User:Daniel Benfield/Win Lose or Draw Video Archive

While I'm not exactly a big fan of Win, Lose or Draw, I easily understand its appeal and can watch it if I'm in the right mood. I especially remember watching the syndicated episodes when they turned up on GSN in 2002.

Originally, I wasn't going to include the Bert Convy version, figuring there would be dozens of episodes online...but then I got to digging and realized that it was actually a pretty manageable number.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1987-92/2014 Burt & Bert Productions/Kline & Friends/Disney and associated entities.

NBC (1987-89)
NBC Daytime: September 7, 1987 - September 1, 1989

Hosted by Vicki Lawrence (later Vicki Lawrence-Schultz).

1987

Players now give a bit of info about themselves when Vicki introduces them (began by 12/30/87)

1988

Vicki's last name changes to Lawrence-Schultz sometime this year, though announcer Bob Hilton had a bit of a difficult time pronouncing "Schultz" early on.

Vicki now credited as "Vicki Lawrence-Schultz" (began by 8/10/88)

1989

Sometime between early January and mid-February (definitely by February 27), Round 1 was altered to have the words be clues to puzzles. Probably at the same time, the intro was altered to start with the first puzzle.

Sometime between mid-April and late June, the format was altered to have four contestants and two celebs, though this was apparently removed after a few weeks. The other big change made at this point was replacing the $1,000 bonus with a full-fledged bonus round which played like the speedround, except the first correct answer won $50 and every subsequent identification doubled that amount.

The problem was that they didn't put a cap on it until after a team managed to get 10 words for $25,600, at which point the rules were altered so that the seventh correct answer upped the amount to $5,000 and ended the bonus round.

Round 1 changes to Super Password-esque puzzles, intro now begins with first puzzle (began 1/ or 2/89); Kline & Friends logo changes from 1985 style to sign (began by 2/27/89)

Syndication (1987-90)
Syndicated, Daily: September 7, 1987 - August 30, 1990

Same as the daytime show, at least for the first two seasons. Season 3...eh. I'll get to that one eventually.

Bert Convy (Seasons 1-2)
September 7, 1987 - September 1, 1989

Seriously, aside from the host the two versions were near-identical.


 * September 1987 (Pilot/Sneak Preview: Loni Anderson, Betty White, Burt Reynolds, Tony Danza {taped 11/2/86}; Zee vs. Jerry, with a pretty obvious reshoot during Jerry's interview {his jacket changes for this part only, then changes back right afterward})
 * [Has a slightly different logo, very different contestant nametags, Rod Roddy announcing, and the caricature drawings only have the celebrities' heads.]

1987

1988

While Season 2 began on September 5, I'm not aware of any differences between later Season 1 episodes and early Season 2 ones.


 * October 2, 1988 (WTVJ {Miami, Florida} report on news anchors Susan Lichtman and Tony Segreto on a special episode against Miami Dolphins players)
 * November 9, 1988 (Radio Special: KRTH {Steve Morris, Claudia Marshall, & Jonathan Dahl} vs. KROQ {Poorman, Richard Blade, & Jed the Fish})
 * [Aired only in Los Angeles. Kline & Friends logo is still the style used on Break the Bank.]

1989

As with the daytime show, the syndie run adopted the "clues to puzzles" format for Round 1 around this point.

Round 1 changes to Super Password-esque puzzles, intro now begins with first puzzle (began 1989)

Robb Weller (Season 3)
September 4, 1989 - August 30, 1990

Changed quite a few things: new host, new set, new color scheme for the logo, and a new logo animation. A remixed version of the theme also debuted at this point, but the original one returned shortly into the season.

As for the format, I don't have a problem with bringing over the bonus round used on the daytime show, but the main game was changed to be slightly more complicated and noticeably cheaper.


 * Taped 8/89 (Elements Reel, sent to affiliates to put together their own promos for this season; contains various clips {0:00}, clean logo animations {7:17}, some cringeworthy "wild lines" by Weller {8:26}, and a few voiceover clips by Weller {9:54}; has slates and timecode!)

Remixed theme (first few weeks or so)
 * September 4, 1989 (Season Premiere/Robb's debut: Martha Quinn, Anne-Marie Johnson, Doug Barr, CHARLES NELSON REILLY; Carol vs. Larry; taped from WCBS, with commercials)


 * Late 1989 (Dawn Lewis, Chanel Brown, MARC SUMMERS, Steve Whitting; Adam {Day 2 - $2,450} vs. Lois, with the audience game played; has a Puzzle Plug!)
 * [Robb notes that Adam won "yesterday".]

Standard theme returns
 * Late November-December 1989 (Trudy Adams, Queen Kong, Gemini, Nitro {Part 2}; Gary {Day 2 - $700} vs. Leslie; taped from WKYC, with commercials {alternate copy, no commercials})
 * [Robb notes that Gary won "yesterday". Zach Horan, on the alternate copy: "This taped after November 17, 1989 as that's the date a movie mentioned here came out.﻿"]


 * Taped 1989 (From Navy Pier in Chicago: Marsha Warfield, Robin Bernard, Jm J. Bullock, Malcolm Jamal Warner; Frank {Day 4 - $8,400} vs. Linnette)
 * [Robb's comments indicate this is Friday.]

Disney, Take One (1989-92)
Disney Channel: April 29, 1989 - April 28, 1990/September 10, 1990 - September 26, 1992

Hosted by Marc Price, with only two celebs instead of four but otherwise using the early-1989 adult format (Super Password-esque puzzles in Round 1, no bonus round). Not surprisingly, the scores are in points with the winning team getting prizes.

The other big difference is that the show wasn't taped at Television City and didn't use either of the standard "living room" sets. Instead, the show taped at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida (later moving to Hollywood Center Studios in California) and the set resembled Marc's driveway.

Jay Wolpert was prominently involved for the first season, whereas the rest of the run had Stone-Stanley prominently involved.

1989
 * 1989 (Clips of, according to the uploader, "one of the first episodes")
 * 1989 (Promo)


 * July 1989 (Josie Davis & Wil Wheaton; Keri & Debbie vs. Kirk & Sammy)

1990 With the change in taping location and production company came a slightly different intro, different-looking credits, and a more caffeinated Marc.


 * 1990 (Maureen Flannigan & Jason Hervey; Leslie & Dalia? vs. Brandon & Jason; 8/92 repeat, with a few commercials)
 * [Second promo is for the "world television premiere" of And You Thought Your Parents Were Weird (released 11/15/91), airing "Friday at 6:00pm".]


 * 1990 (Soleil Moon Frye & Leonardo DiCaprio; Shelley & Mary vs. Casey & David)

Disney, Take Two (2014)
Disney Channel: January 14/March 3 - May 21, 2014

Short-lived kids revamp hosted by Justin Willman. I'm only listing this for the sake of completeness, as I've tried watching this online and wasn't a fan of what I saw.

While Round 1 (draw as many words as possible in 90 seconds) resembles the traditional format with a few small wrinkles added, the other rounds and bonus round get pretty gimmicky (and not in a good way, at least for me, but then again I'm not in Disney's target demographic).