Game shows with multiple pilots (sold or unsold)--

[itiparanoid13]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 10:10 AM\']For several reasons, host Mark L. Walberg says it was not one of his favorite gigs, to say the least.
Randy
tvrandywest.com

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Yeah, don't mention this or his talk show to him, though.  When I interviewed him, he was just a tad touchy.  He doesn't seem to be completely into this as I have talked to him several times.  He is extremely sore at GSN about not picking up RR for a 3rd season.  He had some "interesting things" to say about them.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 11:45 AM\']

Lest ye forget, Bricon and I did a pilot together once.  It took us at least four hours before we were ready to shoot.

One word: Viagra    ;-p
That would be about 10 or 12 points in Scrabble, I think.

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I don't think you can use that.

<<<Pause to allow "Worst Line of the Day" consideration>>>

Aren't brand names and "words that would normally start with a capital letter" illegal?

Doug

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 10:32 AM\']Yeah, don't mention this or his talk show to him, though.  When I interviewed him, he was just a tad touchy.  He doesn't seem to be completely into this as I have talked to him several times.  He is extremely sore at GSN about not picking up RR for a 3rd season.  He had some "interesting things" to say about them.

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Having a few brief meetings with somebody may not present an accurate impression. While he can be outspoken, Mark is among the most intelligent, knowledgeable and creative people in our business. He's also a thoughtful friend and co-worker. He's earned a great deal of my respect, and I enjoy his company. He's one of the good guys.

One word: Viagra ;-p
That would be about 10 or 12 points in Scrabble, I think.

I don't think you can use that.

<<<Pause to allow "Worst Line of the Day" consideration>>>

Aren't brand names and "words that would normally start with a capital letter" illegal?

It's a small "v" before you take one.


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[bricon]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 01:05 PM\'][quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 01:47 AM\']Back in 1990, I worked on an ABC pilot called "Suit Yourself"

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Do you remember who the host and the announcer were for this?

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The host was Jim Peck, and the announcer was John Cramer.  It was a Pasetta Production.  The model's name has slipped from my memory.

For reasons that escape me, we couldn't get Jim's name to ABC guest relations in time for printing on the tickets, so the tickets said "Suit Yourself - a new game show with a Surprise Guest Host".  

Really nice man to work with, and way funnier off camera than we ever saw on camera.  

And as I pointed out to him, he was safe, as there were no stairs on the Suit Yourself set  

[Particleman]

[quote name=\'TwoInchQuad\' date=\'Jan 5 2005, 06:56 PM\']My question is: from a historical standpoint, if a first pilot is followed up by a second in a reasonably short period of time, does this necessarily indicate that a network (or syndicator) was interested in picking up the program (albeit with a few tweaks or set re-designs), or does it more likely indicate that the creator/producer felt so straongly about the concept that they were willing to go to the trouble to shoot a second pilot?

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Though not a game show, Gene Roddenberry tried to sell Star Trek as a "wagon train to the stars" since America was interested in the Western story at the time.  He got the go-ahead for the pilot, which was nothing like the space-western he promised.  When he showed his pilot to the network in 1964, they rejected it.

In this case, though, they were impressed by the fact that the show did a good job of making them feel like they had actually gone to another world in space.  They ordered a second pilot, asking for some parts of the show to be tweaked for various reasons.  The second pilot finished up in 1966.

Hope this information is what you are looking for.  It falls in lines with the second part of your question.

[SplitSecond]

[quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 11:59 AM\']The host was Jim Peck, and the announcer was John Cramer.  It was a Pasetta Production.  The model's name has slipped from my memory.
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Laurie Huggins was the card girl's name, if I remember correctly.  You'd also mentioned to me once that the staff expressed a certain amount of horror once they realized that an African American card girl would be making her entrance from behind a certain suit symbol.

[chris319]

"On The Cover" taped a second pilot after just a few weeks of shows were in the can, and only TWO had aired.

