Scrabble Pilot - RARE WITH SPECIAL GUEST STEVE EDWARDS!

Here is the Scrabble pilot with special introduction from Steve Edwards himself. Steve is a great guy and I thank him for taking part in this vault game show special!!

[@willmack5909]

An 8 letter word, the clue is.....what we are to you Wink Martindale........ GRATEFUL!!!!!

[@nextbarker2702]

They should've tried a pilot with Marc Summers as host, he did it very good.

[@ClapHurts]

Mark would've been a great host

[@Richard74205]

I think Steve Edwards actually undersold himself on the video. Considering that he's never done this, he did pretty awesome! I loved that everything actually functioned on the pilot. The thing I didn't care for was the games were categorical. I preferred the randomness of words and along with Gary's occasional weird clues. 😂

[@DLCOrganization]

Plus, the theme music was just... unspectacular, to say the least.

[@jeprice08]

I just knew you wouldn't let us down, Wink! I remember Steve Edwards as the guy who hosted the unsold Bob Stewart game show pilot, "Get Rich Quick."

[@steve760]

I primarily know him as the former morning guy from KTTV in Los Angeles ("Good Day LA"). He was great there.

[@Rusty3659]

The opening female voice belonged to Patti Deutch! She was always so much fun on Match Game and she and her husband, Donald were always great on Tattletales.

[@ShanetheFreestyler]

This version had a much flashier set than the one Chuck did. And I thick Steve did a pretty good job, certainly better than a 3.5!

[@connarcowanakacliffordoneo9095]

Chuck had this version of the set in 1993 when the show came back on NBC

[@gordonbeattie4864]

Steve sold himself short here - he was a good host and it was a shame this wasn't taken up.

[@stevekay1925]

Totally agree. He did a phenomenal job

[@17tubemaster]

Thanks for posting this, Wink as I’ve wanted to see the full show for years and thanks for getting Steve to add commentary, Interesting that this was essentially the same show that ended a few months before with the players getting the bonus money instead of the jackpot like in 1993. The only real change was the themed puzzles which didn’t seem to work in the first round (too easy) but went better in the second.

[@SP84Fanatic]

Interesting that they covered the contestant area with a new top to conceal the toaster of tiles.

[@megamanj2004X]

The same Scrabble game show we know and love...BUT with Steve Edwards and Categories for the puzzles. Not too bad here. I liked this set versus the actual one for the 1993 revival. The cube itself actually rotates, something that was sorely lacking on the 1993 revival. Although to be fair I’ve heard that the track that rotated the cube around after this pilot got damaged overtime from all that moving, storing and transporting that when the 1993 revival came the cube no longer rotated. I like the starry background versus the ones they used on the 1993 series. Although I’m not fond of the categories for the clues here, at least they’re nowhere as bad as the clues the Bill Engvall revival of Lingo tried to do. Steve Edwards himself although he sounds a bit like John Laurinitis of WWE didn’t do too bad of a job. Nervous in the beginning but gradually smoothed himself over in the end. The theme music here is basically an extension of the contestant introduction cue heard here and on the 1993 regular series revival.

[@ChiefCoralcola]

YES! Been waiting awhile to see this in full. Thank you so much Wink and crew!

[@skutchie]

I loved this show so much - I wish they would do a remake of it.

[@WPPCProductions]

Thanks Wink for sharing this with us.I remember Steve when he was on Entertainment Tonight years ago..

[@ksonchannel2068]

Had Scrabble picked up on Group W on Syndication sometime in 1990 or 1991, KPIX in San Francico would've aired it in my station along with other Group W Stations in Pittsburgh (KDKA), Baltimore (WJZ), Boston (WBZ) & Philadelphia (KYW) along with WNBC in New York, KNBC in Los Angeles, WMAQ in Chicago, WTVJ in Miami, WRC in Washington DC & KCNC in Denver in which they are owned by NBC.

[@andrewschroy6368]

And for non-NBC and non-Group W? I could picture Belo stations like WFAA in Dallas, KHOU in Houston, and KXTV in Sacramento airing it, too.

[@LudoRex]

Well, they added some new camera angles, dumped the tiles (which I miss), and added categories to the puzzles (which made the words easier to guess). None of the changes added to the game so the production broke even. Steve Edwards was a fine host. Was that Patty Deutsch's voice during the opening animation?

[@SP84Fanatic]

I wonder if the digital tiles were a time-saving measure.

[@gameshowguy2000]

This IS the Steve Edwards of Good Day L.A. and Good Day LIVE.

[@anthonyguarino4242]

He had 00.9 seconds left to spare! Wow!

[@andrewschroy6368]

That's typical of a lot of US game show pilots-- make sure the contestant wins the bonus round as it comes down to the wire. Because it's gotta be suspenseful for it to be potentially sold... right? ;-)

[@nleggin]

This is a great format for a game show, despite the very loose Scrabble tie-in

[@jessyleppert2]

Steve is no Chuck Woolery

[@genegjr]

I agree Chuck Woolery did a better job in both versions than this guy did

[@KrakenMan5853]

@Steve Kay Steve hosted another pilot back in 1977 for Bob Stewart called "Get Rich Quick". It was the first attempt at what would later be called the "Chain Reaction" bonus game and the "Go" main game.

