| Hosts | |
| Mark Sweet (1991) Bob Goen (1992-1993) | |
| Announcer | |
| Jonathan Coleman | |
| Broadcast | |
  | |
| Packager | |
| Stone-Stanley Productions | |
PILOT OPENING SPIEL: "I'm Mark Sweet, and we're here at the Sherman Oaks Galleria in Los Angeles, CA, and we're about to meet four lucky people to play for $2,000 right here, today on Born Lucky!"
SERIES OPENING SPIEL: Bob: "Hey there, I'm Bob Goen, and these people came here today, just to shop. But, some of these shoppers are born lucky, because they're going to get more than they bargained for, and one of them will have a chance to win up to $2,000 in shopping/mall money, that they can spend right here. Let's find out who's going to be first. How about you? Hi, what's your name?" Contestant #1: "(insert name)." Bob: "Are you Born Lucky?" Contestant #1: "YEAH!" Bob: "Okay, take this and follow Jonathan. Next, how about you?" Contestant #2: "(insert name)." (repeat name and question sequence for next three players). Bob: "Those are our four players! We're gonna find out which one of them is BORN LUCKY! Follow me/us/them/Stay right where you are!/Come on (and join us/me/them!)!"
Jonathan: "Today, from (insert mall location), it's time for the only game show in America that comes to your local mall, Born Lucky! Now(, once again), the host of Born Lucky, Bob Goen!"
Born Lucky was the game show that took place in shopping malls all over the country. It was loosely based on a British game show of the same name hosted by Jeremy Beadle.
Gameplay[]
Four contestants competed in a stunt game show for "Mall Money", and the one who fared the best could win as much as $2,000.
Main Game[]
To start, the contestants were selected from the mall crowd and each was given an item or set of items that would be used in the stunts that they would play.
Round 1[]
In the first round, each contestant played his/her own stunt for up to $100. The stunts could be anything: trivia games, matching games, physical challenges among other things. The player performing the stunt won $10 or $20 for a fraction of success. After each stunt, the player performing it had a choice of prize cards. Whatever they picked, that was/those were the prize(s) they kept, win or lose. At the end of the round, the two players with the highest scores advanced to Round 2. In case of a tie, the tied players all picked their own envelopes with "Mall Money" inside each, not counting towards their scores. The player(s) with the most "Mall Money" advanced to the next round.
Round 2: Challenge Round[]
In the Challenge Round, the two survivors of the first round would bid against each other as to how many of what item they could get within the time limit to win the next stunt, with the player with the highest score bidding first. As soon as someone was challenged, the challenged player then played the stunt. The goal of course was to complete the bid within 30, 45 or 60 seconds. If that player was successful, he/she won the game; otherwise the game went to the opponent. The winner of the game went on to play the bonus round for $2,000 in "Mall Money".
Bonus Round[]
The winner of the game was faced with five stunts that shared a common theme. Each time he/she completed a stunt, the player moved on the next one. The contestant could pass on a stunt, but he/she could only do it once and had to come back to it if there was time left on the clock.
Each completed stunt was worth $100, and completing all five stunts within 90 seconds (1 minute and 30 seconds) won the contestant a total of $2,000 (including tie-breaker winnings, if necessary).
Music[]
Gary Scott
Inventor[]
Tony McLaren
Based on the British show of the same name.
Rating[]
Trivia[]
65 episodes were produced.
The pilot theme was the same theme used in the FOX version of Fun House.
This was Bob Goen's first cable game show, later hosting That's the Question for GSN. After Born Lucky, Bob took time off from hosting game shows and hosted the venerable entertainment news show Entertainment Tonight. He is also best known for hosting Blackout and daytime Wheel of Fortune.
Repeats of the series aired on PAX for a brief period in 2000.
Taglines[]
"Well, we hope you had fun today on Born Lucky. I know Carlease did. And the next time you're in a shopping mall, we want you to watch for us, because, I might come right up to you, and say "Are you Born Lucky?". I'm Mark Sweet, we'll see you next time. Bye-bye." - Mark Sweet
"Thanks for joining us, everybody. Keep an eye out at your mall. Because, you never know when we're gonna show up, and find out if you are Born Lucky. Bye-bye, everybody." - Bob Goen
"Born Lucky is a Stone-Stanley Production!" - Jonathan Coleman
Links[]
Rules for Born Lucky
Jay's Born Lucky Page
Born Lucky at Game Show Garbage
YouTube Videos[]
Clips of the 1991 pilot
The full October 5, 1992 premiere
Another full episode from 1992