Wink Martindale's Awesome Non-Price Clips and Episodes: The Ongoing Thread

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

Bob Hilton 1990 LMAD pilot

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

wanted to share this yesterday, but the site was down all day...

anyway, here's a Safecrackers game that had nothing to do with TPIR

[imhomerjay]

Yikes. Rough stuff.

[C8]

Bob Hilton 1990 LMAD pilot

Wow. I never saw the Hilton LMaD but that pilot sure is a trip and I’m stunned it made it to air. It had “bad idea” written all over it.

I knew it was going to be something when the models were dancing on stage before Bob came out, then Bob came out to a litany of family friendly Disney characters including Roger Rabbit(?!), then everyone continued to dance behind him. It was an assault on the senses. Then it continues as the announcer just screams his way through the program and the models just seem way too hyper.

Bob seemed affable enough and not the least of the problems of the pilot. If the pilot represented the series at all, I’m sure Bob was a scapegoat when ratings were in the tank and I can see why not even bringing Hall back saved the show.

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

another thing to note: same level of visual punnery as modern-day Wayne Brady LMAD (imo)

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

(posted after editing period has passed)  another one is about to happen:

(watch party/premiere in 8 minutes or so from when i post this)

[RJSchex]

Theme music from “Safecrackers” sounds mighty familiar...during the late 70s/early 80s, it was the theme from KPHO-TV's late-night umbrella title “Movietime”. Before that, fellow local station KTVK (then ABC) used it in an evening news promo.
Anyone know the title and/or composer?

[pannoni1]

Strike A Match is the better of the last two pilots, thanks to the faster-paced gameplay as well as the interesting strategy used for the final bonus round. Given that it's a Merv Griffin production, it uses one of Wheel's prize cues as the theme, as well as the then-current style of name tags used. But by having various elements of concentration, category recall, and planning ahead as the new words appear after each question, along with a mid-show bonus round provides a lot more show than Safecrackers, which drags on two much with the celebrity questions regarding the individual word. It almost feels like a cool cousin to Split Second.

[RJSchex]

Theme music from “Safecrackers” sounds mighty familiar...during the late 70s/early 80s, it was the theme from KPHO-TV's late-night umbrella title “Movietime”. Before that, fellow local station KTVK (then ABC) used it in an evening news promo.
Anyone know the title and/or composer?

Just in: the theme is adapted from the intro to Neil Diamond’s “Crunchy Granola Suite”.

[Briguy]

Bob Hilton 1990 LMAD pilot

Personally, I didn't think this pilot was that bad. The same basic elements of gameplay are there: Take the item or sure thing we're showing you, or take the unknown. Nothing I could see with the execution showed a disaster waiting to happen.

I just think that it was a bad time slot and there was just general dis-interest in the show. And while I think Bob Hilton certainly did a good job hosting, I just think that longtime viewers who might have otherwise watched just weren't going to take to anyone other than Monty Hall. For them, he was still "America's Top Trader" and "TV's Big Dealer."

Brian

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

and we got another one for the month

[danderson400]

Wow. I never saw the Hilton LMaD but that pilot sure is a trip and I’m stunned it made it to air. It had “bad idea” written all over it.

I knew it was going to be something when the models were dancing on stage before Bob came out, then Bob came out to a litany of family friendly Disney characters including Roger Rabbit(?!), then everyone continued to dance behind him. It was an assault on the senses. Then it continues as the announcer just screams his way through the program and the models just seem way too hyper.

Bob seemed affable enough and not the least of the problems of the pilot. If the pilot represented the series at all, I’m sure Bob was a scapegoat when ratings were in the tank and I can see why not even bringing Hall back saved the show.

I agree about Dean Miuccio's performance as the announcer. He screams his way through the program, which I'd don't remember him doing during the actual series.  Jay Stewart or Wendell Niles would have been rolling in their graves over Dean's style, they would have not liked it.

[Briguy]

I agree about Dean Miuccio's performance as the announcer. He screams his way through the program, which I'd don't remember him doing during the actual series.  Jay Stewart or Wendell Niles would have been rolling in their graves over Dean's style, they would have not liked it.

I suspect that, once the series was picked up by NBC, someone had a talk with Miuccio about his skills and performance in the pilot and asked him to tone it down.

Brian

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

fun fact: they used the set for extra games that wasn't for the show as televised for people in the Florida Disney/MGM park as shown here

[GRWHAMMY the 2nd]

and despite this show's title, it's not Pyramid (heck, the description wink's team put made fun of that coincidence)