''Win, Lose or Draw'' is an American television
game show
A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
that aired from 1987 to 1990 in syndication and on
NBC. It was taped at
CBS Television City
Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles, Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, United States. The facilities are located at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at ...
(one of the few non-
CBS game shows to tape there), often in Studios 31, 33, and 43 at various times. It was co-produced by Burt & Bert Productions (headed by
Burt Reynolds and
Bert Convy, the original host of the
syndicated version) and Kline & Friends for
Disney
The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
's
Buena Vista Television. It has also had two versions on
The Disney Channel: ''
Teen Win, Lose or Draw'' from 1989 to 1992, and a revived version known as ''
Disney's Win, Lose or Draw'' which aired in 2014. ''
New York'' described ''Win, Lose or Draw'' as "a knockoff" of the board game ''
Pictionary'', however, Burt Reynolds and Ed McMahon referred to playing the game at Burt's home during the August 2, 1978 episode of
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' is an American television talk show broadcast by NBC. The show was the third installment of ''The Tonight Show''. Hosted by Johnny Carson, it aired from October 1, 1962 to May 22, 1992, replacing ''T ...
, three years before Pictionary was created.
The set for the original ''Win, Lose or Draw'' was modeled after Burt Reynolds' living room.
Broadcast history
A pilot with Bert Convy as host was taped on November 2, 1986, at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California, and featured
Loni Anderson
Loni Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress. She played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations.
Early life ...
,
Betty White,
Burt Reynolds, and
Tony Danza playing the game, with
Rod Roddy announcing. The pilot, produced by Reynolds and Convy, garnered the interest of both the
NBC network and various local stations nationwide; thus, two separate editions of the program were sold and produced with production beginning in June 1987.
On September 7, 1987, ''Win, Lose or Draw'' was launched with
Kline and Friends joining Burt & Bert Productions as a second production company.
Vicki Lawrence hosted the edition produced for NBC, which inherited the 11:30 a.m. Eastern timeslot that had been occupied by ''
Scrabble
''Scrabble'' is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a Board game, game board divided into a 15×15 grid of squares. The tiles must form words that, in crossword fashion, re ...
'' for three years prior to its premiere. The syndicated edition, premiering that same day, was hosted by Bert Convy.
Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton (born July 23, 1943) is an American television game show personality. He hosted ''The Guinness Game'', a revival of ''Truth or Consequences'', and the 1990 revival of ''Let's Make a Deal'' for one season and replaced by Monty Hall, and ...
announced for the daytime series, with
Gene Wood performing those duties for the syndicated series, while Hilton occasionally filled in on the latter version, and
Johnny Gilbert and Dean Goss did so on the daytime show.
Lawrence, with the exception of a month in 1988 when
Sally Struthers hosted in her place, hosted the daytime ''Win, Lose or Draw'' for its entire two-year run. The daytime version faced off against the second half of the hit CBS game show ''
The Price Is Right'' and the ABC talk show ''
Home
A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
'' (which expanded to an hour in January 1989). NBC canceled the daytime series in the summer of 1989, and its final episode aired on September 1 of that year. Meanwhile,
Robb Weller began hosting the third season of the syndicated series later that month after Convy opted to host a new production for his company, ''
3rd Degree''.
The final new episode aired on June 1, 1990; reruns of the series continued to air until the show was withdrawn from syndication on August 31, 1990.
Reruns of the syndicated version aired on the
USA Network
USA Network (or simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Media Group division of Comcast's NBCUniversal. It was launched in 1977 as Madison Square Garden Sports Network, one of the first national sports ...
from January 1, 1991, to December 24, 1992,
and on
Game Show Network from April 15, 2002, to March 14, 2004.
During its run, the syndicated ''Win, Lose or Draw'' made several road trips, including
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
,
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, Burt Reynolds' ranch in
Jupiter, Florida
Jupiter is the northernmost town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 US Census, the town had a population of 61,047. It is 84 miles north of Miami and 15 miles north of West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach. ...
