''Lottery!'' is an American anthologic

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

that premiered on ABC on September 9, 1983. The series aired for one season of 17 episodes and starred

Ben Murphy Benjamin Edward Murphy (born Benjamin Edward Castleberry Jr., March 6, 1942) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Kid Curry in the ABC television series '' Alias Smith and Jones''. Early life Murphy was born in Jonesboro, ...

as Patrick Sean Flaherty, and Marshall Colt as Eric Rush. ''Lottery!'' centered on ordinary people who have won the

lottery A lottery is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree o ...

—all of a sudden becoming millionaires—and how it changes their lives.

Synopsis

Each week, several guest stars become instant millionaires (in two or three different stories) when their lottery tickets bring them fame, fortune, and usually trouble. Flaherty worked for the "Intersweep Lottery." His job was to find the winner(s), inform them of their winnings, and give him or her an envelope containing $5,000 in cash, and a check worth millions. In the event of ownership disputes with the winning ticket, Flaherty would also act as an arbitrator responsible for determining the true recipient in what method used to settle the matter. Rush was Flaherty's partner, an IRS agent who oversaw the accounting of the payouts and the arrangement of the winner's tax obligations. Each episode also took place in a different city around the country. The opening titles for the show featured large banks of computers and tape drives. Above what appeared to be a trading floor (similar to what one would see at a stock exchange) were large electronic toteboards showing the latest prizes, the winners's names, and the countries in which they lived. At the end of every episode, the show displayed the following disclaimer:

''"The Intersweep Lottery is purely fictitious. Except for states where they are legally authorized, lotteries in this country are illegal."''

The Intersweep Lottery itself was actually more akin to the Publishers Clearing House than any of the popular

games in the U.S. and around the world, such as the Irish Sweepstakes, which was believed to have given Rosner the idea for the series. Participants in this lottery purchased numbered tickets. Each ticket carried a unique serial number consisting of two letters followed by six numbers. The drawing of winning numbers was also never featured in any of the episodes in this series. ''Lottery!'' is not the first series to deal with the elation and challenges of sudden wealth. The basic premise is loosely similar to an earlier series, '' The Millionaire'' with

Marvin Miller Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players ...

, except that the money was given out by a mysterious benefactor, John Beresford Tipton, to specific named individuals without the organization of a lottery, and that any taxes on the money had already been paid in advance. In 1979,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

produced ''

Sweepstakes A sweepstake is a type of contest where a prize or prizes may be awarded to a winner or winners. Sweepstakes began as a form of lottery that were tied to products sold. In response, the FCC and FTC refined U.S. broadcasting laws (creating the ...

,'' an equally short-lived series with a similar premise; it, too, lasted only a single season. In 2006, NBC tried again with ''

Windfall Windfall or Windfalls may refer to: Arts and media Film and television * ''Windfall'' (1935 film), adaptation of R. C. Sherriff's 1933 play, directed by Frederick Hayward and George King * ''Windfall'' (1955 film), a British comedy film by Jo ...

,'' a series about a group of twenty friends winning a multimillion-dollar lottery prize; that series lasted only three months before cancellation.

US television ratings

Episodes

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *{{epguides, id=Lottery_1983 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings 1980s American drama television series American Broadcasting Company original programming English-language television shows Television series by MGM Television Television shows set in the United States Works about lotteries Television shows set in Seattle