Spell Binders

Spell Binders was a non-broadcast pilot that focused around spelling.

Broadcast
Unaired Pilot 1978

Packager
Goodson-Todman Productions

Host
Bill Anderson

Announcer
Gene Wood

Gameplay
The game was played with two competing teams (consisting of one celebrity & one contestant) in a competitive word game.

Main Game
The main game was two-leveled game.

Free for All
The first level called "Free for All" and featured a clue plus the first letter of the answer, with additional letters in order if nobody buzzed in. Any player could buzz in when they thought they knew the answer. If the player who buzzed in was incorrect, the similar player on the other team (if a celebrity buzzed in, the other celebrity participated) would be given an additional letter and this would volley back and forth until a player answered correctly. The first team to score three words played level two.

Level Two
In this round, one of the players went into an isolation booth while the other player tried to come up with three words that fit a category, such as "things you lick" or "Words associated with Johnny Carson". When that player was done, the isolated player was then brought out, and was given letters in each word one at a time until one of the three preselected words was guessed or a fifth letter was given. If less than five letters were given, they could try for the other two. Each word is worth $50. On the fifth letter, the other team could gamble on whether the winning team could use that fifth word successfully. If the gamble worked, the gambling team got $50. Otherwise, the winning team got an extra $50.

The process continued (playing "Free for All" then Level Two) with values increasing for each new round until one team reached $500. The first team to score $500 or more wins the game and moved on to the "Lucky 7" round for an increasing jackpot. (or more, since the jackpot would increase $1,000 for each time not won).

Lucky 7 (Bonus Round)
At the start of "Lucky 7" (not to be confused with The Price is Right pricing game of the same name), the winning contestant was isolated while both celebrities remained on stage. They were asked a Family Feud-typed question and they each gave one answer each. Then they alternated asking the audience for five more answers for a total of seven. When all said & done, the contestant returned to play the round. The winning contestant had one minute (60 seconds) to try to guess those seven previously given words, one at a time. The player was shown the first letter to the first one, and was shown additional letters every second when requested up until there were two letters remaining. Each correct word was worth $100 to the contestant, and getting all seven won the jackpot (which started at $5,000 plus $1,000 for each time not won) and audience members who assisted each won $100.

Link
Spell Binders @ The Game Show Pilot

YouTube Video
Intro to Spell Binders & Star Words