User:Daniel Benfield/Sold Pilot Theatre

While many game shows have sold, it's a tossup on whether their pilots (which tend to get them in the door) get aired. This also includes pitchfilms, sales presentations, and sizzle reels. Shows where only the pilot was aired (such as Grill Me) are in the Unsold Pilot Theatre.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which (barring two exceptions) 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.

Aired
Pilots that aired during their respective shows' runs, typically first (such as National Bingo Night) but in some cases (such as You Deserve It and Take the Money & Run) last. This does not include pilots that were aired by GSN or Buzzr, but were originally not meant to be televised.

3's A Crowd (1979)
Aired September 17-19, 1979 (taped at Hollywood Center Studios); hosted by Jim Peck

Has a more "full" set (although no "SECRETARY"/"WIFE" placards), and Jim doesn't have that goofy-looking "perm" he'd sport in the series.


 * September 17, 1979 (Pilot #1/Premiere: Husbands - Guy/Art/Bob; Secretaries - Joy/Judy/Rose; Wives - Christy/Tina/Jane...and a catfight breaks out over spaghetti! {taped 12/78}; taped from GSN's "50 Greatest Game Shows of All-Time" farce, as #50 {alternate copy of "catfight" portion})

He Said, She Said
Aired 1969; hosted by Joe Garagiola

A celebrity couple competes against three civilian couples, plus the intro's a bit different and Joe introduces the couples rather than Johnny Olson. Not entirely sure whether this aired during the show's original run, though.


 * 1969 (Gene & Helen Rayburn/Thor & Marnie Stratton/Bob & Jean Babblewall/Newt & Beth Koll; First Topic: "Legs"; taped from GSN)
 * [Seemingly preserved as a B/W kinescope.]

How Do You Like Your Eggs?
March 23-31, 1977; hosted by Bill Cullen

A local show from Columbus, Ohio, broadcast live on four nights through Warner's QUBE cable service.

Five choices per front-game question
 * March 23, 1977 (Premiere: Sue & Larry vs. Lenore & Bob)

Four choices per front-game question (began 3/30/77)

The fifth slot was covered up by a display showing how many "home families" had answered the question, essentially doubling as an on-air ratings tracker.


 * March 30, 1977 (#3: Andy & Sara vs. Jim & Maureen {Part 3})
 * March 31, 1977 (Finale: Carl & Gayle vs. Charles & Sue {uploaded by me})

I've Got a Secret (1976)
Aired June 15-22, 1976 (taped September 28, 1975); hosted by Bill Cullen

The first two episodes of the four-show Summer run. The other two were taped June 11, 1976, the only difference being the presence of Phyllis George instead of Elaine Joyce.


 * June 22, 1976 (Pilot #2: Elaine Joyce, Richard Dawson, Pat Collins, Henry Morgan; Special Guest: Rodney Dangerfield {taped 9/28/75})

Make Me Laugh! (1979)
Aired 1979; hosted by Bobby Van

No real differences from what I can tell, and I'm not entirely sure whether this aired during the show's original run.


 * 1979 (Johnny Dark, Bill Kirchenbauer, Roger & Roger {taped 1978}; Contestants: Pamelia, Edward, Sharon Lee; no credits)

Name That Tune (1984)
Aired around late March 1985; hosted by Jim Lange

A "pilot week" with a different intro and somewhat different set. Aired on at least a few stations around late March '85, and probably as a result they were in the package aired by The Family Channel.


 * 1984 (Pilot #1: Diana Davis vs. Alfred Bogdalioff)
 * 1984 (Pilot #2 or #5: Donna ? vs. Ken ? {last names given, but not displayed})
 * 1984 (Pilot #3: Connie Arnold vs. Ross Curran)
 * 1984 (Pilot #4: Dee O'Connor vs. Duane Krause)

The Newlywed Game (1984)
February 13-17, 1984 (taped January 27, 1984 at ABC Television Center in Hollywood); hosted by Jim Lange

One of the many, many week-long things ABC tried plugging into the schedule around this point. Has a slightly different set from the eventual series.


 * February 1984 (Promo for the special week)

The Parent Game
Aired September 4, 1972; hosted by Clark Race

Different theme, slightly different set, and Charlie O'Donnell announcing (Johnny Jacobs did the other 21 episodes that are known to exist). Also, a clip from later in the show precedes the intro, which was cut for the series.


 * September 4, 1972 (Premiere: Mike & Sherry Dekovsky/Chuck & Marina Mosier/Louis & Tracy Davey; taped from GSN {alternate copies: intro, first 7:30 of gameplay})
 * [Part of Clark's signoff is muted (maybe he said "tomorrow"?), and Johnny does the Barris spiel for whatever reason.]

The Perfect Match (1967)
Aired September 18-19, 1967 (at least two pilots); hosted by Dick Enberg

Different intro and theme. Most notably, the magnet board is on Dick's right, the envelopes have a yellow-on-blue color scheme, and the magnets themselves don't really work like they should.

Not entirely sure whether these aired during the show's original run, though.


 * September 1967 (Men - Larry/Art/Bill; Women - Sharon/Arden/Sue; taped from GSN)

Pop Quiz Hotshot
Aired March 31, 2015; hosted by Brad Jones as "Brad Jones" (see below)

Good lord, what a mess.

In mid-2013, Channel Awesome did an Indiegogo fundraiser, asking for $50,000 to upgrade their lighting, cameras, and audio; finish and soundproof their sets; and produce a weekly "Retro Pop Culture Challenge" game show hosted by Brad. Of the nearly $90,000 raised, over $47,000 was to go to studio upgrades and the initial costs for this series.

The storyline is that Brad wants to do a game show, so he puts on a low-budget one by kidnapping people to be his contestants. Each round (80s trivia in Round 1, 90s trivia in Round 2) unexpectedly throws in questions about politics, wars, and death. Losing the main game gets you "shot"; and losing the final round also "kills" you; they don't show the "deaths" on-camera, though.

According to former Channel Awesome contributor Obscurus Lupa (Allison Pregler), who was let go from the site by CEO Mike Michaud for probably the pettiest of reasons, the pilot was taped and retaped at least 17 times, most with the same questions "and guests". (Probably the biggest indication of how long this took, and by far the most obvious, is that Brad has hair during the intro but is bald during the pilot itself.)

When the pilot was finally released, the reaction was swift and fierce. While Brad had suggested to Doug and Rob Walker that this be a satire of the genre, most viewers opted to judge the game show format in the game show as...well, a game show...and found serveral glaring issues. Those who didn't criticise the format opted to criticise the technical aspects, and there were plenty of faults there too (for instance, while the Indiegogo promotion noted that some of the money would go toward soundproofing the sets, the pilot has echoing all over the place).

Greggo offered to help improve the show, noting that the endgame is fine but the front game is pointless, unrewarding, and boring. He also noted that the premise is rather similar to a game show he almost took to pilot with ADV Films in the early 2000s. Similarly, Channel Awesome contributor GuruLarry had some choice words about the show in the comments of this YouTube video (itself LordKaT and friends doing a long beatdown of the pilot):

"They said absolutely nothing to the other CA members on this series, we weren't even privy to seeing an early airing of it. it was all behind closed doors.

Which is ironic as a certain long time contributor on their site has worked multiple times for Endemol, the company that makes several international game shows on Television, such as Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Wipeout, Golden Balls Etc. So knows what goes into making a proper game show.

''I'd be here all day saying what needs to be changed. But really there needs to be a catch to make it interesting, putting wacky characters on top still doesn't disguise it's just a basic question based show."''

Probably the one thing that got the most praise was Brad. He's a funny guy and I love his stuff (for the most part), and I hope he took some medication for the back pain he got from carrying this thing.

Per this May 2015 article by a later contestant, five more episodes were taped around October 2014 under the same format with some fixes: the once-pointless minigames now award four points to the winner, the players can't buzz in until Brad finishes reading the question, and correct/incorrect answers are worth +/-1 point (the pilot awarded 10 points per answer and had no penalty).

In early April 2015, Rob Walker posted an update stating that an episode with Fard Muhammad hosting would be posted later that month (having been taped the previous week) and that four episodes with Brad would be taped the first week of May.

The Fard-hosted show never got posted, however, and by about early July all the unaired episodes were scrapped. When Hotshot returned, it had eliminated everyone except the Nostalgia Critic (who now served as host) and Fard, with a new backstory and the questions becoming rapid-fire "name the source of this film/TV quote".


 * March 31, 2015 (Max vs. John {alternate copy, albeit with a snarky title})
 * [For the game show fan, there's questions about Remote Control, Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and Monopoly.]

Shopper's Casino
Aired September 8, 1987; hosted by Jeff Maxwell and Debbie Sue Maffett

I've gotten confirmation this was actually a series, which ran from at least September 8-29. And yeah, I know it's bad. Really bad. So bad that it didn't show up online until April 2013.

Of all things, the May 2, 1989 Weekly World News had a blurb on Cynthia Brooks and namedropped this show. Yes, really.


 * September 8, 1987 (Maryann vs. Rich; has most commercials)
 * [I suspect this was an aired pilot since the person playing "by phone" sounds more like they're actually present in the same location.]

To Tell the Truth (1990)
Aired September 3, 1990; hosted by Richard Kline

More basic set (combining elements from the early-1960s and mid-1970s sets), a different host, and Charlie O'Donnell announcing (he subbed for Burton Richardson on the series). Two pilots were made, but weren't supposed to air – NBC mistakenly fed Pilot #2 to the East Coast instead of the premiere!


