Which game show had the best pilot?

[Neumms]

I also was a fan of the Jim Lange 21 pilot, except for the bonus round which I just felt was tacked on and didn’t really serve much purpose...

It sure looked cool, I'll give it that. I agree on the bonus round. I can see why they'd want one to break up the show, but if they're to do it, I don't know why they wouldn't play with cards. The number jumbler messed with long-standing blackjack strategy.

[MikeK]

Adding this since it came up in a conversation.  The Name That Tune pilot from 1990 with Peter Allen is amazing.  Unfortunately, we know how game shows did that year.

[DoorNumberFour]

The pilot for The Big Showdown is *great*. Exciting game, great set, great contestants, and similar to what another poster said, all of the unique gameplay elements/possibilities come to pass.

[Neumms]

The pilot for The Big Showdown is *great*.

I'd love to see the earlier pilot with the lock instead of dice in the endgame.

[chrisholland03]

I was flipping through my pilots folder last night and have to say that I greatly prefer the Body Language intro to what made it to air.  Having the teams come through the mushroom felt more cohesive. 

[Sodboy13]

Adding this since it came up in a conversation.  The Name That Tune pilot from 1990 with Peter Allen is amazing.  Unfortunately, we know how game shows did that year.

I got to see this during this past weekend's marathon, and boy, what a fun time. Peter Allen was a little uneven at times, and maybe the front game could use a few tweaks. But you could tell that once he settled into the routine of five-a-week, this could have been a perfect fit of host and format. It also had a bit of a UK feel to it, as it made the host more of a true "star" of the show.

[Sodboy13]

Having the teams come through the mushroom

So we've just given up entirely on phrasing, then.

[bulldog_06]

TKO with Peter Tomarken was a pretty good pilot. The two rounds of building up cash and then attempting to survive by "knockout" to the end in the third and final round. I would have loved to see the show go on 5-days-a-week to see who would have built up the most money for the week.

[Strikerz04]

Second Guess.
Twisters.
But TKO may have to be my most favorite of them all.

[tyshaun1]

TKO with Peter Tomarken was a pretty good pilot. The two rounds of building up cash and then attempting to survive by "knockout" to the end in the third and final round. I would have loved to see the show go on 5-days-a-week to see who would have built up the most money for the week.

I thought it was enjoyable as well, but unfortunately Q&A games generally didn't work in daytime, and this one modeled itself after Jeopardy!.
I thought Split Decision and Lucky Numbers were solid pilots that didn't need much tweaking to go to series. Were they both for ABC?

[BrandonFG]

Split Decision was for NBC.

[Loogaroo]

I think The Couples Race had a chance to get picked up if they didn't spend so much of their energy on a White Elephant gimmick that made it so time ran out before a couple could actually cross the finish line.

[Neumms]

I would have loved to see the show go on 5-days-a-week to see who would have built up the most money for the week.

The SFX and set were cool, but the game was Jeopardy without the jeopardy or good writing, and the initials bit that worked on Blockbusters only wasted time here.

Maybe there's a good gimmick in stealing opponents' money and added it to your score. That might heighten the competition, but otherwise, how much fun would it add to see three perfectly fine but dull contestants play the same dull game all week?

[bulldog_06]

I would have loved to see the show go on 5-days-a-week to see who would have built up the most money for the week.

The SFX and set were cool, but the game was Jeopardy without the jeopardy or good writing, and the initials bit that worked on Blockbusters only wasted time here.

Maybe there's a good gimmick in stealing opponents' money and added it to your score. That might heighten the competition, but otherwise, how much fun would it add to see three perfectly fine but dull contestants play the same dull game all week?

If you watch Jeopardy, you could have watched TKO. I disagree on the Blockbusters initials bit wasting time...the gimmick of TKO is the usage of initials. I think it was a thorough game for 1990. If folks were on the Q&A and game shows weren't declining so tough, this should could have had an interesting run. The contestants on that pilot weren't the best but you had to see what worked with that group. Peter was fine with the question-reading and his energy that he used on his other shows works fine here too. I can understand if there was a returning champion for each show though. As much as I would have liked to have a bonus game tied to it, it didn't need one. Just me.