High Rollers
High Rollers | |
---|---|
High Rollers 1987 title card | |
Genre | Game Show |
Based on | Shut the Box |
Presented by |
Alex Trebek (1974–80) Wink Martindale (1987–88) |
Narrated by |
Kenny Williams (1974–80) Dean Goss (1987–88) |
Theme music composer |
Stan Worth (1974–80) Score Productions (1987–88) |
Country of origin | United States |
No. of episodes |
559 (1978–80 version) 185 (1987–88 version) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Merrill Heatter Bob Quigley |
Location(s) |
NBC Studios Burbank, California (1974–80) CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1987–88) |
Running time | approx. 26 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Heatter-Quigley Productions (1974–80) Merrill Heatter Productions (1987–88) Century Towers Productions (1987–88) |
Distributor |
Rhodes Productions (1975–76) Orion Television Syndication (1987–88) |
Broadcast | |
Original channel |
NBC (1974–80) Syndicated (weekly, 1975–76; daily, 1987–88) |
Original run |
July 1, 1974 – June 11, 1976 April 24, 1978 – June 20, 1980 September 14, 1987 – September 9, 1988 |
High Rollers is an American television game show that involved players trying to win prizes by rolling dice. The format was based on the dice game Shut the Box.
High Rollers debuted on July 1, 1974 as part of NBC's daytime lineup. In September 1975, an accompanying series was launched in syndication and aired once weekly on local stations. Both of these series ended in 1976, with the daytime series ending on June 11, 1976. Alex Trebek was the host for these series. On April 24, 1978, NBC brought High Rollers back with Trebek hosting and aired it until June 20, 1980 when it was one of three series cancelled to make room for The David Letterman Show. These three series were produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions.[1]
In 1987 Merrill Heatter, working solo since his production partner Bob Quigley retired, teamed with Orion Television and its subsidiary Century Towers Productions to revive High Rollers with Wink Martindale as host. This series premiered in daily syndication on September 14, 1987 and aired new episodes until May 27, 1988. Reruns aired until September 9, 1988.[1]
Gameplay
Basics
Two contestants competed. The object was to remove the numbers 1 through 9 from a game board by rolling an oversized pair of dice. In order to determine who gained control of the dice, the host asked a toss-up question. The answers were usually multiple choice, true/false, or yes/no. The first contestant to buzz in received the chance to answer, and answering correctly won control. If that player did not answer correctly, control went to the opposing player.
Once in control, a player was given the choice to either roll the dice or pass, forcing the other player. Contestants removed numbers from the board based on the value of the roll of the dice, either the number by itself or in combinations that totaled the value rolled. For example, if a 10 was rolled, the contestant could remove any available combination that added up to that number: 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, providing that none of the numbers within the combination had already been removed.
The object was to avoid a "bad roll", which happened when the value of the roll did not correspond with any of the numbers on the board and thus could not be cleared. Early in a game, a contestant would usually keep rolling as the odds against making a "bad roll" were in their favor. As the game progressed, it became more difficult to avoid such a fate and the contestant would be more inclined to pass control of the dice to the opponent.
If one of the contestants made a bad roll at any point in the game, he/she automatically lost. Otherwise, play continued until all numbers were cleared from the board and the player to eliminate the last number won the game. Winning the game also won the contestant any prizes that he/she was able to clear from the board, with $100 given if he/she did not.
1974–76
The original series featured a prize hidden under every digit on the gameboard, revealed when that digit was eliminated and added to the bank of the contestant who removed it.[2] Two digits each contained one half of a large prize, usually a new car or boat. To bank the car, both "1/2 Car" cards had to be uncovered by the same contestant.[2] If the contestants each revealed one of the two cards, the car was taken out of play.[2]
During the final seven weeks of the first daytime version (April 26 – June 11, 1976), the main game was known as "Face Lifters"; the digits were arranged in a 3x3 grid and concealed a picture of a famous person. A contestant won the game for correctly identifying the person in the picture. A contestant could take a guess after making a good roll. If a contestant 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 contestant guessed the identity correctly, Trebek gave clues until one contestant buzzed-in with the answer.
During the 1974–76 version of the show, the co-host rolled the dice for the contestants. The contestants sat along the long side of the dice table opposite from Trebek.
