Puzzlers Pilot
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- Here is a very young Pat Sajak from 1980 and a Mark Goodson Bill Todman pilot called, Puzzlers!
Go behind the scenes with TV and radio legend Wink Martindale!
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This was taped in the Spring of 1980 in NBC studio 1, the studio normally used for The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. NBC passed on it and after a certain period had elapsed we showed it to CBS who also passed on it. It was never shown to ABC due to some bad blood between G-T and ABC. Producers were Ira Skutch and Bobby Sherman with puzzle concepts by Steve Ryan. It was directed by Paul Alter.
This was a fun game show. Though I find it unfortunate that the show didn’t make it to series, Sajak proved he was ready for the big-time. His hosting chops and trademark dry sense of humor were already on-point.
For a first time hosting a game show, even though the pilot didn't sell, Pat did a great job. Also, Mark Goodson discovered Pat first, although Merv Griffin may not have been aware at the time he discovered him.
He was a meterologist at KNBC. My guess is that they knew he had the hosting and skills needed for game shows.
Pat was just.
They used the theme song from Mindreaders hosted by the late Dick Martin! COOL!
yes i noticed
This is how in Pat was in that Wheel job. According to Wikipedia, "in 1981 Merv Griffin asked Sajak if he would be interested in taking over the duties as host on Wheel of Fortune from Chuck Woolery. However, Fred Silverman, then president and CEO of NBC, rejected his hiring, claiming he was too local, and Griffin responded by imposing a moratorium on new tapings until Sajak was hired. The issue became moot when Silverman was dismissed due to repeated programming failures and replaced by Brandon Tartikoff."
Damn, Merv was gansta....
When Merv caught wind of NBC trying to match what Chuck wanted salary wise, Merv threatened to take Wheel to CBS.
Silverman was replaced by Grant Tinker (Mr. Mary Tyler Moore), Tartikoff took over in 1982, got shows like FAMILY TIES, CHEERS, A-TEAM, COSBY SHOW to name a few, advised NBC affiliates to give shows like CHEERS and FAMILY TIES a chance with their struggling starts, the rest is TV history.
Pat Sajak and Johnny Olson...that would have been a great classic tandem if this pilot sold.
Johnny Olson did get a chance to announce both the names of Pat Sajak here and Vanna White as a contestant on "The Price Is Right". No Wheel for Vanna for a showcase showdown though...she didn't get out of Contestants Row.
artytoons wonder what his reaction would've been seeing both of them make it to the big time. Heck, if they hadn't picked Charlie to do wheel, and he was still around for at least their debut, he would've been a great pick to do announcing. That's just me, but i think you'd agree.
Or if Johnny was too busy occupied with TPIR and Match Game, I could imagine either Gene Wood or Bob Hilton announcing. And introducing Pat.
artytoons The same year too (1980) if not mistaken.
Pat and Johnny would have played off each other very well.
This was SO worth the wait. Seriously! "Puzzlers" was so much fun, and perfect for those who love puzzles and visuals, which this show had a heaping amount of. The feedback I've heard from those who have seen this prior to its public release is that there are too many formats in the game. I disagree with the sentiment-in fact, looking at games-within-a-game like "Time Machine" and "The Price is Right," having multiple game formats within a more concrete p a brings variety and spontaneity. I think this was Goodson/Todman's puzzle version of "Price," in a sense. This was a solid game with a gorgeous set, exciting set transitions, funky graphics, and marvelous hosting by Mr. Sajak himself. And, if it made it to the air, there would have been more game formats to view and play. "Puzzlers" would have been perfect for its time; probably not so much today (perhaps in a kids' or Nickelodeon-type setting). Again, this was enjoyable and an answer to prayer! Thank you again for these treasures, Wink!
At least with Price, there's a commercial (or defined break) between the variations. With this, you're going one after the other. The format did make it on Mad Libs, although I can understand why the networks didn't bite.
Brent Rolland family setting, yes. I could so see that work, maybe kids vs adults.
This was also something like this named duel in the daytime which has some similarities to this.