 * September 3, 1990 (Pilot #2: Morton Downey Jr., Cindy Adams, Lynn Swann, Lynn Redgrave {taped 1/19/90}; Subjects: Robin Mormello {Wall Street worker who posed nude for Playboy}, Harley Lou Cobb {put a sign on his lawn to attract a wife}; no credits)

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Aired December 18/24, 1991; hosted by Greg Lee

Has a bunch of differences large (the scoring system, plus in the Loot-Warrant-Crook round the players didn't have to find them in that order) and small (Pilot #1 had a ransom note rather than the Phone Tap). At least one airing of each had a slide and voiceover put in front of the show noting that while the scoring was different, the game was the same.

On a side note, I have no idea what the last taped episode of the series was; best I can tell is “Held For B-Ransom”, taped 6/29/95.


 * December 18, 1991 (Pilot #1/"The Purloined Pooch": Jerrylyn/Prashant/Mike, with Rockapella performing "Zombie Jamboree"!; begins just before Corporation for Public Broadcasting plug {alternate copy})
 * December 24, 1991 (Pilot #2/"The Disoriented Express": Jacki/Ted/Cade, with a strange audience game after the show; taped from WTVS {alternate copy... thing, no pre-intro disclaimer, post-Season 1 theme dubbed over credits})

Win, Lose or Draw (1987, Convy)
Aired September 5 or 6, 1987 (taped at Television City); hosted by Bert Convy

Slightly different logo, very different contestant nametags, Rod Roddy announcing, and the caricature drawings only have the celebrities' heads. Aired as a "Sneak Preview" the weekend before the show's debut on September 7.


 * September 1987 (Loni Anderson/Zee/Betty White vs. Burt Reynolds/Jerry/Tony Danza {taped 11/2/86}, with a pretty obvious reshoot during Jerry's interview {his jacket changes for this part only, then changes back right afterward})

You Bet Your Life (1947)
Aired December 28, 1949; hosted by Groucho Marx

Not really a "pilot" in the traditional sense, but a test film presumably designed to show what a TV version might look like. As mentioned by Groucho at the end of the show, this was also the last episode with original sponsor Elgin-American; the next week (January 4, 1950), DeSoto took over sponsorship and remained until about 1957.

The primary copy is from a Marx Brothers DVD or compilation of some sort, and has some edits to remove flubbed lines and the pre-intro banter; the alternate copy has slightly lower quality, but no edits and is about two minutes longer as a result. Both are nearly an hour long, per standard recording practice of the series.


 * December 28, 1949 (#49-13: Howard & Arlene Scala/Evelyn Fredricksen & Larry Steams/Dr. Mar Elia & Jess Swope {taped 12/5/49}; has commercials, albeit read offstage {alternate copy, see above for differences})

You Don't Know Jack (2001)
Aired July 18, 2001 (taped at Television City Studio 36); hosted by Paul Reubens

Has a slightly different set (for one, there's no contestant nameplates) and slightly different graphics. Given how downright-weird this show was, it's not really a surprise that they'd air this last.

A review of the pilot (by two audience members, including the late Randy Amasia) is here, which notes that Paul hosted as himself (the aired version adds the "Troy Stevens" name, as with the other five episodes) but "was feeding totally off offstage cues, and anytime a cue was mis-given or not given, Paul froze, and tape stopped."


 * July 18, 2001 (Last Aired {taped 12/00}: Stewart/Vivicca/Terry {alternate copy... thing})

Unaired
For pilots and such that didn't air, despite the show itself selling. This could be due to a format change, a host change, or the pilot itself not being too good. Occasionally, though, pilot footage gets aired by the show or in a special (or, in one odd instance, as a semi-gag in a mini-series).

100%
Taped 1998; series aired January - September 17, 1999

Hosted by Mark Henning (Casey Kasem did the series, which was a waste of him and his talents).

This is a good example of how not all shows translate well in other countries. See, in the United Kingdom the show was a franchise, running from 1997-2001 for about 1,500 episodes, with the winner each day getting £100 and coming back on the next show (though in 1998 they imposed a 75-day cap because they feared champ Ian Lygo's dominance was hurting the ratings; Lygo responded by saying that a 100-day cap would've made more sense thematically).

Pearson (the company that brought the show to the States) decided that the top prize should be $100,000, but only if a player got a perfect score; anything less than the titular 100%, and you got just $10 per right answer. The issue with this is that even with numerous specials on specific subjects, the closest anybody got in the British franchise was a 94 (the highest in regular play was an 87, set by Lygo).

Still, the American 100% did have returning champs, which is more than could be said for the Match Game this ran alongside or the Family Feud that replaced both.


 * 1998 (Pitchfilm with clips of the pilot {Kevin/Dana/John}, some amusing claims {100% is more exciting than the internet? Seriously?}, outright admission of its own cheapness {the payout being $10 per answer}, and clips of far better game shows you could be watching instead of this; slightly blurry video)
 * [The pitch claims that 100% is "more game, less show". Okay, fair point and I'm all for more meatiness to my game shows, but there is such a thing as "too much game, not enough show". I really could tear apart this pitch's claims, they're that laughable.]

The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime
Taped 1985; series aired January 6, 1986 - September 11, 1987

Different intro spiel, slightly different set, and different graphics. Clips were used in a couple of behind-the-scenes reports.


 * 1985 (Carey & Lauren Heck? vs. Heidi & Chuck Mahalick?; intro and tail end of bonus round, followed by a bunch of excerpts from an interview Jim did at one point)

All-Star Secrets
Taped August 6, 1978; series aired January 8 - August 10, 1979

Celebrity Secrets, with a slightly different set and a pretty different scoring system.


 * August 6, 1978 (Robert Reed, Dody Goodman, ARTHUR GODFREY, Lee Meriwether, Charles Nelson Reilly {Part 2}; Evelyn/Brooks/Joanie)

Bargain Hunters
Taped May 28, 1987 at ABC Television Center in Hollywood; series aired July 6 - September 4, 1987

Slightly different graphics, and Bargain Quiz has a Double Prices-esque format. (Games go in order of Bargain Quiz, Bargain Trap, Bargain Busters.)


 * May 28, 1987 (Lisa vs. Dorothy, Sully vs. Mart, Mary vs. Tammie {Part 2, Part 3})

Beat the Clock (1979)
Taped September 4-5, 1979 at Television City Studio 33 (at least three pilots); series aired September 17, 1979 - February 1, 1980

Slightly different set and format, plus a longer intro. Oddly, only the first 10 minutes of Pilot #3 seem to circulate.

One major difference is that in Pilot #1, Bonus Shuffle only determines how much you'll play for in the Bonus Stunt and doesn't offer any money itself, meaning that a couple can win the game but have no money to show for it.


 * September 4, 1979 (Pilot #1: Les & Mindy {Day 2 - $5,000} vs. Michael & Rhonda; has slate! {alternate copy, from a Buzzr broadcast})
 * [Bonus Stunt: Use a fishing rod/line to set a large penny flat on top of a short pole.]
 * September 5, 1979 (Pilot #2: Gary & Kris vs. Ed & Donna; has slate!)
 * [Bonus Stunt: Get three bowling pins standing upright without using your hands.]

Beat the Clock (2002)
Taped April 19, 2002 (two pilots); series aired September 2, 2002 - September 4, 2003

The first pilot had a different hostess (Tina Willie) and a different color scheme for the logo, but the biggest difference was the format: each couple started with 30 seconds. Completing the opening stunt added 10 seconds, while completing a stunt in Round 1 added 20 seconds plus any time remaining on the Clock. Round 2 brought back the Celebrity Solo Stunt from the 1969-74 version, except now the couples wagered all or part of the time they'd built up (although I suspect the guest in this case, Banks Hellfran or somesuch, wasn't actually a celeb). Round 3 was played the same as the series, and winning the game awarded another 30 seconds. The winning couple used their accumulated time in the Prize Vault Swirling Whirlwind, which contained $50,000 in cash but no prizes.

The second pilot was an hour-long special intended solely for a test audience, beginning with eight teams being cut down to three who then played pretty much the same game as the series; the Swirling Whirlwind here had $100,000 in cash and prizes.


 * April 19, 2002 (Pilot #1: Ricky & Christine/Rodney & Debbie/Donald & Michelle; has slate!)
 * [Oddly, there's no credits.]

Bedtime Stories
Taped March 9, 1979 at Metromedia Square in Hollywood; series aired June 18 - August, 1979

Hosted by Al Lohman & Roger Barkley, and pretty clearly played for laughs more than anything else. ...Actually, there's not much game here, with the pre-taped interviews with the couples taking up over half the show.

Still, the game format (once they get to it) is pretty interesting: stop a light for 1, 2, or 3 points, then get asked a poll question. Give the answer most of those surveyed gave, get the points; don't, your opponents get them. Whoever gets the points can spend them to mark off portions of various prizes: two points for a brass bed, three for a hot tub, four for a video recorder or a trip to Paris, and five for a car. The first couple to mark off the rightmost segment of any prize gets it, and the first couple to get three prizes wins them.

Like I said, interesting format; I just wish the interviews didn't take up so much time.


 * March 9, 1979 (John & Nancy Caring vs. Janice & Joel Grace; has slate and a text-based sales pitch! {alternate copy of intro})
 * [The sales pitch notes that the show will be seen in the Fall; it aired for two months in the Summer instead.]

The Better Sex
Taped April 28, 1977 (at least three pilots); series aired July 18, 1977 - January 13, 1978

Seven-member teams, a 70-person audience consisting of both genders, and $7,000 on offer. The series knocked these down to six, 30 of the opposite gender, and $5,000 respectively.


