Both versions of Scrabble hosted by Chuck Woolery on NBC were second to none and by both I mean the 1984-1990 and 1993 versions. I wish GSN and Buzzr would promote this show. Fortunately, USA network was able to promote this show from 1991-1995. This game show is one to remember for years to come.
"I kept telling them, 'Find someone else to do it, it'll be a hit! Look what happened to 'Wheel'!" Funny that "Wheel" became a huge hit after Chuck left.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE was actually a huge cash cow, clobbing the first half of THE PRICE IS RIGHT and had a 44 share in the daytime ratings on NBC just before Chuck left in 1981. Chuck was fired over a salary dispute. He made $65,000 a year hosting WOF in 1981 demanding a raise. Merv offered him $400,000/year to stay, but when NBC kicked in an extra $100,000/year, Merv fired him and replaced him with Pat Sajak.
John W Landry To me the death of daytime game shows began with the cancellation The $25,000 Pyramid. Shortly after, Sale of the Century, Super Password and Card Sharks were gone.
Lupton2000 Those 3 actually got the ax one year before Scrabble did,not to mention the $25,000 Pyramid becoming extinct 2 years prior so that CBS could make room for Family Feud.It almost made no sense for them to bring it back for 3 months between April-June of 1988.
+CartoonsAndGameShows Marsha Warfield played that bailiff, Roz, on "Night Court." She later played Dr. Maxine Douglas on "Empty Nest" during its final two seasons.
Very sad that this show ended in 1990. The 1993 remake seemed so hollow, so empty and ever so temporary somehow. Price is Right, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud all have endured because they all have play along ability. Scrabble also had that factor which makes me wonder why it hasn't come back in almost a quarter century now. I think I read it has something to do with Hasbro having the rights to the name or some darn thing. This show was very clever and the graphics and set were sensational! Chuck was a phenomenal host both on Wheel and Scrabble as well as Lingo and Greed. Major daytime network game shows are very much missed by me. I am grateful that we still have CBS with Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right. Sadly major network daytime is so bland now with 19 hours of "Today" and 27 blessed talk shows now.
But back in the 70s and 80s, ABC, NBC and CBS were the best place to catch daytime game shows, and today, the daytime game shows still live on forever via GSN and BUZZR, and we hope BUZZR adds this show (and the 1972-2007 Barker episodes of The Price is Right) to its schedule one day!
+randy foster i'd say also brinf $ale Of The Century back as well, but it would probably hard as heck finding a host for that as good as Jim Perry was.
+John Fenner although regained in terms of what network it was on,as once production moved to CBS it stayed there till the mid 90's when they moved to their current home at Sony Pictures Studios
Michael Holman The affiliates don't make any money carrying network programming. The owned and operated NBC stations were required to carry SCRABBLE while their network affiliates had the option of carrying the show as filler programming.
All of these contestants were really good! It’s too bad they axed it, only to try to revive it two years later. Should have let the good times keep rolling.
Scrabble The Television Version Everybody Favorite Word Game. We will be miss here forever. And no one else we care for too. And so for all of us here at F-N-F-&G's will see you next week good night.
14:38 - The canned cheer so overused that I picked up on it when I was 8 years old. I swear Wheel of Fortune used it on a daily basis back around 1990.
For this season (and the 1993 revival), they begun acknowledging Hasbro's Milton Bradley division as the new trademark owner for the Scrabble brand, as Hasbro took over Coleco (the company who owned the Selchow & Righter brand since 1986) during 1989.
megamanj2004X The late 80s was a mass exodus of network daytime programming. Just a year earlier was when NBC scrapped SALE OF THE CENTURY and SUPER PASSWORD. WHEEL OF FORTUNE was unloaded 14 weeks later and WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW ended 9 weeks later. After SCRABBLE ended, CLASSIC CONCENTRATION was the only game show NBC had before LET'S MAKE A DEAL returned in the early summer of '90.
Not all of them. A production crew, led by producer Gary Johnson and director Chris Darley, was responsible for Scrabble whilst a production crew, led by producers George Vosburgh and Burt Wheeler and director James Marcione, were responsible for $ale of the Century.
