The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: DjohnsonCB on March 07, 2004, 04:06:32 PM
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I finally was able to add some much-needed information about the show from someone who actually got to see it most of the time. Also, regarding the link to my page posted by Curt Alliaume at Game Shows '75, it has a URL I no longer use; the current one is http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html (http://\"http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html\")
I know the site hasn't been updated for a while, most likely with good reason, but I hope you can at least fix the link when you have time. As for the opinion of the show, to each his own.
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I liked Spin-Off and while they share the same game, for me, today's televised poker games are not an acceptable substitute.
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I've never even seen it, having been born in 1979, so I'd have no objections if GSN were somehow to pick it up.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Mar 7 2004, 04:06 PM\'] I finally was able to add some much-needed information about the show from someone who actually got to see it most of the time. Also, regarding the link to my page posted by Curt Alliaume at Game Shows '75, it has a URL I no longer use; the current one is http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html (http://\"http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html\")
I know the site hasn't been updated for a while, most likely with good reason, but I hope you can at least fix the link when you have time. As for the opinion of the show, to each his own. [/quote]
I loved Spin-Off. Thanks for the link.
By the way, during its brief run, Johnny Jacobs was absent for one week.
Subbing for him at the announcer's mike was Jack Clark.
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I wouldn't mind seeing it again either.
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[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Mar 7 2004, 06:22 PM\'] I've never even seen it, having been born in 1979, so I'd have no objections if GSN were somehow to pick it up.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby") [/quote]
They haven't picked it up, but we now know the series is largely intact. The Spin-Off tapes were found when WCBS cleaned out part of their offices in 2000(the CBS TJW episodes were of course also found there)
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Nice job, Mr. Johnson - not only on the Spin Off material, but I also found your Ideal games section. As a fellow game lover, I also have fond memories of many of those - still have an original Mouse Trap (though horribly beat up), Hands Down, Tip-It and Mystic Skull around, and used to have Panic and Crazy Clock. Checking an overstock book store today, I saw a collection of Rube Goldberg cartoons. Kids buying Mouse Trap today have no idea of the fella, I imagine. Ideal didn't do too badly in the game show realm in the early 60s as well - Seven Keys, Your Surprise Package, Stump The Stars and Double Exposure were pretty decent, overall. Thanks for the efforts. Well done.
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They haven't picked it up, but we now know the series is largely intact. The Spin-Off tapes were found when WCBS cleaned out part of their offices in 2000(the CBS TJW episodes were of course also found there)
Give-n-take and Gambit came from about the same time as TJW and spin-off. Does anyone know if they exist?
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Wonderful new info about Spin-Off. Too bad KHOU never had the show as I indicated on his webpage. But I did get to watch a few episodes in New Orleans.
You had an idea of combining Seven Keys & Spin-Off. What is it?
I told the webmaster that my Spin-Off idea would play ala Blockbusters (solo vs family pair).
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[quote name=\'1978-Jeopardy\' date=\'Mar 7 2004, 08:19 PM\']
They haven't picked it up, but we now know the series is largely intact. The Spin-Off tapes were found when WCBS cleaned out part of their offices in 2000(the CBS TJW episodes were of course also found there)
Give-n-take and Gambit came from about the same time as TJW and spin-off. Does anyone know if they exist? [/quote]
The tapes of G-n-T and Gambit have not been found. However, MGM might well have some episodes of Gambit, as Filmways syndicated reruns of the original Gambit in the late 70s. We do not know as yet.
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[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Mar 7 2004, 08:40 PM\']
You had an idea of combining Seven Keys & Spin-Off. What is it?
[/quote]
It's right here; a link appears on the second page.
http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/page3.html (http://\"http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/page3.html\")
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The tapes of G-n-T and Gambit have not been found. However, MGM might well have some episodes of Gambit, as Filmways syndicated reruns of the original Gambit in the late 70s. We do not know as yet.
Although the complete three-year network run of "Joker's Wild" was found at WCBS, the last year of the show was always known to exist. GSN even stated as much.
Since reruns of "Gambit" were seen in the late '70s - a year or two after "Joker's" went to new episodes - I think it's a good bet that at least the last year or two of "Gambit" is still around somewhere. Even if it is, I'm not sure how we'd ever see it again as GSN doesn't seem likely to pick it up.
Only one episode of "Give-N-Take" is known to exist.
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I loved Spin-Off. Thanks for the link.
By the way, during its brief run, Johnny Jacobs was absent for one week.
Subbing for him at the announcer's mike was Jack Clark.
Jack also filled in for Johnny during a week on The Gong Show just 2 yrs later.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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Only one episode of "Give-N-Take" is known to exist.
And that ep, which I have, is enough for me...the game seemed kinda dull and rather repetitive, although I did enjoy Stan Worth's awesome theme music w/the "wank" guitar, and Johnny Jacobs' remarks to the audience during the opening slate on said ep are worth a chuckle.
One item of note is that GNT's theme was later reused for an unsold 1981 pilot, Temptation, which also used a theater-in-the-round staging similar to the former's.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Mar 8 2004, 02:49 PM\']
I loved Spin-Off. Thanks for the link.
By the way, during its brief run, Johnny Jacobs was absent for one week.
Subbing for him at the announcer's mike was Jack Clark.
