High Rollers

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High Rollers was an American game show which aired on the NBC network from July 1, 1974 to June 11, 1976 and again from April 24, 1978 to June 20, 1980. Two different syndicated versions were also produced, the first a weekly series from September 8, 1975 to September 19, 1976 and the second a daily series from September 14, 1987 to September 9, 1988.

Alex Trebek hosted the NBC and first syndicated versions, while Wink Martindale presided over the second syndicated run. Kenny Williams, the voice of Heatter-Quigley game shows, announced on both Trebek versions, and Dean Goss announced on the Martindale edition. The Trebek versions originated from NBC Studios in Burbank and the Martindale version originated from Studio 33 at CBS Television City.

Becky Price, Linda Hooks and Lauren Firestone rotated as models during the second Alex Trebek version. Martindale was assisted in this series by models Crystal Owens and KC Winkler.

Contents

[edit] Gameplay

Two contestants competed, one of whom was a returning champion. The object of the game was to remove numbers off a gameboard containing the digits 1 through 9 by rolling an oversized pair of dice. In order to gain control of the dice, a toss-up question was asked, and whoever buzzed in with the correct answer earned a chance to do one of two things:

  • Roll the dice, an option usually taken only early in a game.
  • Pass them, forcing his or her opponent to roll. This was by far the most common decision, especially as a game progressed (since a bad roll automatically lost the game).

Players removed numbers from the board based on the value of the roll of the dice (either all by itself or in combinations). For example, if a 10 was rolled, the player could remove any of these combinations: 1-9, 2-8, 3-7, 4-6, 1-2-7, 1-3-6, 1-4-5, 2-3-5 or 1-2-3-4, which were all combinations that added up to 10.

Play continued until:

  • One player made a bad roll, meaning no combination of digits currently on the board could match that roll of the dice.
  • When one player took the last remaining digit(s) off the board (a very rare outcome).

(Exception: During the short-lived "Face Lifters" format of 1976, the game was won by identifying the famous person in the picture.)

The winner of the game kept any and all prizes in his/her bank; in the event the bank was empty, he/she won a "house minimum" of $100 cash. Two out of three games won the match.

In addition to the gameplay which remained constant throughout all versions, each of the versions had rules unique to each version as detailed below:

[edit] 1974-1976

The original 1974-76 series featured a prize behind every digit on the gameboard, which was revealed once that digit was eliminated; that prize was then added to the bank of the player who revealed it. Additionally, two digits each contained one half of a large prize, such as a new car. To claim this prize, both halves had to be uncovered.

During the final seven weeks of this run (April 26-June 11, 1976), the main game was known as "Face Lifters"; the digits concealed a picture of a famous person and the contestant won the game for correctly identifying who it was. A player could take a guess after making a good roll. If a player made a bad roll, the opponent was allowed one guess for each remaining number in the picture; a successful guess won the game plus the prizes belonging to the numbers still on the board. If neither player guessed who it was (for example, no one recognized Alec Guinness in his pre-Star Wars days), Alex gave clues until one player buzzed in with the answer.

During this version of the show, the contestants did not actually roll the dice. That task was given to hostess Ruta Lee for the NBC daytime version and Elaine Stewart (the dealer on Gambit and wife of executive producer Merrill Heatter) on the nighttime version. The players sat along the long side of the dice table opposite from Alex. Beginning with the 1978-80 run, Lee's function was eliminated and the players themselves rolled the dice.

A syndicated version with almost identical rules ran weekly in 1975-1976. The only major difference, besides more expensive prizes being offered, was that the same two players competed for the entire show. After the first few episodes of this version, the rules were changed so that, rather than requiring players to win a two-out-of-three match, the winner of each game played "The Big Numbers." Once "The Big Numbers" were played (for $10,000), the losing player was brought back out for another game. The players played as many games as possible until time was called. If time was called during a game, the one who knocked the most numbers out won that game, their prizes (or the $100), and (in the two games out of three episodes) played "The Big Numbers" for (another) $10,000. Thus, a player could win over $30,000 in cash and prizes in a single show. However, like other weekly nighttime game shows at that time, this version had no returning champions.

