someone who came up with "the most useless idea of the day".

In the end, a pretty fun show by Ivie-Hill, although it's probably for the best that it didn't sell since Allen quickly went on to host Liars Club.

Per Mike Burger's review, there are two versions of this pilot, the only difference being that one has titled commercial bumpers and the other doesn't. And this isn't really related to anything, but I love the centerpiece of the set, which (aside from the moving portion) looks like it was recycled from some sex-centric discussion show.


 * April 30?, 1977 (David Letterman, Pat Carroll, Don Meredith; Inventors: Don {a "husband whistle"}, Barbara {a cookbook with recipes involving, among other things, crickets}, Bonnie {nosebuds to reduce snoring}; "Smart A" Subject: Dr. Frederick Axelrod)
 * [Allen's comment of "As I was saying" after he walks out suggests there was some comment by him before the intro, which isn't present in this copy.]

Spell Binders
Taped August 16, 1978 at NBC Studios in Burbank; hosted by Bill Anderson

Interesting show, based on Mike Burger's review and what little is around.


 * August 16, 1978 (Intro)

Split Decision
Taped July 11, 1985 at NBC Studios in Burbank (at least two pilots); hosted by Jim McKrell

Pretty nice show, although I'm not sure why it didn't sell. Co-produced by NBC, which would explain why the slate uses the network's 1983 "Be There" promotional music.

Mike Burger's review is here, by the way.


 * July 11, 1985 (Pilot #2 {alternate copy of intro and credits, plus slate})

Starcade (1981)
Aired September 13, 1981 (taped at KRON-TV in San Francisco)

The first attempt, aired as a special on KRON and a few other California stations, had a rather different tournament-style format, including the involvement of a celebrity (specifically, Larry Wilcox). The host here was Mike Eruzione, captain of the 1980 US Olympic hockey team.

Unfortunately, per this page, there were a bunch of behind-the-scenes issues: Mike was nervous, Larry's agent wanted him to leave, and various technical problems (such as taking over ten hours just to prep).

An official look at the pilot (with screencaps) is here.


 * 1981 (Games: Defender, Pac-Man, Centipede; intro only)
 * [To clarify how to view this: after the "intro" completes, mouse over "SHOW CLIPS" at the top of the page, then click on the square that says "Mike Eruzione" below it.]

Star Play
Taped November 20, 1988 at Hollywood Center TV Studios (KTLA); hosted by Tom Kennedy

Interesting combination of charades and You Don't Say!. Mike Burger's review is here.


 * 1988 (Runthrough: Teresa Ganzel, Charlie Callas, Florence LaRue, Richard Simmons, Marcia Wallace; Carolyn & Gary vs. Gail & Nancy, with a brief pitchfilm)
 * November 20, 1988 (Pilot: Carol Burnett, Willie Aames, Deidre Hall, Robert Guillaume, Valerie Harper, Pat Harrington; montage)

Star Words
Taped May/June 1983 at Television City Studio 33 (at least three pilots); hosted by Nipsey Russell

Shot for CBS daytime, and has a set design that reminds me of Double Dare. Some good ideas here, but looking at the first pilot I'm not surprised why they taped a little more.

Given the timeframe, it seems CBS had the option of this or Press Your Luck to replace Child's Play...and boy, did they make the right choice.


 * May 1983 (Pilot I: Charles Nelson Reilly & Patty Duke-Astin; April vs. Jeff; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copy of closing credits})
 * June 2, 1983 (Pilot III: slate and intro)

Stop Me if You've Heard this One! (1991)
Taped October 17, 1991 (two pilots); hosted by Larry Anderson

A 1940s game that had become well past obscure by this point yet, for whatever reason, decided to attempt a return for the 1990s. If this had been tried after Whose Line Is It Anyway? was brought to the States, it might have had a chance.


 * October 17, 1991 (Brief clip)

Take....5
Taped May 6, 1973 (at least two pilots); hosted by Tony Hernandez

Shot for CBS with Don Pardo announcing, although whoever was responsible for the sound mixing did a poor job.


