Initial Reaction - Rare Game Show Pilot

Rare game show pilot starring Pat Harrington, Elaine Joyce, Tim Conway, Jo Ann Pflug, Robert Reid and starring Dean Jones!

[@LogoMan7777]

Something I'd never thought I'd see: Disney's king of live-action movies, Dean Jones, hosting a game show.

[@jehobden]

Yes, and he appeared w/ Tim Conway, w/ lots of good scenes between them, in "The Shaggy D.A.".

[@richerdchikosky7558]

Herbie

[@luisreyes1963]

A double rarity in a game show: Dean Jones as host & Tim Conway as a panelist.

[@BRBTheFireball]

Essentially, Scattergories before Scattergories even existed.

[@drewconway7135]

BRBTheFireball I’m so glad I read through the comments before posting. I was thinking the exact same thing. Though I’ll take Dick Clark’s Scattergories over this show any day. 👍😁👍

[@trekadam30]

Exactly.

[@andyleclerc3600]

I always thought Dean had what it takes to host a game show...and yes, I caught on to Tim's joke about always seeing Dean at the beginning...it's a Disney reference😁

[@TheEggplantThatAteChicago]

This was interesting! Not sure I'd watch it on a regular basis, but I certainly enjoyed it once.

[@alfonsogreen2722]

R.I.P Pat Harrington Robert Reed Tim Conway n the host Dean Jones

[@GameShowFanMan]

Thank you for sharing another rarity with us, Wink! It’s so funny how I figured this was a Carruthers Company pilot before the credit at the end. The contestant area, especially the scoreboards, remind me of the Beat the Odds pilot and the bonus cue is the same one from the Give-n-Take pilot. Dean Jones does a good job hosting but the game is kinda flat, easy to see why this was passed up.

[@rogermunyon6867]

Dean does a nice job.

[@kenwiencko9209]

Another great one, Wink. I didn’t picture Dean Jones as a host, but he did a good job.

[@brianburgart]

wink, another great find!! this is really great for me cause the host is one of my all-time Disney favourites. especially SNOWBALL EXPRESS; the format was cool too, and Tim Conway was ALWAYS hilarious

[@taofanarchy96-renzomaracas14]

Did you imagine Charles Nelson Reilly and Richard Dawson in this? Their _Initial Reaction_ would be a phone call to Goodson to say “Prepare a cease and desist, just in case.” But seriously, I ❤️ this pilot.

[@christophercotton9048]

But now Fremantle owns this along with Match Game.

[@akampfer]

I learned something new today. Dean Jones hosted a game show.

[@DBradshaw25]

A pilot, anyway.

[@jerrybutler605]

Im surprised too.

[@axjmd]

I was in the audience at this taping.

[@wnychevy09]

What was the date of the show

[@tsukune007]

What was your Initial Reaction to the show.

[@pem1974]

When was it done?

[@mhmrules]

No foolin?

[@Lupton2000]

@@wnychevy09 Looks like 1972 or more likely 1973 looking at Robert Reed's perm.

[@JZCRAZY]

Chuck Woolery in the audience for this. Kind of a fun show to watch. I would happily watch this if it were on the air today!

[@axjmd]

Again- This pilot didn't sell. It wasn't picked up. I was in the audience for this pilot.

[@libertubey2199]

You did it again, Wink. Dean Jones was great. Thanks. Why didn't he get more hosting gigs after that? He had what it took. By the way, JoAnn Pflug's then-husband, Chuck Woolery was mentioned. If you can, could you upload an episode of "Wheel of Fortune" from the Chuck Woolery & Susan Stafford years (1975-81)?

[@TheNewTerrific20]

Jim Douglas hosting a game show. Wow.

[@LogoMan7777]

I know, right. They should've offered Herbie as a prize for a perfect game.

[@jessyleppert2]

Or the evil vet

[@TheRecordSaver]

I can't remember seeing Tim Conway in a game show before..

[@jeprice08]

Dean did a very fine job at hosting this game.

[@Ian16545]

Another nifty find there, Wink. Back in *my* day, the only _Initial Reaction_ game to speak of was this: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/898/initial-reaction

[@KiddBloo86]

You can almost tell the celebs know the show's going nowhere; just have fun!

[@pbatommy]

Scattergories meets Family Feud meets Match Game.

[@jeprice08]

Did you know that before Family Feud began, Match Game employed a lot of Family Feud-type questions during it's game play, especially during it's 1960s incarnation? So really, it's Scattergories meets Match Game.

[@thescott7539]

@@jeprice08 well yeah, Family Feud was essentially a Match Game spinoff. It's why Dawson pushed so hard to be the host. And this show here was clearly trying to rip off Match Game's format but not get sued for it. Easy to see why it wasn't picked up.