[edit] 1978-1980

When the series was revived in 1978 (originally known as The New High Rollers), the digits were randomly arranged in three columns of three digits apiece (as if they were part of a Sudoku grid), each containing prizes. Each of the numbers had varying typefaces as well.

The prizes ranged from the usual game show gifts (e.g., furniture, appliances, trips) to offbeat, unusual prizes. Some of the more outlandish examples included:

  • A collection of musical dolls.
  • African masks.
  • 12 portable televisions (one for the contestant and 11 for friends).
  • A fully-catered gourmet banquet for 50 people.
  • A trip to the Kentucky Derby with $100 bets on each horse.
  • A fully-equipped built-in home aquarium (stocked with exotic fish). Several Web sites have lampooned this prize as "The $10,000 Fishbowl."

Often, the value of a prize package reached $20,000.

One (very rarely, two) of the columns were considered "hot" meaning that all three digits therein could be taken off by a single roll of the dice, thus claiming the prize(s) in that column. During the 1978-80 series, each column started with one prize, with another prize added with each game until the package was won, or until the maximum of five prizes per column had been reached.

Only by eliminating all the digits in a column could a player add those prizes to his/her bank; the contestant had to win the round to keep the prizes.

Starting with this version, contestants who rolled doubles (e.g., 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, etc.) earned an "Insurance Marker," which could be turned in if they achieved a bad roll. However, if the doubles roll itself was a bad roll, no Insurance Marker was awarded although they did get to roll again.

[edit] 1987-1988

In 1987-88, each game featured a different prize package in each column in each game with up to three prizes available. In some games, one of the columns contained the rights to play one of several "mini-games". If the contestant won the game and held the rights to play the mini-game, he/she might play one of the following:

  • Around the World: Each number on a die corresponded to one of five available trips; rolling a 6 won all five trips (i.e., "a trip around the world").
  • Auction: The contestant chose a number between 1 and 6, and then rolled the die. A correct hunch won the player a new car.
  • Dice Derby: Played ala a three furlong (604 m) horse race; one horse was designated with even numbers (2, 4 and 6); the other odd numbers (1, 3 and 5). The contestant rolled the die and the appropriate horse moved one furlong (201 m) depending on the outcome. The idea was for the even horse to win, since the grand prize was a new car (or sometimes a trip or $10,000 cash). If the odd horse won, the contestant won a moderately-priced trip or pocketed $1000.
  • Driver's Test: The player controlled a gamepiece on a 10-position gameboard, arranged in a 4x3 ring of spaces. He/she had four rolls of a die to make the piece land exactly on the "CAR" space (which was seven spaces away from his or her starting position), winning a car if done. The piece always moved towards the "CAR" space; if a roll caused it to overshoot the target, the next roll would have the piece reversing direction.
  • Duel of the Dice: This was only played in the pilot. The contestant faced off against a monkey named High Rollers. The contestant rolled the dice first. The number that came up was the number that the monkey had to beat. Then the monkey rolled the golden dice, and if the contestant had the higher number, he/she won a trip and $1,000 in Traveler's Checks.
  • It Takes Two: A different prize was assigned to each number on the die. The contestant continued to roll the die until he/she repeated a number, winning the prize corresponding to that number.
  • Love Letters: The contestant rolled a die up to four times to reveal letters in a six-letter word. Solving the word at any time won a new car.
  • Wink's Garage Sale: Six prizes, including a worthless gag gift, were available. Rolling a 6 won the junk prize; the others were the usual game show prizes.
  • Rabbit Test: This strange game, which was played only once, took place center stage. The models wore fur coats. One coat was a fake, while the other was real rabbit fur. If the contestant could "feel out" the real fur, they won it.

Other rules were virtually identical to the 1978 NBC version.