A syndicated version with almost identical rules ran weekly in 1975–76. Each episode featured the same two contestants competing for the entire show. After the first few episodes the rules were changed so that, rather than requiring contestants to win a two-out-of-three match, the winner of each game played the Big Numbers for $10,000, and the losing contestant returned for another game. The contestants played as many games as possible until time was called. If this happened during a game, the one who had removed more numbers won the final game and any prizes accumulated. Under the two-out-of-three game format used in the first few episodes, the contestant also had another chance at the Big Numbers. Like other weekly nighttime game shows at that time, this version had no returning champions.
1978–80
When the series was revived in 1978 (and originally titled The New High Rollers), the digits were randomly arranged in three columns of three digits apiece, with each column containing a prize. Contestants only banked prizes when the last digit from each column was eliminated, regardless of who eliminated other digits in that column, and could only keep the prizes by winning the game. The prizes on this version ranged from the usual game show gifts (e.g., furniture, appliances, trips, etc.) to offbeat, unusual prizes, such as a collection of musical dolls, African masks and fully catered banquets.
Each column started out with one prize in it and for each new game, one additional prize was added to each column. Prizes would continue to he added to a column until it had five prizes in it, at which point nothing else was added to the column until someone cleared it and won the game. One (or sometimes two) of the columns were called "hot columns", meaning that all three digits could be taken off by a single roll of the dice at the beginning of the game, thus claiming the prize(s) in that column. Contestants who rolled doubles in the main game earned an "insurance marker" which could be turned in for a second chance if a contestant made a bad roll. However, if the doubles roll itself was a bad roll, the contestant received no marker but rolled again. Contestants on this version rolled the dice themselves rather than being rolled by the hostess.
1987–88
On this version, each game featured a single prize or prize package in each column, which did not carry over to subsequent rounds if the prizes went unclaimed. In some games, one of the columns contained the right to play one of several mini-games, including 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). Regardless of the outcome of the game, the winner also received $5,000 in spending money.
- Dice Derby: This game mimicked a 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 space depending on the outcome. The first horse to move four spaces on the track would win the race and a prize for the contestant. If the even horse won, the grand prize was a new car (or sometimes a trip or $10,000). If the odd horse won, the contestant received a moderately priced trip or pocketed $1,000.
- Driver's Test: The contestant controlled a game piece on a 12-position game board, arranged in a 4x4 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 the starting position). The piece always moved toward the "CAR" space; if a roll caused it to overshoot the target, the next roll would have the piece reversing direction. Failure to win the car won the cash amount on that space, up to $2,500.
- 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. Frequently, the prize associated with the 6 was the "kitchen sink", meaning that the contestant would win all five other prizes if they rolled a 6 twice.
- Love Letters: The contestant rolled a die up to six times to reveal letters in a six-letter word. Solving the word at any time won a new car; otherwise, the contestant won $100 for every letter that was revealed.
- Lucky Numbers: The contestant chose a number between 1 and 6, and then rolled the die. A correct hunch won the contestant a new car.
- Map Game: An earlier version of "Around The World", played on the pilot and the series premiere. It was played identically to "Around The World", except in this game a 6 did not win all five trips but rather a sixth, more expensive trip.
- Rabbit Test: The models wore fur coats, one fake, worth $600, while the other was real rabbit fur. If the contestant could "feel out" the real $6,000 fur, they won it.
- Smiling Wink's Car Lot: In this game each number on a die represented a new car, except number 6, which represented a "clunker," a used but operational car. The contestant rolled the die and won the car corresponding to the number rolled.
- Wild Wheels: The player rolls a die, if the contestant rolls 1, 3 or 5 the player wins a new car. If a player rolls a 2 or 4, the player wins a thousand gallons of gas. However, if a player rolls a 6, the player wins two cars.
- Wink's Garage Sale: Six prizes, including a worthless gag gift, were available. Rolling a 6 won the junk prize; the others were worth thousands of dollars.
The Big Numbers
In the bonus game, called the "Big Numbers", the champion rolled the dice and attempted to remove the numbers 1–9 from the board, with a large prize awarded for clearing the board. A bigger gameboard was used, except on the 1978–80 series, which used the same board as the main game. Insurance markers were awarded for doubles, giving the contestant the opportunity to roll again after a bad roll; this was the only time insurance markers were used during the 1974–76 version.
