Lottery! Opening Credits ABC 1983 TV Series

Here's a rarity I found in my video vault. The opening credits of the short-lived and almost completely forgotten about 1983 ABC TV series Lottery!
The premise of the series that only ran for 17 episodes saw Ben Murphy as a the dandy representative for the Intersweep bank tracking down the multi-million dollar winners of their lottery along with his unintentionally geeky sidekick, an IRS agent out to make sure the government gets their piece of the winnings. Each episode was pure Eighties melodrama as we saw how winning millions changed the winners lives for better and worse. Nobody ever thought it kind of odd that this lottery representative and tax man stuck around and constantly interjected themselves in their day-to-day life well after there was any need for them to do so.

[@andreacasey4454]

I loved this show as a kid. Such a feel good show - wish it was available on DVD

[@morgan8757]

so do i

[@timriggins70]

I know watched but the only eoisid I remember is the one with the guy in witsec whose wife won.

[@hansbier5198]

Yep: Feel good Shows are not longer produced. I love totaly the 80s with lots of that Spirit

[@Jerilynn51]

Me too.

[@jo-alm4854]

Thank-you for this!! I've had this TV show in my head for literally YEARS and no one I ever asked remembered it. I was 10 years old watching this but it obviously made an impression as I still remember it to this day (except for the name and opening credits lol)

[@xanajak]

I was about 10 too and watched it and have looked far and wide for episodes online. I can't find any. I have vague memories of some of the characters who were told they won but lost the tickets ... like one of them who served ice cream in a Thrifty's-type store ... and then the mad rush to locate that ticket lol.

[@xanajak]

I lied, I was 12.

[@minolio]

I was also around 10…

[@andreacasey4454]

Same here!

[@beotheguitarist]

I loved this show even though I was a kid back then.

[@timriggins70]

Same

[@ferchinc]

good show! I was 5.. good memories from 80s TV..

[@user-mj8nf2vp7q]

Mid season replacement from '83. Watched this with Mom on Friday nights...when I was 9.

[@golden8972]

I remember this show. I was about 11 years old when it aired. Fun memory.

[@Tweekend27]

I remember watching this in NZ in around 1985 when I was 8yrs old. No one in Australia seems to remember it though.

[@aasompong]

For a time reference: As I was growing up in Illinois, there were only daily drawings ($1k and $10k) and scratch tickets (max $1 mil with $50k annual payments). This series came out shortly after the state first introduced a multi-million dollar jackpot lottery. So lottery fever was really beginning to sweep the nation when this series aired. I was still a kid when I watched this, so I loved to imagine that I was going to be one of those winners. Without Googling, I want to say that I remember Corey Feldman was on one episode.

[@dedevidal7836]

I love the series...It needs a revival and with new stories :D

[@Rach74UK]

Wish there was there a way to watch this. Looks like the kind of cheesy show we need in these scary times.

[@macgruber4689]

Das waren noch Zeiten. Watched it as a kid and loved it.

[@trayahzz537]

I still remember watching this, lol

[@akshin1556]

I remember watching this show when I was very young. It was a lot of fun. In one episode, the lottery winner was an old man, in the hospital with a very weak heart. Patrick and Eric were faced with the delicate task of informing him that he had just won millions of dollars, without making him so excited that he would have a heart attack. Another episode featured a woman whose boyfriend had a bad habit of playing practical jokes on her, which he called "surprises." When Patrick and Eric came to see her, they made the mistake of saying, "We have a very big surprise for you," which made her mistakenly believe that her winning the lottery was just another of her boyfriend's practical jokes. As soon as Patrick and Eric were gone, the woman threw the cash and check into the garbage. Later, when her boyfriend told her that he never set up any such joke, they realized what really happened. The couple, along with Patrick and Eric, wind up heading for the local landfill to try to retrieve the cash and check. It was cheesy, yes, but it was fun.

[@rem134]

I totally remember the joke one. About the only one I remember. I guess they could reprint the check but the cash was gone.

[@aliced7505]

Wow, I just looked up this show, and this trailer was posted a long time ago. I was 31 when the show aired. I loved it. Is this to say that the episodes are lost? Oh, no. Please tell me it isn't so. Yep, I'm 71 now and wish I could see those episodes again. Good storylines, wholesome tv. I'm glad to see other people remember it. Just a second or two of an episode comes back to me - wherein the lottery ticket is put in the pot of a card game. I don't think they knew it was a winner yet.