That wasn't On the Cover's second pilot; it was more like its 20th. Why that show keeps getting so many chances is beyond me. It should have been pronounced dead and buried years ago.

Randy and Brian, hep me out here. Didn't the networks normally do three pilots per quarter back in the day, not counting shows which were developed into a run-thru but not piloted?

Fun facts:

Goodson didn't take development money from the networks. Instead he developed shows in house. This gave him the ability to literally show a game to NBC today and CBS tomorrow.

The money spent by the networks on development and pilots was tax deductible as research and development costs.

Jake Tauber had the title "Vice President, Game Programming" at NBC.

[bricon]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 04:54 PM\']Randy and Brian, hep me out here. Didn't the networks normally do three pilots per quarter back in the day, not counting shows which were developed into a run-thru but not piloted?

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I think it was either three or four.  In the instance of Suit Yourself, there were three other pilots vying for a time slot - Split Second, Finish Line, and Match Game.    However one of these may have been budgeted to another quarter on the calendar.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 05:42 PM\']I think it was either three or four.  In the instance of Suit Yourself, there were three other pilots vying for a time slot - Split Second, Finish Line, and Match Game.    However one of these may have been budgeted to another quarter on the calendar.

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As for Match Game, was this the same pilot with Bert Convy? Or did they shoot another pilot with Ross Shafer, with the format they ended up using for the series?

Tyshaun

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 05:42 PM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 04:54 PM\']Randy and Brian, hep me out here. Didn't the networks normally do three pilots per quarter back in the day, not counting shows which were developed into a run-thru but not piloted?

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I think it was either three or four.  In the instance of Suit Yourself, there were three other pilots vying for a time slot - Split Second, Finish Line, and Match Game.    However one of these may have been budgeted to another quarter on the calendar.

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Wasn't the Vicki Lawrence-hosted Body Talk pilot Mike Burger describes on the Game Show Pilot Light and the Eubanks Gambit pilot also done for ABC around the same time as these?

[mystery7]

Last time I checked the Pilot Light, Finish Line was done around that time too.

[bricon]

[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 10:32 PM\']As for Match Game, was this the same pilot with Bert Convy? Or did they shoot another pilot with Ross Shafer, with the format they ended up using for the series?

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Yes this was the Bert Convy pilot.  After Bert took ill, several host possibilities were given office runthrus, and Ross won out.  There was no pilot with Ross taped.

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Jan 6 2005, 11:06 PM\']Wasn't the Vicki Lawrence-hosted Body Talk pilot Mike Burger describes on the Game Show Pilot Light and the Eubanks Gambit pilot also done for ABC around the same time as these?

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After looking through some of my records, I need more clarification - and I've emailed someone who will probably remember.  What I do know is that Suit Yourself taped May 3 & 4, 1990; Match Game October 1, 1990, Body Talk October 12, 1990; and a pilot which slipped my mind, Show Me (host Mark Goodman) taped Sept. 13, 1990.  I don't have tape dates handy for Gambit or TKO.

So I may have some of the pilot groups crossed up.  There is a common thread to Body Talk, Show Me, TKO and Gambit - none were done at ABC, as there was no studio space available at the time.  That could indicate they were done in roughly the same time quarter.

There was another ABC pilot called The Name Game in 1989/1990 or so, which did its first pilot in Scotland (much like Lingo taping overseas), and a second pilot done back at ABC Hollywood.

Sorry if this rambled

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 7 2005, 01:56 AM\']Match Game October 1, 1990 [/quote]
October 1?  Didn't the show go to series September 12?

[BrandonFG]

July 1990...don't remember the exact date, but I definitely remember it being over the summer.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Jan 7 2005, 02:00 AM\'][quote name=\'bricon\' date=\'Jan 7 2005, 01:56 AM\']Match Game October 1, 1990 [/quote]
October 1?  Didn't the show go to series September 12?

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Mike Burger at his Game SHow Pilot Light page says the Convy MG pilot was done in October 1989.