Aside from being drunk (according to his autobiography, because he was "scared to death" about doing "Wheel"), Edd had never hosted a game show before. "Wheel" also came during Byrnes' years-long bout with alcoholism, and I suspect he only meant to take ONE drink to calm his nerves. Not excusing Byrnes' unprofessionalism by any means, but context is important.
Edd Byrnes was best known for his role of "Kookie" Kookson on the detective drama "77 Sunset Strip" from 1958 to 1963. Years after this pilot was done, he appeared in the film "Grease," playing dance host Vince Fontaine.
It's the second pilot episode of WOF. YESS!!! But anyone notice that not just Susan forgot turn one letter left after it was solved, but the center of the wheel change color every time, no red spaces on a first round, and the every round start with a winning player. I also like that we got to check out the top of the backdrops set that we didn't see during the Woolery run, nice lights.
Now for $350 having been ignored in some home games (as well as the only value not being mentioned by Vanna in the Sony Imagesoft's CD-ROM version for the PC), at least we get to see it as top dollar value, and what seemed to be the round 1 Wheel with $500 as top value and a color pattern similar to the 1975 round 1 Wheel, we never would've guessed it was actually the round 2 Wheel! Now, I can wait a bit for part 2 but thanks for showing this to us! Please show us part 2 when you can! ^v^
Awesome find, I thought they lost this episode for good. Hope they recover the full episode. Perhaps it is sitting with the rest of the Art Fleming Era Jeopardy! Episodes from 1964-1975. I know UCLA supposedly has a treasure trove of those Jeopardy! Eps. Who knows, they might recover the rest of Chuck Wollery and the other Pilot of Wheel of Fortune. One can hope for returns of lost Game Shows, like 60's-70's Sale of the Century. Or Video Village?
I have to defend Edd on the 'prodding the contestants' part. He immediately realizes he goofed up and says to Tanya 'don't let me talk you into it', and also share some banter. And in Round 2, Edd and Tanya share a very cute and banter-y moment during the time she spins the Wheel.
Another thing I notice Edd Byrnes cannot count well. When Tanya spin the wheel and landed on $225 she had 3 Ls. Does that supposed to equal $675 instead of $775. Unless Edd is throwing in the extra $100. I did not like that fact of the rule when a contestant win the round they start the next one. This would have be unfair and I am glad they got rid of this rule.
The Philippines (2008) version adopted that rule for round 2 only, unless there was time for a 4th round. The first and final rounds were determined by a tossup.
Well, he was the star of a police show at the time called "Kojak", and he also played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and he also...oh! You're referring to the fact that Susan forgot to turn that last "A".
This was a nifty pilot that was hampered by Edd's hosting. From the intro to the game, Edd does look a bit sauced in the eyes and his mannerisms and body language speak volumes.
I notice that, while there was a wedge saying "Buy a Vowel", Edd still offers the contestant to buy one, without landing on the wedge, at 3:19. I was under the impression that, in the pilot's rules, you could only buy a vowel if you landed on that wedge.
Actually, they didn't have the gift certificates when the show began, according to several recollections. From what I can tell, it was introduced around Summer 1975, and it's in Milton-Bradley's two games (they coexisted with Buy A Vowel at least briefly).
This just made my entire week. What an unholy abomination. I'm very glad to have seen it out of curiosity, but still. Good grief. This is basically spin the wheel and scream a lot. Exactly opposite of what we see every night on Wheel now. I am very surprised that this thing even made it on the air, much less ended up becoming a timeless classic that still nearly 40 years later draws in millions of viewers every night. Fascinating.
Susan was a last minute addition because of the puzzle board having a problem. It was supposed to be all automatic with electric motors but either wasn’t done or didn’t work that day. Bet that thing would’ve been LOUD.
I love the theme its out of this world reminds me of a late night talk show theme. Edd wasn't that bad for a drunk guy. I bet hes kicking him self after seeing how successful wheel of fortune is .