[@gillianholcombe33]

I loved this too when I was about 9. But I remember another opening song, it was a really nice one. I wrote all the lyrics down once - the only words I remember now though are 'the roll of the dice.." I'd love to hear it again.

[@WolfieD-yp5ez]

AYE! C'mon youtube! bring the series in here ! I Loved that show

[@RKHageman]

I and my friends were serious fans of Ben Murphy, so we watched everything he was in. I especially loved this one, and it was good to see him in a lighthearted piece, given what had happened earlier.

[@freddietommie1904]

RKHageman what happened earlier?

[@RKHageman]

Farrah Falaux I didn't explain as I assumed fans of Mr. Murphy knew. It was tragic, and extremely traumatic for *everyone* involved with his first primetime series, especially for him, when his co-star died. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alias_Smith_and_Jones

[@freddietommie1904]

RKHageman ok thx

[@TylerDurden-id6yp]

That show was broadcast in Spain back in the day

[@user-ry8zq7ei2g]

WATCHED IT WAS A GREAT SERIES

[@alexanderteuman7273]

I loved this Series

[@StanAlter]

I remember this. I was a little kid but watched it when it came on. There was also a kid at my school named Eric Rush.

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

There are eight billion on the planet. So some people are going to have the same names.

[@StanAlter]

@@bmoshareholderappleshareho855 wow. So enlightened. You must be fun at parties. If you ever got invited to parties 😄

[@JHollowayNetwork]

it was put up against CBS's Dallas and NBC's dead-on Manimal but the show was put on hiatus to make way for Blue Thunder (an action/adventure show) and in the spring of 1984, show moved to Thursday where it died off against CBS's Simon & Simon and NBC's comedies.

[@natachag77]

I was crazy about this show when I was a girl. It was so exciting! Pure joy! 😍

[@1995RangeRover]

I remember this on Friday nights in '83!

[@chaseroush6503]

Ben Murphy: Keepin' it mellow, stayin' away from turkeys, and givin' away some free bread.

[@MrWolfTickets]

With each prize he signs "keep on truckin'- Peace, Ben Murphy" and gives the fade away jerk handshake

[@jknox2]

Does anyone know where I can watch a full episode or two?

[@clammy721]

Cheesy actor A: "Look. If we're going to work together, I think we need to learn a little give and take." Cheesy actor B: "Certainly. I give..." Cheesy actor A: "Oh, and uh...I take!" (giant toothy smile) Cheesy actor B: "Right!" (even more giant joker smile) Ahhh. Classic 80's cheese.

[@keremtezel8463]

Waovvv many many years ago when I was kid . Loved this show it has to shoot again.

[@atrocchia]

TV was simply amazing in the 1960s through the 1980s. WTF happened?

[@chemistryguy]

atrocchia It got a lot better

[@lavalampluva55401]

Reality TV.

[@user-mj8nf2vp7q]

...The last two "words" in your post happened. -_-

[@austinl169]

Greed in the TV industry is what happened.

[@paulrose7507]

Some other site has full episodes but in German! Any chance you can upload full episodes in English? Can't find it anywhere on the Internet. Thanks. Paul

[@Cazzuppo]

Marshall Colt is like the Modern Talking's guitarist ( fair hair man ) !!

[@irened2]

In my many decades in USA, I have never ONCE heard of this show, EVER! I quite liked Ben Casey in Gemini Man (or Le Nouvel Homme Invisible in France). It seems an entertaining series. I wonder if any of the free video services have it? I can't get over the close resemblance of Casey to American-born, French super-star singer, Joe Dassin! The blonde guy is a bit too tall for Ben, they ought to have picked someone whose height didn't make him seem so small.

[@jknox2]

Is there anyway I can see these episodes?

[@drxcreatures]

I used to watch this. :)

[@morgan8757]

this was a good show

[@otaciliomoraes8334]

I remember an episode the 2 guys went to a house and there was a group playing poker. When they ask for the ticket, it was in the pot of the poker game and because of that, that round was worth millions.

