Spin-Off
Last Update: June 22, 2001 -- three screen grabs from a pilot film have been added. I’m grateful to Mike Klauss for sending these; it’s the first time I’ve seen photos from the show, well, since it aired.
Airing:
10-10:30 a.m. Monday-Friday June 16- August 29, CBS.Personnel:
Jim Lange, host; Johnny Jacobs, announcer. A Nicholson-Muir Production. Taped in Los Angeles.Description:
Kind of like Yahtzee, only duller.
Game Play:
Two couples competed. After ringing in to answer a question, one couple set in motion one of five spinners with the numbers 1 through 6 on them. Each correct answer gave the couple an additional chance to put together the best combination they could. The payoffs were as follows: $50 for a pair, $75 for two pairs, $100 for three of a kind, $125 for a straight (1-2-3-4-5), $150 for a full house, $175 for four of a kind, or $200 for five of a kind (plus a bonus of some sort). $250 over a series of rounds won the game. (If I sound vague about these rules, it’s because the printed descriptions are just as vague, and my memories of the game are hazy.)End Game:
Same as the regular game without the questions. Five of a kind here paid $5,000, with a straight going for $10,000.
Background:
Spin-Off was the first network game for Nicholson-Muir Productions, who had done such shows as Matches ‘n’ Mates and Pay Cards! for first-run syndication. It was also their first sale in six years (which should tell you something). They had come up with the original idea for The Newlywed Game and pitched it to ABC, but the network had Chuck Barris rework it, and we all know how that turned out. (Nicholson and Muir were paid a fee per show for the ABC run, and Barris bought them out while the 1977-80 Newlywed Game ran in syndication, although their names still ran in the credits.)Nicholson and Muir went back to the early days of television together. Muir was the original producer-director of NBC’s Howdy Doody, eventually becoming the networks’ vice president of children’s programming. Nicholson was one of the many men to fill the shoes of Howdy Doody’s Clarabelle the Clown. One of the others to portray Clarabelle was the famous Captain Kangaroo, Bob Keeshan.
Spin-Off marked Jim Lange’s first game in a year since the demise of The Dating Game. It replaced Jack Barry’s
The Joker’s Wild.
Spin-Out:
Facing off against NBC’s Celebrity Sweepstakes, Spin-Off went to the bottom of the ratings barrel and stayed there. CBS dropped it after just ten weeks, ran an hour-long version of The Price Is Right for a week as an experiment, then replaced it with another Jim Lange program, Give-n-Take. The only Nicholson-Muir game after this was Super Pay Cards!, which ran for a year in syndication from 1981 to 1982, co-hosted by Art James and Mary Lou Basaraba and taping in Montreal.Memories From the Set:
"Our family visited L.A. in 1975 and because of age restrictions (I was 11), we could only choose between seeing Spin-Off (which hadn't premiered yet) or Gambit. In a mistake I regret to this day, I chose the former. Yes, it was as lame as you said it was... plus we sat through a five-show taping! Ironically, my parents filled out contestant cards and were actually chosen to come back for the next day's taping. They declined since we were going to Disneyland the next day, which, I guess, was a mixed blessing. On the upside I did get to meet Jim Lange. I sort of wandered around the set a bit after the last show was taped and went up and poked around the odd, rainbow-colored contestant podiums/playing boards." -- Tom NateThe Home Game:
None, unsurprisingly. No reason you couldn’t make one of your own with some questions from another game and some Yahtzee dice. Or skip the questions altogether and just play Yahtzee.
Reruns:
A note has circulated on alt.tv.game-shows that the episodes do exist. The question is, who would run them? I don’t think GSN has the rights, and even if they did, there are only 50 episodes to run. (Note to GSN programmers reading this site and possibly taking me for an expert: I haven’t seen the show in 25 years, so don’t take my word as the final one. How about running a Game Shows ’75 weekend with this game, The Joker’s Wild, Now You See It, Match Game ’75, Tattletales, Wheel of Fortune [hosted by Chuck Woolery, of course], Jeopardy! [hosted by Art Fleming], The $10,000 Pyramid, What’s My Line?, To Tell the Truth, and The Diamond Head Game? Call me; we’ll talk.)Revivals:
Not in my lifetime, I suspect.Curt Alliaume, Executive Producer:
There are a couple of game show fans out there who think this is an undiscovered gem, but I’m not one of them. I don’t have any useful ideas on how to revive it. Sorry.My Grade:
D+.Read More About It:
E-Mail Me With Your Memories of Spin-Off
Spin-Off is a copyrighted title of Nicholson/Muir Productions. This page is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nicholson/Muir Productions, their subsidiaries, affiliates, or successor organizations. No challenge to their ownership is implied. Photo originally appeared on eBay.