,
Walt Disney World
The Walt Disney World Resort is an destination resort, entertainment resort complex located about southwest of Orlando, Florida, United States. Opened on October 1, 1971, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of the Wa ...
,
Disneyland
Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
and
Navy Pier in
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
.
Gameplay
The idea is similar to the game
Pictionary. Two teams, men versus women, each composed of two celebrities and one contestant (or a celebrity and two college students in the College Tournament in 1988), took turns guessing a phrase, title or thing, and one teammate was drawing on a large pad of paper with markers. Each team sat on a couch on a set designed after Burt Reynolds' actual living room at the time. The team member doing the drawing could not speak about the subject in his or her drawing and could not use letters, numbers, or symbols. If one of these illegal clues was used, any money won in that puzzle was split between the two teams. However, if a non-drawing team member mentioned a word that was part of the answer, their teammate at the sketch pad was then allowed to write it down.
In the first three rounds, each team had one minute to solve a puzzle, earning $200 ($250 in the pilot) for a correct guess. At the thirty-second mark, a doorbell sounded (or fanfare during the College Tournament in 1988), and the drawing player had the option of handing the marker off to one of his/her teammates, but the puzzle value would then be cut in half. If the team did not guess within the time limit, the opposing team was given one chance to confer and guess. If they gave the correct answer, they were awarded the money; if not, no money was awarded. By 1989, the first round was later changed to have the drawing contestant sketch a series of clues to a puzzle, one clue at a time. If the team guessed the puzzle from the identified clues, they scored $200.
Following round three, one player for each team was nominated to draw clues in a 90-second speed round. The topics for drawing were simpler for this round compared to those in previous rounds. Each correct guess was worth $100, and the team could only pass twice. The speed round started with the team that was ahead. The team with the most money at the end of the game won, and the contestant on the winning team received $1,000 in addition to the money they had already earned. If both teams were tied at the end of the speed round, each contestant earned $500. By the end of the daytime version's run, the speed round was decreased to 60 seconds and $50 a word.
Bonus Round
The daytime series underwent another significant change towards the end of its run, which was eliminating the $1,000 bonus and instead replacing it with a bonus round, which the series had not seen in either iteration to this point. This change coincided with one that added an additional civilian contestant to each team in place of a celebrity.
The bonus round was played similar to the speed round, except that players were allowed to pass multiple times. The first word was worth $50 and each correct answer that followed doubled the bank. Passing resulted in the bank resetting to zero and the contestant had to start building a new bank.
Originally, the bonus was played with as many words as possible within the time limit. Under this format a team was able to win $25,600 in one round, guessing ten words without a miss. Afterwards, the scoring format was adjusted, this time, if the winning team correctly identified seven words within the time limit of 90 seconds, regardless of how many passes were used, they won $5,000.
Audience game
If there was extra time at the end of the show, an audience member would be called on stage and given the opportunity to sketch a subject for either the men's or women's team to guess in 60 seconds, much like the main rounds, with $100 awarded if the chosen team was able to identify the subject.
1989–1990 changes
The third and last season of the syndicated ''Win, Lose or Draw'' saw a significant format overhaul itself, as the front game was altered, and both the shortened speed round and bonus round were added.
The object of the first two rounds was the same. However, the drawing team was not allowed to switch partners at any point. A guess could not be made until twenty-five of the sixty seconds had elapsed, and if the team guessed the puzzle before thirty seconds had elapsed the civilian contestant won $200. If not, the puzzle was played for $100. A successful steal by the opposing team was only worth $50.
If the game ended in a tie, a tie-breaker was played with the last team to play the speed round going first. The player at the board was given the choice of two words and began drawing, trying to convey the word as fast as he/she could. Once the word was guessed, the opposing team had to guess their word in a faster time. Doing so won the game; if not, the first team won the game.
At this point, the show began to use returning champions, who stayed on for ten days or until defeated, whichever came first.
