Run for the Money - RARE Pat Sajak Pilot

[@OnScreenThatStudios]

I thought it was a 1997 pilot, but it says it was produced in 1998. 🤯

[@ProWrestlingWeekly]

It’s a lighthearted show that crosses elements in the main game with Bid-A-Note from Name That Tune and a bonus round similar to the Race Game pricing game from The Price is Right and the bonus round of Wipeout. Feels like it could’ve had a year or two run on Lifetime alongside Supermarket Sweep and Shop Til You Drop. Either way, great find, Wink! Thank you and merry Christmas!

[@cabalenproductions6480]

Cool one to see Pat Sajak outside of Wheel of Fortune. Then again Pat's duties at Wheel of Fortune killed off this Run for the Money Show.

[@jaredjlinden]

Pat had an ownership stake in this, which explains his involvement.

[@VectraQS]

I _believe_ this was taped as a "spec" pilot of sorts and was demoed at a format convention... on his old website Pat said that P.A.T. Productions had versions of both this show and _Blackjack Bowling_ on the air.

[@nickgamer2693]

I didn't know the producers involved with "Run for the Money" did "Blackjack Bowling" too.

[@ShimmeringSpectrum]

This feels like it'd work better as a kids show with a more energetic host.

[@BigManTransitEnthusiast]

Pat tried to do the Tom Kennedy treatment by producing his own version of a game show, but didn’t work so well since nobody would be interested in it

[@SP84Fanatic]

Very interesting: A combination of Bid-a-Note from Name that Tune with a trivia twist, combined with some running and locking in answers a la Wipeout's bonus round. Also, the structure is very Pyramid-esque with two main games and two bonus rounds in the same show. It's not bad, but sometimes the game feels like it could drag given the run time of nearly 25 minutes without commercials. Also, the top prize was on the low side for the period, in my opinion, unless this was pitched for cable.

[@davidduquette1970]

I couldn’t imagine Pat Sajak in anything other than Wheel of Fortune. Good show tho

[@ernieanderson4254]

Fun! Great play-a-long. Loved the format.

[@RebrandSoon0000]

Great find Wink! That was pretty interesting of a show, a mix of Jeopardy and Wheel (due to the way the prizes were). Merry Christmas :)

[@dshire71]

This would have been a fun game show. A few style changes and I think it would have been good. And who doesn’t love Pat? He’s so comfortable with the players.

[@kingporter67]

Very rare and a super outstanding game show!!

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

WOW!!!!!

[@JZCRAZY]

This show seems like it would have been a great game show for The All New Dating Game's Jeff MacGregor to host. Just the whole vibe of this show screams his name. A perfect fit for a guy who deserved another chance.

[@nickgamer2693]

A minimum of two, and a maximum of five, pilot episodes were filmed.

[@georgef551]

I'm sure if this went into production, the $5K prize would've been boosted.

[@wschmrdr]

Nah, that was the going rate for cable game shows, and probably the markets to whom they were pitching.

[@andrewschroy6368]

Maybe to 10 grand, but no higher. This is cable TV in the 90s, after all. (Then again, most of GSN's originals nowadays have $10K as the grand prize.)

[@marcpower4167]

It's alright but i dont know if it would have lasted that long had it been picked up. Obviously meant for cable since the budget is a bit low.

[@LittleRockElevatorsandmore]

This look like the type of show we would see on game show network

[@damightybenstein]

That's what I was thinking. This looked like a show that would have aired on the Game Show Network back in that time period.

[@Superlad9494]

I can see it as maybe lasting at least through 1999 riding on Pat and Charlie's popularity, but not much farther. This looks kinda like SONY pulling a Pearson, but not nearly as bad.

[@flclfan85]

this show gives me "would air frequently on GSN" vibes

[@drewzuhosky6826]

Sajak did pretty well here.

[@tomxconn]

Touch of “bid-a-note” from Name that Tune

[@joeybaseball7352]

I can see why this didn't get picked up. The pilot revealed a lot of plot holes. The game is legitimately hard. But they got all of them with dumb luck.