My understanding has always been that while you could always buy a vowel at any time, if you landed on BaV you *had* to buy one. If you couldn't, either because you didn't have enough money or because there were no vowels remaining, you lost your turn.
The wheel wasn't powered, but there was a guy under it that slowed it down because it spun for too long. Whether or not he could see where it was stopping, I don't know.
I remember reading about these pilots and how Ed Byrnes was a disaster. I've no doubt he was drunk, If you watch old tapings of match game in the late 70s, Gene Rayburn is obviously drunk in most of those. Even Pat Sajak and Vanna White both admitted to hosting wheel drunk in the old days. I guess back then that was a thing. Also, Tanya's a honey. Wonder how she looks now.
The recollections of Buy A Vowel have been contradictory, as far as I can tell. The Milton-Bradley games released in 1975 require that players land on the wedge to buy vowels, but I've never been able to figure out whether the rule had actually changed by then or MB was fixing the problem. (For the record, I have both of said games. :)
OK...Time for a breakdown... GOOD--well it's Wheel Of Fortune; Charlie O'Donnell Announcing, the badass Maynard Fergusoin music; Susan Stafford and her SONY ECM Microphone, the cool overhead wheel shot, using some of the same sound EFX until 1989 BAD--and it's CRUCIAL...THE HOST. Edd Byrnes seems drunk in all this and the rules seem so complex to him. And everyone seemed well how shall I say HYPED UP. And to think his son is Fox CT anchor Logan Byrnes! WHAT WOULD HE THINK?!
I heard after the taping, Susan confronted Edd backstage and she was PISSED! no idea if that's true or not but it sounds plausible, they had a solid show that was almost brought to its death because Edd got drunk, and could have cost her and countless other a job.
Having just read the 1999 print of Benirschke's autobiography "Alive & Kicking", and having seen most of his circulating episodes, I can tell you that Rolf gave it 110% and he had a good time doing "Wheel". So hush your mouth, boy. :)
Did anybody witness at 4:06 that once the wheel was spun. the overhead camera caught the green center being orange? The Chroma key was still activated.
Aside from being drunk (according to his autobiography, because he was "scared to death" about doing "Wheel"), Edd had never hosted a game show before. "Wheel" also came during Byrnes' years-long bout with alcoholism, and I suspect he only meant to take ONE drink to calm his nerves.
Not excusing Byrnes' unprofessionalism by any means, but context is important.
Edd Byrnes was best known for his role of "Kookie" Kookson on the detective drama "77 Sunset Strip" from 1958 to 1963. Years after this pilot was done, he appeared in the film "Grease," playing dance host Vince Fontaine.
It's the second pilot episode of WOF. YESS!!! But anyone notice that not just Susan forgot turn one letter left after it was solved, but the center of the wheel change color every time, no red spaces on a first round, and the every round start with a winning player. I also like that we got to check out the top of the backdrops set that we didn't see during the Woolery run, nice lights.
Now for $350 having been ignored in some home games (as well as the only value not being mentioned by Vanna in the Sony Imagesoft's CD-ROM version for the PC), at least we get to see it as top dollar value, and what seemed to be the round 1 Wheel with $500 as top value and a color pattern similar to the 1975 round 1 Wheel, we never would've guessed it was actually the round 2 Wheel! Now, I can wait a bit for part 2 but thanks for showing this to us! Please show us part 2 when you can! ^v^
There was a lot of funny moment in this clip, but I lost it at "spin the puzzle", I laughed so hard I am afraid I might die... Lol
I have another one to add, I don't ever remember him saying that 'something good to eat' was a category he mentioned at the start :P
+lachlan duggan Food and Drink prototype.
+lachlan duggan Good luck getting that puzzle around. LMAO.
