Lucky Numbers | 1985 unsold pilot, pt. 1

[CCElevaTour]

Ah, this was the pilot prior to High Rollers with Wink Martindale! I recognized the theme song.

[tdickensheets]

Never heard this game show.

[rollercoaster87]

I got some moans and groans out of your mother last night, Trebek!

[jwgreek8606]

The model only introducing the contestants and doing the prize plugs it would foreshadow what would occur 20 years later.

[dagdogg]

This theme went on to be used for High Rollers.

[wschmrdr]

High Rollers meets Craps!

[SimplyKevTV]

Is that John Harlan as the announcer?

[puppyshoes]

@SimplyKevTV I think thats dean goss

[gshowguy]

@puppyshoes Nope-- sounds like John Harlan to me.

Though I thought I heard about another LN pilot where Dean did announce while Alex remained host.

[ulknavcom054809]

This is just like HIGH Rollers, That's why I LOVE it!

[nowhammies10]

That theme sounds familiar!! :P

[nicka727]

This pilot was taped on my dad's birthday 1985.

[killakeith85]

i saw on a website that the pilot was taped May 18, 1985. I was born when this pilot was made.

[thejazzenigma]

More like the casino game of craps, pardon the language, then High Rollers was.

Danny

[nextbarker]

Who was the announcer?

[gameshowfreak2007]

I think that's John Harlan.

[gshowguy]

Yeah, that's John Harlan.

[qwAirGear]

I'm sort of glad that furs aren't prizes on game shows anymore. It's not about being against fur...it's just that, of all the $3800 prizes I could win, I'd rather it be something better than a blanket.

[narutomustgonow]

true that, I'd rather not have a fur coat because also you can only wear it a few months of the year, now is that really a prize worth paying a 27% tax on?

[Dodgerfn5]

That and pissing Bob Barker off.

[gamshwfan]

In the 1980's Merrill Heater seemed to run dry on completely original ideas. The derivatives of his hits he trotted out seemed to work because they were challenging and still looked different. Lucky Numbers does not look that challenging as a derivative of High Rollers though still a bit fun. Alex Trebek is on familiar territory in a dice atmosphere however, his tenure on Jeopardy! may have come into fruition here. Debbi Sue doesn't look like a very involved model with her absense from the set.

[bluebear1985]

You can say that again. Merrill Heatter just got his first show on the air in almost two decades, Catch 21, and even that is just an updated version of Gambit.

[gamshwfan]

That show actually worked because it had good strategy and it was original while still staying true to the gambit format. This show lacked challenge compared to Battlestars and All-Star Blitz.

[SuperGamer7]

Yes, but it proves that Mr. Heatter has still got it as a game show producer!

[narutomustgonow]

gameshwfan: you are 100% right I think Heatter was really trying to bring back High rollers but he was stymied of course because his original co-creation was now owned by Orion who took over Filmways (in 1982) thus leaving him scrambling for new ideas. also remember

it had by then (1985) been more than a year since he had anything as a pilot or series (believe the last pilot up to that was Malcolm also with Trebek, 1983) Merrill probably put this together hastily and it showed.

[oaklandfan2k8]

Nice Job, mtiller2006, you can convert Lucky Numbers into another powerpoint game show.

[jfurdell]

Interesting... it looks like Craps, the game show!

Rolling a 7 is a 1-in-6 proposition at any time. Rolling a 9 before a 7 is 3-to-2 (don't know about two sevens, though).

[Hondo20132]

There's also a much-better quality copy of this! But apperantly you got this a long time ago, so that was probably before that copy was put in.

[Hondo20132]

There was a 2nd pilot made.

[Hondo20132]

Thank you. I think this was by my request.

[ben1245689]

actually i asked michael if he still had that luckynumbers pilot

[Hondo20132]

Well, pity he doesn't have the 2nd.

[ben1245689]

Oh well but adam mercer has the other lucky numbers pilot

[namk19]

ok i believe u there balki lol

[GarfieldVsSnoopy]

Trebek was already doing Jeopardy!

[namk19]

geez it's been awhile i thought u lost this mike

[mtiller2006]

Oh, don't be ridiculous dude. I had it for a while, but with all the videos I have, it prevented me from getting this up.

[ben1245689]

Hey mike if this show was sold what network would it have gone to cbs,nbc, or syndication.

[gshowguy]

@ben1245689 I think this was shot for CBS...

[ben1245689]

@gshowguy thx for the info