User:Daniel Benfield/Joker's Wild 1972 Video Archive

The CBS version of The Joker's Wild was a fun game finding its footing early on, with a $25,000 limit and an element of risk with the Joker's Jackpot. That said, its time before CBS picked it up is worth noting in and of itself...

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 ©1968-75 Jack Barry Productions and associated entities.

The 1960s (1968-69)
Taped December 8, 1968/January 1969 at Television City

The Joker's Wild started off as Barry's attempt to get back into producing game shows after the quiz show scandals blacklisted him in 1960; CBS, on the other hand, was understandably wary of him and opted for Allen Ludden, whose Password had ended a year earlier.

The original format was a pretty different beast than that of the eventual series, as the game was played to 13 points and the categories were "living" – i.e., the questions were read by celebrities. The bonus round is essentially the same as the eventual series, and both the show's logo and the Joker slides are pretty much finalized from the start.

Oddly, the "second pilot" below (actually a celeb-less dress rehearsal) simply has Allen reading the questions with generic category slides on the reels. Either nobody realized "Hey, this makes the game run more smoothly.", or the allure of the game was fully intended to be the "living categories"; given Barry used the idea again in 1970, I'm inclined to believe the latter.


 * Taped 12/8/68 (Pilot #1: Don Drysdale, Rosemary Clooney, Rich Little, Irene Moran, Pat Paulsen; Carol vs. Craig, then Sandra vs. Richard {Parts 3, 4, and 5}; jittery video, audio/video issues at times)
 * Taped 1/5/69 (DRESS NO-CLEB'S: Dinah vs. Charles, then Debbie vs. Doug; has slate!)

The Honeymoon Game (1970)
Syndicated (Metromedia stations only): Summer 1971 (one-off special)

Hosted by Jim McKrell and intended to be the first 90-minute game show, married couples play three games with the low scorers eliminated after each game. Problem is, the first game was a lame knockoff of The Newlywed Game while the other parts were a somewhat-modified Joker, leading to Barry excising the first part from the pilot as-aired (also the version that circulates).

In its place was essentially a sales pitch by Jack, noting that the first third of the format wasn't up to par and that the other parts would be lengthened should this become a series.

KTLA (1971)
KTLA, Daily?: 1971 (about three months)

A brief run, of which very little is known: it had three players, with $25 for a single category, $50 for a pair, and $100 for a triple with $250 being the goal.

Clips apparently aired in debut promos for the CBS series.

CBS (1972-75)
CBS Daytime: September 4, 1972 - June 13, 1975 (686 episodes, taped August 28?, 1972 - May 1975 at Television City)

The main focus of this page. When CBS couldn't get any of the people they wanted to host the show (and Bud Grant shot down Bob Barker's pleas to be given this or Gambit over The New Price Is Right), they reluctantly let Barry host the show himself for the first 13 weeks, and the rest is history.

GSN aired repeats from 2000-01, after the first two years (and the entirety of Spin-Off) were discovered in storage at WCBS in 2000. They started from the 1972 premiere and, from what I can tell, got to about late April 1973 before dropping Joker from the lineup.

Original bonus game and Joker's Jackpot rules

Bonus game altered slightly; nameplates removed from podiums (began 9/6/72)

"Jokers & Devils" bonus, Triples now worth $200, modified three-Joker/Joker's Jackpot rules (debuted 9/18/72)
 * April 23, 1973 (Kids' Week, Day 1: Irene vs. Michael, then Jewel vs. Bobby; taped from GSN)
 * [This week lasted three shows, and appears to be the latest GSN went in the CBS run. For these shows, and (assuming there were any) the pre-Face the Devil shows in '74, both the winner and loser play the Jokers & Devils bonus for prizes.]
 * April 24, 1973 (Kids' Week, Day 2: Jewel and Bobby at the Devil {continued from yesterday}, then Ady vs. Sean and Wendi vs. Ricky {Part 3}, with Jack cracking up during Game 2!; taped from GSN circa 2000-01, with one promo)
 * [One prize is tickets to a (Los Angeles) Dodgers vs. (San Francisco) Giants game "this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday" which from my research was held April 19-22, indicating that they may have intended this week for April 16-18. Another is tickets to the Icecapades premiere "Wednesday, April 25".]


 * Summer 1973-February 1974 (Intro, fee plugs, and close from the "Jokers & Devils" era; original broadcast, audio only)
 * ["Stay tuned for The $10,000 Pyramid."]

Joker's Jackpot dropped, standard Face the Devil format, car awarded for winning five games (debuted by #418, taped 5/6/74)
 * August 12-16, 1974 (#469: Andrea {$2,300} at the Devil, then {Game 4} vs. David Kaplowitz with Roberta playing later {taped 7/19/74}; studio master with slate!)
 * August? 1974 (Larry at the Devil, then {Game 6} vs. Jan; KTLA repeat from the week of 3/27-31/78 with commercials, begins shortly before Larry's first Face the Devil spin, Jan's interview missing {portion from 4:03-24}, ends while Jack talks to the game's loser)
 * [The question around 8:20 is about events that happened in Summer 1974, and Jack notes that Larry is so far one of the few people to win the car.]

"The Savers" replaced by "Joker's Jive" (began on #521, aired 10/21/74)
 * January 8, 1975 (#574: ? {male} vs. ? {female}, with the debut of the Lucky Hundred feature in Face the Devil {taped 12/20/74}; studio master with slate and timecode, clips only)
 * March 3, 1975 (#611, with the debut of the Audience Game...and something very interesting {taped 2/21/75}; studio master with slate and timecode, clips only)