 * April 28, 1977 (Pilot #3: Jeffrey/Bill/Jack/William/Chuck/Major/Jerry vs. Janet/Blanche/Glenda/Pat/Sharon/Dawn/Jerri)

The Big Payoff (1962)
Taped 1962 at Tavern On the Green in New York; series aired approx. September - December, 1962

A revival of the game show/fashion show hybrid that ran for most of the 1950s, but with some weirdness that probably should've been fixed in this pilot.

Oh, and announcer Marvin Lark keeps calling host Robert Paige "David", for whatever reason. Expect to hear "David-I mean, Bob." at least a few times.


 * 1962 (Arthur & Arlene vs. Dr. & Joyce Sykes; has a Payoff Partner Plug, low audio, first part of second segment missing {alternate copy})

The Big Showdown
Taped 1973/1974 (at least three pilots); series aired December 23, 1974 - July 4, 1975

Called Showdown in both cases, but the 1973 attempt had a very different set and somewhat different format (the centerpiece was a large safe, which served as the bonus round). See here for a picture of the set.

The 1974 attempts resembled what became the series, albeit with a slightly different set (most notably, the bonus game uses white flip displays for the money rather than a green Eggcrate one) and some different payouts. Interestingly, the top prize is consistently said to be $5,000 until just before the champ rolls to set their Payoff Point, at which point the $10,000 prize is brought up.


 * 1974 (Nancy/Bob/Elaine, with "Politics '74" as a Round 2 category that never gets picked)
 * [Darryl Heine: "the original Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (1987 book version) showed pics from another Show Down pilot where the catagories for the Final Show Down round were ANOTOMY, FASHION, and THE BARD."]
 * [A couple of questions in the Oscars category are about Barbra Streisand (at 9:34) and Robert Redford (at 12:46); the 46th Academy Awards were held 4/2/74, though it's possible the mentions of nominations are referring to an announcement of said nods rather than the ceremony itself. In that case, the fact the Redford question mentions The Sting (released 12/25/73), along with three other questions (about new "Energy Czar" William Simon, the "brand-new" 13-cent price of airmail stamps, and Gore Vidal's book on Aaron Burr), would suggest this being earlier '74 with an outside chance of late 12/73 (the latter of which would help explain why Politics '74 wasn't picked).]

Blackout
Taped November 8, 1986 at Television City (Studio 33); series aired January 4 - April 1, 1988

Hosted by Robb Weller, with a slightly different set and what sounds like Dean Goss announcing.


 * November 8, 1986 (Markie Post & Charlie Siebert; partial intro, spotted during the opening of the 1994 ABC mini-series The Stand)

Blankety Blanks
Taped February 10, 1975 at ABC Television Center in New York (at least three pilots); series aired April 21 - June 27, 1975

The front game uses letters instead of numbers (meaning the blue bars are solely dividers rather than denoting each clue), the device Bill sticks the cards into is a solid red piece rather than the much more complimentary white with black or dark-blue lines, and the "main" score displays have no dollar signs.


 * February 10, 1975 (Pilot #3: Anita Gilette & Soupy Sales; Sue vs. Candy, with Jim playing later {alternate copy of intro, with slate})

Body Language
Taped October 9, 1983 at Television City Studio 33 (three pilots); series aired June 4, 1984 - January 3, 1986

Different theme, the set and logo are green compared to the mostly-blue of the series, the scoring system is even more busted, and the bonus round is completely different (most notably the fact it doesn't involve charades).

Mike Burger has a review of Pilots #1 and #3 here.


 * October 9, 1983 (Pilot #2: Jenilee Harrison & Jon Bauman; ANNE-MARIE JOHNSON vs. Sam; Buzzr broadcast)
 * May? 1984 (Debut promo, with clips of a pilot)

Born Lucky
Taped December 1991 at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles; series aired October 5, 1992 - April 2, 1993

Hosted by Mark Sweet, with a far more basic logo and the theme from FOX's Fun House. It's also played for real money, although since this is a pilot I suspect it's worth even less than the "Mall Money" the series had.

Speaking of the series, this has nothing that made it interesting, although the mall (which is decorated for Christmas in several shots) looks nice. :)


 * December 1991 (Players: Joe, Carlease {I swear that's what it looks like}, Nora; montage including intro, four stunts, and close)

Break the Bank (1976, Daytime)
Taped March 23, 1976; series aired April 12 - July 23, 1976

Has some dome-ish backings behind the celebs; a pilot for the syndicated version had no numbers on the boxes.


 * April 12, 1976 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot {alternate copy})

Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak
Taped October 19, 1984 (at least three pilots); series aired January 6 - April 4, 1986

Very different set, Rod Roddy announcing, and a more generous bonus round.


 * October 19, 1984 (Pilot #2: Jini/Susan/Karen/Becky/Wanda {$2,500} vs. Jack/Scott/Peter/Patrick/Peter {alternate copy, lower quality})
 * October 19, 1984 (Pilot #3: Wanda/Martha/Landa?/Jini/Kathy {$2,500} vs. Lance/Bryan/Bob/Peter/Jack; has slate!)

Bullseye (1980)
Taped early November 1979; series aired September 29, 1980 - June 25, 1982

Shot for NBC (Variety 10/12/79 Daily, Page 16), with "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" as the theme (the series used a similar-sounding piece).

The biggest difference is with Bonus Island, which used just Bullseyes and Lightning: stop a small display on Bonus Island itself to determine how many spins you get (3, 4, 5, or Bullseye), spin three Bullseyes to double your main-game winnings, and possibly take out over $1,000,000.


 * Early November 1979 (Gale {$13,000} vs. Scott, with Kei playing later)

Caesars Challenge
Taped late October 1992 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas; series aired June 14, 1993 - January 14, 1994

Has an odd betting format and a far more expensive car on offer, but otherwise it seems to be the same. The Instant Jackpot also rolls over from show to show; probably for the best that this was removed for the series, since a day-to-day rolling jackpot could swing the game pretty hard if it goes on long enough.

Originally titled Illusions, the show was shot for syndication in Fall 1993 (Broadcasting 10/26/92, Page 20). Cannell Distribution held a "post-pilot taping ceremony" on October 28 (Variety 10/21/92 Daily, Page 26), so that's presumably when the pilot was taped (the 11/2/92 Broadcasting notes on Page 26 that the pilot was taped "last week"). A month later, it was reported that some kind of pilot presentation would be done at NATPE '93 (Broadcasting 12/21/92, Page 21).

On a side note, Ryan Rinkerman notes in his collection "Notice the last word that comes up in the audience game." – it's PILOT.


 * Late October 1992 (Laurel/Scott {Day 3 - $50,000+!}/Leanna {Car: Lincoln Mark VIII} {Part 3}, with the Instant Jackpot starting at $2,000 and a really obvious sign that the bonus game was played twice)

Card Sharks (1978)
Taped March 17, 1978 (two pilots); series aired April 24, 1978 - October 23, 1981

Set's a bit different (most noticeably the contestant area), Johnny Olson announces instead of Gene Wood, and the intro was recycled wholesale into the series. Clips appeared during CBS' Gameshow Marathon in 2006.

Apparently, there was a third pilot shot, which probably would've just been done like a general episode.


 * March 17, 1978 (Pilot #1: JACK CAMPION {$4,200} vs. Pam; has slate! {alternate copy, lower quality})
 * March 17, 1978 (Pilot #2: Judith {$4,200} vs. Johnny; has slate! {alternate copy, lower quality})
 * [Notably, a shot from this pilot was used as NBC's tel-op slide for the show.]

Celebrity Sweepstakes
Taped January 23, 1974 (two pilots); series aired April 1, 1974 - October 1, 1976

Slightly different format and set (for one, the celebrity nameplates are small black characters on a white background), but that's pretty much it.


 * January 23, 1974 (Pilot #2: John Astin, Lucie Arnaz, Ted Knight, Dean Jones, Patty Duke-Astin, Jane Withers; Sandi {$12,850}/Cy/Jackie {Three-Time Champ Car: Pontiac Firebird})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 21:00 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one.]

Chain Letter (1966)
Taped April 25, 1966; series aired July 4 - October 14, 1966

Uses "Put On A Happy Face" as the theme, whereas the series used a different piece. Oddly, UCLA's listing has an airdate listed of July 4, suggesting this was an aired pilot. This also seems to be the source of the press photos on Getty Images.

The "1966" designation is to distinguish this from the 1964 pilot, which was hosted by Dennis James and had a far different format.


 * April 25, 1966 (RUTA LEE & Dick Patterson; credits only)

Chain Reaction (2006)
Taped March 29, 2006 (three pilots); series aired August 1, 2006 - June 9, 2007

Different host (Tim Vincent), slightly different format (there's two betting rounds here), a more basic set, and a slightly different logo. Also, the teams aren't battle-of-the-sexes (they instead have a common bond, kinda like Hot Potato) and there seems to be returning champs.

A taping report is here.


 * March 29, 2006 (Pilot #3: Guy/Christa/Bryan vs. Robin/JOHN CASTELLANO/Lisa; no credits, though that seems to be intentional)

The Challengers
Taped September 15, 1989; series aired August 31, 1990 - August 2 [30], 1991

Has different (and smaller) contestant podiums, plus different graphics for the video wall and a different way of showing the date on the screen behind Dick Clark.

Clips were shown in a preview promo. The full pilot is held by the UCLA Film & Television Archive.


 * 1990 (Preview promo voiced by Ernie Anderson, with clips of the pilot {David/Rodger/Ursula}; taped from WNBC)

Child's Play
Taped May 11, 1982 at Television City (two pilots); series aired September 20, 1982 - September 16, 1983

Has a better format, although I'm not sure whether that's a good thing. Also notable for being the last new show credited as a Goodson-Todman production; the series used the Mark Goodson Productions credit.