Contestants were awarded $100 for each number removed from the board. In the earliest episodes, contestants could stop and take this money after a good roll. A bad roll with no insurance markers, or eliminating all numbers except for the 1, ended the game and the contestant lost the bonus money accumulated. The contestant won a car for removing eight numbers, and $10,000 for all nine. The rules soon changed so that the car bonus was removed, but a contestant who continued to roll did not risk the accumulated money.
The 1978–80 version offered a prize of $5,000 for eliminating all nine numbers. For a certain period the contestant also received a car in addition to $5,000 for winning. The 1987–88 version offered a prize of $10,000, and used a pair of "golden dice" for this segment of the game.
The Big Numbers bonus round was also used on Las Vegas Gambit, which was hosted by future High Rollers host Wink Martindale and also produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions, in 1981. The round, referred to as the "Gambit Galaxy" on Las Vegas Gambit, used the same dice table as the second daytime High Rollers series (complete with sound effects) and had the same rules, but instead of playing for a car the game was played for an accumulating prize package.
Champions stayed on the show until they were defeated or until they won five matches (seven on the 1978–80 version). On the 1987–88 version, winning five matches originally won a new car but was later dropped by the time a player finally retired undefeated, which led to more cars being awarded in some of the mini-games played during the main game.
Production information
Personnel
As noted above, Alex Trebek and Wink Martindale served as hosts for High Rollers. For the original series and its revival, Heatter-Quigley staff announcer Kenny Williams served as announcer. The 1987 series used Dean Goss as its announcer.
The 1970s editions of High Rollers were recorded at NBC's Burbank studio complex while the 1987 series taped at Studio 43 at CBS Television City in Hollywood.[3][4]
Actress Ruta Lee and Gambit card dealer Elaine Stewart were the prize models on the first High Rollers series, with Lee performing those duties on the daytime series and Stewart the weekly syndicated series. As noted above, both women were also the dice rollers for the players. Becky Price, Linda Hooks, and Lauren Firestone rotated as models during the 1978 revival while Martindale was assisted on his version by models Crystal Owens and KC Winkler.
Music
Stan Worth composed the theme for the 1974–76 and 1978–80 versions. In 1985, Score Productions composed a theme titled "Bubble Gum," originally for a failed Heatter pilot called Lucky Numbers, that was reused for the 1987–88 version of High Rollers.
Merchandise
Two editions were released in 1975, as Big Numbers: The High Rollers Game. The first edition was released by E.S. Lowe, while the second edition was released by Milton Bradley. Both versions have Trebek on the cover.[5] A board game based on the 1987 version was released by Parker Brothers in 1988. The cover shows Martindale and two contestants during a game.[5]
A computer game also based on the 1987 version was released for the Commodore 64, Apple II, and DOS by Box Office in 1988. The cover has Martindale holding a pair of Golden Dice in his left hand while pointing to them with his right.
Episode status
A studio master copy of the June 11, 1975 episode and the Warhol collection copy of the July 4, 1975 show are available for viewing at The Paley Center for Media. All episodes of the 1987–88 version exist in their entirety, and were rerun on USA Network from September 19, 1988 to September 13, 1991.
International versions
An Australian version aired on the Seven Network for a brief period in 1975, hosted by Garry Meadows with Delvene Delaney and Suzanne Fox as the dealers. The announcer was Max Rowley. A Japanese version called SuperdiceQ hosted by Doi Over aired on TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) from 1980 to 1984.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 David Schwartz, Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, 3rd ed., Checkmark Books, 1999, p. 92
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "High Rollers". 1975-06-11. NBC. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ "Shows–CBS Television City". Retrieved 25 July 2011.
- ↑ David Schwartz, Steve Ryan and Fred Wostbrock, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows, 3rd ed., Checkmark Books, 1999, p. 92.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "High Rollers Image Gallery". BoardGameGeek.com. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
External links
Preceded by The Wizard of Odds |
11:00 AM (EST), NBC 7/1/74 – 11/28/75 |
Succeeded by Wheel of Fortune |
Preceded by The Magnificent Marble Machine |
12:00 PM (EST), NBC 12/1/75 – 1/16/76 |
Succeeded by The Magnificent Marble Machine |
Preceded by Wheel of Fortune |
10:30 AM (EST), NBC 1/19 – 6/11/76 |
Succeeded by Celebrity Sweepstakes |
Preceded by Wheel of Fortune |
11:00 AM (EST), NBC 4/24/78 – 6/20/80 |
Succeeded by The David Letterman Show |