I never rule that out. Maybe if GSN doesn't want to lease anymore Sale episodes, they can replace it with Scrabble and show the tail end of it (USA never ran the last six months of the show). After all, Chuck seemed to have been tied with GSN (they still rerun his Lingo).
Sucks for George who would've been returning champion... if I were him I'd have begged the production staff of the '93 reboot to consider letting me on as a continuation of where they left off ;)
Both versions of Scrabble hosted by Chuck Woolery on NBC were second to none and by both I mean the 1984-1990 and 1993 versions. I wish GSN and Buzzr would promote this show. Fortunately, USA network was able to promote this show from 1991-1995. This game show is one to remember for years to come.
i will never get tired watching this show as long as i live
I wish Scrabble was rebooted on NBC-TV, or even on locally on CBS.
Yes March 23rd 1990 was the end of the first run of Chuck Woolery's "Scrabble"!
The finale of the first run of Chuck Woolery's "Scrabble" on March 23rd 1990!
"I kept telling them, 'Find someone else to do it, it'll be a hit! Look what happened to 'Wheel'!" Funny that "Wheel" became a huge hit after Chuck left.
Especially with Pat Sajak and Vanna White.
WHEEL OF FORTUNE was actually a huge cash cow, clobbing the first half of THE PRICE IS RIGHT and had a 44 share in the daytime ratings on NBC just before Chuck left in 1981. Chuck was fired over a salary dispute. He made $65,000 a year hosting WOF in 1981 demanding a raise. Merv offered him $400,000/year to stay, but when NBC kicked in an extra $100,000/year, Merv fired him and replaced him with Pat Sajak.
When SCRABBLE Returned in 1993, The Bonus Sprint Jackpot started at $1,000, and the Blue and Pink Bonus Squares added their Values to the Jackpot.
I still have the theme song stuck in my head still to this day
randy foster hell, I managed to get it on my iPod
nice :)
I believe Scrabble was cancelled specifically to make room for Marsha Warfield's talk show.This started the slow death of daytime network game shows.
I Blame those crappy talk shows, the 1990's and MTV's the real world for ending not only the 1980's, but also television as a whole.
That's pitiful, I couldn't even tell you who Marsha Warfield is...
John W Landry To me the death of daytime game shows began with the cancellation The $25,000 Pyramid. Shortly after, Sale of the Century, Super Password and Card Sharks were gone.
Lupton2000 Those 3 actually got the ax one year before Scrabble did,not to mention the $25,000 Pyramid becoming extinct 2 years prior so that CBS could make room for Family Feud.It almost made no sense for them to bring it back for 3 months between April-June of 1988.
+CartoonsAndGameShows Marsha Warfield played that bailiff, Roz, on "Night Court." She later played Dr. Maxine Douglas on "Empty Nest" during its final two seasons.
Very sad that this show ended in 1990. The 1993 remake seemed so hollow, so empty and ever so temporary somehow. Price is Right, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune and Family Feud all have endured because they all have play along ability. Scrabble also had that factor which makes me wonder why it hasn't come back in almost a quarter century now. I think I read it has something to do with Hasbro having the rights to the name or some darn thing. This show was very clever and the graphics and set were sensational! Chuck was a phenomenal host both on Wheel and Scrabble as well as Lingo and Greed. Major daytime network game shows are very much missed by me. I am grateful that we still have CBS with Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right. Sadly major network daytime is so bland now with 19 hours of "Today" and 27 blessed talk shows now.
But back in the 70s and 80s, ABC, NBC and CBS were the best place to catch daytime game shows, and today, the daytime game shows still live on forever via GSN and BUZZR, and we hope BUZZR adds this show (and the 1972-2007 Barker episodes of The Price is Right) to its schedule one day!
i miss scrabble lots i miss this theme and thank god i found this theme cause its been in my head forever
if I ever win the lottery I will bring this show back with this theme lol
+randy foster i'd say also brinf $ale Of The Century back as well, but it would probably hard as heck finding a host for that as good as Jim Perry was.
true that was a good show 2
I remember the final episode on Scrabble and it was on WNBC-TV in New York, it was the best from the last show, period.
