Flamingo Fortune

Hosts

JD Roberto & Heather Alexander (10/14/95–4/20/96) Michael Young & Lisa Stahl-Sullivan (4/27/96–2/28/99) Rich Fields (sub)

Announcer

Rich Fields

Broadcast

Syndicated (Florida area): 10/14/1995 – 2/28/1999

Packagers

Mark Goodson Productions (10/14–11/4/95) Jonathan Goodson Productions (11/11/95 – 10/4/97) Columbia TriStar Television (10/11/97–2/28/99)

(Million Dollar) Flamingo Fortune was a lottery game show for the state of Florida.

Rules (1995-1997)

Thirty contestants were in the contestant pool. Alexander/Stahl/Fields would spin a wheel that was hooked to a randomizer. When the wheel stopped, the player whose picture was stopped at would play a game, in addition to winning a set of lottery tickets. Three games were played each show and the player who has won the most money became the challenger and played against the champion for the final game "Treasure Island".

Beach Ball

12 sandcastles were placed on a rotating platform. An apparatus with the beach ball was nearby.

The contestant would turn his/her back to the platform and pull a lever to release the beach ball. The ball would swing through the platform six times, knocking over the sandcastles. Each sandcastle remaining after one round was worth $1,000, and each one remaining after Round 2 was worth an additional $2,000.

The contestant could stop at this point or opt for one more round of six swings. Three sandcastles were placed on the platform, or if there were more than three still standing after Round 2, they were simply left alone. If at least two were left standing after this round, the contestant's winnings would be doubled. Otherwise, the contestant would lose half of his/her winnings. Plus, if the contestant could survive the first double round, then he/she would go play a second double or half round, only this time, there would be eight swings of the beach ball. The maximum payoff in this game was $144,000.

After each set of swings, the ball would be grabbed and put back by a standby person. For some of Roberto & Alexander's tenure, the ball would be grabbed by a Popeye impersonator, and later the show's announcer Rich Fields. But when Mike & Lisa took over, that job was handled by a lottery security agent.

Grand Prix

Contestants were shown a racetrack with 3 racecars: red, yellow, and blue. They were then shown a board of 12 numbered boxes, and asked to call out numbers, one at a time. There were four of each color, and finding three of any one color ended the game and awarded the contestant a cash prize: $5,000 (for red), $25,000 (for yellow), or a cash prize of up to $100,000 (for blue). If the blue car reached the goal first, the contestant would choose from one of four letters (A, B, C, D), each of which hid $50,000 & $100,000 (two of each).

Splashdown

The player faced a board of 18 numbered rods, split into three rows (1-4 on top, 5-10 in the middle, and 11-18 on the bottom), each holding up a colored ball. Rods 1-4 held up two reds and a green, the rest held a total of seven yellow balls. The player drew a number from a helmet held by a headless diver statue, and that number's rod was removed from the playfield.

If a yellow ball splashed down into the water, the player won $10,000. If no balls splashed down, the player won $1,000.

The only way the game ended (besides the player saying "I'll stop") was if a red ball or the green ball splashed down. If a red ball splashed down, either by itself or with other colored balls (even the green one) the player lost half their winnings. If the green ball splashed down without any red balls, the player's total was bumped to $100,000.

NOTE: JD called the headless diver statue holding the helmet with the numbers inside it, "Bob".

Steeple Chase

In the first round, the player sent seven balls. (four gold and two black) down a track of ramps. The balls could split up and collide until they reached the bottom of the track and crossed the finish line. If a black ball finished first, the player won $5,000; if a gold ball finished first, the player got $10,000.

For the second round, there were four gold and four black balls used. A black ball winning the race earned the player $5,000 more, while a gold ball won a total of $25,000. After the third round, the player could either play the third round with three gold and four black balls, or with six gold and three black balls. The second set, however, would cost the player half his/her winnings at that point. A black ball coming in first added nothing, while a gold ball finishing first added $50,000, but if the gold balls came in first, second, and third, the player won a total of $100,000.