Disney Channel versions
''Teen Win, Lose or Draw''
From April 29, 1989, to April 28, 1990, and again from September 10, 1990, to September 26, 1992,
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
aired a version called ''Teen Win, Lose or Draw''. This version was hosted by
Marc Price.
Jay Wolpert produced the first season, which taped at the
Disney-MGM Studios in
Orlando, with Stone-Stanley Productions taking over for the rest of the run, at which time production also moved to Hollywood Center Studios in Los Angeles. Originally the show aired on Saturdays at 6:30 p.m. and Sunday mornings at 11:30 a.m. Rotating as announcers during the first season were Brandy Brown,
Chase Hampton and Tiffini Hale from ''
The Mickey Mouse Club'', with
Mark L. Walberg taking over that duty for the final two seasons. Teams were made up of two teenage contestants (one each of two boys and two girls), and a teenage celebrity. Gameplay was largely identical to the original run,
with the following differences:
* Round 1 – The Clue Round: A player from each team draw as many words within 60 seconds. Each of the words was a clue to a puzzle – a person, place, thing, event, etc. The team in control had the first chance to answer, if they were unable to give the correct answer, the opposing team could guess to win the points.
* Round 2 – The Phrase Round: The team is given a category, with the phrase based in that category. As in the original, the clue-giver could hand off to a teammate after 30 seconds.
* Round 3 – The Speed Round: Played identically to the adult version, with the trailing team going first (or the team that went first in round one playing first if the score was tied). A grand prize was given to the winning team, with the losing team getting a consolation gift.
* If the score was tied following the Speed Round, each team would play another speed round with 20 seconds on the clock. The team that got more in the 20 seconds won. If the tie persisted after this overtime round, each team would try to guess one word as fast as possible (with a maximum of 60 seconds), and the team that was faster won.
Disney's ''Win, Lose or Draw''
In April 2013, the
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
announced a new version of ''Win, Lose or Draw'', to be hosted by
Justin Willman, which premiered on January 17, 2014. As with ''Teen Win, Lose or Draw'', the two teams on each program are made up of two young contestants plus a teenage celebrity (this time, from a
Disney Channel
Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
or
Disney XD
Disney XD is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Entertainment units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven years old ...
program). New motion-control technology is featured.
Home versions
Board game
Milton Bradley Company created its version in 1987. It could be played like the TV show, or a variation of the game with pawns and a game board. Party, Junior, and Travel Junior editions were produced, plus a Refill Pack for the game. All contestants who appeared on the show received a copy of the Party edition, as did select audience members.
Computer and video games
Hi Tech Expressions released two editions of the
DOS version of the game in 1988, as well as a "Junior" version, followed by a version for the
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...
in 1989. Both versions of this
party game featured a scene set in a living room, with the game contestants (representing real-life players) seated on opposite couches, much like the television show. While the game system drew a picture on the screen, one of the players would have a limited amount (60 seconds for the main game, and 90 for the speed round) of time to type in the word or phrase represented by the image. If the player typed in the incorrect answer, a player on the opposing team would have an opportunity to type the correct answer (in single-player games, the game system would type a random incorrect answer). The team that typed the correct answer would win money for that round, and the team that earned the most money at the end of the game won.
A "plug-and-play" console version was released by
Senario in 2005; unlike the earlier computer and console adaptations, this one allowed players to actually draw the subjects, using an
electronic pen, for their teammates to guess.
International versions
See also
* ''
Fast Draw'', a 1968 game show with a similar concept to ''Win, Lose or Draw'' and ''Pictionary''
References
External links
*
*
*{{MobyGames, id=/dos/win-lose-or-draw
1987 American television series debuts
1990 American television series endings
1980s American game shows
1990s American game shows
First-run syndicated game shows
NBC game shows
Panel games
Television series by Disney–ABC Domestic Television
Disney Media Networks franchises
Television series by Kline and Friends
American English-language television shows
Guessing games