 * May 6, 1973 (AIR B: Begins with Mary vs. Bonnie; montage including slate, first segment, bonus round, and credits)

Talking Pictures (1968)
Taped February 25, 1968 at Television City (Studio 31); hosted by Allen Ludden

A "hidden celebs" game that comes lawsuit-close to Eye Guess. Amusingly, it seems turnabout was fair play, as Bob Stewart used the "numbers hide celebs" idea for his Eye Guess revival attempt Punch Lines in 1979.


 * February 25, 1968 (AIR: Ann Miller, Peter Lawford, Angela Cartwright, Lorne Greene, Jan Sterling, Stubby Kaye, Agnes Moorehead, Tom Smothers, Carol Burnett, Paul Winchell; Rachel vs. Dick {Part 3})

TKO
Taped November 10, 1989 at Television City Studio 33 (at least four pilots); hosted by Peter Tomarken

Interesting little game, shot for ABC daytime, and Peter's always good to see. And hey, Mark Goodson makes a cameo!

Mike Burger's review is here, by the way. The show's theme was later recycled for Body Talk and several Goodson-produced lottery game shows.


 * November 10, 1989 (Pilot #4: Andrea/Nathan/Eve; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copies: full episode, somewhat shorter; montage with slate and timecode, plus an audio pickup that wasn't actually edited into the pilot})

Top Secret
Taped March 3-4, 1988 at Television City Studio 33 (at least three pilots); hosted by Wink Martindale

A clue-filled game of hidden identities that was so close to making CBS' schedule, Parker Brothers released a board game tie-in that got pulled shortly afterward! (Though arguably, that latter thing might have had more to do with the fact that TSR already had a game out with the same name.)


 * March 4, 1988 (Pilot #3, "Short Version": Sharon/Mike/Wendy)

Trivial Pursuit (1980s)
Taped 1986/June 26, 1987 (at least four pilots; 1987 pilot taped at Fox Television Center); hosted by Steve Morris (all pilots, I think) & Linda Marr (1986 only)

The first attempt, produced by Jay Wolpert with an interesting format. Also has an animated intro, pretty much a staple of his work.

Trivial Pursuit was to be distributed by Worldvision Enterprises beginning in September 1987 (Broadcasting 1/19/87, Page 128). The show was launched at NATPE '87 and declared a go in late February with 40% of the country covered, but it was later removed from the marketplace (Broadcasting 6/8/87, Page 58). It was brought out again for a Fall '88 start (Broadcasting 6/29/87, Page 42) with a new pilot taped, having removed Linda and tightened the format (Variety 9/30/87 Weekly, Page 38); it was also revealed that the show had been pulled from distribution because the producers had debuted it a little late, after most of the major markets had picked up shows like Truth of Consequences and Win, Lose or Draw.

Worldvision felt that with the board game's expanded popularity, the timing looked better now (Broadcasting 10/5/87, Page 56). The show was expected to "have moderate to limited success" (Broadcasting 4/11/88, Page 98), but eventually got relegated to...well, here.


 * 1986 (Montage, including intro)

ESPN Trivial Pursuit
Aired September 27 - October 1, 2004; hosted by Roger Lodge

Based on Trivial Pursuit, with four categories about sports and two about pop culture.


 * October 1, 2004 (Finale: Melanie & Jason vs. Steve & Tim)

Twenty One (1982)
Taped May 4, 1982 at Television City; hosted by Jim Lange

Intended to replace the heading-out-the-door Bullseye. Only real difference is the addition of a bonus round, whose monitor was recycled as the Number Jumbler for the 1980s Break the Bank.


 * May 4, 1982 ("Tie" Pilot: Steve Naideth {$20,000} vs. Marie Lee; has slate!)