[@wpgne]

You can certainly feel Pat's influence on this pilot.

[@MTCesquire]

I'd hope so. He was the executive producer.

[@scootover7]

It feels like a cross between the Bid A Note Round on Name That Tune (although it's categories instead) and Switcheroo Pricing Game On The Price Is Right. I found it enjoyable. I'm going to take a guess though and say that this didn't sell even though I find it fun

[@bryanloveseighties]

They ought to have called this game show "Five in a Row". In the main game, there are five categories, each with five things with a common thread. In the bonus round, there are five multiple choice questions and if a team's able to get them all correct, they would win $5,000. See how the number 5 is involved in all of that? Thus, this show should have been called "Five in a Row". Don't get me wrong. I like "Run for the Money", but with the number 5 involved in the whole game, my name idea sounds just as fitting.

[@ryanstrnad8442]

Charlie O announcing. In the late 90s even!

[@ulknavcom054809]

Chalk up another in Wink’s game show treasury

[@bmhedgehog2]

I’m surprised that this didn’t get the green light. This probably would have lasted longer than The Pat Sajak Show.

[@wschmrdr]

Honestly seems like part timing, part lack of comedy. Two years later, it probably would have happened over either WinTuition or Cram.

[@MattJr4793]

if this was picked up who knows if Pat would have been able to do this show & also Wheel at the same time but I highly doubt it

[@fredmckinney8933]

This one should have been picked up. I would've been a regular viewer.

[@nickgamer2693]

0:56 One of those classic puns from the host.

[@Buffalax]

I imagine there's just 2 beefy guys under the stage turning those seats around

[@TheKeyboardKing1]

A pilot shot in perhaps the lowest year of game shows since the scandals. In 1998 there was very little in the way of game shows on TV except for the “big 3” (Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy and The Price Is Right)

[@wschmrdr]

It's when cable shows started to really make their mark, such as Win Ben Stein's Money and Shopping Spree.

[@vanzzini]

Pat looks like he wants to be anywhere else.

[@martinmoore2468]

Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄.

[@jmjfanss]

It's time to runnnnnn for the money

[@MyGuyJustinH]

This was a good pilot, IMO.

[@amberspencer]

I bet they might bring the show back

[@Brundall525]

I betcha this is one of those King World joints.

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

Yep

[@nickgamer2693]

This was

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

@@nickgamer2693 Good.

[@Brundall525]

Okay, I take that back. This was all Sony Pictures.

[@LogoMan7777]

@@nickgamer2693 Actually, it wasn't. There was no mention of King World at all. Just Columbia TriStar International Television.

[@wschmrdr]

That's a neat little show. Too bad one of the cable channels didn't pick it up, because it may have worked. Probably was just too "straight" (compared to the Comedy Central offerings). Now that I think about it, though: If it had been pitched two years later, I bet it would have been green-lit over one of the other GSN shows.

[@flclfan85]

of course they got Charlie O'Donnell to announce a Pat Sajak show

[@wschmrdr]

Probably a staff announcer for Columbia-TriStar at that point, given he also did Bert Luddin's Love Buffet.

[@TheChristianAspie892]

How COOL!!!

[@DLCOrganization]

Was this supposed to air in Canada or something?

[@flclfan85]

I feel like this was developed for Game Show Network in the US, probably would have found its way to Canada at some point

[@gameshowgospel]

Anywhere that wasn't the USA...so it could have.

[@jasonacg]

Pat's intro before the show started makes me think this was being pitched for US syndication.

[@wschmrdr]

Why, because of the jackpot amount? That was normal for US Cable at the time.

[@DaSuTro]

Not bad, but I think I'll stick with the "Run For The Money" that was based on "Questions Por Un Champion".

[@bk9509-o2o]

Looks like one of those cheap cable/late night syndicated game shows from the late 90s.