[@SP84Fanatic]

This set looks a lot better with the starry background compared to what was used in 1993.

[@Musicradio77Network]

This pilot is much decent than the previous version, but it kept the same set until 1993 when Chuck Woolery returned as the host for the second reincarnation of “Scrabble”.

[@ArmHeavySoCal]

Pilot "Scrabble" that was not available on TV with Steve Edwards. 30+ years later wasn't Air on TV, until as of now.

[@QHMCQ]

Great upload, thank you, sir! And thank you to Mr. Edwards for taking part! You were great here!

[@markstevens9249]

Too many years watching M*A*S*H and Match Game not to recognize the narrators at the beginning, Sal Viscuso and Patti Deutsch!

[@josemuse4119]

@@jwgreek8606 That's who I thought.

[@steve760]

Youngstown and Pittsburgh! Two cities that are very close to each other. An hour apart.

[@JBHuskers]

Great insight with Steve!

[@marcpower4167]

Nice, cranking out lots of rarities lately, thanks Wink!

[@chuckers40]

Chances are, If Scrabble were picked up, it would have aired for fall of 91. Scrabble had just gone of the air a few months prior.

[@samsticka]

I wish they kept that ringer for the contestant podium on the right usually occupied by the male contestants when they brought Scrabble back in 1993. I mean the ringer that's used in the main crossword game.

[@GameShowMike]

Group W stations (including KDKA in Pittsburgh) would have aired this show if it had sold.

[@Musicradio77Network]

And of course “Couch Potatoes” with Mark Summers of “Double Dare”, and the original TMNT are distributed by Group W.

[@brothergaryii]

Steve Edwards's voice changed --- as it did --- 31 years ago.

[@ShortyRock801]

Was thinking of scrabble yesterday Who’d be a good reboot host

[@jessyleppert2]

Al Roker

[@JaShields]

Chuck woolery again

[@jaketanner7496]

Chuck Woolery is persona non grata in Hollywood these days...he's a right-wing lunatic...

[@ShortyRock801]

@@jaketanner7496 agreed .. but he’s 79 If it’s gonna happen It needs to happen yesterday

[@drewzuhosky6826]

Chris Hardwick.

[@SP84Fanatic]

I guess these are Steve Bucks. It’s good to see them in the pilot.

[@davidlivingston2754]

Steve's Stash of Cash

[@zacheryalderton6741]

He is amazing

[@jeopardy60611]

I can't remember whether the first part of the production run had them playing different words or the same words in the Scrabble Sprint. They changed it at one point. Also, at one time, you had to fill in the missing letters when guessing words in the crossword round, but they got rid of that rule because people kept screwing it up. When they got rid of the spelling business, Chuck said they were bringing back "Classic Scrabble" and it's like Classic Coke.

[@foxmccloud7055]

In regards to the letter "P", I have heard of contestants saying "I have to take a "P" instead of "I have to take the letter "P" to Chuck's dismay and the audience erupting into hysterics.

[@jeffreyweaver9854]

The Scrabble game show actually missed one trick which could have made an interesting twist in the competition portion of the game show: the Blank!

[@jasonwuthrich4101]

I liked the 1993 theme better.

[@genegjr]

And it was a Reg Grundy production

[@steve760]

And will be Fremantle if it ever gets rebooted. Fremantle acquired Grundy's shows a while ago.

[@banjochris]

Sounds like Patti Deutsch in the opening.

[@RedStrikerBeetleborg]

i think it was

[@gsnman]

Yeah, it was her.

[@nextbarker2702]

Was this the same Steve Edwards who hosted the 1978 pilot Get Rich Quick?

[@rockfish74]

Was Chuck not available, it’s just weird not seeing him

[@someguy23475]

He was busy with Love Connection, also in syndication.

[@folddpd1]

He was busy being a racist Trump Supporter

[@LogoMan7777]

@@folddpd1 He wasn't a Trump supporter back in 1990.

[@17tubemaster]

I saw a webcast with Steve last year and he said that Chuck was busy peddling his daytime talk show.

[@folddpd1]

@@LogoMan7777 Reguardless he showed his true colors.

[@TommygunNG]

Like this over the tiles. That always seemed so dumb.

[@DLCOrganization]

I actually liked the tiles. It gave the selection of letters a crisp, direct, and rather authentic game show feel.

[@genegjr]

Didn't the version that was done in 1990 called Scrabble 1990 had Chuck Woolery hosting and he also hosted Scrabble in the late 80's

[@johncraw8572]

Awesomeness video

[@Shellinois]

When you think about it, this entire show could have been played in speedword. The Scrabble aspect was unnecessary. Loved the writing, though. Woolery did a great job.

[@lilbluefoxie]

Why did they not use the numbered tiles? They have everything else from the original including the computer generated stuff

[@justincastillogayray]

So the only difference between this and the Chuck Woolery version is the fact that every round is a category like They're History? Also, the numbers were between the contestants before and they picked 1 or 2 at a time and dropped in a slot.

