ABC Carnival '74 Across the Board Baloney Bamboozle Be What You Want Beat The Genius Beat The Odds (1962) Beat The Odds (1975) Bedtime Stories The Better Sex The Big Money The Big Payoff Big Spenders Blank Check Body Language Body Talk The Buck Stops Here Bullseye Call My Bluff Card Sharks (1996) Casino Caught in the Act Celebrity Billiards Celebrity Doubletalk Celebrity Secrets Celebrity Sweepstakes Chain Letter (1964) The Challengers (1974) Change Partners Child's Play The Choice Is Yours Combination Lock (1996) Comedy Club Concentration (1985) The Confidence Game Cop Out Countdown (1974) Countdown (1990) The Couples Race Crossword Decisions, Decisions Dollar a Second Duel in the Daytime The Fashion Show Fast Friends $50,000 a Minute Finish Line (1975) Finish Line (1990) Get Rich Quick Going, Going, Gone! Head of the Class High Rollers Hollywood Squares (1965) Hollywood Squares (1985) The Honeymoon Game Hot Numbers Hot Potato House to House How Do You Like Your Eggs? Jackpot (1984) Jeopardy (1977) Jokers Wild Jumble Key Witness Keynotes (1986) King of the Hill Let's Make a Deal (1963) Let's Make a Deal (1990) The Love Experts M'ama Non M'ama Match Game (1962) Match Game (1973) Match Game (1990) Match Game (1996) MatchGame (2008) Mindreaders Missing Links Monday Night QB Money Words Money in the Blank Moneymaze Monopoly (1987) Nothing But the Truth Now You See It (1986) Oddball 100% PDQ Party Line People On TV Play For Keeps Play Your Hunch The Plot Thickens Pot O' Gold Pressure Point The Price Is Right (1972) Pyramid (1996) Pyramid (1997) A Question of Scruples Quick as a Flash Razzle Dazzle Riddlers Run For The Money Says Who? Scrabble (1990) Second Guessers Second Honeymoon Sharaize Shoot for the Stars Shoot the Works Shopping Spree Show Me Showoffs Simon Says $64,000 Question (2000) Smart Alecks Smart Money Spellbinders Spin-Off Split Decision Star Cluster Star Play Strictly Confidential TKO Talking Pictures (1968) Talking Pictures (1976) Tell It to Groucho Temptation (1981) $10,000 Sweep Three of a Kind Tic Tac Dough Tie-Up Top Secret Twenty One (1982) Twenty Questions Twisters Up and Over The Waiting Game We've Got Your Number What Do You Want? What's On Your Mind Wheel of Fortune Whew! Whodunit Whose Baby Wipeout Word Grabbers Write Your Own Ticket You Bet Your Life (1988) You Bet Your Life (1991) You're Putting Me On Show a Random Pilot Show Unreviewed Pilots Bob Stewart Flow Chart | Beat the Odds (1960s)Producer: Bill Derman/Paramount Host: Warren Hull Announcer: Stan Chambers Taping Info: Probably 1962 Other Pilots: Chuck Henry hosted a 1975 pilot that didn't sell Made it to Air: This wasn't a true pilot, it was simply a replay of a local show on KTLA-Los Angeles sent to stations for possible syndication. This particular pilot film did not make it to air, but a 1968 version with Johnny Gilbert as host did make the syndicated rounds. Availability: Some traders will have it, it is also available through Kinevideo (external link). Beat the Odds had a very curious history, first starting as a local show on KTLA in Los Angeles on July 17, 1961. Mike Stokey was the original host, staying on until 1962 which according to The Encyclopedia of Game Shows Volume 3 he was replaced by Dennis James. However this pilot, purported to be from 1962, is hosted by Warren Hull who is better known as the host of Strike it Rich. This is probably an actual KTLA episode that was packaged together as a pilot film for possible syndication, since it includes a 30-second promo beforehand explaining how to enter the home viewer contest and more importantly, commercials. Eventually it did become syndicated in 1968 with Johnny Gilbert hosting. A later pilot hosted by Chuck Henry never aired. The basic idea of the game is to make a word that starts with one letter, ends with another, and is at least a predetermined length of letters, either 5, at least 5 or at least 6. What letters and how many are determined randomly on a machine that the hosts starts and the contestant stops. Each correct answer earns the contestant 100 points. 1,000 points wins the game. However, complicating the game is "Sammy the Whammy", who can cause you to lose all of your accumulated points (hmm, maybe Second Chance/Press Your Luck wasn't so original after all.) To help keep your points away from Sammy, you could stop and cede control to the other player, but insuring that your point total would not go below this number. Additionally, 500 points was also a safe spot that did not require you to lose your turn. As a neat little sidebar, if Sammy came up in both letter slots, you received a $50 gift certificate from a local merchant. One additional neat quirk to the game that any illegal word was not challenged by a Reason A. Goodwin-type. Instead, the opposing player was would hit a bell. First, the accused player would be asked if they thought they were still right, and then a referee was asked. A successful challenge cost the accused player 100 points. I would assume an unsuccessful challenge cost the accuser 100 points, but that didn't happen in this episode. About two-ways through the game, the game was stopped and a disjointed home viewer game ensued called "Lucky Seven". A postcard was randomly drawn which had the name and address of a home viewer with one letter in "Beat the Odds" circled. Warren Hull stood in front of seven pictures, each featuring a prize from a local merchant. From behind each picture, he pulled a letter. If the letter matched the circled letter on the postcard, the home viewer won that prize. If the circled letter was never pulled, since there were eight distinct letters in "Beat the Odds" but only seven prizes, the home viewer won the home jackpot, which was at $450 for this episode. A nice extra touch on this episode was the inclusion of commercials. Although they were all national in scope (none of those classic 1960's local L.A. commercials), although we do see spots for Carnation Instant Milk, Right Guard and Colgate. Gene Autry's hotel was given a fee plug at the end for "out-of-town contestants." I'm a sucker for word games and I fell in love with this one. My view of a successful game show has always been will the home viewer shout back at the TV his or her best answer. And I saw myself doing this. The only thing lacking was an endgame, which could have been easily added by having some speed round with predetermined letter sets. Hey Game Show Network, if you're looking for originals, this game wouldn't be a bad one. It wouldn't need high stakes, either.
This pilot has been viewed 2736 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET |