Sometimes one game show rips off another...That's Life! Go behind the scenes with TV and radio legend Wink Martindale! Facebook: / winkmartindalegames Twitter: / winkmartindale SUBSCRIBE: bit.ly/1galy1L
Nipsey always had a zinger of a poem for any situation. Gotta wonder if he creates them off the top of his head or has them prepared for certain situations.
Always thought Nipsey was great (RIP). This Pilot had potential, but I can see why it did not sell. Based on the Production Credits - This was probably an ABC Pilot, likely taped at ABC's TV-15 studio in NYC -- which was also home to Pyramid, Blankety Blanks, The Big Showdown, The Dick Cavett Show, Kids Are People Too, and many others. I suspect this may have been Bob Stewart's last NYC Game Show Pilot (?). Bob had already taped an NBC Game Show Pilot in Burbank in late April 1979, and Love Experts was already being produced in LA around the same time. Although Pyramid stuck around in NYC a while longer... sadly, it was the beginning of the end of NYC based game shows during this time period. I attended countless Game Show tapings and Pilots in NYC, and it was always so much fun. Great memories !
1) This is an incredibly entertaining pilot, but I could see network affiliates being worried about the public's reaction to this show. 2) Nipsey is so natural both as a host and a panelist. It is sad that he didn't have more opportunities to head a show.
Nipsey is great in this. He should have been given more opportunities to be a game show host (He hosted a short lived game show in the 80s called Your Number's Up). This is kind of like Family Feud with a tiny element of Street Smarts.
Nipsey did several pilots, but all marginalized him as a rhyming buffoon, which he was not. Had they allowed him to be himself, i daresay this could have worked. Nipsey was an intelligent person with a great personality. It pains me to see how he was used.
I think the game could have worked as a series. It seemed to fit Nipsey Russell pretty well overall - although other than on Car 54, Where Are You, it's not easy to think of Nipsey as the straight man. The gameplay was pretty straightforward, which was good, and any game that gives that many opportunities for his poetry is better for it. I'm sure he would have loved a regular gig that allowed him to work in NYC rather than all the commuting to LA too. The pilot "contestants" didn't overdo it, but there was enough ham from the "people on the street" to use up several loaves of rye bread. All in all, a good effort by Bob Stewart et al.
This was quite good, and I really enjoyed it. Although my favorite part was Nipsey‘s hosting, the gameplay itself was a fun and interesting slant on the survey format.
Interesting that Stewart was still trying to get another NY based show launched since at this same time he'd finally relented on going to California to launch "Chain Reaction" (the pilot for that had been taped one month earlier).
Family Feud meets The Better Sex. The originals are good enough for me. I love Nipsey as a panelist, just not as a host. He’s too loud. I see why this was passed up.
Possibly an unpopular opinion but please hear me out: I dont think Nipsey is that great as a host because he jokes around too much and it distracts from the game. That being said, He does make it fun and it could potentially help carry a weak format. So with that in mind, I think if he had the opportunity he would have been a great host for a you bet your life revival since it's all about the host's humor by design.
