Which game show had the best pilot?

[rebelwrest]

We may have to adjust the qualifications as to what made a great pilot for the show, but for now I will provide the following conditions: It felt like the closest to an episode of the series, did the best at explaining almost all aspects of the game, and the game on the pilot itself was pretty exciting.   

If you want you can pick the best pilot for a series that went to air and a pilot for a show that didn't get picked up.

I always seem to go back to the pilot for Press Your Luck.  With the only changes to the game being four questions per round rather than five, that was an exciting game and almost every normal possibility for a game was there.

Let's get the debate started.

[BrandonFG]

The second Trebek pilot for Jeopardy! Only difference is they modified the dollar values when it went to series.

[Neumms]

My favorite that didn’t get picked up is King of the Hill. Great set and I loved that the categories weren’t the Barry-Enright type but types of questions. The end game went far better with Card Sharks. Maybe the battle with the King could have played more like an end game.

[Jeremy Nelson]

Really don't know if I have a favorite that went to series, as most feel like they're in that final stage where you're just working out minor kinks. But one of my favorite unsold pilots was Decisions Decisions. Sans wood paneling galore, I think the front game only needed a few small changes in order to make it interesting.

[PYLclark86]

Wheel of Fortune's pilots were pretty close to what aired apart from that whole Edd Byrnes thing. Details, details.

[TLEberle]

I cannot help myself--I love Oddball. There's a way to speed up the game and to make it not a stupid race to $500, but I love the fusion of Match Game and Super Password. It's a great party game too.

[BrandonFG]

Oddball is a good one.

I'll now add Second Guess to my list. I love the strategy of deciding to play for two smaller prizes, or go for the biggest one, and seeing if that overrides your opponent's two. And I love any prize-based game show that allows contestants to win some cash to offset the taxes.

[BillCullen1]

For a show that made it to air, I'll go with Blockbusters. For one that didn't, I'll go with Puzzlers.

[Casey]

I also enjoyed Second Guess.. Another I liked and would have watched had it gone to series was Twisters..  One I’d like to see but have never come across - Face the Music.

[Blanquepage]

Always loved watching the PDQ pilot. I'll never forget David Schwartz replying to an email of mine years ago in which he confirmed the entire run still exists in Four Star TV's vaults. Wish it finally made its way out! As for unsold, Temptation from '81 is still one of my favorites, thought it was pretty neat.

[BrandonFG]

Al reminded me of another good one...Kevin O'Connell's Keynotes pilot from 1986. I'm still surprised that one didn't sell, although I'm not sure what show gets the axe to make room. PYL was close to cancellation, but I doubt CBS tries another show at 4:00 pm; the morning games all pulled respectable ratings. Maybe they shuffle a few things around when Capitol gets canceled?

[tyshaun1]

Al reminded me of another good one...Kevin O'Connell's Keynotes pilot from 1986. I'm still surprised that one didn't sell, although I'm not sure what show gets the axe to make room. PYL was close to cancellation, but I doubt CBS tries another show at 4:00 pm; the morning games all pulled respectable ratings. Maybe they shuffle a few things around when Capitol gets canceled?

Card Sharks, at the time, was losing out to $ale and Michael Brockman (head of CBS Daytime) made mention in a Broadcasting article that he wanted to see some improvement by the fall in order for it to survive. That being said, I'm of the understanding that a network would often shoot a pilot simply to avoid writing off the budgets they had devoted to test shows.  For example, Blackout wasn't picked up until over a year after shooting the pilot.

[PYLdude]

When it comes to ones that didn’t sell, I kinda enjoyed Matchmates. Thought the gameplay was fun, and the bonus was cool. The pacing annoyed me a little but it seemed like an easy enough fix if it was to sell.

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; why would you have me play for the standard B&E prize package of a handful of cash and a cheap vacation when I’m already likely to win at least twice that in the main game if I’m lucky? (I say “cheap vacation” because it doesn’t always seem like the trip has a high value in itself; I will also freely admit I’m not an expert in what $2k-3k worth of merchandise would be worth in today’s figures as opposed to 1982.) It wasn’t the worst bonus idea ever, just didn’t feel like it fit.

[TLEberle]

Matchmates is a great choice—Grundy’s knew how to make a show look professional, plus we know the genesis of the Winners Big Money Game.

[PYLdude]

I’ll admit I also kinda liked Eye Q, even if Henry Polic II wasn’t great as a host and the combination of Eye Guess and Concentration was a little weird in execution.