I'm glad they at least made it really easy to win the jackpot on the final day. That last clue was basically a definition of the answer.
Funny how Chuck makes reference to Wheel, as just 10 months later, NBC regained that show from CBS.
+John Fenner although regained in terms of what network it was on,as once production moved to CBS it stayed there till the mid 90's when they moved to their current home at Sony Pictures Studios
I'll never understand why all those game shows got cancelled. They sure beat the living daylights out of these talk shows.
Michael Holman The affiliates don't make any money carrying network programming. The owned and operated NBC stations were required to carry SCRABBLE while their network affiliates had the option of carrying the show as filler programming.
All of these contestants were really good! It’s too bad they axed it, only to try to revive it two years later. Should have let the good times keep rolling.
Scrabble The Television Version Everybody Favorite Word Game. We will be miss here forever. And no one else we care for too. And so for all of us here at F-N-F-&G's will see you next week good night.
14:38 - The canned cheer so overused that I picked up on it when I was 8 years old. I swear Wheel of Fortune used it on a daily basis back around 1990.
Bob Bob Peter Marshall called it Mother McKenzie
Final episode of First Run of Scrabble.
Thank you for noting that. It has been corrected.
@CartoonasAndGameShows Marsha Warfield is the wise-cracking bailiff on the long running NBC sitcom Night Court
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
That's Was On Friday March 23,1990 At 10 AM/9 AM Central Standard Time.
For this season (and the 1993 revival), they begun acknowledging Hasbro's Milton Bradley division as the new trademark owner for the Scrabble brand, as Hasbro took over Coleco (the company who owned the Selchow & Righter brand since 1986) during 1989.
The finale from the first version was in 1990.
the sound effects were so ahead of thier time
March 23, 1990 to be Precise.
Chuck & Shandi hosts "Lingo" game show.
Goodbye Scrabble I Miss You Too...
Little did we know at the time, this was not the end of Scrabble.
Just 3 years later, Scrabble was briefly brought back, but it lasted only 6 months.
Right; it had aired that March 23.
Coincidentally, Scrabble would've been cancelled in 1989 had NBC decided not to cancel Super Password w/ Sale of the Century.
megamanj2004X The late 80s was a mass exodus of network daytime programming. Just a year earlier was when NBC scrapped SALE OF THE CENTURY and SUPER PASSWORD. WHEEL OF FORTUNE was unloaded 14 weeks later and WIN, LOSE, OR DRAW ended 9 weeks later. After SCRABBLE ended, CLASSIC CONCENTRATION was the only game show NBC had before LET'S MAKE A DEAL returned in the early summer of '90.
is it safe to say that pretty much all the behind the scenes people on this show also worked on $ale of the Century?
Not all of them. A production crew, led by producer Gary Johnson and director Chris Darley, was responsible for Scrabble whilst a production crew, led by producers George Vosburgh and Burt Wheeler and director James Marcione, were responsible for $ale of the Century.
The Last Bonus Sprint of the Scrabble and win at 19:30.
13:39 Trina answered "Nixon." I thought they don't permit proper names.
I wish scrabble would stay on the air until 1993 not '90
Another happy ending. :^)
Sadly, gsn will never get to air this Chuck woolery classic!
I never rule that out. Maybe if GSN doesn't want to lease anymore Sale episodes, they can replace it with Scrabble and show the tail end of it (USA never ran the last six months of the show). After all, Chuck seemed to have been tied with GSN (they still rerun his Lingo).
Patrick Healy they had the opportunity to run it but refused. supposedly fremantle offered it to gsn for free
Nice
Blitz!
Sucks for George who would've been returning champion... if I were him I'd have begged the production staff of the '93 reboot to consider letting me on as a continuation of where they left off ;)
lobstertexas which they did
Woolery left Scrabble?
the death of the daytime game show. 😥.1990.
so why did the price is right survive the only daytime game show after over 45 years?
I'll be back. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Hah made you look.
Hostesses!? wtf...
Poor debbie
i just realized i would of been like 7
chuck is funny