April Ortiz was also on the Star Words pilots.
So the Pat Sajak we know and love didn't originate later in Wheel's run. He was right here this entire time. Great show, it's just too bad it didn't make it to the air.
As if Pat Sajak is turning 70 in October... he still looks so young
Margann Laurissa really????
This is probably how Pat got the Wheel gig.
The Buzzers Used on this Show were Also on BLOCKBUSTERS.
+Aaron Ladner The semi-harsh "Claxon buzzer" was heard on early 'Password Plus' tapings as well as 'Mindreaders', but 'Blockbusters' should have used that sound effect followed by "sad trumpets" if time ran out in the Gold Run bonus game.
The Goodson/Todman credit title at the end is also the one used on Password Plus.
I see that Sajak always had his same humor.
Does Pat even remember doing this
@@MorganNye Just tweeted him about it.
Pat Sajack Is one of the best stars alive
I'm surprised that they didn't used the beep-beep countdown sound effect (used in Password Plus, Blockbusters and other Goodson-Todman shows) in Photo Finish
Pat Sajak did an awesome job hosting this pilot. Too bad it didn't make it to air.
pbatommy Imagine if NBC and Mark Goodson gave Puzzlers a green light sometime later (say 1982). It would be somewhat ironic if they got Chuck Woolery to host Puzzlers.
Wasn't he committed to Scrabble at that time?
Scrabble wasn't on the air until Summer 1984.
I wasn't sure of the dates. Thanks for the info.
pbatommy I think he was still committed to Love Connection back in '82.
The bonus round was a mix-up of Blockbusters' Gold Run and Narz Concentration's Double Play.
I’m watching this to honor the legendary game show host Pat Tak since he retired yesterday from a wheel
This game is a Keeper, A REAL GRABBER. It really gets your mind going and going. Wink, keep bringing the good stuff!!!!!
Merv made,IMHO,a great choice as Chuck's replacement.
George Master true! a huge choice, and a great one, And...... he's still going strong! He's up there, but doesn't miss a beat, just like another legend, Bob Barker. Those 2, and trebeck are the ones who are up there in age, but haven't lost a single step when it comes to how to work a room!
The Championship round seemed kind of long and the initial round short, but it had variety to it.
Even though this show was not meant to be, Pat Sajak would find fame at the end of 1981.
The music package was pretty good, too.
The transition to the Photo Finish round feels like I’m at a disco club. Notice how rapidly the neon lights on the board flash.
This is pat sajak 1st ever game show taped in late spring very early summer 1980 and he did a great job hosting puzzlrs and I have IA
Pat sajak game show USA on dvd it was taped at nbc in LA and cbs played it as well as nbc but never made it to TV it was also shown
On occasion between summer 1980 and present on cbs and nbc
Another game show pilot off the bucket list. A great game all around and Pat Sajak was awesome. Thanks for posting this one!
Yes! Finally we see the full pilot! Thanks Wink
I guess this was what partly inspired the "BEFORE & AFTER" puzzles on "Wheel Of Fortune"
You forget how young Pat Sajak was when he did the pilot and then Wheel of Fortune.
Oh my goodness, Wink! You got the whole pilot of this?! Awesome! Yeah, I saw the infamous T clip on Game Show Moments Gone Bananas, but nice of you to show us the whole thing. Thank you very much!
The Tarzan scene is in game show moments gone bananas
Okay, be honest people, did anyone else think the letter was "F" on "-ART"?
If this pilot had sold, the history of TV game shows and the story of Pat Sajak's career could have been altered forever. Would he have gotten the call to replace Chuck Woolery on Wheel of Fortune? Would Wheel still be with us today? It makes you wonder about an alternate universe in which "Puzzlers" makes it to air...
this is a very awesome pilot, this should have sold, once again proof TV people don't know a good game show if it bit them in the rear
Matt Shroyer, it was a good pilot, but I think the timing of this was what did it in. At the time, then-NBC president Fred Silverman wasn't exactly a big fan of the game show genre. What showed it the most was cancelling three game shows on NBC's daytime schedule at the same time, "Chain Reaction", "High Rollers", and "Hollywood Squares", to make room for a 90-minute talk show hosted by David Letterman. I'll bet it would have made it if it was done for either CBS or ABC.
bluebear1985 Matt Shroyer Of course, when David's show tanked, Silverman okayed "Las Vegas Gambit".