Freefall

The contestant would pull a lever that launched a ping pong ball to the top of the board, through swinging paddles, through a series of pegs, and into one of eight slots at the bottom of the board. Landing in an empty slot was worth $5,000. Each empty slot accumulated an additional $5,000. If a ping pong ball landed in a slot that was already occupied, he/she would be issued a strike.

After two strikes, the contestant could stop and take their winnings, or opt for another pull. If a ping pong ball landed in an empty slot, the contestant would have his/her money doubled, and would be offered another pull. If the contestant earned their third strike, they would lose half of their winnings. Play would continue until all eight slots are filled, a third strike was issued, or the contestant chose to stop. The theoretical maximum payoff was $640,000, but this would require that each of a contestant's first three balls land in the same slot, followed by each following ball landing in a new slot. The odds of this happening were approximately 1 in 213,044.

Treasure Island

This was the final round, utilizing returning champions from previous weeks. The "trapper" (returning champion) would stand at the end of a path behind a keypad with three buttons and a red button. The "trappee" (opponent (player who won the most during the show)) stood at the front of the path, with eight spaces between the two. The first five steps were numbered 1-5, the last three had cash prizes.

The opponent could take up to three steps at a time, but the champion was charged with predicting which step the opponent would pick (referred to as "locking in a booby-trap," at which point three blue lights representing the steps the opponent would choose from would flash and a "typewriter" sound effect occurred). After the opponent took his/her position (at which point the lights would turn off except the step chosen, accompanied by a G-note bell), the host would ask the champion to "spring the trap" (press the red button). If the opponent dodged the "trap", the game would continue. If not, the opponent had to return to their original position. Each step had a blue light that would turn to a flashing red (accompanied by an "explosion" sound effect) whenever the booby-trap was sprung. If the player avoided the trap, the red button flashed (accompanied by a "harp" sound effect), and the red light would light up where the booby-trap was placed.

Opponents won and took over the championship if they landed on one of the last three spaces on the path; the first was worth $10,000, the second worth $25,000, and the last marked "Treasure Chest". If the opponent ended on this space, he/she could pick from a chest of coins worth from $50,000 to $500,000. The $500,000 was won at least once.

If the champion successfully "trapped" the newcomer twice, the game ended with the champion winning an additional $25,000.

This is what contestants want to get if they hit the treasure chest.

Rules (1997-1999)

On October 11, 1997 (the date Sony assumed production), the format was revamped, adding new games, and giving players a chance to win up to $1,000,000 prior to playing the game.

The contestant wheel was revamped; all thirty names were on the wheel, and increasing cash prizes were on the edge of the wheel. Stahl would spin the wheel, and one of the cash prizes would land on a name. Stahl would then throw balls into the center of the wheel; these balls would land in slots by each name. If one of those balls landed in a slot belonging to the name attached to the money, they would automatically win that money on the spot.

The first game had values of $10,000, $25,000, and $50,000. (In early episodes the values were $10,000, $25,000, and $100,000.) The second doubled the top prize to $100,000 ($200,000 in early episodes). The third game increased the top prize to $1,000,000. The values for the first two games were selected at random prior to the show and during a commercial break. The $1,000,000 grand prize was won at least twice.

Flamingo Diceway

Four contestants vied for a new car. They were given the first number of the car for free, then had to roll the next numbers by launching six dice using a catapult. If the next number landed face up when the dice settled, they were credited with that number. It didn't matter whether any of them were cocked or rolled off, the key was to have at least one of the dice have the right number. Rolling all four numbers won the car; a miss at any point ended the game for that player, and awarded them $500 for each correct number rolled (including the first number).

Break The Piggy Bank

Two players competed. The game offered two rounds, but only the first-round winner had the option of continuing to the second round.

In the first round, each player began with $1,000 and had up to five turns to add to it. The players alternated in choosing from a set of ten piggy banks. When chosen, a piggy bank was opened to reveal its contents and remove it from further play. Seven of the piggy banks had amounts ranging from $1,000 to $20,000. The other three had the word "Oink". Players accumulated values until one of the players chose two "Oinks". That player would leave with half of his or her accumulated amount, or $500 if they hit two "Oinks" on their first two turns. The other player received a $5,000 bonus and the option to leave with the accumulated winnings or go to the second round.

