Spin-Off

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This article describes the game show Spin-Off. The article about a large group splitting to form a new group can be found at Spin-off.

Spin-Off was a short-lived American game show originally produced by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir from 1975 that was based on the dice game Yahtzee as well an earlier Nicholson-Muir syndicated game, Pay Cards!. It starred Jim Lange as host.

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[edit] Game play

Two couples, one a returning champion, competed, answering questions to spin a series of five "spinners" and build a Yahtzee-type hand. The spinners had the numbers 1-6 on them.

With each correct answer, each spinner randomly flashed the numbers rapidly and were stopped by pressing a button. The couple could keep the hand shown, or reject some or all of the numbers and earn up to two opportunities to improve the hand (but must gain control with a correct answer). If the couple kept the hand, the opposing couple had one chance to better the hand. The couple with the top hand received one of the following payoffs:

  • $50 for a pair
  • $75 for 2 pairs
  • $100 for three of a kind
  • $125 for a straight
  • $150 for a full house (three of a kind plus a pair)
  • $175 for four of a kind
  • $200 plus a bonus prize for five of a kind

The first couple to amass $250 won the game and advanced to the Super Spin-Off bonus round.

[edit] Super Spin-Off bonus round

In the Super Spin-Off, the couple had up to three tries to build the best hand possible. Rewards were paid for higher hands:

• One Pair – $250
• Two Pair – $500
• Three of a Kind – $1,000
• Straight – $1,250
• Full House – $1,500
• Four of a Kind – $2,500
• Five of a Kind – $5,000
• Any straight that goes 1-5 or 2-6, no matter what the order - $10,000

[edit] Broadcast History

The original but unaired pilot episodes of Spin-Off were actually videotaped at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York City on Sunday, April 13, 1975. Its set and stage layout was created by Jim Ryan, who also was responsible for the scenic designs of such other game shows as The $10,000 Pyramid, the summer 1976 version of I've Got A Secret, and Pass The Buck. When CBS decided to place the program on its daytime schedule beginning on Monday, June 16, 1975, episode production of Spin-Off was to be done at CBS Television City in Los Angeles.

Spin-Off, which aired at 10:00am Eastern/9:00am Pacific and had replaced The Joker's Wild, was cancelled after just ten weeks on the air due to low ratings. Host Jim Lange would however return the following Monday with a new game show, Give-n-Take.

[edit] Episode Status

The existence of the entire run of Spin-Off were once considered lost, until it was announced on some game show fan message forums that all of the master tapes were suddenly discovered intact, along with those from the original CBS network edition of Joker, inside a tape storage room at WCBS-TV sometime during 2000. CBS was far less prone to wiping than its competitors, thus likely saving the series from destruction.

[edit] External links