 * May 11, 1982 (Pilot #2: Glenn {Champ} vs. Dautie; Buzzr broadcast)
 * [Matches the pictures on Adam Nedeff's page for the pilots, which includes the slate for "P-#2".]

The Diamond Head Game
Taped 1974 in Hawaii; series aired January 6 - July 4, 1975

Not sure what was different, actually...


 * 1974 (Brief clip; B/W video)
 * Late December 1974 (KNBC debut promo, with clips of the pilot; B/W video)

Dirty Rotten Cheater
Taped 2002; series aired January 6 - April 14, 2003

Cheaters, taped for NBC on the Weakest Link set (hence the much higher dollar values).


 * 2002 (Alysha/Kevin/Dennis/Tricia/Matt/Mann; ends after Round 1)

Don Adams' Screen Test
Taped May 16, 1975; series aired September 7, 1975 - February 21 [September 18], 1976

Runs an hour, and was financed by Adams himself (this was his idea, serving as executive producer and host along with directing the various scenes) with Universal footing the bill for the other 24 shows that were made (which, from what I can tell, ran a half-hour each). The pilot may or may not have aired during the run, though.

And hey, Charlie O'Donnell announces!


 * May 16, 1975 (First 12 minutes, with James Cann appearing and segment with Connie Stevens)
 * [The slates seen during the screen tests are generic, whereas the series used a slate dedicated to them with the show's logo present.]

Double Dare (1976)
Taped November 1976 at Television City (Studio 33); series aired December 13, 1976 - April 29, 1977

Some audiovisual differences, but the main thing is that the Spoilers round has ten clues, with five Passes and five Gives.


 * November 1976 (Pilot #1: Amy {$500} vs. Rowland, with Mike playing later; Buzzr broadcast)

Double Dare (1986)
Taped 1986; series aired October 6, 1986 - February 19, 1988

Hosted by Geoffrey Darby (and apparently shot in his basement), a fascinating glimpse into the original ideas for the format, with an unsurprisingly primitive set. While the payouts are the same as the series, the game begins with a toss-up question rather than an opening stunt.


 * 1986 (Mrs. Mister {names not given in available footage} vs. The Powers {Gabe & Phoebe}; montage, from the 1988 videotape Double Dare: The Inside Slop)

Dream House (1983)
Taped February 2, 1983 (at least three pilots); series aired April 4, 1983 - June 29, 1984

Slightly different set and format, with Rod Roddy announcing.


 * February 2, 1983 (Pilot #3: Peggy & Tim {Day 3 - $14,000+} vs. Ron & Nancy)
 * March 28-April 3, 1983 (Debut promo, with clips of Pilot #3 and the Premiere)

The Face is Familiar
Taped late December 1965 or early January 1966; series aired May 7 - September 3, 1966

Hosted by Jack Clark, with a somewhat different set and slightly different format (each game's winner got $200, and winning the bonus game awarded an extra $500).

Shot for CBS, the few articles I can find refer to the pilot as "just finished" (Variety 1/7/66 Daily, Page 10). The show was available as a Summer replacement series or a daytime slot in the Fall (Broadcasting 1/31/66, Page 62), and eventually got the former...albeit with Jack Whitaker hosting.


 * 1965-66 (Betsy Palmer & BILL CULLEN; Nathan vs. Phyllis and Andy vs. Jill, with Game 2 lasting forever {alternate copy uploaded by me, cleaner video but low audio and missing the first second or so})

Family Feud (1976)
Taped early 1976; series aired July 12, 1976 - June 14, 1985

Has a goofy-looking set, different Strike symbols, Johnny Olson announcing, and several other oddities. Clips appeared during the intro and Finale of CBS' Gameshow Marathon.

Per Adam Nedeff, one of Goodson-Todman's first choices to host Feud was Geoff Edwards, who after being given a bad description of the premise thought it was going to be similar to The Neighbors and declined (he also had a deal pending with Bob Stewart for what became Shoot For The Stars). The company eventually chose Jack Narz, but then Richard Dawson opted to exercise a clause in his Match Game contract that allowed him to host any new game Goodson-Todman developed. Goodson didn't want to give Feud to Dawson, but ABC overruled him.

That last part didn't help matters when, later on (and definitely by the end of 1982), Goodson-Todman fired Richard and told ABC they needed a new host for Feud...to which ABC signed Dawson to a network contract and pushed him back to the show.


 * Early 1976 (Speir vs. Madvig {alternate copy... thing, low audio, stilted video, and Windows Media Player borders throughout})
 * July 1976 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot)

Family Feud (1988, Nighttime)
Taped August 1987 at Television City Studio 33 (at least two pilots); series aired September 19, 1988 - May 26, 1995

Now hosted by Ray Combs, the set's clearly a "halfway point" between how it was in 1985 and what it became when the CBS version began taping in June 1988. Oh, and Fast Money has a little wrinkle that should be on the show now: losing awards $10 per point.

While these were shot for a syndicated run, distributed by LBS Communications, Goodson was negotiating with CBS and NBC to get a daytime version on the air, with Wheel of Fortune cited as precedent where concurrent network and syndicated runs have had cross-promotional benefits (Variety 8/5/87, Page 35; big thanks to Greg Brobeck for finding this one!). The daytime show's debut was announced near the end of '87 (Broadcasting 11/30/87, Page 133).


 * August 1987 (Pilot A: Perry vs. Mandic; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copy of some portions from the original edit, including slate})
 * [Oddly, the copy Buzzr aired has several dubbed-in board calls by Ray, with edits to cover up the parts where he originally said them on-camera (compare the "bra stuffing" answer in Question 1 between the two videos).]
 * 1987 ("Spotlight" profile of Ray, with clips of at least one other pilot {Franklin vs. Lakin})
 * [Oddly, the clips of Franklin/Lakin don't have the show's logo on the family podiums, even though Pilot A did.]

Family Feud Challenge
Taped early 1992 at Television City Studio 33 (at least three pilots); series aired June 29, 1992 - March 26 [September 10], 1993

The foundation of the hour-long format is here, but boy is it played differently. It also finally explains why the top-center display was expanded to four digits...and it has zero to do with Bullseye.


 * Early 1992 (Pilot #3: Del Campo vs. Campbell, with Kakadelas {$12,500} playing later; Buzzr broadcast {alternate copy, with some commercials})

Fun House
Taped February 6-7, 1988 at Hollywood Center Studios (at least two pilots); series aired September 5, 1988 - April 13, 1991

Slightly different set, no Tiny (Brian Cummings is the announcer here), the contestants earn cash instead of points, and the execution of the Fun House seems like a copy of the Stunt-era Prize Vault from Break the Bank: the announcer describes the rooms, there's a Number Jumbler equivalent ("Bang the Button", but it awards cash instead of tags), the prize tags had barcodes and were inserted into the front-game podium, and finding the right tag in the House awarded over $25,000 in cash and prizes.

The copyright notice lists XPTLA Company, the same one seen on The $1,000,000 Chance of A Lifetime, the '86 Perfect Match, and some Telepictures-produced TV movies of the era; the series had a Lorimar Distribution copyright, later replaced by a Warner Bros. one.

Of note, when the series began taping, the prize tags still had the barcodes from the pilots. These were removed early on.


 * February 6, 1988 (Jaimie & Daniel vs. Rachael & Douglas {alternate copies: #1, #2})
 * [Douglas Emerson would later star on Beverly Hills 90210, and came back to this show in late 1990.]

The Generation Gap
Taped October 1968 in New York; series aired February 7 - May 23, 1969

Not too different, from what I can tell, although the logo is more basic.

It seems that more than one pilot was shot, as it was announced in August 1968 that "The pilot is already in and, so far as can be discerned, It's regarded with favor at the web." (Variety 8/21/68 Weekly, Page 33). Later, it was reported that host Dennis Wholey was back at his local role on WKRC after a week in New York doing the pilot (Variety 10/16/68 Weekly, Page 48).


 * October 1968 (Mrs. Murray/Mr. Gallagher/Mrs. Poliakin vs. Nancy/Jonathan/Reeta, with special guests The Turtles and Kenny Delmar {Part 2, Part 3})
 * [One question is about the new Peter Sellers film I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (released 10/7/68). Another is about the newest Ambassador to the United Nations, James Russell Wiggins (who held the office from 10/68-1/69). The Turtles play "Elenore", released 9/68.]

The Great Getaway Game
Taped 1989 at Times Square Studios in New York City; series aired June 1 - July 25, 1990 [April 1991]

Different host (Jim Caldwell), different logo, different (and somewhat longer) opening spiel, and the set has a different color scheme as well as two-digit score displays on the contestant podiums.

The rules were also a bit different: the point values were one-tenth what they'd become in the series, the players didn't get to reveal any free letters before the first question of each round, only one letter was given if both players missed a question, and each round had a prize hidden somewhere on the board.

And yes, it's amusing that the guy who replaced Wink Martindale on Tic-Tac-Dough got replaced by Wink for a later series. Notably, the series' credits include one for Wink Martindale Enterprises.


 * 1989 (Cary vs. Dan, with a minor error in one round {Kitty Hawk, one of the choices, is stated to be in South Carolina; it's actually in North Carolina})
 * [Uploaded by the show's creator/Executive Producer, Richard S. Brockway.]

High Rollers (1978)
Taped February 14, 1978; series aired April 24, 1978 - June 20, 1980

Slightly different set (there's nothing around/behind the logo, and based on the available footage it doesn't split apart), and it seems Big Numbers offers $10,000 cash, but otherwise it's the same show.

Mike Burger's review is here.