Jack also filled in for Johnny during a week on The Gong Show just 2 yrs later.
[/quote]
And he filled in for Johnny (Gilbert) for a week on Go.
It's only fair considering how often John covered for him on The New $25,000 Pyramid.
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Thanks also for the additional tidbits concerning Nicholson-Muir games and the couples/poker references. I have a home copy of N-M's Definition, a long-running Canadian show. I think I have a tape of it coming from another collector. The cover, however, shows, what looks like a man-woman (husband-wife?) team playing against a team of two young women. Did N-M use married couples and family pairs on that show as well? I hope to heaven buried somewhere in my closet is a tape with a Nicholson-Muir show I've never heard anyone else talk about. I was watching an early local cable channel that picked up programs from various sources, and they ran a program called The Shopping Game. Art James was the host, and it was one of the earliest shop-at-home tie-in games I had ever seen. A few times during the game, Art would read questions (true/false?) to the four contestants worth $100 or 100 points each - perhaps four questions in a round. Only the players who chose the right answer won the money, and the amount each player had was kept secret from the other players. Then Art would show and describe some kind of prize - a nice watch, artwork, an appliance. After the description and the invitation for viewers to call a toll-free number to buy the item for themselves, the players then would bid on the item, just like the original Price Is Right. High bid would win the item - and the thing is, like poker, you could bid more money than you had and win with a bluff if nobody challenged you. Art never revealed the amount of money any player had, so you could win a couple of prizes by bluffing. A player could challenge an opponent's bid - and the player in the wrong would be out of that round. The memory is a bit fuzzy as to the end - if whether it was the player with the highest value in prizes won, or whether it was who had the most in total cash/points and prizes at the end won. I called N-M and talked to the secretary about the game, and she was delighted someone watched it. I don't remember seeing any reference to the show in any book. Anyone else ever see it? Probably early 80s.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 8 2004, 10:21 PM\'] Thanks also for the additional tidbits concerning Nicholson-Muir games and the couples/poker references. I have a home copy of N-M's Definition, a long-running Canadian show. I think I have a tape of it coming from another collector. The cover, however, shows, what looks like a man-woman (husband-wife?) team playing against a team of two young women. Did N-M use married couples and family pairs on that show as well [/quote]
As per an interview with producer Jerry ROchon in TV Game SHow Magazine in the January 1987 issue, Deifnition originally had celeb and civilian duos, but then changed to two civilian related pairs of contestants.
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I remember the Shopping Game too. If memory serves me correctly, it was aired sometime before May of 82. I can't remember exactly how the game was played, but I do remember the cheesy set and even cheesier production values. The only reason it sticks in my mind is because of Art James. Try as he might, it was just hard to get the show going and make it exciting. I don't think it lasted too long.
Hope that helps,
Don
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Was that on Satellite Program Network? How come nobody has mentioned "Howdy Doody"?
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I have a home copy of N-M's Definition, a long-running Canadian show.
Considering that they're both Americans, I didn't know Nicholson-Muir created "Definition".
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Thanks to all for the info. And thanks, KWJCDon - glad someone could back me up. Satellite Program Network sounds familiar...this goes back to when the Grand Rapids cable service was owned by GE. It's flipped ownerships several times since. As far as N-M selling their show to Canadian broadcasters, they were like everyone else - pitch an idea wherever you can until someone buys it. When Dan Enright worked for Screen Gems while in exile in Canada, he was involved with several Canadian game shows and probably developed and sold a few. I think All About Faces was his, and he worked with at least one other Canadian producer, Sidney Cohen, who developed a game called The Mad Dash, and worked on It's A Match (Dan Enright Productions) and Photo Finish (Enright/Barry Prods). According to Cohen's bio, he also worked with Roger Muir, so these guys must network a lot. I can't vouch for sure, but some people think Enright was involved with Pay Cards. Anyway, thanks for the replies.
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As per an interview with producer Jerry ROchon in TV Game SHow Magazine in the January 1987 issue, Deifnition originally had celeb and civilian duos, but then changed to two civilian related pairs of contestants.
Celebrities were used on "Definition" from its debut in 1974 to about 1987. From 1987 to its cancellation in 1989, civilain pairs were used.
At the end of every year they'd always have a tournament of champions where they'd give away either a Dream Kitchen, or a New Car. When you only had one person coming back it wasn't so bad, but when two people came back, I wonder how they divided up the prize??!!
So far only two episodes exist in the trade circuit - too bad a few more weren't around.
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[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Mar 7 2004, 04:06 PM\'] I finally was able to add some much-needed information about the show from someone who actually got to see it most of the time. Also, regarding the link to my page posted by Curt Alliaume at Game Shows '75, it has a URL I no longer use; the current one is http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html (http://\"http://dpjohnson1.tripod.com/spinoff.html\")
I know the site hasn't been updated for a while, most likely with good reason, but I hope you can at least fix the link when you have time. As for the opinion of the show, to each his own. [/quote]
Oh, but yes it does matter here, David! It's looking magnificent!! Especially those vidcaps you uploaded! Definitely keep up the good work!
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Who owns Spin-Off now? Does Nicholson-Muir still have the rights?
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Who owns Spin-Off now? Does Nicholson-Muir still have the rights?
I don't know -- are Nicholson and/or Muir still alive?