That Life Game Show Pilot|Nipsey Russell

[@MitchellHang]

Yeeeees, another pilot! This time with the poet laureate of television!

[@yaphettvazquez9796]

Yep!!!!!!

[@517wiiface]

Man, Nipsey's lines were so rich in this pilot!

[@ericvansickle4305]

Nipsey always had a zinger of a poem for any situation. Gotta wonder if he creates them off the top of his head or has them prepared for certain situations.

[@marcpower4167]

​@@ericvansickle4305a bit of both I think.

[@vinniemystery563]

*FAMILY FEUD THEME MUSIC * Get ready let's start NIPSEY RUSSELL'S FAMILY FEUD And here is ur host NIPSEY RUSSELL !!!!

[@andrewg.1481]

Thanks again Wink, for another interesting Pilot !

[@kingporter67]

This is a super rare 1979 game show and Nipsey Russell was awesome hosting it!!

[@StFidjnr]

The poet laureate of tv

[@andrewg.1481]

Always thought Nipsey was great (RIP). This Pilot had potential, but I can see why it did not sell. Based on the Production Credits - This was probably an ABC Pilot, likely taped at ABC's TV-15 studio in NYC -- which was also home to Pyramid, Blankety Blanks, The Big Showdown, The Dick Cavett Show, Kids Are People Too, and many others. I suspect this may have been Bob Stewart's last NYC Game Show Pilot (?). Bob had already taped an NBC Game Show Pilot in Burbank in late April 1979, and Love Experts was already being produced in LA around the same time. Although Pyramid stuck around in NYC a while longer... sadly, it was the beginning of the end of NYC based game shows during this time period. I attended countless Game Show tapings and Pilots in NYC, and it was always so much fun. Great memories !

[@DennisDean-gm2gt]

Nipsey was THE poet laureate of poet laureates! He was absolutely priceless.

[@JohnWatsonPuppetChannel]

A very interesting show. Gotta love Nipsey Russell.

[@Tchelitchew.]

This show had real potential. Nipsey has some good zingers.

[@JayTemple]

This looks very much like the set I saw in Facebook last week for a show called The Ratings Game (or something close to it).

[@KiddBloo86]

I really like this! Thank you, Wink!

[@BadIdeaSociety]

1) This is an incredibly entertaining pilot, but I could see network affiliates being worried about the public's reaction to this show. 2) Nipsey is so natural both as a host and a panelist. It is sad that he didn't have more opportunities to head a show.

[@willmack5909]

Family Feud meets Hot Potato with a slight variation of the Play the Percentages end game.

[@Football-Sidelines-NO]

A great find, thank you for posting.

[@paddydoublems]

Nipsey is great in this. He should have been given more opportunities to be a game show host (He hosted a short lived game show in the 80s called Your Number's Up). This is kind of like Family Feud with a tiny element of Street Smarts.

[@marcpower4167]

I think he would have been great for a You Bet Your Life revival.

[@paddydoublems]

@@marcpower4167 He would have been great in that. Funnier than Cosby. That's for sure.

[@kenhudspeth9481]

Nipsey did several pilots, but all marginalized him as a rhyming buffoon, which he was not. Had they allowed him to be himself, i daresay this could have worked. Nipsey was an intelligent person with a great personality. It pains me to see how he was used.

[@markmatuga2595]

Miss Nipsey Russell.

[@wjburgess64]

I think the game could have worked as a series. It seemed to fit Nipsey Russell pretty well overall - although other than on Car 54, Where Are You, it's not easy to think of Nipsey as the straight man. The gameplay was pretty straightforward, which was good, and any game that gives that many opportunities for his poetry is better for it. I'm sure he would have loved a regular gig that allowed him to work in NYC rather than all the commuting to LA too. The pilot "contestants" didn't overdo it, but there was enough ham from the "people on the street" to use up several loaves of rye bread. All in all, a good effort by Bob Stewart et al.

[@epaddon]

Interesting that Stewart was still trying to get another NY based show launched since at this same time he'd finally relented on going to California to launch "Chain Reaction" (the pilot for that had been taped one month earlier).

[@williambone5678]

Nipsey Russell-Actor, comedian, poet laureate, all around funny man! He can me and many others laugh, but he can't host a game show worth a damn!

[@LogoMan7777]

Surprised Mark Goodson (or Chester Feldman) didn't threaten a lawsuit

[@samuelfouther2882]

Oddly enough, this pilot is on my birthday.

[@paramountkid413]

I would like to see the 2009 Pyramid pilots with Tim Vincent and the other one with Dean Cain on his channel soon.

[@Whammy413]

This was quite good, and I really enjoyed it. Although my favorite part was Nipsey‘s hosting, the gameplay itself was a fun and interesting slant on the survey format.

[@stedco75]

Nipsey couldn’t get away with any of that stuff today, lol.

[@2005dave]

Taped at ABC in NYC, using most of the Pyramid tech crew. I think that’s Steve O’Brien announcing.

[@jaywilliams896]

Nope, that is Dick Heatherton serving as the announcer.

[@tvtimetravel]

@@jaywilliams896 Brother of actress Joey Heatherton. He was a disc jockey at WCBS-FM.

[@njr75003]

Some weird cross between FAMILY FEUD and HOT POTATO.

[@byrd56]

Videotaped, it would appear, at ABC's old Elysee Theater in New York, where Bob Stewart also produced "Pyramid".

[@marcomacias3960]

so this is similar to Family Feud?

[@903thestadium]

Smells like the foundation of what would become Hot Potato

[@toddwacha5108]

This was pretty good! I kind of thought that this was a Bob Stewart production, what with the look and all.

[@friedchickenicedtea]

Mix The Better Sex, Family Feud and Hot Potato and .... That's Life!

[@collegeslammer]

I was thinking of the long running BBC show.

[@MDCSWildcats86]

Was Bob Stewart under the influence of Chuck Barris when he did this pilot, or is it just me?

[@jamesstein6727]

I really liked this game show! However, I did not like Nipsey Russell as host; needed a different host.

[@someguy23475]

Family Feud meets The Better Sex. The originals are good enough for me. I love Nipsey as a panelist, just not as a host. He’s too loud. I see why this was passed up.

[@AdamJ617]

Too similar to Family Feud, IMO.

[@marcpower4167]

Possibly an unpopular opinion but please hear me out: I dont think Nipsey is that great as a host because he jokes around too much and it distracts from the game. That being said, He does make it fun and it could potentially help carry a weak format. So with that in mind, I think if he had the opportunity he would have been a great host for a you bet your life revival since it's all about the host's humor by design.

[@LogoMan7777]

He set the stage for Steve Harvey. However, Nipsey is a lot funnier.

[@jnadle1]

They just had to use Frank Sinatra's song of the same name...

[@Chainsawslots]

Yet another family feud ripoff

[@williambone5678]

This is a pure ripoff of Family Feud!

[@robbuschow4618]

This is a Family Feud Ripoff in a away