 * April 1978 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot)

High Rollers (1987)
Taped October 21, 1986 at ABC Television Center in Hollywood; series aired September 14, 1987 - May 27 [September 9], 1988

Has a greenscreen behind the players, the main-game prizes carry over from game to game like the 1978-80 series (rather than every game having its own set of prizes), and the dice table changes position for the Big Numbers, but that's about the only differences.

The 11/17/86 Broadcasting has an advert for the revival on Pages 17-18 (reprinted on Pages 16-17 of the 12/8/86 issue), with photos from the pilot.


 * October 21, 1986 (Carol vs. John; includes a pitchfilm with a game never used on the series!)
 * [Minigames: Map Game (Game 1, Column 2); Rabbit Test (Game 2, Column 3); Duel of the Dice (pitchfilm).]

Hit Man
Taped October 1982 at NBC Studios in Burbank; series aired January 3 - April 1, 1983

Different theme, more Hit Men in Round 2 (the publicity shot at right has noticeable black splotches on the Hit Men that were removed between pilot and series, although they didn't alter the image on Peter's podium), and somewhat different pacing.

Also, the music is very different: the main theme is an instrumental remix of "Worlds Away" by Pablo Cruise, the win music for Round 1 is "Rock That! (instrumental)" by Earth, Wind & Fire from their 1979 album I Am, and the Triple Crown board reset cue is "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club.

From what I remember reading many years ago, two pilots were done with Jay Wolpert himself hosting the first, but declined when Brandon Tartikoff (then-president of NBC) asked him to lose 20 pounds and wear a toupee for the series. That said, I have no idea whether this is legit, so for the time being this section will assume there was just the one pilot hosted by Peter.

In any case, it was reported that "a pilot" would be produced on October 23 and 24 (Variety 10/15/82 Daily, Page 20). I'm not sure whether this indicates two pilots, one spread out over two taping days, or a "we're taping on either of those days, not sure which one yet" sort of thing.


 * October 1982 (Melissa/Skip/Valerie, with returning champ David {Subjects: Gone With the Wind and Harry Houdini}; montage including intro and Triple Crown)
 * Late December 1982 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot)

The Hollywood Game
Taped May 14, 1991 at Television City (Studio 33); series aired June 19 - July 10, 1992

Set's a bit different, the categories are randomized, and Peter Allen is host (Bob Goen did the series).

The official Television City website lists another pilot taping in September 1991 (presumably hosted by Goen) and one that doesn't have "pilot" in October; the latter probably wasn't for the series, though, since there's also a ticket with a date of June 7, 1992 on it.


 * May 14, 1991 (Julie & Don vs. Jim & Sharon {Part 3})

The Hollywood Squares (1966)
Taped April 21, 1965 at Television City (Studio 33); series aired October 17, 1966 - June 20, 1980

Hosted by Bert Parks, with a pretty different contestant area and celebrity nameplates...and, generally, a feel that this is from the 1950s. Clips were shown during the week of November 3, 1975.

Oddly, the official Television City website lists four pilots in '65: July, August, September, and November.


 * April 21, 1965 (Wally Cox, Rose Marie, Morey Amsterdam, Gisele MacKenzie, ROBERT Q. LEWIS!, Vera Miles, Charley Weaver, Abby Dalton, Jim Backus {center square}; Pam vs. John, with Fern playing later {Part 2})

Hollywood Squares (1986)
Taped December 12, 1985; series aired September 15, 1986 - June 16 [September 8], 1989

Has a slightly different set, but that's about it.


 * December 12, 1985 (Burt Reynolds, Loni Anderson, Marla Gibbs, Dick Butkus & Bubba Smith, Steve Landesberg, Apollonia, Tony Danza, Jackie Collins, Dom DeLuise; Steve vs. Karla {Part 2})

Hot Potato
Taped December 1, 1983; series aired January 23 - June 29, 1984

Has different music (from Play the Percentages), a slightly different set, and a somewhat different format: each main-game round is worth $500, while the bonus game has a slightly more intricate structure.

Mike Burger has a review here, while Adam Nedeff has a look with screengrabs here. A clip appeared in an "obituary file" compiled by CBS News, a set of clips that were sent out to affiliates who wanted to do their own packages on Bill's death in 1990.


 * December 1, 1983 (Franciscans vs. Teachers; partial intro)

Hot Seat
Taped January 17, 1976 at ABC Television Center in Hollywood; series aired July 12 - October 22, 1976

Slight graphical differences, and the bonus round was played like the front game with a twist I'd expect from Barris rather than Heatter-Quigley: the husband saw three prizes (a washer/dryer combo, an expensive sports car, and a cheap iron with ironing board) and said "No, I would not like that prize." for each; after the third reaction, the wife chose which prize they'd win.

Per Randy Amasia many years ago, the twist was that the third prize was modeled by a young lady in a bikini, and the lie detector shot to the far end of the scale; the wife chose that, and she screamed in agony at what the show had pulled (not to mention her husband being a pig).


 * July 12, 1976 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot)

How Do You Like Your Eggs?
Taped 1976 at Warner Communications HQ; hosted by Howard Blumenthal

Listed as "EGGS PILOT" by the uploader, and certainly qualifies as more of one than the aired episodes do.

The presentation is more basic, as you'd expect from an office runthrough like this, but the format is pretty much the same as the first two episodes; the only really noteworthy differences are that 1) instead of eggs, the score tally is multiple cutout images of a cartoon guy running while holding a huge egg and 2) the Perfector Round is played for an Atari Super Pong unit, whereas the series gave that for winning the front game and an RCA color TV for winning the Perfector Round.

Oh, and kudos for having actually recorded "man-on-the-street" answers for the front-game questions. That was in the series, too, but given they could've easily gone the more basic route for this and just interviewed people in Warner's offices I think it's worth noting.


 * 1976 (Barbara & Carl vs. Mary & Mike; montage including intro through part of first question and full Perfector Round)

How's Your Mother-In-Law?
''Taped November 7, 1966/Spring? 1967 (two pilots); series aired December 4, 1967 - March 1, 1968''

Originally titled The Mother-In-Law Game, with a pilot shot shortly after one for Dream Girl of '67 (Variety 9/9/66 Daily, Page 17). The second pilot, now titled Here Come the Mother-in-Laws, appears to have been shot in Spring '67 (Variety 3/30/67 Daily, Page 14) with a different format than the '66 pilot.

The '67 pilot has a different logo and slightly different set than the series, but that seems to be it.


 * Spring? 1967 (Pilot #2: Louis Nye, RICHARD DAWSON, Sandy Baron; Florence Shapiro/Ridad? Grafiti?/Dorothy Brown; montage including intro and signoffs)
 * [Richard is currently on Hogan's Heroes, while Sandy recently starred on The Dean Martin Summer Show.]

Jeopardy! (1964)
Taped March 5, 1964 in New York; series aired March 30, 1964 - January 3, 1975

The beginning of a classic, with an initial emphasis on humor and way too strict on phrasing. A clip appeared during the Trebek version's 4,000th episode in 2002, as part of its trip to New York for the Million-Dollar Masters Tournament.


 * March 5, 1964 (Brief clip)

Jeopardy! (1984)
Taped September 18, 1983/January or February 1984; series aired September 17, 1984 - Present

Pilot #1 is the '78 set upgraded to the "personal computer" craze of the era. Pilot #2 has things looking way more like the series, although not quite there yet (for one thing, the dollar values are half of what they'd eventually become).


 * September 18, 1983 (Pilot #1: Karen Muranaka/JACK CAMPION/Cynthia Grove)
 * [Karen was a champ on the show in 1978!]
 * January-February 1984 (Pilot #2: JACK CAMPION {Day 3 - $17,600}/Cynthia Grove {same as above!}/Michael Malone; really low audio)

The Krypton Factor (1990)
Taped 1989; series aired September 15, 1990 - September 7, 1991

Different intro and theme, slightly different set, and the host is Pat...something (Heath? Hayden? I'm not sure).

The first inklings of the revival came in early 1989, when it was announced that the show would be available for January 1990 and produced by MAC Ill Productions, with distribution by G2 Entertainment (Variety 3/7/89 Daily, Page 24; Broadcasting 3/13/89, Page 45). A later article notes that the show has "a 35-episode commitment" (Broadcasting 12/18/89, Page 64). At the start of 1990, it was announced that G2 had selected Western International Syndication as the show's distributor (Broadcasting 1/1/90, Page 141). No, I don't get it either.

Regardless, the pilot host was replaced by Willie Aames (who did the series) at some point, as an advert shortly into 1990 lists Aames as host (Broadcasting 1/15/90, Page 123).


 * 1989 (Heddy/Richard/Jeff/Katharine; first segment only)

The Last Word
Taped 1988 at ABC Television Center in Los Angeles; series aired September 18 - December 15, 1989

Pretty much the same as the series, except with Jana White as hostess, Burton Richardson announcing, and each word simply being worth $100. The font used for the logo and board is different, too.


 * 1988 (Michael Corbett & Leann Hunley; Tony vs. Linda)
 * [Tony was also on Scrabble (1987), Now You See It (1989), Gambit (1990 unsold pilot), To Tell The Truth (1990), and Jumble (1994). Leann is plugged as being from Dynasty, which she left in 1988, and at one point Wink mentions cold weather in New York.]

Let's Make A Deal! (1963)
Taped May 25, 1963; series aired December 30, 1963 - December 27, 1968

Way more sedate, with a Zonk in the Big Deal and some quirky deals that must have influenced the current version. The Doors also look very different from the style most are used to (which itself debuted by December 31, 1968).

GSN and Buzzr have both aired this, and a master copy (albeit in not-so-great quality) also circulates. Clips also appeared in the somewhat-infamous 1975 documentary Deal: The Making of Let's Make A Deal, which was released on VHS in 1991 and on DVD in 2005.


