The Joker's Wild
| The Joker's Wild | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Also known as | Joker! Joker!! Joker!!! |
| Created by | Jack Barry |
| Directed by | Richard S. Kline (1972–86, 1990–91) |
| Presented by |
Jack Barry (1972–84) Bill Cullen (1984–86) Jim Peck (substitute host, 1981–86) Pat Finn (1990–91) |
| Narrated by |
Johnny Jacobs (1972–78) Jay Stewart (1977–81) Charlie O'Donnell (1981–86) Ed MacKay (1990–91) |
| Theme music composer |
Perrey and Kingsley (1972–1974, 1977–1978) Hal Hidey (1978–1986) Alan Thicke (1974–1975, 1977–1978) Joe Manolakakis (1990–91) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Justin Edgerton (1972–75) Ron Greenberg, Gary Cox, Allen Koss (1977–86) Eric Warner (1990–91) |
| Location(s) |
CBS Television City Hollywood, California (1972–75, 1990–91) Chris Craft/KCOP Studios Hollywood, California (1977–84; 1985–86) The Production Group Studios Hollywood, California (1984–85) |
| Running time | ~25 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Jack Barry Productions (1972–75, 1990–91) Barry & Enright Productions (1977–86) Kline & Friends, Inc. (1990–91) |
| Distributor | Colbert Television Sales (1977–86) Orbis Communications (1990–91) |
| Release | |
| Original network |
CBS (1972–75) Syndicated (1977–86, 1990–91) |
| Original release | September 4, 1972 – June 13, 1975 September 1977 – May 23, 1986 September 10, 1990 – March 8, 1991 |
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times during the 1970s through the 1990s. Contestants answered questions based on categories that were determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's title refers to the game's slot-machine mechanism also having jokers.
The show was billed as "the game where knowledge is king and lady luck is queen", and was notable for being the first successful game show produced by Jack Barry after his company's role in the quiz show scandals during the late 1950s. The success of the series led in part to the reformation of Barry & Enright Productions in the 1970s, which reunited Barry with his partner Dan Enright. The show aired on CBS from 1972 to 1975, and from 1977 to 1986 in broadcast syndication. A children's version, titled Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!, aired from 1979 to 1981, also in syndication.
Barry's sons, Jonathan and Douglas Barry, were co-executive producers for the 1990s version, which was produced in association with Richard S. Kline and billed as a "Kline and Friends production in association with Jack Barry Productions".
Jack Barry, who created the show and eventually used it to revive his partnership with longtime producer Dan Enright, hosted all versions of the show up until his death in May 1984.
Barry was not the original choice to host, due to his past involvement in the 1950s quiz show scandals. As a result, Allen Ludden hosted the first two pilots for CBS. Barry hosted the local KTLA series in 1971, but CBS was still hesitant to let him host the network run in 1972. Tom Kennedy, Wink Martindale, and Ludden were the three top choices to host, but each was already committed to other shows (Kennedy was tied to Split Second for ABC, Ludden had just started hosting a revival of Password, and Martindale was to host Gambit which was to premiere the same day as Joker on CBS). They even offered it to Dennis James, who had originally been the favorite to land the host job for the upcoming Mark Goodson–Bill Todman Productions' game show The New Price Is Right. When CBS agreed to a weekday daytime version of The New Price Is Right, Vice President of Daytime Programming B. Donald "Bud" Grant wanted 15-year Truth or Consequences host Bob Barker to host New Price instead of James. Barker originally said he would gladly host Joker, but Grant convinced him to take the hosting role on Price instead. With no alternatives after Grant pushed Barker to The New Price Is Right (a position he would hold for 35 years) and James was hired by Goodson to host a nighttime syndicated version of the same program, Barry was given the green light to host. Barry's contract, however, was only for sixty-five episodes (thirteen weeks, a standard run for a daytime game show).
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