| Host | |
| John Mahjor | |
| Announcer | |
| Dave Sebastian Williams | |
| Taped | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Schneider-Kuretsky-Martin Productions | |
"In 1990, America's favorite fast food made a sizzling debut in what Russian city? If you answered Moscow, then you're ready to play PHOTO FINISH!
(interlude)...And here's the host of Photo Finish, John Mahjor!"
Photo Finish is an unsold game show pilot, that required observation, knowledge, strategy and skill. It was taped on May 23, 1990, presumably for syndication.
Gameplay[]
Main Game[]
Three contestants play this game of observation & knowledge. Each player has his/her own game board consisting of nine photographs, arranged in a 3×3 grid. Each column of photos represents a category. Plus, each of the contestants has a shape as their symbol. The champion is represented by an orange triangle, the challenger in the center is represented by a blue circle and the challenger on the left is represented by a green square.
On a player's turn, (s)he chooses a screen by category and numbered row, but only from the board of his/her own color. Host John asks a question about the photograph, and any player may buzz-in to answer. A correct answer awards money to the player and places the player's symbol on that screen, but a wrong answer deducts the question value and a dash is placed on that screen, indicating a block.
During each round, the objective is to complete a line of photos, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. A player who does this gets a shot at the Triple Exposure video question. Major announces the category for the video, and the player decides whether to try to answer the question alone for double value or toss-up the question for everybody.
The game is played in two rounds.
Round 1[]
In the first round, the three categories on each board were all chosen before the game by the players themselves. Each question is worth $250 ($500 for the solo Triple Exposure).
Round 2[]
In the second round, the categories are randomly chosen by a computer. Each question is worth $500 ($1000 for the solo Triple Exposure). When a 2-minute warning occurs, the game shifts to a "free for all" round, meaning that the players are free to take any picture on any board.
After the second round, the player with the most money wins the game, keeps the cash, and advances to the bonus round to play for a new car.
Bonus Round[]
The winning player is given a category, and then is shown nine photographs spanning the upper rows of the three boards. (S)he's also given a time limit of 30 seconds. The object of the game is to correctly identify three photographs on each board, from six possible answers. On each board, the winning player is shown the six answers, then the first picture is revealed and the clock starts. On each picture, the winning players gets two chances to guess the right answer. If (s)he can't or if (s)he's right, they moved on. Missed pictures are returned to time permitting. Once the winning contestant gets all three pictures right, the clock stops and the game moves on to the next board. If the player clears all three boards before time runs out, the new car is his/hers.
Trivia[]
The name of this pilot shares its name with the bonus round from an unsold Jay Wolpert produced pilot called Fortune Hunters hosted by Bob Hanley in 1983. Also the name of the bonus round from another unsold Jay Wolpert produced pilot called Fast Friends (not to be confused with the short-lived, sitcom-themed HBO Max series from 2024) hosted by Bob Goen (although this was spelled as "F-O-T-O" instead of "P-H-O-T-O") in 1984.
Despite not selling in the States, the show eventually aired five years later in the UK (Anglia only)[1]hosted by Gordon Burns (of The Krypton Factor fame) from 26 November (November 26) to 17 December (December 17) 1995.
Production Slate[]