 * May 25, 1963 (First trader is Maggie; first {Big Deal: $2,005}; taped from GSN, with Monty's sales pitch before the show and the NBC peacock!)

Liars Club (1974)
Taped 1974?; series aired September 7, 1974 - 1975

Basically the same as the KTLA series, albeit with a different entrance for Bill Armstrong (he walks on from in front of the stage rather than through the doors at center stage) and a different-looking contestant area (no nameplates, and the score displays are tiny).

The betting is also different: each player begins with $100, can bet up to $50, and verbally state their bets. The series upped the starting cash to $200, altered the max bet to "half your current score", and had the players physically display their bet on a placard.

The other difference, and easily the biggest flaw, is that each player has different odds because each celeb can only be picked once per round: 2-1 for the first player, 5-1 for the second, 10-1 for the third, and 20-1 for the fourth. The odds shift from round to round, allowing each player to get first pick of the celebs, which is apparently supposed to keep things on even ground; no, not really.

The idea of "one celeb per player per round" is incredibly uneven (protip: arbitrarily restricting players like this is a bad idea), and the flaws show themselves during the pilot...especially since the contestants seem to pick up on it from pretty much the first round of betting.

(Note that some sites list the episode uploaded by VideoArchives1000, Dave/Kathy/Camille/Pam, as the pilot. I disagree with this, mainly because it has the standard format and set.)


 * 1974? (George Savalas, Joey Bishop, Fannie Flagg, PETER MARSHALL; Jim/Terri/Diane/Maggie; USA repeat from 1986-87, video is somewhat dark, no credits)
 * [Runs over 29 minutes, without commercials.]

Love Me, Love Me Not
Taped December 20, 1985 at CBS Studio 52 in New York; series aired September 29, 1986 - September 11, 1987 (debuted in Canada slightly earlier)

A tweaked M'ama Non M'ama which is much closer to the eventual series, although it has an extra panelist and more cash. The logo also has a different color scheme, using tan with yellow outlines whereas the series used red with black outlines; an advert for the show had it in blue with white outlines and a white/yellow daisy (which actually resembled a daisy rather than being a funny-looking O).

I think this show had two pilots as well, probably much the same way M'ama Non M'ama had a Women's Pilot and a Men's Pilot.


 * December 20, 1985 (Peter vs. Bob; Panel: Sally, Elisa, Katina, Teresa)

The Match Game (1962)
Taped December 5, 1962 in New York City; series aired December 31, 1962 - September 26, 1969

Slightly different set, a different version of "A Surfin' Safari" (the show's original theme), and a different scoring system. The pilot had been circulating for years before GSN aired it on December 25, 2012 (kicking off a 50th-Anniversary marathon/salute to the franchise), and has also been aired by Buzzr (as part of its "Lost and Found" stint in September 2015).


 * December 5, 1962 (Arthur/Peggy Cass/Ronni vs. Rick/Peter Lind Hayes/Mary; has commercials, amusingly {alternate copy, better quality but no commercials})

Match Game (1973)
Taped May 19, 1973 at Television City Studio 33 (at least two pilots); series aired July 2, 1973 - April 20, 1979

"The 1973 edition", with a slightly different set and Super-Match called "Jackpot Match". Pilot A had been circulating for years before GSN aired it during the aforementioned marathon, and has also been aired by Buzzr as part of its "Lost and Found" stint in September 2015.


 * May 19, 1973 (Pilot A: Bert Convy, Arlene Francis, Jack Klugman, Jo Anne Pflug, Richard Dawson, Betty White; Wendy vs. Susan {$1,200}, with Stewart playing later; taped from GSN {alternate copy of first 10:15 from the studio master, video is a bit blurry})
 * [I don't normally quote long YouTube comments, but given Stewart commented on the GSN copy I think it's appropriate: "I had been a contestant on Password the week before [...] and the same producer asked a number of us (6 as I recall) to work as "contestants" on the new incarnation of ["Match Game"]. I don't remember the other guys, but one was a Coca Cola tester from Atlanta. He drove around the country testing whether or not Coke served at fountains and restaurants was, indeed, legit Coca Cola. We were paid a few hundred dollars for the day's work and went thru a number of iterations as some bugs were worked out of the show. Originally, the big prize was supposed to be a one-on-one match with someone picked at random via phone, but that was problematic. At the last minute they tried the "celebrity match" and it worked."]


 * May 19, 1973 (Pilot B: Bert Convy, Arlene Francis, Jack Klugman, Jo Anne Pflug, Richard Dawson, Betty White; Carol vs. Susan {same as above!}; montage including slate, intro, and close)
 * [One of the only "consecutive" pilots I know of which actually does continue from the previous pilot.]

Match Game (1990)
Taped October 1, 1989 (five pilots); series aired July 16, 1990 - July 12, 1991

Bert Convy hosts, the intro uses a circular version of the classic 1973-82 flipping-box one, and there's no Match-Ups; instead, all six celebs play in each round, with Round 3 worth two points per match. GSN aired Pilot #3 to conclude their aforementioned marathon.


 * October 1, 1989 (Pilot #3: Brad Garrett, Marsha Warfield, Charles Nelson Reilly, Khrystyne Haje, Jerry Van Dyke, Teri Copley; Michelle vs. Harley; taped from GSN)
 * [Michelle was previously on Super Password (3/24/89 Finale).]
 * October 1, 1989 (Pilot #5: Brad Garrett, Marsha Warfield, Charles Nelson Reilly, Khrystyne Haje, Jerry Van Dyke, Teri Copley; Yo Yo {wha?} vs. LISA STAHL!; has slate!)

Match Game (1998)
Taped 1998; series aired September 21, 1998 - May 21 [September 17], 1999﻿

A pitchfilm concentrating on host Michael Burger's two most recent shows (Mike & Maty and Home & Family) and showing man-on-the-street clips plus footage of the 1973-78 period (no clips are from after the mid-'78 set change, although the 1978-82 logo is seen prominently).

The last revival attempt was the unsold MG2 from 1996, which by all indication was a trainwreck of ineptitude and a complete unawareness of which celebrities were still relevant (there's a review here, if you're curious), so distancing yourself from that by presenting this new revival as being closer to traditional Match Game was probably a good move.

...On the other hand, it's not so good when you then make a bunch of changes for the eventual series that are generally seen as bad, including borrowing a few ideas from said '96 attempt.


 * 1998 (Pitchfilm)
 * [Aside from the above, the revival seems to be pitched as being good, relatively-clean fun. The series was filled with sex jokes, potshots at the Bill Clinton scandal, and answers that were censored regardless of whether it was actually necessary.]

The Moneymaze
Taped 1974; series aired December 23, 1974 - June 27, 1975

Has Chet Gould announcing (Alan Kalter did the series), and from the few series clips I've seen this has a slightly more basic set.


 * 1974 (George & Joyce vs. Bernard & Helen {alternate copy, about 15 seconds shorter})

Monopoly
Taped September 28, 1987/1989 (two pilots); series aired June 16 - September 1, 1990

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot! Sure, Pilot #1 wasn't the greatest (although props for the game board and idea of randomly getting a set of properties from one of several envelopes), while Pilot #2 had a better host and format than what eventually aired but got shot down by most stations due to the presence of Patty Maloney as Rich Uncle Pennybags.

In the end, what we got was a 12-episode flop hosted by Mike Reilly that managed to do very slightly better as a regional show in the UK.


 * September 28, 1987 (Pilot #1: Claire/Larry/Isie {Champ}, hosted by Marc Summers with Don Morrow announcing...and HARRY FRIEDMAN as Rich Uncle Pennybags?!; montage including slate, intro, and close)
 * 1989 (MIKE REILLY! {Day 4 - $22,570}/Jennifer/Richard; begins with a partial pitchfilm by Merv!)

National Lampoon's Funny Money
Taped 2002?; series aired June 15 - October 24, 2003

Has a different logo ("Money" is blue, whereas the series had it in green) and a more basic set. Most notably, the bonus round is completely different, having the winning player telling jokes fed to them by one of the comedians (placed offstage, in another room).

(Note that some collections list the episode aired August 19, 2003 as an "aired pilot". It might be, since it has several different elements, but...I dunno. I do know that Chuck Donegan has a copy of the pilot listed here.)


 * 2002? (John Henton, Wendy Liebman, Gary Valentine; ? vs. Kim; intro and bonus round only)

The Neighbors
Taped 1975; series aired December 29, 1975 - April 9, 1976

Has a more basic set, a Newlywed Game-esque intro, and a very annoying theme that I originally thought was nonsense meant to sound like words but is actually "Pick A Little, Talk A Little"...which makes it even more annoying.


 * 1975 (Gale vs. Sharon, with neighbors Sara, Linda, & Susan {Part 2, Part 3})
 * [Question at 0:43 of Part 2 mentions the film Jaws (released 6/20/75).]

Nick Arcade
Taped 1991; series aired January 4 - November 6, 1992 (taped 1991-92)

The pilot that aired closely resembles the show as it was for Season 1, but this?

Different set (using elements from Get the Picture), logo, theme (recycled from Nick's variety show Outta Here!), logo, graphics, host (Niels Schuurmans), and announcer (Fran Gauchi?), along with a slightly different format (for one, Time Bomb is a hazard and can actually be won)...it really feels primitive.

Oddly, many of the prize shots are on the Get the Picture set – most notably the first and last bonus round prizes, where the logo's actually visible!