In the second round, the player chose one piggy bank out of five. Three of those piggy banks would halve the player's winnings, but the other two would either double or triple the winnings.

Florida's Famous

This was a one-player game with up to four rounds and cash prizes ranging from $4,000 to $160,000. In each round, the player would pick a number from one to five, to reveal a statement about Florida. The player gained money only when the choice revealed a true statement. After each round, the player could leave with the accumulated winnings or continue to the next round. (The false statements tended to be absolutely ridiculous.)

In the first round, the player won $4,000 for each choice that revealed a true statement. The round began with one play in which all five statements were true, ensuring a win. The game was reset with one false and four true statements, and the round continued until the player picked the false statement. At the end of the first round, the player's accumulated winnings would range from $4,000 to $20,000.

For the remaining rounds, the payoff was either a doubling (for a true statement) or halving (for a false statement) of the winnings, with one play per round; a false statement would also end the game; however, the player could elect to stop after each round. Round 2 had one false statement; another false statement was added in each successive round, so that there were only two true statements in Round 4. A player who won Round 4 would have doubled the first-round winnings three times, resulting in total accumulated winnings ranging from $32,000 to $160,000.

Florida's Jackpot

This was basically Card Sharks, Flamingo Fortune style. For the final game, the remaining 23 players each drew a playing card from a deck during the final commercial break. Stahl (or Fields) then drew a card from a duplicate deck, and the player holding that card got to play the final game. The player faced a board of eight cards, each under a letter in the word "FLORIDA's". After selecting the first card, which was then turned over, then another card, the player had to guess whether the next card was higher or lower then the previous one. Two wrong calls would end the game, but seven correct guesses won a jackpot starting at $50,000 and increasing by $5,000 each week until it was won. The player won $2,000 for every correct guess if unsuccessful.

Pics

Trivia

Considering that this was a Goodson production and that Rich Fields was the show's announcer at the time, the bell from The Price is Right sounded whenever money was added to a contestant's total. In addition, JD Roberto (the host of the show) would later go on to audition for the announcing position at The Price is Right after Rich's dismissal from the show (and honor Rich in one episode of Drew Carey's Improv-A-Ganza).

Similar Shows & Spin-Offs

Cash Tornado – Pilot this show is based on from 1993
Illinois Instant Riches – Predecessor of this show for Illinois from 1994-1998
Bonus Bonanza – Predecessor of this show for Massachusetts from 1995-1998
NY Wired – Clone of this show for New York from 1997-1999
Pennsylvania Lottery 25th Anniversary Game Show – One-time special clone of this show for the state of Pennsylvania in 1997
Make Me a Millionaire – Clone of this show for the state of California from 2009-2010

Stations

The stations that aired the show included:

• WJXT (Jacksonville)
• WTVJ (Miami, 1995-1997)
• WFOR (Miami, 1997-1999)
• WTVT (Tampa Bay, 1995-1996)
• WFLA (Tampa Bay, 1996-1999)
• WCPX/WKMG (Orlando; call letters changed from WCPX to WKMG in 1998)
• WJHG (Panama City)
• WEAR (Pensacola (Mobile, Alabama))
• WPBF (West Palm Beach)

Although the show was viewable in portions of southern Alabama and southern Georgia, only residents of Florida were eligible to participate.

Rating

Music

1995
Main – Michael Karp
Others – Killer Tracks
Contestant Selection Music – "Spike It" by Rick Braun
Prize Ticket Cue – "E Ticket" by Larry Wolff

1997
Main – Edd Kalehoff
Contestant Selection Music – Lottery Theme (Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour Theme Variant)
Car Prize Cue – "Top 10"

Additional Page

Flamingo Fortune/Video Gallery

Links

Pictures of Michael Young & Lisa-Stahl Sullivan and Flamingo Fortune
Pictures of the Flamingo Fortune set