Awesome find, I thought they lost this episode for good. Hope they recover the full episode. Perhaps it is sitting with the rest of the Art Fleming Era Jeopardy! Episodes from 1964-1975. I know UCLA supposedly has a treasure trove of those Jeopardy! Eps. Who knows, they might recover the rest of Chuck Wollery and the other Pilot of Wheel of Fortune. One can hope for returns of lost Game Shows, like 60's-70's Sale of the Century. Or Video Village?
Merv forced Kookie to wear a suit and tie for this one. He went with the leisure suit look in the first pilot
@@RayNDeere He looks snazzy in both outfits.
That "1975 automobile", unless I'm mistaken, is an Opel Manta, which was sold at Buick dealers around this time.
To hell with that last "A" in Savalas I guess.
Given that the letters were later fixed to turn right-to-left like we do for a book, Susan's excused on that one!
😂😂😂😂😂😂
1:52 Wheeee
Gameshowboy 92 He was referring to how the letterboard was being wheeled into the shot.
Aeiou
"Vanna" forgot to flip a letter at 5:08!
I've never heard of him, but he reminds me of Dan Quayle.
I have to defend Edd on the 'prodding the contestants' part. He immediately realizes he goofed up and says to Tanya 'don't let me talk you into it', and also share some banter. And in Round 2, Edd and Tanya share a very cute and banter-y moment during the time she spins the Wheel.
I've never seen a man point at things as much as Edd has done...and it makes this pilot 10 times as hilarious (as it is weird).
R.I.P. Edd Byrnes
Awesome find. I would love to see the rest.
Another thing I notice Edd Byrnes cannot count well. When Tanya spin the wheel and landed on $225 she had 3 Ls. Does that supposed to equal $675 instead of $775. Unless Edd is throwing in the extra $100. I did not like that fact of the rule when a contestant win the round they start the next one. This would have be unfair and I am glad they got rid of this rule.
The Philippines (2008) version adopted that rule for round 2 only, unless there was time for a 4th round. The first and final rounds were determined by a tossup.
Round 1 starts with player 1, round 2 starts with player 2, and round 3 starts with player 3.
@@Ghostrider6A and the current danish version adopted that rule as well.
Well, he was the star of a police show at the time called "Kojak", and he also played Ernst Stavro Blofeld in the James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service", and he also...oh! You're referring to the fact that Susan forgot to turn that last "A".
This was a nifty pilot that was hampered by Edd's hosting. From the intro to the game, Edd does look a bit sauced in the eyes and his mannerisms and body language speak volumes.
I notice that, while there was a wedge saying "Buy a Vowel", Edd still offers the contestant to buy one, without landing on the wedge, at 3:19. I was under the impression that, in the pilot's rules, you could only buy a vowel if you landed on that wedge.
Edd does an okay job in this pilot. Other than his goof-ups, he was kinda a mix between Pat Sajak and Peter Tomarken.
Actually, they didn't have the gift certificates when the show began, according to several recollections. From what I can tell, it was introduced around Summer 1975, and it's in Milton-Bradley's two games (they coexisted with Buy A Vowel at least briefly).
Edd Byrnes stunk as a game show host! Merv did the right thing by getting Chuck Woolery as Wheel's original host.
I;m sure he would have done better if he didn't overdrink.
This just made my entire week. What an unholy abomination. I'm very glad to have seen it out of curiosity, but still. Good grief. This is basically spin the wheel and scream a lot. Exactly opposite of what we see every night on Wheel now. I am very surprised that this thing even made it on the air, much less ended up becoming a timeless classic that still nearly 40 years later draws in millions of viewers every night. Fascinating.
@djcchs2004 I didn't notice that until you mentioned it! Great discovery! This, altogether, is just absolutely incredible!!! :)
Thank God they went with Chuck Woolery.
+George Alexander Me too, though Edd's cheerful banter with the contestants was okay.
tell me about it Woolery is 10 times better than Sajak
Nope, they both are a perfect fit
No leaving out Bob Goen now, ok?
@@Lyrtsch Bob was also fantastic!