 * 1991 (Pilot #1: Brooke & Keith vs. Jody {a guy!} & Meadow; Games: Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones, Ski or Die, Super Mario Bros. 3, Sonic the Hedgehog, Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Magician Lord, Aero Blasters)
 * [A faux newspaper is seen at 26:15, but I can't quite tell what the date is (appears to be April 1991). Notably, Sonic 1 has the "PRESS START BUTTON" graphic and the checkered-ball object in Green Hill Zone.]

PDQ
Taped 1964; series aired September 6, 1965 - September 26, 1969

Has a different logo and slightly different set, from what I've heard.

The pilot was shot for ABC primetime (Dennis specifically says to tune in "next week"), with the network financing the filming as well (Variety 4/13/64 Daily, Page 8), although the series ended up in daily syndication.


 * 1964 (Stubby Kaye & Dick Patterson vs. Gisele Mackenzie & Jerry)

The New Price Is Right (1972)
Taped February 16, 1972; series aired September 10, 1972 - September 13, 1980

Much like the Family Feud revival 15 years later, when Goodson-Todman wanted to revive Price they were thinking of syndication.

Done shortly after talks with Bill Cullen to come back fell through and Mark picked Dennis James, the pitchfilm is little more than sharing a bunch of ideas they had at this point, some of which would get retooled (the pricing games are pretty much early versions of Take Two and Ten Chances) and others which would be disposed of over the next six months (having kids play for their parents in a Kids Say the Darndest Things-esque "How do kids think about what things cost?" way), and showing Dennis' abilities with a clip of him hosting Let's Make A Deal.


 * February 16, 1972 (Pitchfilm, with slate! {alternate copy, slightly lower quality})

Quick as a Flash (1953)
Taped 1952 at the International Theatre in New York City; series aired March 12 - July 2, 1953

Shot for NBC with Bill Cullen hosting (he had previously done the last 18 months of the radio version), but went to air on ABC with Bobby Sherwood as emcee...who was replaced two months in by Bud Collyer.


 * 1952 (Boris Karloff & Margo vs. Wendy Barrie & John; no audio during intro)

Remote Control (MTV)
Taped November 19-20, 1987 (at least two episodes); series aired December 7, 1987 - April 1990 [December 13, 1991]

Has some different gameplay and a different set, plus "Off the Air" is a category that immediately eliminates whoever finds it. Not 100% sure whether these aired, though.


 * November 20, 1987 (#4C: Nancy/Kevin/Carolyn; has slate!)

Rhyme and Reason
Taped 1975 (at least two pilots); series aired July 7, 1975 - July 9, 1976

Slightly different from the series, from what I can tell. The intro of the below shows a clip from another pilot with different panelists and no contestant nameplates.


 * 1975 (Pilot #2: Nipsey Russell, Lee Meriwether, Richard Dawson, Jaye P. Morgan, Jack Cassidy, Adrienne Barbeau {Part 3}; Patrick vs. Yensin)

Sale of the Century (1983)
Taped 1982; series aired January 3, 1983 - March 24, 1989

Not too different from the series, from what I can tell.


 * Late December 1982 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot {?/Susan/JACK CAMPION}; glitchy video pretty much throughout, but still very watchable)

Say When!!
Taped December 20, 1960; series aired January 2, 1961 - March 26, 1965

Actually a test episode, with a slightly different set and a tournament-style format: three games are played, with the first two having a $750 goal. The winners of those games then play a "Championship Match" with $2,000 as the target. (The series used a "two Strikes" format and returning champs.)

Some collections list this as the Premiere, while others list it as a pilot. Given that the fifth episode of the series is known to exist (it was offered on eBay some time ago) and used the standard format, I'm pretty sure this format was never used on the series.


 * December 20, 1960 (Mary Guest vs. Paul Mortensen and Ed Hobby vs. Marian Trick, with kind of an awkward moment in Game 3)

Scattergories
Taped Fall 1992; series aired January 18 - June 11, 1993

The set's pretty basic and the graphics are a bit less fancy, but that's about it.


 * Fall 1992 (Anne-Marie Johnson, Wolfgang Puck & Barbara Lazaroff, CHUCK WOOLERY, Lori "Ice" Fetrick, Brett Butler {Part 3}; Diana/Laura/Elaine/Dawn {$6,500} vs. Jeff/Todd/Steve/Dan {Jackpot: $4,000})

Scrabble (1984)
Taped March 8, 1984; series aired July 2, 1984 - March 23, 1990

Has Rod Roddy announcing, different graphics for the most part (most notably in the Sprint), no logo-sign hanging over Chuck's head (what's shown is actually a graphic), no numbers on the tiles, and the format is...really, really weird – they're clearly going for a "best Sprint time of the week gets a $25,000 bonus" element, but how in that case can you have a returning champ and yet act like she hasn't played the Sprint before?

The opening shot of the set, with a faster chase-light configuration, was recycled for the series until about Summer 1986, when the studio audience began appearing on-camera. Notably, the Sprint has each player doing four words (which wouldn't become the rule until sometime in '86) and the "$25000" graphic uses white-on-blue tiles (which wasn't adapted for the series for its five/ten-time win graphics until shortly into the run).

Probably the biggest oddity is that this pilot runs just over 17 minutes!


 * March 8, 1984 (LAURA CHAMBERS! {Day 2 - $2,400} vs. Bill; Current Sprint Champion: Larry {$1,350}, at 49.8 seconds; has slate!)
 * June 29, 1984 (Debut promo with pilot clips and audience testimony!)

Second Chance (1977)
Taped November 9, 1976 (three pilots); series aired March 7 - July 15, 1977

Contestant podiums are noticeably different (the "spin dots" are two rows of nine, rather than the three rows of six that the series used; the Devils are shown on lights behind the players), while the Bonus Board has a single 64-square pattern, more money on offer, and no extra spins.

ABC evidently didn't like the first two pilots, given the post-slate message in #3.


 * November 9, 1976 (Pilot #3: Maggie Brown/JACK CAMPION/Lyn Kline; has beautiful quality! {alternate copies: full show... thing, somewhat lower quality but has some annotations by the uploader; intro, with slate!})
 * [After the slate, a set of three slides pops up: "There was a FIRST CHANCE" "And then a SECOND CHANCE" "Now this is our LAST CHANCE". At the third, announcer Joe Seiter laughs and says "Yes, our last chance."]

Press Your Luck (1983)
Taped May 18, 1983 at Television City (Studio 33); series aired September 19, 1983 - September 26, 1986

Slightly different Big Board, somewhat different theme ("Flash" by Keith Mansfield), and only one Whammy animation (which was redrawn for the series).


 * May 18, 1983 (JACK CAMPION/MAGGIE BROWN/Matt Dorf {alternate copy, noticeably lower quality})

Whammy!
Taped February 13, 2002 at Sony Pictures Studios (two pilots); series aired April 15, 2002 - July 26, 2003

Slightly different contestant area (using "Whammy lights" and tiny score displays) and only four questions in the Question Round (although getting 12 spins awarded a Whammy Guard). Peter Tomarken hosted Pilot #1, with Todd Newton hosting #2.

Clips of Pilot #2 are on Brad Francini's website, albeit in RealPlayer format. But then in May 2015, something interesting happened...


 * February 13, 2002 (Pilot #1: Vickie/Barry/Michelle)
 * [For whatever reason, the editing job on this (back then) is...kinda sucky, to be honest. Was Peter ever even seriously being considered, or was this just their way of humoring one of GSN's first on-camera hosts, or what? In any case, Peter himself hasn't really lost a step, even signing off as he did in the 1980s.]

Shop 'Til You Drop (1991)
Taped early 1991; series aired July 8, 1991 - September 30, 1994

Hosted by Scott Herriott, with a lot of differences from the series including a far more basic set, a contestant podium I'm pretty sure is from Fun House, a hostess(!), and a bonus round money display that counts downward. Probably the only thing that didn't change for the series is Mark L. Walberg being the announcer.

The earliest article I can find about the show is from May 1991, which indicates that the pilot was already taped and Pat Finn was already set as host (Variety 5/17/91 Daily, Page 18).


 * Early 1991 (Curt & Debbie vs. Pam & Mel; montage including full first segment and most of bonus round, prefaced by intros from Wink Martindale and Pat Finn {link is timecoded to skip them})

Showoffs
Taped May 24, 1975; series aired June 30 - December 26, 1975

Format's a bit different, as is the logo, but the big difference is that Larry Blyden's hosting. This was his last game show, and very likely his last television-related appearance, prior to his death in an auto accident on June 6.


 * May 24, 1975 (Elaine Joyce, Ron Masak, Linda Kaye Henning, Dick Gautier; intro and clip seen on Game Show Moments Gone Bananas)

Split Personality
Taped 1959; series aired September 28, 1959 - February 5, 1960

Not sure if there were any differences.


 * 1959 (Intro)

Split Second (1972)
Taped October 27, 1971 (at least two pilots); series aired March 20, 1972 - June 27, 1975

Different logo, a more basic set that evidently wasn't painted yet, and a different theme that sounds like the '72 one is being played upside-down.


 * October 27, 1971 (#SPS-43 {Pilot #2}: Maggie {Day 3 - $580}/Shirley/Tom {Jackpot: $3,000}; montage including slate, intro, and close)

Starcade (1982)
Taped 1982 at Bridge Studios in San Francisco (three pilots); series aired December 27, 1982 - August, 1983

Pretty close to the series, but still has a way to go. It also explains why the series had dome enclosures for the games and the four-monitor "Name the Game" board.

Per this page, Starcade was pitched to the NBC-owned stations, and Phil Ross (then-VP of the O&O division) picked Alex Trebek to host. Notably, Trebek himself aided during the editing process, staying up for a full 24 hours to assist James Caruso and Mavis Arthur to deliver an edited pilot. While Ross liked it, the O&O managers didn't.