[@rodney1279TheFlip]

This game almost seems like it played like Scattergories. Thanks for the Pilot Wink.

[@sha11235]

RIP to all the ones who are no longer with us, especially Tim Conway.

[@QHMCQ]

Scatter(brain)gories. Rough show! Great upload!

[@TerrickTerran]

A tighter bonus game would have been nice but actually a pretty fun show. Wouldn't mind seeing this revived.

[@neumannsod]

It’d be nice if the contestants had to do a little more, and judging could get hairy. But Dean was great. And Tim Conway was terrific-do you, Wink, or does anyone know why he didn’t guest on more game shows?

[@ronflatter1235]

1:15 Guessing they had so many bad takes to start the show that Conway joked about it.

[@chuckers40]

The precursor to "Scattergories" (board game and game show)

[@gabrielhowell5861]

Wow! Seeing Dean Jones with long hair is really weird! He was great in "That Darn Cat!" The game is very strange but I enjoyed watching it. Thanks, Wink, for showing this!

[@cozene35]

Fantastic!!!!!

[@Drchainsaw77]

This show hasn't even merited a Wikipedia page yet...

[@KiddBloo86]

🤣🤣🤣

[@marcpower4167]

Its an unsold pilot most unsold pilot don't get a Wikipedia entry

[@andrews4425]

Interesting concept, celebs doing all the work and contestants just taking the bounty.

[@TubeChapin]

That's exactly what I was thinking.

[@interactii]

I enjoyed watching this very much! The celebrities were fun but this game format is pretty flawed. The categories were so loose and the contestants had so little choice! Still, a great watch. Thank you, Wink!

[@axjmd]

I hope you mean that you saw this video here cause, this pilot never sold.

[@DavidSmith-rv2hw]

when it's "c" and you're allowed to say "creaking bed," we have issues.

[@gnirolnamlerf593]

Jonathan: I agree. There were weird answers I wouldn't have accepted, which made it difficult for the celebrities to match and meant virtually every possible point was scored. This resulted in a close match, but not an exciting one. For the "P" category, my "initial reaction" was "postmistress," but then I thought, "Naw, they'd never accept that." I guess they would have. Anyone know if it was possible for the beeping light choosing the initial to stop on the same celebrity twice, and it just didn't happen to this time? I can think of some celebrities who would be completely at sea with this format, including one who was my partner on Pyramid back in the day. She has passed away too, along with our friends on this stage from back then, Pat Harrington, Robert Reed, Tim Conway and Dean Jones. Sure miss them.

[@akampfer]

Game show Wiki says this was taped April 1975 at CBS.

[@markstevens9249]

Literally the Match game flipped on it's head, interesting if had caught on.

[@aubreysemple3243]

This is so sad. The show had potential but a) the theme song is absolutely terrible. Like Grade F- terrible. How can a jazzy upbeat theme song sound so confused to point that it sounds like its having a seizure by the mid-point of the show? Also, the panelists... jeez talk about cringe-worthy. It's like the panelists went out of their way to make the game hard to follow due to their creepy banter. And the game itself, well... I actually like the idea. The main game is set up to give the contestants lots of money and the end game (if not confronted with misplaced riff-raff) has something going although I would cut the insurance gimmick. it's confusing and based on the end of the pilot, it made the ending have such a buzzkill when the player when the top prize.

[@MarkStevens-fh3wb]

Nice game, if abit complicated, though it's obvious somebody was trying to do Match Game one better, what year did this come out?

[@germanname1990]

My "Initial Reaction" to the Bonus Round was Iceland. All the same, I am part Irish and Italian.

[@gnirolnamlerf593]

For what it's worth, nothing, I would have written down Indonesia on the clipboard and won too.

[@willmack5909]

Interesting concept, and while I do like all of these celebs very much, they were a bit too out of control at times. A bit too much clowning.

[@sha11235]

Funny to see Robert Reed and Elaine Joyce there. See, Elaine was the original Carol Brady!

[@tirmyta]

This would be especially challenging with a panel consisting of: Mae Questel, Robert Urich, Vivian Vance, Efrem Zimbalist Jr., and a special mystery guest, Mr. X!

[@marcomacias3960]

Great game Mr Martindale can you do a game show called Puzzle Roulette. i dont know much on it but i hope you could do it.

[@darrelltiencken2413]

Match game in the opposite universe.

[@usa02]

This was taped at CBS Television City in Hollywood, (now known as Television City Studios). But who was the shows announcer, he sounds kinda familiar???