Not only that, but I think at one point Letterman's show was cut back to 60 minutes to make room for "Blockbusters" with Bill Cullen, despite the fact he had a show cancelled months before, and also on NBC no less.
Blockbusters was one of two game shows NBC used to replace Letterman.
Love the "Mindreaders" theme!
I can't believe they're using the Vane 1 font in this game show "Puzzlers".
This would have needed some fixing but I could have seen this having a run. Biggest "sore thumb" to me was in the second round how contestants could easily buzz in just as the answer popped up, THEN see it and figure it out quickly, then give the answer. They did it several times. When the game becomes a buzzer race over being an actual contest to figure something out, it doesn't work.
Scratch another pilot off my bucket list! Next one I'd really like to see is TKO. Keynotes & Gambit (Eubanks pilot) would be good too. This is now my favorite RUclips channel.
***** Hondo20132 has the Gambit Eubanks pilot.
The second I saw Ann she looked familiar. Then I realized I just saw her on Match Game PM tonight and she won $10,000.
The telltale NBC whistling fake audience effects.
Thank you Wink! I have been wanting to see this since a clip of it was featured on Game Show Moments Gone Bananas ages ago. Wink you are the man!
Right away, you can hear the theme from Dick Martin's Mindreaders.
When Pat hosted this pilot for NBC and Goodson & Todman, his other half Vanna White was a contestant on The Price is Right. Too bad NBC didn't pick this up but the network kept him in mind. The lockin and dinging sounds will later be used on Blockbusters with Bill Cullen.
April Ortiz did become a successful actress about 5 years later, and she's still acting.
Pat was fantastic! The show has a Wheel of Fortune feel, which fits him perfectly.
Pat Sajak’s first game show.
When you see these pilots it's like what were they thinking!!!
Sajak is so young here!!
He was 34.
Still, it would be very unlikely to be picked up for a regular series if the game play was like that throughout the pilot. (Pat Sajak worked on various pilots before hosting Wheel of Fortune where he's been there since......1981.
1983
Who would have thought that pat worked for Goodson
Pat was a guest on "Password Plus" and "Super Password".
@@BenJabituya Pat was on the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour as well.
Does anyone know if there’s a RUclips channel for unaired tv pilots? I’ve always been interested to know if there was ever a aftermarket for those tv shows that never made it to air.
Some of those puzzle were so weird that I don't think that it would have sold. But it was still entertaining.
I wonder as this was in 1980, considering the uncertainty of "Password Plus" at the time, if this was meant as a possible replacement for that show?
It could have been a replacement for High Rollers, Chain Reaction, or Hollywood Squares. They were going off the air.
And Password Plus wound up hanging on until 1982. Part of the plan to get Sajak onto Wheel Of Fortune was to sort of introduce him to America as a celebrity guest on a week of Plus, with Betty White.
@Will N Bert Convy, Tattletales...I see what you did there. :)
all games including "Bumper Stumpers" and "Catch Phrase" smush into one thanks Wink
Before Pat Sajak hosted Wheel of Fortune, he did a pilot show called PUZZLERS that wasn’t picked up by the networks. How do you play THAT game, Pat?
Kenneth Huang 12/23/22.
"you capture that category, shame on all of you in the audience" LOL
Oh, c'mon. Don't tell me your mind didn't go to "fart," too... >.>;
@@DrakeFeatherwing😂😂😂😂😂😂
Im surprised in a sense that this wouldnt have recieved at least the 13 week pickup but then again Id like to know what NBC picked up instead. After watching Idiotest on GSN....I could see Puzzlers complementing that show. I see potential in it. Also Pat Sajak was great on this pilot! I wish I could see more of this Pat.....he is truly funny on here
RR means Road Runner in the bonus round the second picture which means the Coyote is in the Photo Finish because if they lost in the photo finish the Coyote will be in there because Coyote never catches Road Runner.