With your host, Bark Bobber!
Price is wrong bitch
Susan's no better. She left a letter unturned in the Telly Savalas Puzzle
Wheel Of Fortune has reached a Dynasty, Now it's host Pat Sajak is now the longest running game show host of the Ole Wheel
Susan was a last minute addition because of the puzzle board having a problem. It was supposed to be all automatic with electric motors but either wasn’t done or didn’t work that day. Bet that thing would’ve been LOUD.
8:40 - That's the most emphatic call I've seen from bad news. "You lose your turn!"
How ya been? Been 8 years since you've commented this. Hows life been? Good bad? Does this comment spark memories back in 2013?
@GarryMooreFan Do u have the full pilot episode of this & or the second pilot episode of WOF?
Ed Byrnes admits that was drunk during this taping. He drank heavily from 1959 to 1982.
Please can we see part two of this pilot?
Edd's intro was the only time I've ever heard the show's title preceded by "The".
What, you couldn’t let it run a few more seconds. It was spaghetti.
Awww, that was sweet of Ed to offer Tanya $50. :)
The "Buy A Vowel" space = the most redundant thing ever on a game show! lol
Although, I've heard it was never landed on during this pilot.
He did admit it, in his autobiography "Kookie No More"
According to wheel wiki update, it’s confirmed that in round 3, Buy a vowel is hit at least once for the first time and in this case: Lois.
I love the theme its out of this world reminds me of a late night talk show theme.
Edd wasn't that bad for a drunk guy. I bet hes kicking him self after seeing how successful wheel of fortune is .
Give it One by Maynard Ferguson
My understanding has always been that while you could always buy a vowel at any time, if you landed on BaV you *had* to buy one. If you couldn't, either because you didn't have enough money or because there were no vowels remaining, you lost your turn.
9:37: Spin the Puzzle
Solve the wheel
As soon as he said something good to eat and it was one word, I actually thought it was Spaghetti before they put any letters up there.
puttputtking The precursor to the Food and Drink category. Edd had the right idea.
Edd's happy drunk here.
The wheel wasn't powered, but there was a guy under it that slowed it down because it spun for too long. Whether or not he could see where it was stopping, I don't know.
Edd, I think you had a little too much to drink
i love the theme i wish they used this feels very Vegas
"Give it One" by Maynard Ferguson
I remember reading about these pilots and how Ed Byrnes was a disaster. I've no doubt he was drunk, If you watch old tapings of match game in the late 70s, Gene Rayburn is obviously drunk in most of those. Even Pat Sajak and Vanna White both admitted to hosting wheel drunk in the old days. I guess back then that was a thing.
Also, Tanya's a honey. Wonder how she looks now.
i'm the missing A in Telly Savalas
I really liked those Opel Manta coupes, sold in the US by Buick dealers, as you said.
Cooky Cooky lend me your comb LOL
9:36 Do you want to spin the puzzle?
Ed Byrnes was "Kooky" indeed.
Give It One, baby!!!
@D hiene you should have seen the shoppers bazzar wheel that had $5 and $10 spaces
She's turning the letters backwards!
It's OK. Game Show Garbage sent me here too. But I'm with you on that call. SEND FOR THE MAN!!!
R.I.P. Ed
We'll see him again.
th-cam.com/video/gAaWn8USN_Q/w-d-xo.html
Edd says "spin the wheel for $400"
***** He had the right idea, because a $400 wedge would later be added to the Wheel in the second round.
Well she was risking the $400 to spin.....
RIP Edd Byrnes. See ya real soon.
Where's the rest of it?
Buy the Wheel? Join the club, man!
well, i don't blame him, after all "Wheel of Fortune" is always number 1 :)
4:42 Do you wanna go shopping or guess the puzzle?
The recollections of Buy A Vowel have been contradictory, as far as I can tell. The Milton-Bradley games released in 1975 require that players land on the wedge to buy vowels, but I've never been able to figure out whether the rule had actually changed by then or MB was fixing the problem.