[@roybroussard800]

Sounds like John Harlan.

[@thewipsportstalkfan3160]

@@roybroussard800 no its definitely not John Harlan. if anyone he sounded more like Bob Hastings or Bill Berry.

[@donaldpaluga]

Three of the usual suspects (Harrington, Joyce, Pflug) and two atypical panelists (Conway and Brady)

[@libertubey2199]

Well, Robert Reed did do the first three Password shows ("Password" - CBS, "Password" - ABC, "Password Plus"). And, Tim Conway, along with Carol Burnett, Vicki Lawrence, and guest Jim Nabors, did crash (welcomely, I might add) an episode of "Match Game '78".

[@chuckers40]

@@libertubey2199 I think Robert Reed also did Super Password.

[@carloscardona6587]

3:36 little bleep beat rap sample

[@KrakenMan5853]

Wow!!!

[@aaronmorris1513]

I can kinda see why this didn’t get picked up.

[@mrceleb2006]

The announcer could be Joe Seiter!

[@VectraQS]

It's certainly a possibility; he did the pilot for Second Chance, which was another Carruthers/Warner Bros. pairing.

[@andrewschroy6368]

@@VectraQS He also announced another Carruthers game show, one that was absolute shit-- The Neighbors with Regis Philbin.

[@mixon270]

Is it me or did I hear the whoop whoop whoop

[@Tubewings]

A precursor to Scatttergories.

[@ajk]

What year was this? I'm quite curious.

[@axjmd]

Around 1973. I was in the audience for this taping.

[@LudoRex]

Wow. That was stupid.

[@gordonbeattie4864]

I like this show, pity it didn't sell. The theme tune was lousy though. To be honest it looked like it could have been taped in the 70s or the 90s.

[@jeprice08]

You guessed it. It was taped in April 1975.

[@libertubey2199]

It was taped in 1975. Dean mentions JoAnn and her then-husband, Chuck Woolery, were expecting. She was pregnant on her many appearances on "Match Game '75". By the way, Chuck had just started hosting "Wheel of Fortune," and Pat Harrington was months away (maybe weeks away) from his most famous role, that of Schneider on the original "One Day at a Time."

[@Margann1987]

My answers: 1. Comes in pairs: Hands 2. Keeps you awake at night: Coffee 3. Only a woman could be: Princess 4. Goes up and down: Javelin 5. Existing country: Italy

[@Shellinois]

Year? Fun show.

[@thomasdinsmore5866]

Or like chain reaction right

[@poppopw5305]

I'm wondering what the word "initial" behind the celebs is made of. The show is an interesting and fun concept though.

[@KrakenMan5853]

It looks like burlap to me.

[@allankelly2500]

Dean Jones could have filled in for or taken the mantle from Gene Rayburn on Match Game

[@andrewschroy6368]

Or Bert Convy on Tattletales whenever Bert was sick or wanted to play the game with his wife Anne.

[@lynn1505]

No way.

[@johnbires568]

Could the panel quit talking over the host? Too many panelist are trying to be funny. Just play the game.

[@marmaly]

Lost me on the convoluted rules. Biggest surprise was that Dean Jones was actually a good host. Never cared for his acting.

[@AccurateCrabLegs]

What is everybody's initial reaction to this video?

[@donaldpaluga]

Rare describes this perfectly, because the gameplay definitely wasn't well done 😛

[@ABCEasyas--]

donald paluga It’s so rare (raw), it’s still living.

[@stevejacks8389]

this was bad

[@someguy23475]

The set looks like something out of the late 60s. The game... blah. I was never that thrilled with Scattegories either. The insurance policy... dump it. It could cost the producers too much money especially if the category is vague.

[@semplenyc]

The worst game show theme song I ever heard or like what Dan Harrington said in this episode, “… I hate the music…”.

[@TheZotmeister]

Main game stupid, bonus round absolute genius.

[@DBradshaw25]

Really? Even when the contestant loses but knows they won because they don't have an answer that was already mentioned? Anti-climactic I thought.

[@jeprice08]

I’d like to say something in regards to the bonus game. The outcome could’ve gone either way. Lucky for her, she picked the right celebrity in Pat Harrington otherwise the most she would’ve won would’ve been $8,000. Now, imagine if she had picked the ladies first, before or after she had picked Pat Harrington, and had revealed her insurance policy just after that. From that moment on, she would’ve been worried knowing that her fate was in the hands of the remaining celebrities. I think it was only anti-climactic based on her decisions as to which celebrity to pick and when to pick them. She also had a lot of luck on her side because any one of those celebrities could’ve matched the others the third time or had said what she said. Luckily…they didn’t.