[@dr.mcpepper4342]

Such as The Lifetime Channel. It seems to have the same quality as Debt which was a Wink Martindale gameshow in the mid 90s.

[@mabus42]

This one seems interesting... has this ever been on the tape trading circuit?

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

Sure.

[@gameshows5973]

it is now

[@ShaunceyCaitlin]

Great analysis, thank you! Could you help me with something unrelated: I have a SafePal wallet with USDT, and I have the seed phrase. (alarm fetch churn bridge exercise tape speak race clerk couch crater letter). What's the best way to send them to Binance?

[@utubethumbsup]

Wow, surprised to see Pat hosting such a low budget pilot...lol

[@wschmrdr]

It was probably directed towards the cable channels, and that was their typical budget at the time.

[@DBradshaw25]

The bonus round (and part of the second round) feels like a remix of Wipeout.

[@dr.mcpepper4342]

I could see this being on The Lifetime Channel or even GSN in the late 90s.

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

Just Like A Finger Painting.

[@sha11235]

I guess this is a different version with the same title. Reg Grundy had a pilot with this title.

[@andrewschroy6368]

Which the Grundy pilot would become Going for Gold in the UK and Questions pour un Champion in France.

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

And At A Chance At $5,000!!!!!

[@sha11235]

Same announcer from Wheel. Only Vanna White not there.

[@marcomacias3960]

they also made a mistake on Vulcan. he also Roman. Hephaestus is Greek

[@BRBTheFireball]

I can certainly see why this didn't sell. Pretty dry and boring. Nonetheless, it was another pilot that I had been wanting to see for years. Thanks as always, Wink!

[@nickgamer2693]

13:10 In other words, the team who lost the coin toss goes first in the second round.

[@Twentydragon]

Not a bad game, but it seems a bit slow, like it's not a good fit for Pat Sajak. I think it'd need a much higher-energy host like Graham Elwood or Marc Summers to keep the pace up. I'd have also changed the final round to have maybe six questions, but the timer doesn't start for subsequent runs until you release the buzzer. And putting stairs there is not a great idea. It's very easy to envision someone in a foreseeable rush tripping and slamming headlong into a podium or railing.

[@marcomacias3960]

i think they made a mistake, Venus is a Roman God. Aphrodite is the Greek

[@ronflatter1235]

3:11 Who is that on the background on the right?

[@amywilson3593]

gerry wilson liked this but not sure pat could've juggled two shows the way alec trebek did three

[@someguy23475]

I would assume Pat would not have hosted had this gone to series.

[@TBONE_2004]

Huh! So they gamble on how many questions they can answer in a specific topic, and they can call the other players' bluff... or should I say "PROVE IT!" Wink, that sounds like Gambling Debt from your show! 😉

[@TreguardD]

Not to be confused with the Japanese "Run for Money" show.

[@ColdSnapVA]

Now you've got me wishing someone had tried to bring Time Shock to the US.

[@witherblaze]

Not to be confused with the 1987 pilot "Run for the Money"

[@JonathanTran-u8y]

What is Airdate?

[@JonathanTran-u8y]

1998 or 1999

[@ronflatter1235]

8:48 Obvious edit to insert the reaction shot.

[@andyleclerc3600]

I wpuld pair this with WINFALL for one hour of adrenaline, were it up to me!

[@busfan9874]

Pat Sajak was the best game show host

[@youtubeemployeesarestupid3464]

Not even close.

[@bryanloveseighties]

Well, what do you know? This will be something Wink will put in his vault and show us on Christmas Day. What are the odds of that happening?

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

How?

[@RebrandSoon0000]

It was worth it :) Merry Christmas

[@digiblader1]

Mediocre pilot - shows why Pat should stick to hosting Wheel.

[@Chainsawslots]

The studio is lame Questions too easy

[@Waltdisneyhomevideofanatic2005]

CHRISTMAS

[@ErikFlores-mo3fs]

Merry Christmas 🎄