Twisters
Taped October 23, 1982; hosted by Jim Perry

Bob Stewart takes a whole bunch of elements from games he's done (including the Chain Reaction and Shoot For the Stars themes), puts them in a blender, and adds in a shuffleboard just because. Plus, hey, anything with Ed Flesh involved is worth a look.

Not sure why this didn't sell, although the timeframe suggests that if it had then Jim might not have been able to host Sale of the Century.


 * October 23, 1982 (Wednesday: First King of the Hill is Meme; taped from GSN, pretty low audio {alternate copy, great audio but missing intro})

Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! (2011 TV)
Aired December 23, 2011; hosted by Peter Sagal & Carl Kasell

An attempted conversion of the long-running NPR series for television by BBC America.


 * December 23, 2011 (Alonzo Bodden, Paula Poundstone, Nick Hancock {Parts 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6})

The Wedding Game
Taped 2000s?, likely in Las Vegas based on the intro; hosted by Molly Gilford & Jill Smith

No, it's not another Newlywed Game ripoff. It's more a Dating Game ripoff, if anything. But hey, there's a house on offer!

The show's website, weddinggame.com, has no captures in the Internet Archive that actually work and no captures at all during 2009-10, so I can't really pin it down aside from when it was uploaded. Probably late 2000s, but that's just a guess.


 * 2000s? (Montage including intro and close {uploaded 3/6/11})

We've Got Your Number
Taped May 13, 1975 in Los Angeles (at least two pilots); hosted by Jack Barry

Interesting format that's kinda hampered by only using real dice in the bonus round – the front game uses giant projected dice that, to their credit, look 3D until they turn around for said bonus round.


 * May 13, 1975 (SHOW B: Bill vs. Susan; has slate! {alternate copies: #1; #2a and #2b})

What Are My True Colors?
Aired May 30, 1987; hosted by Mike Jarrett (who?)

ABC aired this in place of American Bandstand, noting the one-time substitution before the show...and really, the only notable thing is that Charlie O'Donnell is announcer.

Based on the synopsis here, this is a precursor to the modern-day dragging-out of answers and brevity of material.


 * May 30, 1987 (Richard Simmons & Leslie Charleson; Marcella vs. Brian; ABC program change notice and clip of Leslie's intro)

What Do You Want?
Taped January 1961; hosted by Groucho Marx

A weird "halfway transition" between You Bet Your Life and Tell It To Groucho: George Fenneman is still present, as is a variant of "Hooray for Captain Spaulding", while the interviews are more like the latter series (and like both shows, the interactions with Groucho are the focus). The main difference is the quiz portion, where the guests can either take $400 or try to answer a question for $1,000.

Possibly the strangest part is the ending, where George introduces clips of "future" episode segments, all of which are more interesting than the ones they made viewers sit through for the past 20 minutes! Seriously!

Mike Burger's review is here, by the way.


 * January 1961 (Commercial outro)

What's My Line? (2000)
Taped June 10, 2000 at Television City (Studio 46); hosted by Harry Anderson

25 years after the syndicated version went off the air, CBS had a choice between this and Survivor. Given what's happened in the years since then, I think they chose...poorly.


 * June 10, 2000 (Katherine Bell, Bryan Cranston, BETTY WHITE, Al Franken; first 90 seconds)

What's the Law?
Taped sometime between November 1967 and February 1968 in New York; hosted by Henry Morgan

Shot for weekly syndication, a panel of celebs is given an unusual case by announcer Chet Gould (taken from a syndicated newspaper column) and give how they would have ruled; matching the judge's ruling awards $50 to each correct panelist, all of which goes to the Legal Aid Society.

Also in each round, a selected audience member gives their ruling; it's not really made clear how prizes are awarded here, as the audience member gets a prize regardless of whether their ruling agrees with the judge's.

Produced by Jerry Hammer Productions and Official Films for distribution by the latter, the show was to be seen at the NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) convention in mid-March 1968. The season was to have between 13 and 52 episodes (Broadcasting 3/23/68, Pages 77/82). Variety mentions the show twice, on 1/24/68 (Weekly, Page 35) and 9/4/68 (Weekly, Page 3).


