Puzzle Roulette - Jim Lange - Rare Pilot

What happens when you mix Catch Phrase with roulette...watch and see!
Go behind the scenes with TV and radio legend Wink Martindale!
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[@lobstertexas]

They went digging through the backlot trash hopper and found Catch Phrase's Amiga 100, with it's slow-draw poly-fill stylins intact!

[@arhsmacdudeproductions1957]

I had no idea dean goss was an announcer for a few pilots. He was my favorite radio DJ in San Francisco.

[@marcpower4167]

I think he guest hosted let's make a deal at one point too. Apparently Monty was going to retire and considered Dean as a potential successor (among others)

[@DBradshaw25]

That set....looks like a fancy Sizzler LOL

[@FrankTeddy2011]

Jim was a great game show host. Loved him on the “$1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime,” and “The Dating Game.” He always kept his programs moving along and was supportive of the contestants. I think the roulette spins should’ve been earned by solving the puzzle first in the main game. Then, use the spin to earn $ or prizes like “Press Your Luck.” Anyone else think the floating roulette stand at 20:55 looks a bit haunted? 😱

[@supersaver87]

Babs was on Double Talk and Shuffle. She also did the 20 Questions pilot from '89...wearing that same shirt, no less.

[@IvoryM1986]

Antonia was on Super Password in 1985, but I'm not sure which celebrity partners were she aided with.

[@illustriousrocket4476]

Never even heard of this pilot before... can't wait to see it!

[@eddieg749]

RIP Jim Lange

[@jeprice08]

Thanks for another bit of game show nostalgia, Wink!

[@JBHuskers]

"We'll see you tomorrow on Puzzle Roulette! " - no unfortunately we won't.

[@damienchance2622]

Tomorrow mean soon

[@albiegraydean3581]

I love how some of the elements were used in later games. The puzzles were from the show, Catch Phrase. Which I think is excellent.

[@ksonchannel2068]

Some of the Puzzles on the Pilot were recycled from Catchphrase, Timestamp if you remember that Puzzle from a Past Catchphrase Episode.

[@binahentz]

Trying to solve the Bonus Catch Phrase provided a element of challenge to the original game. In this version, that's taken away, and we're left with just a series of easy Catch Phrases and wheel spins. It's all too simple and random.

[@LogoMan7777]

Is it me, or does that wheel move a little too fast at times?

[@OS-yf3ko]

Okay so now I’ve seen Antonia in a couple different game shows. Seems like she was all over those auditions lol

[@digiblader1]

Reviving Catch Phrase would've been better - the roulette wheel feels tacked on and cheap, and the bonus game is difficult to win and dependent on luck rather than knowledge to win the big money.

[@newstarcadefan]

Yeah the sydicators at the time pulled it, and got too impatient. They ultimately had perfect match, but no production company has used an insurance policy like that ever again.

[@guspolly]

I doubt Catch Phrase would have fared any better just two years after a brief 4 month run. We super game show fans like it, but the broader public clearly didn’t. My guess is they knew it failed here but was successful in the UK, so they tried to guess how to sell the idea better in the home market. They guessed wrong though.

[@RichCale]

Puzzle aspect is good. I like the idea of predicting a 50/50 shot on the roulette wheel as a way to control who gets a chance at the puzzle, as it leaves only 12.5% chance of no one getting a crack at answering. I like how the 0/00 gives everyone a chance. The bonus game... I liked the solve ten puzzles in sixty seconds idea. However, it was not mentioned what happens if 0 or 00 comes up in that bonus spin, nor if they can be picked. Even if they can be picked, the best scenario gives the contestant a 26.3% chance of winning the big prize, and in the worst case they have a 2.6% chance of winning. Now I do know a lot of bonus games were down to luck, some with the option of stopping, but this is a one and done spin. As long as the contestant doesn't lose the puzzle solving winnings in the bonus round, that spin isn't a big loss for the contestant. Of course, that third round could either end up not needed, or running a long time due to the mechanics. I can only imagine that either the bonus round, or the possibility of a long running third round could have worked against it, as the odds of the third round being not needed at all required a good deal of good luck for anyone to pull it off.

[@donaldpaluga]

6.25%=1/16 chances a response is needed because all four contestants guessed wrong

[@sha11235]

I think they could be picked. Notice they are on the numbers board if someone wanted it?

[@Tubewings]

They switched the zeroes on the wheel (single zero should be between the 28 and 2, and the double zero should be between the 27 and 1).

[@willmack5909]

A game with puzzles and a wheel. I wonder what Merv would have had to say about this had it aired...I also wonder what happens if all 4 players pick red and the ball lands in black? I guess those were edited out a lot like Price is Right overbids perhaps are today. I wonder too what would have happened had that guy's lucky number it a second time, would he have won a second prize?

[@brothergaryii]

Jim Lange knew Dean Goss since their days on radio and Dean told me Mr. Lange took him "under his wing."

[@eddieg749]

Jim Lange was originally from the state that I live in, which is Minnesota

[@andrewschroy6368]

@@eddieg749 But both he and Dean Goss were very big on San Francisco radio. Hell, Jim was a fixture at KGO (SF's ABC affiliate) for many years.

[@DougMorris1045]

Interesting show. Might have sold if the Catch Phrase element were replaced with general knowledge toss-up questions. Only other roulette-based game show I can think of is “Rapid Roulette” - an Irish game show I read about in TV Game Show magazine.

[@willmack5909]

I kept waiting for Jim Lange to accidentally say "Melody Roulette". The only other 2 roulette game shows I know of are the U.K. game show "Red Or Black", and GSN's Russian Roulette.

[@fredmckinney8933]

Here's how I'd do it: Same as above, but with general knowledge questions. Also, players would get to declare TWO lucky numbers upon answering their first question correctly. If the ball lands in either of their lucky numbers, they win a prize. However, if, on two different turns, of course, the ball lands in both of their lucky numbers, they win a car. Also, I'd raise dollar amounts to $500 increments instead of $100 increments. First to reach $5,000 or more wins double their cash, everyone else leaves with whatever they won. I'd go a completely different route on the bonus round, though: The player gets a chip worth $25,000, which he/she can either cash in and leave or try for more by answering a question with 3 possible choices. If he/she goes for it and gives the correct answer, he/she gets 2 chips. On the next question, he/she can cash in both chips, cash in one and bet with the other one, or bet them both, either both on the same answer or two different answers. Again, a correct answer doubles the chips that were bet on the correct answer. On the last question, the player can play them any way he/she likes with the exception of betting on all three choices. At this point, if a player went all in on the correct answer all 3 times, he or she will have 8 chips + 2 more chips as a bonus for going all in and being correct each time. The player, with maximum possible winnings at this point being $250K, can cash in and / or play any or all of his / her chips on a table with the 36 numbers and spin the wheel. If the ball lands in any number the player chose, the value of the chips gets doubled ($50K each). However, if it lands on 0 or 00, the value of the chips is quadrupled ($100K each -- potential for $1M here). After that, the player can take all the chips he / she has played and either cash them in or play them all for one final spin (all chips on this one if he / she goes for it), with all other rules applying from the first bonus round spin. If a player 1) goes all in on all 3 correct answers, 2) bets ALL of his / her chips in both bonus round spins, AND 3) gets 0 or 00 in both bonus round spins, he / she would win $4M.

[@dougghiz8339]

R.I.P. Jim Lange

[@Alexyamada78]

It reminds me of a favorite gameshow of mine : catch phrase

[@MTCesquire]

They literally tried Catch Phrase a couple years prior to this and it didn't even make it to the spring. Minus the wheel, they could've just waited a few more years to try Catch Phrase again.

[@ABCEasyas--]

Plus, Catch Phrase was “catching on” in the UK with Irishman Roy Walker and Mr. Chips, the Twinkie-like mascot.

[@mshroye2]

This was an interesting game in my opinion. I think it could have sold but I’m not a TV executive

[@ninkynonk5007]

Minus the cheesiness of the music and co-hostess, this would've been a great format that anyone could've enjoyed, despite its similarities to Catchphrase.

[@jnadle1]

I think the theme music, needed an actual horn section.

[@stedco75]

This show is kind of like oysters and ice cream...good on their own, but you wouldn’t want to eat them together. The puzzle element is fun and the roulette element is fun, but they just don’t work together in this case. And as always, thanks to Wink for uploading!

[@sha11235]

I don't like oysters myself.

[@vinniemystery563]

Puzzler meets Roulette meets Catch Phrase lol

[@coltonrichards8885]

@Wink Martindale Did you know that I share an August 15th b-day w/ Jim Lange?

[@marcomacias3960]

im guessing you read my post and found this game show. thanks Wink.

[@QHMCQ]

Boy, I knew 90 seconds into this it was gonna be a rough ride...lol

[@LogoMan7777]

Whatever happened to the home viewer?

[@MikeTeaveeJr]

This must have been toward the turn of the century. I think the assistant's name was Jan Paulson, who might have been a Trojan Song Girl back in the mid 1990's. During her tenure SC beat Northwestern in the Wildcats first bowl appearance in ages and the following year beat Notre Dame for the first time in 14 years. That year the men's basketball team reached the field of 64 but fell to Illinois while the Bruins were caught in an ice storm up in Michigan (at least the lights in my house stayed on)!

[@HarlemHyena]

And here we see Herbie Chips pre-roboticization.

[@stephenhacker6475]

Cool 😎

[@shawnquinn9534]

Is this the only time Procter & Gamble Productions was ever involved with a game show of any type? I thought they stuck to soap operas.

[@marcpower4167]

I think they were also involved with another unsold pilot called "The Buck Stops Here" hosted by Jim Peck.

[@Sailor_Enchantix]

If this is the pilot how can the champ have a current total? On top of that, how can we even have a champ?

[@steve470]

A game show pilot is just a demonstration, to show executives what an episode will look like. So they make stuff up to make it look like an ordinary episode.

[@ericjonmagnuson2728]

Was Procter & Gamble involved in producing any other game-show pilots? And, if this had been picked up, would P&G have been the show's primary sponsor?

[@andrewschroy6368]

Yes. P&G did a pilot with Jim Peck called The Buck Stops Here two years prior.

[@LudoRex]

Thanks anyway, Wink. This is neither an improvement of "Catch Phrase" or roulette. Come back, Mr. Chips! All is forgiven!

[@TommygunNG]

Wink isn't posting these because they're "good." It's history, and sometimes looking at history to laugh at it can be fun.

[@marcomacias3960]

you mean Herbie

[@georgef551]

Looks like "Catch Phrase" caught the "Joker's Wild" bug. (Keep trying until it sticks.)

[@IrishKeshiHead]

Dear lord.. it's Catch Phrase and wheel pf fortune in one..

[@jessyleppert2]

This show should have made it to the air

[@whorefortheman]

Said no one.

[@Dim4323]

So puzzle roulette is basicly catchphrase with roulette

[@lobstertexas]

That poor Hawaiian girl in the hula skirt had to stand back there in the dark waiting until one of these dopes gets their number landed on. (What happened if someone's number was landed on multiple times? Multiple trips to Hawaii?)

[@sha11235]

Probably different prizes. She didn't have to stand there that long. Maybe she got on there once they saw the number was picked so they told her to get on there. She was probably on stand by.

[@millenniumman75]

I thought it was a bit PC like the Monopoly dude.

[@alfonsogreen2722]

A mixture of Catch Phrase in a casino

[@ThandrieDavis]

10:38 strange speedup

[@ronflatter1235]

This was a tedious concept. The sameness of the base game was ponderous. Imagine, too, if a constant dawdled through the selection of numbers in the end game, especially since they had to look at reverse images of them. BTW, that mirror looked absolutely awkward.

[@rodney1279TheFlip]

Do not mix a roulette wheel with Catch Phrases? It was not a good mix but it was great seeing the late Jim Lange on here.

[@pamhowden8161]

First time watching it

[@Ian16545]

Wait till I tell Aunt Courtney and Uncle Peter about this!

[@SigmaRho2922]

The sound effects from press your luck were used on this show. 5 or 10 pilot episodes were filmed but only one was aired. The show was canceled after the pilots were filmed.

[@JL-bv4wg]

Interesting game.

[@craigfoye6674]

Vingt-Deux (French meaning “22”)

[@bentheswitchsportsfan06]

Is it just me or does Jim Lange look like Tom Kennedy?

[@illustriousrocket4476]

Hm. It's decent and watchable, but still, feels like it has too many different elements going on at once and overuses the roulette motif. The roulette is a pretty fun way to determine who gets to play each round but the puzzles don't really match that well with it. Something like The Big Showdown, where it's a simpler Q&A game and the roulette both determines who plays and what the question's value is might work better.

[@bfl1996]

From The Makers of IL Lottery The Game Show

[@ronflatter1235]

22:32 Antonio?

[@spwash1000]

What network was this show pitched to but didn’t get picked up?

[@jeprice08]

I say it was syndication.

[@genegjr]

Not sure

[@milesmorris9333]

@@jeprice08 Doubtful. We didn't even see the name of a syndicator in the opening slate or a logo for one at the end.

[@martinteece8983]

So it basicly catchphrase but only if you guess red or black first.

[@marcpower4167]

Or odd/even in round 2 and top/bottom in round 3.

[@kelperdude]

So many clues in these puzzles would not be allowed today. It's so sad.

[@jerryhorn4697]

The roulette wheel concept is interesting. The animated puzzles are lame. "Catch Phrase" did a better job. Sharry Paulsen makes this pilot worth watching. She has that winning combination of beautiful and cute!

[@matthewclark9652]

The last game show for the late Jim Lange??

[@andrewschroy6368]

No-- he did Triple Threat not long after this pilot.

[@ajvasta]

How is it a pilot if there is a returning champion?

[@richshealer3755]

Because it's not a real episode the players do not actually win anything. So they script it do demonstrate all the aspects of the game.

[@3mango]

Sounds like a knock off wheel of fortune.

[@anthonyguarino4242]

Well, it wasn’t a word puzzles.

[@devares2006]

More like Wheel of Fortune meets Catch Phrase meets roulette.

[@millenniumman75]

Marty Pasetta was behind the production of this show.....and to this day, he is credited and paid for his contribution of a game show (like a patent!) with a large horizontal wheel the contestants could spin AND the overhead camera shot of said wheel. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marty_Pasetta

[@jasejj]

Perhaps they could have just sat down with TVS and tried to work out why the UK version of Catchphrase was successful and gone from there, rather than add a load of gimmicks? It was a good format, just needed a few tweaks.

[@gamblincabbie9505]

Which would of definitely been possible at that era TVS had spun the UK ITV station off to being "TVS Television" as their plans were today Maidstone, tomorrow the world, buying US syndicator MTM, so they would of had a connection to US screens.

[@Shellinois]

Capitalizing on the syndicated hit, Wheel of Fortune, which was super hot in 1987 here's another ripoff. They have a puzzle, a wheel, a congenial host, and a pretty co-host who was marketable. Seems MANY game shows of this era tried to have their own Vanna White. Goodson brought back Classic Concentration around this time with Alex Trebek and his daughter as the "model."

[@donaldpaluga]

Marjorie was Mark Goodson's daughter

[@tcidolfan]

I betcha this is made by the same folks that created Catch Phrase with Art James.

[@scottlevin3966]

Yes it was.

[@AdamJ617]

It Was. The slate showing the name “Pasetta” should be a dead giveaway.

[@JFD62780]

It might be, they even re-used those Amigas! XD

[@DavidGarringerJr]

Also, all of Pasetta’s shows used the Advertiser’s Gothic fonts in most of the graphics.

[@marcpower4167]

@@AdamJ617 knew it was a Pasetta show from the set, definitely his style.

[@ShanetheFreestyler]

This is basically Catchphrase with a roulette wheel. Also, what the heck is a "Spanish harlem?"

[@HarlemHyena]

It's a section of NYC with a mainly Latin demographic. Roughly 1st to Lexington Ave by 125th to 96th St, it's basically the top of Manhattan's Upper East Side.

[@vinniemystery563]

Looks like the Liar's Club set

[@jessyleppert2]

Not really

[@ebob1967]

I am a bit confused. If this is a pilot episode of a game show, how can there be a returning champion? With a total from "yesterday"?

[@steve470]

It's a pilot episode - one created just for demonstration of what an episode will look like. So they make stuff up to make it look like a typical episode from the middle of the run.

[@nextbarker2702]

Heh, PGP had help with this?

[@someguy23475]

The wheel is absolutely pointless. You could not have much of a chance to win simply because of luck. Jim Lange is average just like with pretty much every other show he hosted. Waiting a year or two to try Catch Phrase again would have been a better idea, though the 1990 field was crowded.

[@ulknavcom054809]

YUM, YUM, GIMME SOME!!!!!!!

[@jessyleppert2]

Who hosted it?

[@LogoMan7777]

Jim Lange, with Dean Goss as announcer.

[@sha11235]

You can't tell who hosed this? You blind?

[@sha11235]

Good game, I thought.

[@sha11235]

How could she have previous winnings if this was the pilot? Liars.

[@pika23]

Eh, not the best show