(For the record, I have both of said games. :)
So, would you like to (urp!!) go shop---shopping, or,...or???,...sholve the(urp!!) pushel?
Anyone have the full video of the show?
That is so cool! Where's Part II?
Just found out that Tanya would later appear as one of the models on "The New Treasure Hunt" with Geoff Edwards.
Boy, Susan is no Vanna White. She didn't even turn all the letters around on the first puzzle. Not good, Susan.
Venom101002 Don't worry, she got better over the years :-)
+Bryce Lozier Exactly.
at least susan can turn over two letters at a time and she dances in before commercial break
OK...Time for a breakdown...
GOOD--well it's Wheel Of Fortune; Charlie O'Donnell Announcing, the badass Maynard Fergusoin music; Susan Stafford and her SONY ECM Microphone, the cool overhead wheel shot, using some of the same sound EFX until 1989
BAD--and it's CRUCIAL...THE HOST. Edd Byrnes seems drunk in all this and the rules seem so complex to him. And everyone seemed well how shall I say HYPED UP. And to think his son is Fox CT anchor Logan Byrnes! WHAT WOULD HE THINK?!
Dude where is part 2 of this episode.
I don't think anyone does outside of the Griffin estate.
@GarryMooreFan Any more pilot episodes of game shows?
Still better than "Rolf the place kicker!" :D
I heard after the taping, Susan confronted Edd backstage and she was PISSED! no idea if that's true or not but it sounds plausible, they had a solid show that was almost brought to its death because Edd got drunk, and could have cost her and countless other a job.
It probably was powered, that way they can control it and demonstrate all the different spaces on the wheel.
Edd Byrnes: Also known as "Vince Fontaine" from the Movie "Grease"
Yes he was. I've even seen that movie a bunch of times. He was at the prom too.
Josh Heitman That's the only scene he was in other than playing a radio announcer at the beginning of the movie.
Can you upload the entire episode?
7:06 "Wheel of Fartune" 😶💨
Edd cannot even say Wheel of Fortune, right at 7:09. LOL.
It was the THS (unless someone knows of another source), and it was the 1975 premiere.
He was talking about if Richards produced WoF at the time (not that he would have, since he wasn't born yet).
Think u can find a full episode of the 1974 episode of wheel of fortune?
Where's Pat and Vanna? :) Seriously this is a find! So glad kookie got the boot.
And this is why they hired chuck Woolery Edd made to many mistakes in the pilot
Chuck was awesome (better than Edd) with the contestants anyway!
I notice that the green center of the wheel changes color with each contestant spin.
He also says things out how Bob Goen does his talking
I like THIS theme song better than this crap they've had since-when- 1984.
SHUT UP
@@bbq878 Lol, replying to an eight-year-old comment telling "shut up."
4.56...HEY SUSAN, YOU FORGOT THE SECOND "A" IN THE PUZZLE!
It's the "happy drunk" pilot, I think. In the crazy drunk one, he badgers a contestant into spinning again when he has only $300.
5:55- Was that just a suggestion?
Does anyone know what that last puzzle was? Thanks for the upload:)
Dem flippers is flimsy!
Tanya looks like Vanna White.
Yes the likeness is remarkable.
Vahan Nisanian The eyebrows give make her look like Vanna White!
Thank you!!! I was racking my brain wondering who she looked like.
Same thing I was thinking
Having just read the 1999 print of Benirschke's autobiography "Alive & Kicking", and having seen most of his circulating episodes, I can tell you that Rolf gave it 110% and he had a good time doing "Wheel".
So hush your mouth, boy. :)
do you have the rest of the episodE?
do you have part 2?
Did anybody witness at 4:06 that once the wheel was spun. the overhead camera caught the green center being orange? The Chroma key was still activated.
Hey it's a Maynard Ferguson chart (Give it One) as the theme