The Wizard of Odds is an American television game show hosted by Alex Trebek that aired on NBC from July 16, 1973, to June 28, 1974, in which people from the studio audience vied in a number of rounds, primarily games revolving around statistical questions.[2]John Harlan announced the pilot; Los Angeles radio personality Sam Riddle was the show's first announcer; towards the end of the run, Charlie O'Donnell replaced him. The title was a parody of the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz and was the first American game show Trebek hosted.
Relatively short-lived, The Wizard of Odds replaced Sale of the Century with Joe Garagiola at 11:00 a.m. Eastern (10:00 Central). The show did not perform well against CBS' Gambit (later replaced by Now You See It with Jack Narz) and NBC dropped it after less than a year.
Wizard was Trebek's first American game show, after starting his broadcast career in his native Canada. He later hosted four more NBC games, High Rollers (which replaced Wizard), from 1974 to 1976 and again as The New High Rollers from 1978 to 1980, Battlestars from 1981 to 1982 and again as The New Battlestars in 1983 Classic Concentration from 1987 to 1991. Finally, his fourth one was a brief revival of To Tell the Truth in 1991. Beginning in 1984, he hosted the syndicated TV hit game Jeopardy! until his death in 2020.
Episode statusedit
It is believed that the series was wiped as per network policy of the era, with NBC continuing this policy until 1979. The May 20, 1974 episode with special guest actor Don DeFore exists in the UCLA Film & Television Archive. An audio recording of the finale also exists.[3]
One surviving episode, labeled as airing on March 19, 1974, was uploaded to YouTube on October 12, 2022.[4]
Rules of the gameedit
Contestants were selected from the studio audience and answered questions based on statistical information, all for cash and prizes.
"The Wizard" (Trebek) began the show by choosing three contestants and asking them questions based on the law of averages, with cash and prizes awarded accordingly for correct answers; an example of a question was "What are the odds a man will recover his lost wallet if there is more than $20 inside it?"
The next three players were given a series of phrases and told to pick the one that did not match. The person with the most correct answers was given the chance to pick one of five prizes, located behind windows that were either "open" or "locked". This person could continue to play or stop at any time, keeping the prizes; however, selecting a window that was locked lost all prizes accumulated up to that point.
Every contestant selected had his or her name added to the "Wizard's Wheel of Fortune."
Wizard's Wheel of Fortuneedit
At the end of the show, Trebek spun the wheel and the person it landed on was eligible for bonus gifts. A list of averages was then brought out, with a number above it. The contestant had to pick a group of items whose average added up to exactly the target number. If the contestant was correct, he or she won the bonus gifts, including a brand new car.
Themeedit
The theme song was composed and sung by Alan Thicke, also from Canada, who was also one of the show's producers.[1]
Lawsuitedit
Nearly a week after the show debuted, Leo Guild (who has created numerous radio and television shows, books, and newspaper columns) filed a $2 million lawsuit against NBC for stealing his Wizard title, which had been used as a newspaper column during the late 1940s.[5]
Referencesedit
^ ab"4 TV show theme songs you didn't realize were written by Alan Thicke".
^Hyatt, Wesley (1997). The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television. Watson-Guptill Publications. p. 469. ISBN978-0823083152. Retrieved 22 March 2020.
