September 7, 1987 (1987-09-07)– September 26, 1992 (1992-09-26)
Win, Lose or Draw is an American television game show that premiered in 1987 and ran in syndication and on NBC. It was taped at CBS Television City in Los Angeles[3] and was created by Burt Reynolds and Bert Convy, who co-produced the series with Richard S. Kline for Buena Vista Television. The game was similar to Pictionary, a popular board game at the time.[4] Reynolds, however, said that the game evolved from a weekly charades game that he had been hosting at his home,[5] and that there are some differences in how Pictionary and Win, Lose or Draw are played.[6]
The network version of Win, Lose or Draw was hosted by Vicki Lawrence and ran from September 7, 1987 until September 1, 1989. The syndicated series premiered on the same day, ran until June 1, 1990, and was hosted by Convy and later Robb Weller. A version for teenagers was produced for Disney Channel from 1989 to 1992 with Marc Price as host; it was revived for a brief run in 2014, which was produced by Convy's daughter Jennifer.[1]
Development and broadcast history
Burt Reynolds would have a weekly charades party in his living room and various celebrities would participate from week to week. As he recalled in 1987, one of the frequent participants was Fred Astaire. Reynolds said that Astaire was incredibly shy and would rather draw pictures than act out words, and so he brought out a chalkboard one night for him to use and the game that would eventually become Win, Lose or Draw was born.[7]
Eventually, Reynolds was convinced to try to make a television series out of the weekly game night after Merv Griffin had told him of the success he had garnered with the launch of Jeopardy! in syndication in 1984. In November 1986, a pilot episode was staged at CBS Television City with Bert Convy hosting. Reynolds and his then-wife Loni Anderson played the game along with Tony Danza and Betty White, with Rod Roddy announcing. The set was modeled after Burt Reynolds' living room. [8] The pilot, produced by Reynolds and Convy, garnered interest from both NBC and local station ownership groups, so much so that Reynolds and Convy, through their company Burt & Bert Productions and a partnership with Richard S. Kline of Kline and Friends Productions, decided to produce one edition for NBC's daytime schedule and another for syndication.
On September 7, 1987, both editions of Win, Lose or Draw launched.[9]Vicki Lawrence hosted the edition produced for NBC, while the syndicated edition was hosted by Bert Convy.[1]Bob Hilton served as the announcer for the daytime edition; Gene Wood was the initial announcer for the syndicated series but was eventually replaced by Hilton as the series progressed.[1]
The daytime Win, Lose or Draw inherited the spot previously occupied by Wordplay on NBC's morning schedule and was scheduled at 11:30a.m., which displaced the show that had been airing there, Scrabble; that show moved to the 12:30p.m. timeslot that Wordplay had been occupying. Paired in the hour with the daytime version of Wheel of Fortune, both shows faced off against CBS' The Price Is Right, with Win, Lose or Draw competing with the second half of the long running hit. The show lasted just under two years on NBC, airing its finale on September 1, 1989.
The syndicated series, meanwhile, was renewed for a third year which began on September 4, 1989 with a significant amount of changes made. Coinciding with the return of the syndicated series was a new Burt & Bert/Kline and Friends production, a panel game titled 3rd Degree!. After the series was sold with Peter Marshall as the host of its pilot, the producers decided to have Convy leave Win, Lose or Draw to host 3rd Degree!; Robb Weller, who had been a reporter and host for Entertainment Tonight, replaced him for what would prove to be the last season for Win, Lose or Draw.[1] The final new episode aired on June 1, 1990; reruns of the series continued to air until the show was withdrawn from syndication on August 31, 1990.
Reruns of the syndicated version aired on the USA Network from January 1, 1991, to December 24, 1992,[1] and on Game Show Network from April 15, 2002, to March 14, 2004.