[@MadMikeSportsYT]

This was an interesting take on 'Scrabble'. Why didn't this sell aside from the host not being Chuck Woolery?

[@GameShowMike]

Chuck Woolery couldn’t host this pilot as he was hosting Love Connection in syndication.

[@40bpaula]

Okay, i don't get the clue for tombstone. "Part of it was ok"? I'm not connecting those two. any help?

[@samclark379]

Probably the OK Corral

[@KevinJL]

Tough ask to follow Woolery. Steve would have been a good host, but he was much better at the talk show deal.

[@josda1000]

Whats wrong here? Edwards was great! And the previous sound effects and music was back. Should have been picked up.

[@LittleRockElevators]

It did just three years later.

[@GameShowMike]

And Charlie Tuna as well.

[@MMB18abel]

As Steve noted, it was around the time game shows hit a wall. Shows like MATCH GAME, LET'S MAKE A DEAL, TO TELL THE TRUTH, JOKER'S WILD and TIC TAC DOUGH didn't last very long. Talk shows were becoming the in thing.

[@adamcurry6443]

Anymore Surpeises Wink?

[@jeopardy60611]

They don't physically grab the tiles and drop them in the slot. Why not?

[@Andrew_G4CH]

I think it was a pilot only thing. The ‘93 version did have the tiles.

[@trentcagle6916]

You are the best game show host of all time

[@georgef551]

Is this pilot going to mysteriously vanish like the Alex Trebek "Starcade" 1st pilot did, or will it survive?

[@MrHirenP]

Does anyone know why the scrabble set was drastically changed? I feel that it was changed for the worse. Perhaps they could have simply taken the old one without any cost.

[@retched]

Branding?

[@DOCTORX316]

how bizarre is it.. they made a show in California.. and the 2 contestants they picked.. the cities are about 90 miles apart from each other

[@milesmorris9333]

All things considered, this was a pretty good pilot. Steve Edwards seemed to be lacking energy at times and just a few of his transitions weren't very smooth, at least to me, but he kept the game moving nicely and understood how it worked. Since this was his first time doing a game show, I'll give him a pass. He did a pretty decent job. The game was still as good as ever, though maybe the words didn't need to be categorized. My only other gripe would be the set. It looks barren but a little better than the '93 set, due to the starry background.

[@milesmorris9333]

@@jwgreek8606 Crap. I did forget that someone commented here that he hosted a Bob Stewart pilot. I wonder what the other pilot was. Thanks for correcting me on that.

[@brycelandon6387]

I thought Steve did well here. His biggest problem is that he just doesn't have a booming game show host voice like Chuck Woolery; Steve's voice sounds too raspy for hosting game shows.

[@MountainHawkPYL]

Was that June Foray in the intro?

[@Tubewings]

No, that was Patti Deutsch.

[@Nickrj3]

Was this intended for syndication?

[@ClassicTVMan1981X]

Yes.

[@digiblader1]

This should've sold - why didn't it? The set was good and an upgrade over the 1984-90 one by this point- Steve Edwards did well as host, and it still kept the rules from the previous incarnation. Was it due to a glutted market? Or did they really want Chuck Woolery more than anything (who was busy doing Love Connection in syndication at the time?) Also - when the show came back in 1993 - why didn't the cube rotate like in the 1990 pilot?

[@davidlivingston2754]

The cube was damaged in between 1990 and 1993 and NBC didn't want to pay to fix it.

[@SP84Fanatic]

IIRC, the cube was damaged in storage, and they could only move it forwards and backwards, so they used the Crossword side only for the entire show.

[@DAPalomares]

You had about 27,000 talk shows in Syndication along with a handful of new syndicated game shows. Stations had only so much air time and so many dollars to buy programs. Most game shows that made it to air had either had big names backing them, production companies, or show has a proven track record. Yes, Scrabble did have a proven track record, but that doesn't mean it will be picked up.

[@davidlivingston2754]

@@DAPalomares I think two things worked against it. #1, there was a glut of game shows in 1990, and as we saw, not many got picked up. Also, I think the way it ended on NBC unfortunately caused station owners to not want to pick it up. Wasn't the shows fault, it got moved around to different time slots by affiliates or some didn't air them. But how many NBC affiliates would've picked it up? That knocks down the amount of potential statios. They had Group W Stations, they would've for sure picked it up. But after them, who's gonna take a chance on a syndicated game show that had finished dead last in the ratings in network daytime?

[@LittleRockElevators]

@@davidlivingston2754 I remember watching the 93 version of Scrabble on our NBC station along with Scattergories.

[@stephenbeaudoin4440]

Patty Deutsche

[@tommyhoffman528]

I want to see 1 heads are Better then 1 pilot

[@terryleemangrumii8566]

A couple of positive things about this host: 1. Not a political nut job and 2. Does NOT host cat game shows!

[@genegjr]

Chuck Woolery did a better job hosting Scrabble both versions than this guy did

[@steve760]

Chuck Woolery also had gobs of experience hosting game shows, as far back as the early 80s/late 70s. Steve's not bad.