After a bit more tweaking, it was picked up by Ted Turner for WTBS, albeit with a different (and far worse) host...but that's not for here. :)


 * 1982 (Lester vs. Rich; 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 "Alex Trebek" below it.]

Supermarket Sweep (1990)
Taped December 18, 1989; series aired February 5, 1990 - June 16, 1995

Somewhat of a cross between the 1960s and 1990s formats, taped at an actual supermarket, with two major differences – a unique twist on the "Who's got the [product]?" method of picking the teams (David hits a buzzer at his podium to stop a flashing light on a small board of products), and giving a wrong answer in a non-"price this" game subtracts 10 seconds.

And hey, Johnny Gilbert's announcing, so what's not to love?


 * December 18, 1989 (Kim & Lisa/Lorrie & Bill/Julie & Kevin; preceded by an intro by David {link is timecoded to skip it}, low audio at times)
 * [First Bonus Sweep clue refers to the winner of "this year's Emmy", putting this after 9/17/89.]

Tic-Tac-Dough (1990)
Taped late 1989; series aired September 10 - December 7, 1990

Slightly different intro spiel, a very different method of Patrick Wayne making his entrance, and a worse bonus round (pick a box, stop the flasher and get X or O; no Dragon).

The show's return was announced as early as August 1989, to be distributed by ITC Domestic Syndication (Broadcasting 8/28/89, Page 10). Patrick Wayne was announced as host shortly afterward, with the show planned for entry in Fall 1990 (Broadcasting 10/9/89, Page 60)...although it seems that October 23, 1990 was once planned as a start date (Broadcasting 10/16/89, Page 56).


 * Late 1989 (Intro)

Time Machine
Taped 1984; series aired January 7 - April 26, 1985

Set and props are a bit different, with 3 In A Row called Name Your Poison.


 * Early January 1985 (Debut promo, with clips of the pilot)

To Say the Least
Taped 1977; series aired October 3, 1977 - April 21, 1978

Different intro, and a bunch of yellow on the set (changed to blue for the series).


 * 1977 (Intro)

To Tell the Truth (1956)
Taped mid-November 1956 in New York; series aired December 18, 1956 - September 25, 1966

Nothing But The Truth, with a different logo, slightly different set, and Mike Wallace as the first host of something like 20 when all the subs are taken into account (and boy, there's a lot of those).

After the pilot was shot, Wallace was removed due to a hosting conflict with NBC's The Big Surprise (Variety 12/12/56 Weekly, Page 29). In early December, Goodson-Todman approached Walter Cronkite to host, but this was shot down by CBS, who felt that news and commercials would be incompatible (Broadcasting 12/17/56, Page 112) and hosting Truth would conflict with Cronkite's public-affairs duties (Variety 12/11/56 Daily, Page 8).

The show, planned to debut on December 11, got pushed back a week; Bud Collyer was chosen as host shortly afterward.


 * November 1956 (Polly Bergen, John Cameron Swayze, Hildy Parks, Dick Van Dyke; Subjects: Tony/Toni Costello {sang backup for Frank Sinatra}, Thomas W. Sheridan {World War II veteran} {alternate copy})

Treasure Hunt (1973)
Taped October 15, 1972 at Television City (Studio 43); series aired September 10, 1973 - September 11, 1977

Different set, different music, different presentation (including a "mystery celebrity guest" element, in this case James Brolin)... There's even a quiz-based qualifying round with men participating!

Adam Nedeff has a look at the pilot here. Of note, the pilot includes a clip of a "previous show" with someone winning the $25,000, with Geoff wearing a different-colored suit (blue instead of the black one seen in the rest of the pilot).

The show was initially pitched as a midseason replacement for prime access (Broadcasting 10/30/72, Page 7), but ended up with a standard Fall debut instead.


 * October 15, 1972 (Intro and a few other clips)

Triple Threat (1988)
''Taped November? 1987; series aired October 8, 1988 - October 1, 1989''

Different set, logo, and visuals. Hosted by Sam Riddle (probably better known as the announcer on Star Search), who does pretty well here.


 * November? 1987 (Ben Vereen/Naja/Si vs. Scott Baio/Rose/Melissa)
 * [Per the uploader, Naja Vereen died in an auto accident on December 2, shortly after this was done.]

Trivial Pursuit (1993)
Taped 1992; series aired June 7 - September 3, 1993

Shot for syndication, but led into the Family Channel run (with a slimmed-down format and set) instead. Photos from this pilot were used for the box of the Trivial Pursuit: Game Show board game.


 * 1992 (Deborah/Jeff/Jennifer; montage)

Trivial Pursuit: America Plays
Taped 2007; series aired September 22, 2008 - April 10 [September 18], 2009

Hosted by Mark L. Walberg, with a better set and more money on offer.


 * 2007 (Sales Presentation, with clips of the pilot {Sarah/Brian/Cynthia})
 * [Interestingly, the contestant podiums more closely resemble their 1990s counterparts, rather than the video screens the series used.]

Trivia Trap
Taped 1984; series aired October 8, 1984 - April 5, 1985

Round 1 is complicated, and there's a bunch of cosmetic differences (probably the biggest being that the Seniors are green).


 * 1984 (Kathy/Tim/Alysen {Juniors} vs. Addie/John/Bonnie {Seniors} {alternate copy... thing, slightly lower quality})

Twenty One (1956)
Taped March 1956; series aired September 12, 1956 - October 16, 1958

Shot for CBS, with a different logo and "SPONSOR" where "Geritol" ended up being in the series. CBS quickly turned down the show, however, as by early June it was being shopped to NBC and ABC (Variety 6/6/56 Weekly, Page 20).


 * March 1956 (Marian Swintor vs. Maurice Pilabbey; pretty low audio)

Two for the Money
Taped June 5, 1952 at the Marcal Theatre in Hollywood, California; series aired September 30, 1952 - August 11, 1953

Hosted by Fred Allen and shot for NBC, with a different set and (from what I can tell) a slightly different format.

The show came very close to being pulled by sponsor Old Gold: Fred had suffered an attack in July 1952 (articles I've found don't specify, although I suspect it was a heart attack) and was "under doctor's orders not to work until after the first of the year at least" (Variety 8/5/52 Daily, Page 1). Herb Shriner was announced as his replacement in mid-August and hosted most of the show's run, although Fred did fill in at least once.


 * June 5, 1952 (Begins with Georgia O'George & Ann Leevrit?; montage including intro and close, with a timecode that's constant rather than skipping alongside the footage)

Wheel of Fortune (1975)
Taped August 28, 1974 (two pilots); series aired January 6, 1975 - June 30, 1989

Hosted by Edd Byrnes, with a somewhat different set from the show as it debuted a few months later. Clips of Pilot #1 appeared during the ceremonial 3,000th nighttime episode in 1998, albeit with claims that it was the pilot.


 * August 28, 1974 (Pilot #1: Marge {Champ}/Gary/Roseanne)
 * August 28, 1974 (Pilot #2: Tanya {Champ}/Frank/Lois; ends during Round 2)

Whew!
Taped December 4, 1978 at Television City Studio 31 (at least three pilots); series aired April 23, 1979 - May 30, 1980

Has a brighter set, plus the bloopers have no underlined portions to denote what needs to be corrected.


 * April 1979 (Debut promo, with clips of a pilot)

Whodunnit? (1979)
Taped 1978, likely in Los Angeles; series aired April 12 - May 17, 1979

Runs an hour, with a mystery in each half (presumably, this was two pilots that were bundled together), with two players competing for a trip to London whereas the series offered $10,000. Also notable is that this was produced by Stu Billett and directed by Joe Behar, both of whom were replaced for the series by Bill Carruthers.

Mike Burger has a review here.


 * 1978 ("Goodbye Dolly": Vincent Baggeta, Barbara Feldon, F. Lee Bailey; ends after panelist intros)

Wild & Crazy Kids (1990)
Taped 1989; series aired July 4, 1990 - December 1, 1992

Completely different logo, hosts, and audiovisuals. It's almost like a completely different show!


 * 1989 (Horse vs. BMX Race, Human Maze, Kung Fu House Demolition)

Wipeout (1988)
Taped September 2, 1987 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood; series aired September 12, 1988 - June 9, 1989

Slightly different rules, very different everything else (set, theme, logo, the presence of a hostess and the usage of trilons...).


 * September 2, 1987 (La Dawn {$2,300}/Chuck/Nan {Car: Chevy Corvette}; has slate!)

The Wizard of Odds
Taped April 26, 1973; series aired July 16, 1973 - June 28, 1974

Different theme music (from what I can tell, Alan Thicke wasn't tapped for the show until about late May or early June '73), and the logo seems to be slightly different, but that's all I know.


 * April 26, 1973 (Intro)

Wordplay
Taped October 12, 1986; series aired December 29, 1986 - September 4, 1987

Hosted by Peter Tomarken, with Rod Roddy announcing and a different setup for the front-game board.


 * October 12, 1986 (Stuart Pankin, Betty White, PAT SAJAK; Patrick vs. Luana {Bonus Round, not called Speedword, is at $5,000}; montage including slate, intro, and bonus round)

Yahtzee
Taped July 1, 1987; series aired January 11 - September, 1988

Different intro, less cramped set, different question cards, and a somewhat different method of winning the $100,000. Clips were shown in a promo.


 * 1988 (WTHR promo {alternate copy, quality seems to be a bit lower})
 * [What cements these as being pilot clips is that the first series format never had a flashing "$100,000" sign under any of the YAHTZEE letters – only $5,000, $10,000, and $25,000.]