That was awesome!
Pat, of course, was fresh off his weather stint at News 4 LA (KNBC).
Pat wasn't at KNBC when they became News4 L.A. It was still NewsCenter 4 when he left.
@@danieltaylor9275 WNBC in NYC was still NewsCenter 4 at this time as well; that NYC NBC O&O became News 4 New York in Sept. 1980 (first of the month, Labor Day), while the L.A. one (KNBC) became News 4 LA in July 1982 (News 4 New York would last until 1995, when it became Newschannel 4; that latter title lasted until March 2008, at which time WNBC became News 4 New York again, and still goes by that title; KNBC is NBC 4 News now [becoming that in 2011]).
That seems weird hearing Johnny Olson saying Pat Sajak's name.
Why?
Also, that Pat Sajak is the star here (despite being only 33 at the time of this pilot taping at NBC).
Interesting enough, Anne was a contestant on TPIR in 1983, was one of the opening 4 contestants and won the first bid, played One Right Price for a Backgammon Table and won. I guess not all Pilot contestants are hired because otherwise how was she not DQd from TPIR?
Anne is our returning champion in the Pilot, PUZZLERS?!
I Wish That Buzzr tv Will Air
The Unsold Pilot During Lost And Found In The Future
A little bit of "Bumper Stumpers" included in the second round, there. ; )
Some part of ``The Puzzlers'' reminded me of ``Concentration.'' How come this show wasn't picked up?
Probably for that reason.
Steve Ryan made the puzzles for this show and he is the same guy who designed the rebuses for Classic Concentration (among countless other puzzles).
This should be made into a show ...HEY PAT ! WE LOVE YOU !
The fact that they put that in wheel of fortune
How do pilots have a previous champion?
Win Bell Sounds Like From Blockbusters.
It's a shame this one didn't sell. Solid format, and...I'mma be real, this show's set is CONSIDERABLY ahead of its time, looking much more like an early '90s set than one from '80.
I been waiting for this. Thanks Wink
13:35 The "Farzan" blooper.
If I was the host i would say it like this thank you Johnny olson thank you ladies and gentlemen thank you so much welcome to puzzlers a game of speed and persephone can relly pay off to one of are contesttins
What show has puzzles, pictures and payoffs? PUZZLERS! And now, here's the host of Puzzlers, Sam Champion!
this is his only other game show.
Actually, he did do a one-time thing as well. In 1984, he hosted a special episode of "G.E. College Bowl" on NBC.
My understanding he also did a pilot for press your luck.
@@bluebear1985 video please?
since pilots arn't part of the package of shows that actually make it to aiir, how do collectors get their hands on them? (i imagine it's alot harder to get these as opposed to shows that actually are broacast)
John Wayne Oder is now an attorney.
Does anyone else think that Pat’s voice in 1980 sounds like a high speed dubbing of his 2022 voice?
It was well worth the wait. I love puzzles, so I was sad that this pilot didn't sell. Fortunately, everybody saw Pat's potential as a host. And a couple of the puzzle formats didn't go to waste, either! (See "Blockbusters" and "Bumper Stumpers".)
And "Catch Phrase" as well via the "Twisters" category! :)
@@therealbrentrolland american or uk.
Man I never knew Pat Sajak hosted this I only Remember him for Hosting Wheel of Fortune! was this back when Chuck Wollery Hosted it and then Replaced him for Pat Sajak?
How can there be a returning Champion on a Pilot episode?
They have a fake one so the network can see how the regular show would go.
Does Pat's run-through 1980 pilot for Press Your Luck exist anywhere?
That hasn't turned up yet.
Wasn't that a different show with the same name, though? I seem to remember reading that the Sajak Press Your Luck was produced by Ralph Edwards, not Bill Carruthers.
I believe I heard once, a long time ago, that Sajak's Press Your Luck was based on the game Simon. That would make it dramatically different from Peter Tomarken's, to say the least.
