Shoot For the Stars
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Shoot For the Stars was a modestly successful daytime game show, created and produced by Bob Stewart, and aired on the NBC television network. The 10-month game show aired from January 3, 1977 until September 30, 1977, and was produced in New York City. During most of its run, it had originally videotaped at NBC's headquarters in Rockefeller Center, but there were some weeks of episodes recorded at CBS's Ed Sullivan Theater, aka Studio 50. Shoot For The Stars was the last NBC game show to originate from New York City. Geoff Edwards hosted the show, and Bob Clayton was his announcer.
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[edit] The main game
SFTS featured two teams, both consisting of a civilian player (one which was a returning champion or designate) and a celebrity player. The game board consisted of 24 numbered four-sided trilons. Behind the trilons were money cards ranging from $100 to $300, a $500 card, a "double your score" card and four stars. With the challengers going first, each team began the game with $100 and alternated control of the board by selecting numbers that revealed a dollar amount, followed by an awkward phrase. The object of the game was for one team member to provide a synonym for the top word, while the other player provided a synonym for the bottom word (e.g., "sizzling canine" would translate into "hot dog"). A correct response earned that team the amount shown; an incorrect guess meant no score. If a team selected one of the four stars, then that team could wager any or all of their winnings. A right answer added that wager to their score, and a wrong answer subtracted that amount. The first team to reach $1,500 or more won the game and exactly $1,500. Unlike games such as The Joker's Wild on which full turns are used, the game ended if the challengers reached the $1,500 mark first before the champions had an opportunity for at least one final turn to catch up. Contestants kept whatever they earned, regardless of the game's outcome.
Any contestant who won five games in a row was awarded a new automobile, a common practice later used on all Barry & Enright game shows during that time.
[edit] The bonus game
In the bonus game, which played somewhat similarly to Pyramid, the winning team established a number ranging from five to nine by hitting a plunger, which stopped a rotating solari board in front of them. That number represented how many clues were needed for one team member to successfully communicate to his/her partner. The object was for one team member to communicate two-part phrases, one part at a time, to his/her partner, describing it in any way. If the team successfully guessed the required number of words (from five to nine) in 60 seconds or less, that team won a cash jackpot that began at $1,000 and was increased by $500 each time it was not won.
[edit] Ratings/Scheduling
In an interview on a fan website, Geoff Edwards said that he passed up the chance of a career to emcee the eventual smash game Family Feud in order to host this game. As things turned out, Feud would become the main reason SFTS never caught on in the ratings. NBC first slotted the show at 11:30 a.m./10:30 Central, where Hollywood Squares had run for years, replacing the Allen Ludden-hosted Stumpers. It faced Happy Days reruns on ABC and Love of Life on CBS until April 25, when ABC placed its fast-rising game in the slot. On June 13, NBC tried to rescue SFTS by moving it down a half-hour, where it promptly sank against CBS' hit Young and the Restless. On September 30, SFTS became the latest victim of a long series of shows at Noon/11 against Y&R, a string that began with Stewart's (and Edwards') Jackpot!, three years earlier.
[edit] Trivia
- The series theme song (composed by Bob Cobert) would later be used on two other Bob Stewart Productions: Twisters, a 1982 game show pilot hosted by Jim Perry, and the two 1980s versions of Jackpot!, the latter version hosted by original emcee Geoff Edwards.
- SFTS would return almost a decade later as Double Talk, which aired on ABC in 1986. Its pilot was titled Shoot The Works, which was also hosted by Geoff Edwards in New York. The format of the front-end game would be used on other Bob Stewart produced game shows, most notably on the John Davidson version of The $100,000 Pyramid.
[edit] Episode status
It is believed that the episodes of Shoot For The Stars are destroyed, except for only a handful. GSN has the second pilot of this show; the first pilot and one regular episode are on the trade circuit.
