User:Daniel Benfield/Joker Joker Joker Video Archive

Joker! Joker! Joker! was a fun spinoff of the regular Joker's Wild. Too bad it didn't last more than two seasons, though...or, for that matter, lead back into the adult version having kids play.

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 ©1973-75/1977-81 Barry-Enright Productions and associated entities.

Predecessors (1970s)
Children's "weeks" (actually more like two- or three-show periods) were an annual (possibly a bit more often?) event on the CBS version, and were also done during the first two seasons of the syndicated run.

CBS
 * 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 likely 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}; Jack cracks 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".]

Daily Syndication (loser picks from one of five windup boxes reading J-O-K-E-R; bonus game changed to a variant of the eventual 1990s style)
 * January-February 1978 (Youngsters, Day 2: Jamal vs. Greg {continued from yesterday}, Gina vs. Maria {the camera positions are wrong!}, Miranda vs. Susan; begins just before Jack's introduced, last segment heavily truncated, ends during fee plugs)
 * 1978? (Tiffany vs. Peter; original broadcast?, begins just into Jay's intro of Tiffany, ends after subsequent bonus game)
 * [Peter wants to be President so he can...veto the Equal Rights Amendment?]

Series (1979-81)
Syndicated, Weekly: September 22 or 29, 1979 - September [June 20?], 1981 (37 episodes in at least Season 1)

In a rare move, kept the "returning champ" element of the parent series. Follows the same format as the parent show, the only real difference being that winning the front game awarded a $500 savings bond. As far as I know, GSN's only ever aired Season 1.

Some of the below episodes were taped from GSN's Kids Zone block, which before the end of the Dark Period was hosted by a girl named Kimberly and otherwise wasn't much different from the rest of the lineup – the "Taped [month and year]" graphic was shown in the bottom-right corner at times, the fee plugs aired, etc.

After the Dark Period, though, she was replaced by Adrian R'Mante and a "junior green ball" with the presentation turning into "kid-friendly Faux Pause" with some of the most annoying and pointless inserts ever...although Faux Pause at least had brief flashes of competence and cleverness.

Red-background Jokers during intro and main game; no graphic for bonus prize package totals
 * September 1979 (Premiere: Jamie vs. Derek {GREAT contestant!}, with Cory playing later {taped 5/79}; taped from GSN, first half-second or so missing {alternate copy, more complete intro but kinda-hissy audio})

Jokers in intro change background from red to green
 * November?-December? 1979 (Rita {Game 2 - $500} vs. Sean, continued from last week at 0-0 with Ryan playing later and a hilarious moment in Game 2!; Kids Zone airing, pre- or mid-Dark Period alternate copy from a later Kids Zone airing, with the dumb inserts})
 * November?-December? 1979 (Sean at the Devil, then vs. Troy F. with Keith {whose interests are misstated by Jay Stewart} playing later {Part 2}; Kids Zone airing with the dumb inserts, audio/video goes off from end of first segment through part of Troy's interview)
 * [One prize is a Jog 'N' Tramp!]

Jokers in main game change background from red to green; graphic added for bonus prize package totals
 * December? 1979 (Troy F. at the Devil, then vs. Jennifer {who does not understand the Rhyme Time category} with Troy G. playing later {taped 10/79}; taped from GSN)
 * December? 1979 (Troy G. at the Devil, then vs. Samara with Hal playing later {taped 10/79}; taped from GSN in 1997-98, with one promo)
 * [One partial promo is a Kids Zone bumper with its original host, Kimberly.]


 * January? 1980 (Vickory {$4,100+} at the Devil, then {Game 3} vs. Roman with Billy playing later {taped 11/79}; taped from GSN, first second or so missing {alternate copy from a Kids Zone airing, with the dumb inserts and no fee plugs})
 * [Evidently, the later Kids Zone hosts don't know who Jay Stewart is (they make fun of him trying to say "Lickety Split" at one point).]
 * January? 1980 (Roman vs. Billy, continued from last week with Dawn playing later {taped 11/79} and Jack staging a mini-debate between the first two players; Kids Zone airing, begins just before logo appears {alternate copy from a later Kids Zone airing, no fee plugs})
 * [Evidently, the later Kids Zone hosts still don't know who Jay is (they mention him while he's describing a trip).]
 * January? 1980 (Billy vs. Kurt, with Darlette playing later and two great Face the Devil rounds!; Kids Zone airing with the dumb inserts, begins right before logo)


 * Early? 1980 (KTHI promo with a bunch of clips, Jay Stewart announcing, and "The Savers"!)
 * April 12, 1980 (Suzie {Game 4 - $5,100+} vs. Justyn; taped from WFLD with commercials, ends during Face the Devil prize copy)
 * [Bob Hilton announces.]