[@jonathankraemer4926]

And the original ticket holder won the hand with a Royal Straight Flush (clubs was the suit)

[@The1baddman]

Rick Rosner, created this show also created, 240-Robert, a rescue/police type show, only had 16 episodes, Season one- 13 episodes, Season two- 3 episodes, his biggest successful series was “CHiPs”

[@marcelussa9333]

Esse seriado era o máximo muito bom 🇧🇷

[@marcellodasilvarego1029]

Não passou muito no Brasil e acho que só passou no SBT.

[@chemistryguy]

Such a shitty-ass premise, yet I watched every one of these. Thanks for putting this up.

[@chemistryguy]

O hai cg

[@chemistryguy]

We gotta stop meeting like this year after year.

[@garm13]

Robert Denby was first casted to play the IRS Agent, but he was too elusive for the role.

[@minolio]

I remember it in Spain around 1984 or so (as it says mid season 1983)…. Wish to see it again…

[@mandrake1017]

Cuando hablo de esta serie en mi entorno, nadie la recuerda y dicen que me la estoy inventando que nunca existió XXDDD. Creo que solo la pusieron un año y durante el verano por eso casi nadie la recuerda.

[@bleeding4721]

If you weren't alive between 1976 and 1989 then I feel sorry for you

[@marcogtznieves9287]

Donde puedo encontrar esa serie. La quiero volver a mirar La veía cuando era niño

[@taswinkler1420]

Loved this show as a kid. I wonder where we can watch it, anyone know?

[@johnagius5945]

Was a good show Trying to purchase it

[@bmoshareholderappleshareho855]

I was looking to buy the series in DVD format. I tried Amazon and eBay. No such luck. I was hoping somebody could help me get the series, please and thank you.

[@austinl169]

There were only about 13 episodes and unfortunately, it wasn't a hit, so no packager at the time picked it up. But I'm sure the films are still somewhere, so maybe it'll surface at some point.

[@revinhatol]

Philippine version: "Ang Pangarap kong Jackpot"

[@rogermoore27]

Oh my gosh!!!!

[@SpreadingtheMuse]

This was a pretty good show.

[@andrea36it]

Seen in Italy wenn I was teenager...great and funny, let u dream about winning the lottery.. :)

[@seb389]

"I give.." " Oh, then I take!"...Seriously, don t tell me there are no innuendos!

[@der-zwischen-den-Zeilen-liest]

Does anyone have the Songtext?

[@freddietommie1904]

what was the show where there would be an envelope sealed with wax?

[@BIGBLOCK5022006]

Freddie Tommie Yep. In the end credits.

[@tnawcwvictoria]

Lottery! a series starring Marshall Colt and Ben Murphy of abc's Alias Smith and Jones Created by Rick Rosner and Rosner Television Creator of Just Men! w/Betty White, Caesars Challenge w/Ahmad Rashad, 240-Robert and his best work was creating the NBC Cop Comedy Drama "CHiPs" Starring Larry Wilcox, Robert Pine, Mrs. Gregory Harrison in Randi Oakes and Erik Estrada as everyone's favorite Highway Patrol Officer Ponch

[@philrobinson981]

The only other TV show I saw Marshall Colt in was the short-lived McClain's Law with James Arness

[@wwetnabamafan194]

240-Robert had a young up and coming star on that show named Mark Harmon.

[@mrceleb2006]

Created by Rick Rosner, who was also responsible for 'CHiPs', '240-Robert', 'Just Men!' and 'Caesar's Challenge'.

[@jamesklatt]

+Shane Spencer and the 1987 Hollywood Squares revival

[@mrceleb2006]

I see.

[@tnawcwvictoria]

@@jamesklatt and he also produced the short-lived CBS Late Night Dating Show Personals

[@rony41165]

Why did Marshall colt have top biling?

[@user-mj8nf2vp7q]

(Alphabetical order?) ...Younger and more appealing to a younger audience. Alas, not enough to save the show.

[@bmorefunnyman1]

Yes the premise is so shitty ABC recycled it and will be returning it to TV this fall.This is why Housewives, Talent Shows, and Hillybilly's will stay on the air.

[@rony41165]

I wonder why marshall colt name appeared before ben murphy who's clearly the bigger name.

[@austinl169]

Alphabetical order by last name. Not uncommon in opening credits.

[@jenrose4177]

Lamest opening in TV history