 * November 1967-February 1968 (Linda Lavin, Barry Nelson, Joan Rivers, Douglas Fairbanks Jr.; Cases: "The Shapely Fraud", "The Chicken or The Eggs", "The Thrifty Wife")
 * [rrgomes: "Both Linda Lavin and Barry Nelson refer to plays in which they were "now" performing at the time, and both plays ("Something Different" and "Everything in the Garden") ran between November 1967 and February 1968." Further, Linda notes that she hasn't been married (her first marriage, to Ron Leibman, wasn't until 1969).]

Winfall
Taped December 1988; hosted by Clint Holmes

Interesting game built around phrases, with a better use of pachinko than Pot O' Gold. Rolf Benirschke also hosted at least a runthrough, but moved up to Wheel of Fortune.

Shot for a possible 1989 debut (Variety 12/9/88 Daily, Page 1), CBS became interested and by early Spring 1989 Holmes was saying the show would probably debut on the network in the Summer (Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/10/89). In the end, by all indication, CBS turned down Winfall because of something NBC did – namely, the latter canned Wheel, and CBS seems to have felt that bringing over an established show would be a safer bet than a new property by the same company.

Sometimes referred to as "Windfall", as it was when Rolf was hired for Wheel and in a Broadcasting interview with Columbia Pictures Television exec Gary Lieberthal (1/23/89, Page 52).


 * December 1988 (Edie McClurg & Fred Willard; Judy vs. Nancy; montage, including intro)
 * [The Hogan Family and D.C. Follies are namedropped during the intro.]

Word for Word (2007?)
Taped 2007?; hosted by Martin Cole

Based around word games, including one pretty clearly based on Merv's like-named game of long ago and another that's pretty clearly the Speedword from Scrabble.

Martin seems kinda awkward as host, with no real personality to speak of. Neither does Jen Johnson, for that matter, who has little to do and was probably picked to be eye candy.

To be honest, I'm not sure on the tapedate or much of anything else, mainly since there's no credits. The uploader's description says that "King World CBS Paramount optioned the rights a few years ago, but it never aired."; the mention of King World suggests this was done in 2007, possibly after Combination Lock failed to sell, given that King World was shut down on 8/20/07 and folded into the newly-created CBS Television Distribution.


 * 2007? (Mary/Ray/Amy {Part 2}; seemingly no intro or credits)

You Bet Your Life (1988)
Taped August 4, 1988 (at least three pilots); hosted by Richard Dawson

I think Adam Nedeff said it best: if they had tried this 13 years earlier, it would've sold before it even finished taping. Unfortunately, they were done well after the freewheeling, flirty, and young "Dickie Dawson" had become the older, married, and essentially-retired-for-three-years "Mr. Richard Dawson".

Richard referenced these pilots on a 1994-95 Family Feud Divorced Couples Week show following his return, after You Bet Your Life was an answer to a question about Groucho Marx.


 * August 3, 1988 (Pilot #3: Sigrid & Mel vs. Melissa & Dan {Secret Word: Sports}; has slate!)

Your Surprise Package (Nighttime)
Taped January 17, 1962 at Television City (most likely Studio 43); hosted by George Fenneman

No idea what was different, although it probably had bigger prizes on offer. George says "good evening" after he walks out, which led me to suspect this was a pilot; Jamie Locklin (owner of The Game Show Vault) confirmed on The Game Show Forum that this is from a pilot held by UCLA.

The fact this was taped about a month before the daytime show ended suggests that the producers knew cancellation was looming and tried to pitch a nighttime series, most likely to CBS since they'd been airing the daytime series. I'm not 100% certain about the specific studio (the Television City website never distinguishes between concurrent versions of any show), but since the daytime show taped in Studio 43 it seems to be a logical guess.


 * January 17, 1962 (Golda/Howard/Frances; intro)