[edit] The Big Numbers (all versions)

In the bonus game, called the "Big Numbers," the champion attempted to knock off numbers on a new, bigger gameboard (except for the 1978-80 series, which was played using larger numbers on the same gameboard from the main game). Insurance Markers were still awarded for doubles; during the original 1974-76 run, this was the only time Insurance Markers factored into the gameplay.

In the earliest episodes of the 1974-76 version, players had an opportunity to stop and take the money ($100 per number knocked off) after a good roll. If they had an insurance marker, a bad roll would mean simply roll again. However, a bad roll with no insurance markers not only ended the game, but also the player would lose all the money accumulated in the Big Numbers bonus game. If they cleared all the numbers, they won $10,000; in the earliest episodes, the prize was $10,000 and a car, with the car being awarded for removing eight numbers.

From 1978-1979, if all nine numbers were knocked off, that player won $5000 cash plus a new car (the latter was dropped due to the energy crisis, as Trebek explained on-air, but later returned until the final weeks of this version). If a contestant failed to eliminate all nine numbers, he/she received $100 for each digit wiped off the board. The same rules for the Big Numbers were applied to the Martindale version, with the $10,000 cash prize at stake.

[edit] Episode status

The original 1974-76 series is believed to have been destroyed, its tapes possibly recycled for other purposes by NBC. The status of the 1970s syndicated run is not known at this time, though some believe they have also been destroyed. Five episodes of the 1978-80 version are in circulation among traders and collectors. The 1987-88 syndicated series is known to still exist, and after it ended production, it reran for three years on the USA Network.

[edit] Notes

  • High Rollers is based on a generic board game commonly marketed as Shut the Box.
  • High Rollers was one of three NBC game shows cancelled on June 20, 1980, to make room for a new daytime comedy/talk show hosted by David Letterman debuting the following Monday. The other two: Chain Reaction and The Hollywood Squares.
  • The Big Numbers bonus round was used in 1981 on Las Vegas Gambit (which was coincidentally hosted by Wink Martindale). The only difference was that on Las Vegas Gambit, winning this game was worth an accruing jackpot of prizes instead of a flat $5000.
  • Milton Bradley produced two home versions of High Rollers in 1974 and 1975, under the title "Big Numbers: The High Rollers Game." Some first-edition games were actually marketed by "E.S. Lowe, Inc.," a subsidiary of Milton Bradley generally targeted to older customers. In 1987 Parker Brothers issued a new version of the game based on the Wink Martindale revival.
  • A pilot for a 1986 game show Lucky Numbers was produced with Alex Trebek hosting. Similar to High Rollers, a roll of a 7 was always a bad roll and forced the game to go into the "Danger Zone", with another 7 ending the game. The pilot, which never made it to television used the same music theme as the 1987-88 version of High Rollers.
  • Box Office Software released a High Rollers computer game in 1988 for the Commodore 64 and IBM PC.
  • There are rumors that Trebek was intoxicated during the taping of the series finale of the 1978-1980 version. During the taping, Trebek said remarks such as "Staying alive with the Bee Gees" (referring to somebody rolling a good roll), "Seven-ahh!" (referring to a roll of 7 on the dice), "And when we return - and return we will - we're gonna add something to it. FISH!" (used to usher in the commercial break and alluded to the fact that the upcoming round was going to offer a $10,000 antique Chinese fishbowl), "Many moon come...a niner" (referring to a bad roll of 9 on the dice), "You lost the fishbowl! For shame, for shame" (referring to a player who rolled a bad roll, thus losing the $10,000 fishbowl), "To business, to business, to business" (how Trebek introduced this episode), "I've got two bits of information for ya: He's not that old and you're not that young" (Trebek said this to a female contestant who said Jack Nicholson would make a good uncle), and "$700 in cash-a-roo". When he signed off for the last episode, he talked about one of the show's models being pregnant because she "drank too much wine."[1]
  • In the Big Numbers bonus game, the dice on Trebek's version were black and white, but on Martindale's version, they were gold, meaning that if a contestant knocked all 9 numbers, he/she would win the gold ($10,000 cash).

[edit] External links

[edit] YouTube Clips

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