The idea is similar to the game Pictionary. Two teams compete, each composed of two celebrities and a contestant, with one team being all men and the other all women. The teams take turns attempting to communicate a person, place, thing, or idea to their teammates by using a marker and oversized pad of paper to draw pictures that suggest the answer. The team member who is drawing may not use any verbal, physical, or written clues, except for writing down parts of the answer that have been correctly guessed.
In the first three rounds, each team has one minute to solve a puzzle, measured by an on-screen clock. Correctly guessing the answer at any point awards $200. At the thirty-second mark, a sound indicates that the team member who is drawing may pass the marker to another teammate if needed, but also reducing the value to $100. If the team does not guess within the time limit, the opposing team is given one chance to confer and guess, and no cash is awarded if both teams fail to guess.
Following round three, one player for each team is nominated to draw clues in a 90-second speed round. Each correct guess is worth $100, and the team may choose up to twice to pass on any word or phrase. The speed round starts with the team that is ahead. Whichever team scores higher after the speed round is awarded an additional $1,000 cash in addition to any other cash earned in the rest of the game.
Disney Channel versions
Teen Win, Lose or Draw
From April 29, 1989, to April 28, 1990, and again from September 10, 1990, to September 26, 1992, Disney Channel aired a version called Teen Win, Lose or Draw. This version was hosted by Marc Price.[10]Jay Wolpert produced the first season, which taped at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, with Stone-Stanley Productions taking over for the rest of the run, at which time production also moved to Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles. Originally the show aired on Saturdays at 6:30p.m. and Sunday mornings at 11:30a.m.[11] Rotating as announcers during the first season were Brandy Brown, Chase Hampton and Tiffini Hale from The Mickey Mouse Club, with Mark L. Walberg taking over that duty for the final two seasons. Teams were made up of two teenage contestants (one each of two boys and two girls), and a teenage celebrity. Gameplay was largely identical to the original run,[2] with the following differences:
Round 1 – The Clue Round: A player from each team draw as many words within 60 seconds. Each of the words was a clue to a puzzle – a person, place, thing, event, etc. The team in control had the first chance to answer, if they were unable to give the correct answer, the opposing team could guess to win the points.
Round 2 – The Phrase Round: The team is given a category, with the phrase based in that category. As in the original, the clue-giver could hand off to a teammate after 30 seconds.
Round 3 – The Speed Round: Played identically to the adult version, with the trailing team going first (or the team that went first in round one playing first if the score was tied). A grand prize was given to the winning team, with the losing team getting a consolation gift.
If the score was tied following the Speed Round, each team would play another speed round with 20 seconds on the clock. The team that got more in the 20 seconds won. If the tie persisted after this overtime round, each team would try to guess one word as fast as possible (with a maximum of 60 seconds), and the team that was faster won.
In April 2013, the Disney Channel announced a new version of Win, Lose or Draw, to be hosted by Justin Willman, which premiered on January 17, 2014. As with Teen Win, Lose or Draw, the two teams on each program are made up of two young contestants plus a teenage celebrity (this time, from a Disney Channel or Disney XD program). New motion-control technology is featured.[12]
Home versions
Board game
Milton Bradley Company created its version in 1987. It could be played like the TV show, or a variation of the game with pawns and a game board. Party, Junior, and Travel Junior editions were produced, plus a Refill Pack for the game. All contestants who appeared on the show received a copy of the Party edition, as did select audience members.[citation needed] It sold 1 million copies in 1987 alone.[6]
Computer and video games
Hi Tech Expressions released two editions of the MS-DOS version of the game in 1988, as well as a "Junior" version, followed by a version for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. Both versions of this party game featured a scene set in a living room, with the game contestants (representing real-life players) seated on opposite couches, much like the television show. While the game system drew a picture on the screen, one of the players would have a limited amount (60 seconds for the main game, and 90 for the speed round) of time to type in the word or phrase represented by the image. If the player typed in the incorrect answer, a player on the opposing team would have an opportunity to type the correct answer (in single-player games, the game system would type a random incorrect answer). The team that typed the correct answer would win money for that round, and the team that earned the most money at the end of the game won.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