All I've ever seen of it is a single photograph of Pat Sajak and a contestant standing next to a giant circle or oval with a neon "PRESS YOUR LUCK" logo within it.
They just loved using April Ortiz for these pilots
What else was she in?
@@I_WANT_MY_SLAW The Star Words pilots with Nipsey Russell.
who knew that Pat Sajak once worked for Goodson-Todman?.
This format needed a good deal of polish, but it would have still been a nice watch if it got on the air. I would have watched it.
Why did they reveal the last letter of the word in the "Double Puzzle" round? In pretty much any other word-based puzzle game, the last letter of each word would NOT be revealed. I would have replaced the last letter with an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?) when revealing the word one letter at a time.
This may sound ignorant, but has Pat Sajak literally hosted a game show BESIDES Wheel of Fortune?
he hosted a revival of College Bowl in the '80s once.
This pilot never actually made it to air though. The first time he actually appeared on television on a national basis was when he appeared as a celebrity guest on "Password Plus" on the week before his first episodes aired. Prior to "Wheel of Fortune", he was a weatherman for KNBC in Los Angeles.
He was the host of the first failed pilot of "Press Your Luck".
smashwhammy
They still were using "Devils" on the failed pilot?
(My guess as to why they were devils on "Second Chance", was another game show at the time had "Whammies" represented by lightning bolts. Some word game, can't remember what it was.)
smashwhammy
Hmm..Weird. Didn't know the Simon part.
I guess after this pilot, Pat, a year later, got a "Wheel"y exciting show🤣
I think Pat Sajak went on to have a good career after this pilot...
so did vanna white and both made high careers.
Any more episodes
The timing of the clues being shown in the bonus game didn't seem consistent.
Pat sajak before wheel of Fortune
Interesting that Bill Todman's name was still on this since he had died the year before.
sha11235 Yup, Bill Todman's name was kept on until 1982.
Michael Glickman Actually, the last game shows to use Bill Todman's name were Tattletales and TPiR in 1984.
+Dan Taylor and the 1st 2 game shows to become A Mark Goodson Television Production were Child's Play and Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour in 1983, I know Child's Play premiered in 1982 and it became the 1st to show that logo.
But that pause between "Mark Goodson" & "television production" meant he would always be there in spirit.
Although the "Child's Play" pilot was still "Goodson-Todman".
Wasn't John on "The New $25,000 Pyramid" in early '83?
THAN AFTER PUZZLERS PILOT THAN PAT SAJAK WHENT ON TO THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE
Was John on concentration pilot in 85?
I wonder if Steve Ryan was behind the scenes of this pilot.
He was. There's a picture of the Puzzlers set on his website.
Do you have anymore episodes of this show and are there plans in remaking the show as well?
This was an unsold pilot. So, no other episodes were made. I wish that it would be revived.
Was that Johnny Olsen announcing?
Yes.
No mistaking that voice.
Hmm… not sure I’d have watched this as a series. But a good effort.
If this had been picked up, who would have replaced Chuck on Wheel?
Bobby Van had already passed away by the time Chuck left Wheel.
+John Fenner Jim Peck :P
G$8605 LOL. Or maybe Jack Clark himself. Then they'd have to find a new announcer.
Tom Kennedy was still busy with Password Plus. Jack Clark would have done well- he was an underrated host in general. Jim Perry would have been superb. I think Merv would have picked a rookie host, like he did with Woolery years before.
Yep, Merv always seemed to prefer discovering new talents when it came to his hosts (maybe not Rolf, but still). Given that Wheel's ratings were still just enough to keep them on the air at this point (how it got a reprieve from the big NBC game show purge of 1980 is a wonder), I would not have been surprised if Woolery's leaving & the inability to find a new host finally killed the show for good. So much for the 1983 syndicated run that at last made Wheel a force to be reckoned with.
Had time ran out in the 'Puzzlers' end game, the "Claxon buzzer" (clean sound at the 17:07 mark) would have sounded followed by the 'Price Is Right' losing horns, right?
Or maybe the second half of the losing horns, a la Card Sharks during Jim Perry's run.
I see.