^"Wizard of Odds June 1974". YouTube. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
^Wizard of Odds - March 19th, 1974 on NBC, Full Episode (unknown episode #), retrieved 2022-10-14
wizard, odds, american, television, game, show, hosted, alex, trebek, that, aired, from, july, 1973, june, 1974, which, people, from, studio, audience, vied, number, rounds, primarily, games, revolving, around, statistical, questions, john, harlan, announced, . The Wizard of Odds is an American television game show hosted by Alex Trebek that aired on NBC from July 16 1973 to June 28 1974 in which people from the studio audience vied in a number of rounds primarily games revolving around statistical questions 2 John Harlan announced the pilot Los Angeles radio personality Sam Riddle was the show s first announcer towards the end of the run Charlie O Donnell replaced him The title was a parody of the classic 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz and was the first American game show Trebek hosted The Wizard of OddsGenreGame showCreated byAlan ThickePresented byAlex TrebekNarrated byJohn Harlan pilot Sam RiddleCharlie O DonnellTheme music composerStan WorthAlan Thicke 1 Country of originUnited StatesProductionProducersBurt SugarmanAlan ThickeRunning time22 minutesProduction companyBurt Sugarman ProductionsOriginal releaseNetworkNBCReleaseJuly 16 1973 1973 07 16 June 28 1974 1974 06 28 Contents 1 Broadcast history 1 1 Episode status 2 Rules of the game 2 1 Wizard s Wheel of Fortune 3 Theme 4 Lawsuit 5 References 6 External linksBroadcast history editRelatively short lived The Wizard of Odds replaced Sale of the Century with Joe Garagiola at 11 00 a m Eastern 10 00 Central The show did not perform well against CBS Gambit later replaced by Now You See It with Jack Narz and NBC dropped it after less than a year Wizard was Trebek s first American game show after starting his broadcast career in his native Canada He later hosted four more NBC games High Rollers which replaced Wizard from 1974 to 1976 and again as The New High Rollers from 1978 to 1980 Battlestars from 1981 to 1982 and again as The New Battlestars in 1983 Classic Concentration from 1987 to 1991 Finally his fourth one was a brief revival of To Tell the Truth in 1991 Beginning in 1984 he hosted the syndicated TV hit game Jeopardy until his death in 2020 Episode status edit It is believed that the series was wiped as per network policy of the era with NBC continuing this policy until 1979 The May 20 1974 episode with special guest actor Don DeFore exists in the UCLA Film amp Television Archive An audio recording of the finale also exists 3 One surviving episode labeled as airing on March 19 1974 was uploaded to YouTube on October 12 2022 4 Rules of the game editContestants were selected from the studio audience and answered questions based on statistical information all for cash and prizes The Wizard Trebek began the show by choosing three contestants and asking them questions based on the law of averages with cash and prizes awarded accordingly for correct answers an example of a question was What are the odds a man will recover his lost wallet if there is more than 20 inside it The next three players were given a series of phrases and told to pick the one that did not match The person with the most correct answers was given the chance to pick one of five prizes located behind windows that were either open or locked This person could continue to play or stop at any time keeping the prizes however selecting a window that was locked lost all prizes accumulated up to that point Every contestant selected had his or her name added to the Wizard s Wheel of Fortune Wizard s Wheel of Fortune edit At the end of the show Trebek spun the wheel and the person it landed on was eligible for bonus gifts A list of averages was then brought out with a number above it The contestant had to pick a group of items whose average added up to exactly the target number If the contestant was correct he or she won the bonus gifts including a brand new car Theme editThe theme song was composed and sung by Alan Thicke also from Canada who was also one of the show s producers 1 Lawsuit editNearly a week after the show debuted Leo Guild who has created numerous radio and television shows books and newspaper columns filed a 2 million lawsuit against NBC for stealing his Wizard title which had been used as a newspaper column during the late 1940s 5 References edit a b 4 TV show theme songs you didn t realize were written by Alan Thicke Hyatt Wesley 1997 The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television Watson Guptill Publications p 469 ISBN 978 0823083152 Retrieved 22 March 2020 Wizard of Odds June 1974 YouTube Retrieved 4 January 2022 Wizard of Odds March 19th 1974 on NBC Full Episode unknown episode retrieved 2022 10 14 Quiz Show Sued The Dispatch Vol 92 no 68 Lexington NC New Media Investment Group United Press International July 23 1973 p 1 Retrieved July 22 2012 External links editThe Wizard of Odds at IMDb nbsp Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Wizard of Odds amp oldid 1203222976, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
