ABC Carnival '74
Across the Board
Baloney
Bamboozle
Be What You Want
Beat The Genius
Beat The Odds (1962)
Beat The Odds (1975)
Bedtime Stories
The Better Sex
The Big Money
The Big Payoff
Big Spenders
Blank Check
Body Language
Body Talk
The Buck Stops Here
Bullseye
Call My Bluff
Card Sharks (1996)
Casino
Caught in the Act
Celebrity Billiards
Celebrity Doubletalk
Celebrity Secrets
Celebrity Sweepstakes
Chain Letter (1964)
The Challengers (1974)
Change Partners
Child's Play
The Choice Is Yours
Combination Lock (1996)
Comedy Club
Concentration (1985)
The Confidence Game
Cop Out
Countdown (1974)
Countdown (1990)
The Couples Race
Crossword
Decisions, Decisions
Dollar a Second
Duel in the Daytime
The Fashion Show
Fast Friends
$50,000 a Minute
Finish Line (1975)
Finish Line (1990)
Get Rich Quick
Going, Going, Gone!
Head of the Class
High Rollers
Hollywood Squares (1965)
Hollywood Squares (1985)
The Honeymoon Game
Hot Numbers
Hot Potato
House to House
How Do You Like Your Eggs?
Jackpot (1984)
Jeopardy (1977)
Jokers Wild
Jumble
Key Witness
Keynotes (1986)
King of the Hill
Let's Make a Deal (1963)
Let's Make a Deal (1990)
The Love Experts
M'ama Non M'ama
Match Game (1962)
Match Game (1973)
Match Game (1990)
Match Game (1996)
MatchGame (2008)
Mindreaders
Missing Links
Monday Night QB
Money Words
Money in the Blank
Moneymaze
Monopoly (1987)
Nothing But the Truth
Now You See It (1986)
Oddball
100%
PDQ
Party Line
People On TV
Play For Keeps
Play Your Hunch
The Plot Thickens
Pot O' Gold
Pressure Point
The Price Is Right (1972)
Pyramid (1996)
Pyramid (1997)
A Question of Scruples
Quick as a Flash
Razzle Dazzle
Riddlers
Run For The Money
Says Who?
Scrabble (1990)
Second Guessers
Second Honeymoon
Sharaize
Shoot for the Stars
Shoot the Works
Shopping Spree
Show Me
Showoffs
Simon Says
$64,000 Question (2000)
Smart Alecks
Smart Money
Spellbinders
Spin-Off
Split Decision
Star Cluster
Star Play
Strictly Confidential
TKO
Talking Pictures (1968)
Talking Pictures (1976)
Tell It to Groucho
Temptation (1981)
$10,000 Sweep
Three of a Kind
Tic Tac Dough
Tie-Up
Top Secret
Twenty One (1982)
Twenty Questions
Twisters
Up and Over
The Waiting Game
We've Got Your Number
What Do You Want?
What's On Your Mind
Wheel of Fortune
Whew!
Whodunit
Whose Baby
Wipeout
Word Grabbers
Write Your Own Ticket
You Bet Your Life (1988)
You Bet Your Life (1991)
You're Putting Me On
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Bob Stewart Flow Chart
Beat the Odds (1975)
Producer: Bill Carruthers/ABC
Host: Chuck Henry
Judge: Dr. Robert Stockwell
Taping Info: 1975
Made it to Air: This particular pilot did not make the air, but this aired as a local show on KTLA in Los Angeles in the early 1960's with Warren Hull and a one year syndicated effort with Johnny Gilbert in 1968.
Other Pilots: An episode of the KTLA run was used as an attempt to get national distribution in the 1960s.
Availability: Trading circuit
The concept that would not die (at least until 1975), Beat the Odds, a third-generation revival of a word game, was taped in 1975 by young Los Angeles news reporter Chuck Henry. Like its predecessors, the object was to come up with words of various starting letters, terminating letters and lengths as determined by a spin on the board.
However, unlike previous versions, you did not keep playing until you either froze or hit a whammy. Every word combination was tossup, and the point value was determine by the previous player called for (either $100, $200, $300 or $400, but the player could not ask for an amount higher than their current total). A player could also freeze once, which set a base score the player would return to if they hit a whammy (rather than zero). Reaching $1,000 won a game, while winning two games won the match and moved you on to the bonus game.
The bonus game involved a player trying to guess 10 five letter words within 60 seconds based on a beginning letter, a terminating letter and a clue given by Chuck. Standard 70's scoring of $100 per word and $5,000 for all 10 applied.
Chuck seemed fine as a host, very smooth for a first time effort. However, the constant buzz-in way of playing rather than holding your turn seemed to penalize the better player, since they would be spinning to determine the word parameters more than 50% of the time, meaning their chance for a whammy was greater. Plus, the whammy was just a boring lightning bolt instead of the wacky cartoon character. Because of these, it cannot rate as high as the 60's pilot.
 It's the ransom note logo and busy set of Beat the Odds |
 Here's Chuck Henry, who would later grow up to be Kent Brockman |
 An S, N and 5 have been selected. Can either player come up with salvation by getting a sensational word and sharpen their score to earn money for a trip to Saskatoon or will they receive a sanction for an illegal word and feel sullen |
 Doralyn hits a whammy |
 Each player has won a $1,000 game, so indicated by their lovely trophies |
 The disembodied head plays the bonus game |
This pilot has been viewed 6089 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET
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