Scrabble's "1-900" Game?

[gamed121683]

So, I'm surfing through YouTube and I stumble upon this old Entertainment Tonight piece about the 1-900 boom and how it was spreading outside the XXX arena. Around the 3:23 mark, they mentioned a quick blurb about how the game show Scrabble was getting in on the game (no pun intended).

Here's the video in question...

After watching it, 2 questions came to mind:

1) Anyone here remember Scrabble having a 1-900 promotion and were any other game shows at the time following suit?

2) What is the name of the song used at the beginning at the story (at the :16 mark)? I love the bass line.

[Bryce L.]

1) Anyone here remember Scrabble having a 1-900 promotion and were any other game shows at the time following suit?

Only thing coming to mind for me is a "Phone Wheel of Fortune" promotion from 1991, after the daytime series had returned to NBC, when it was in its waning months.

[nowhammies10]

Only thing coming to mind for me is a "Phone Wheel of Fortune" promotion from 1991, after the daytime series had returned to NBC, when it was in its waning months.

Phone Jeopardy! also had its moments, from around the same time by the looks of things.



/it's Diet Coke and water
//144p?  Jesus, 2006 sucked balls.

[aaron sica]

I seem to remember Ray Combs shilling a "Family Feud" 1-900 game too..

[tyshaun1]

"Press Your Luck" had a 900 number game during its USA run in the summer of '91 as well, complete with Rod and Peter doing the voiceovers. I seem to recall reading about it being so successful that it convinced USA to green light the "Lucky Day USA" minigames later that year.

Tyshaun

[colonial]

There was a phone "Let's Make a Deal" that got a ton of attention for the wrong reasons.  Among them, a jury ordered AT&T to pay a Georgia man $1 million (later reduced on appeal to $250,000) after the man's grandson ran up a $115 bill playing the game.  Both the jury and the appeals court agreed that AT&T could not refer to the $115 bill as "long-distance fees" and that the game constituted an illegal lottery under Georgia law.


http://openjurist.org/393/f3d/1354/kemp-v-american-telephone-and-telegraph-company

I seem to also remember a commercial for a "Name That Tune" 900 phone game that featured Peter Allen (who hosted a pilot for an NTT revival in 1990) and what appeared to be clips from said pilot.

JD

[BrandonFG]

Let's Make a Deal also had a late-night infomercial around the spring of 1992. Monty hosted it, and it featured clips of prior episodes, including a $20K Super Deal win. Said infomercial also featured actresses as "contestants" who would help introduce the clips and play mini-games, with travel soap dishes serving as the "curtains". One actress recalled a newly-married couple playing a Cash Register game to win a new car (they lost).

There was also the Family Channel's Trivial Pursuit Playbreaks, as well as ones for Boggle and Shuffle.

[Jamey Greek]

Peter Marshall hosted a 1-900 game which was a quiz show.  John Ricci used to have a clip of the commercial on his page.

[Adam Nedeff]

Let's Make a Deal also had a late-night infomercial around the spring of 1992. Monty hosted it, and it featured clips of prior episodes, including a $20K Super Deal win. Said infomercial also featured actresses as "contestants" who would help introduce the clips and play mini-games, with travel soap dishes serving as the "curtains". One actress recalled a newly-married couple playing a Cash Register game to win a new car (they lost).

I'm not proud of this, but I can remember in the summer of 1992, the Fox station, WVAH, ran this infomercial every single day at 9 a.m. And I watched it. Every day.

[WarioBarker]

Peter Marshall hosted a 1-900 game which was a quiz show. John Ricci used to have a clip of the commercial on his page.

America's $50,000 Play-At-Home Trivia Game? From what I can remember of said clip, the set was pretty nice with some giant "$50000" lights that acted like the Jeopardy! logos at the time.

[BrandonFG]

Let's Make a Deal also had a late-night infomercial around the spring of 1992. Monty hosted it, and it featured clips of prior episodes, including a $20K Super Deal win. Said infomercial also featured actresses as "contestants" who would help introduce the clips and play mini-games, with travel soap dishes serving as the "curtains". One actress recalled a newly-married couple playing a Cash Register game to win a new car (they lost).

I'm not proud of this, but I can remember in the summer of 1992, the Fox station, WVAH, ran this infomercial every single day at 9 a.m. And I watched it. Every day.

I'm in the same boat, except it seems that I never caught it any earlier than midnight. Unfortunately, the TV listings only noted it as "Paid programming", but if I knew it was time for an infomercial, I'd watch the opening disclaimer and cross my fingers for Monty Hall to show up. And, like you, I watched it every. Single. Time.

Thankfully the Family Channel started airing LMAD repeats the following summer...it was even sweeter when they trotted out the 70s version!

[Jamey Greek]

Let's Make a Deal also had a late-night infomercial around the spring of 1992. Monty hosted it, and it featured clips of prior episodes, including a $20K Super Deal win. Said infomercial also featured actresses as "contestants" who would help introduce the clips and play mini-games, with travel soap dishes serving as the "curtains". One actress recalled a newly-married couple playing a Cash Register game to win a new car (they lost).

I'm not proud of this, but I can remember in the summer of 1992, the Fox station, WVAH, ran this infomercial every single day at 9 a.m. And I watched it. Every day.

I also remember watching it on the Fox station WDFX in the early afternoons as a six year old.  When they would rub the commercial on USA I recited and repeated every word in it.

[Jamey Greek]

I remember a spelling game called Spellit.

[aaron sica]

I'm not proud of this, but I can remember in the summer of 1992, the Fox station, WVAH, ran this infomercial every single day at 9 a.m. And I watched it. Every day.

I can do one better...My informercial's not even a game show! I really enjoyed watching the "Amazing Discoveries" one where they advertised "Memory Power". I even convinced my parents to get it (better grades, etc.). I don't think I even made it halfway through the book.

[PYLdude]

I remember a spelling game called Spellit.

And what a scam it was.