Winning Streak (US game show)
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Winning Streak was an Bob Stewart-produced television game show hosted by Bill Cullen. It aired on NBC from July 1, 1974 through January 3, 1975 on the network's weekday schedule. The program was produced at the NBC Studios in New York's Rockefeller Plaza, and Don Pardo was the announcer.
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[edit] Gameplay
[edit] Main Game
Two contestants (one a returning champion), raced to see who can first spell a word that fits into a given category. They faced a game board of 16 letters with the category (into which the word must fit) above it. To the right is what a typical game board looked like:
On a player's turn he/she chose a letter, and a question in which the answer began with that letter was read by host Cullen. Each question was a toss-up, and the first player to buzz in got a chance to answer. A correct answer won the contestant that letter, but an incorrect answer automatically gave the opposing player the letter. The player who won the chosen letter earned the privilege of either placing the letter in any one of the seven positions on a display in front of them or discarding it. Either way, the player in control had the right to choose another letter. The first player to make a word that fit into the given category won the round and moved on to the bonus board.
[edit] The Bonus Board
The winning contestant faced a game board of 18 squares, numbered 1-18 around the edges of the board. The first six squares on the top row hid money amounts from $100-$200, and the rest, down both sides and on the bottom, hid letters. To start, the winning player selected one of the six money squares; that became the starting dollar amount. Then the player would select one of the letter squares, and then had five seconds to give a word that contained that chosen letter. If the given word was acceptable, the contestant won the starting amount, and then had a chance to double that amount by selecting another hidden letter and, in turn, giving another acceptable word with all of the uncovered letters, or stop and take his/her earnings to that point. The round continued until the winning player elected to quit with his/her winnings, or until he/she gave an unacceptable word or failed to come up with a word within the time limit.
[edit] Part Two
When the bonus board round ended, another first round match was played with two new contestants, while the winner of the first game watched the action from a podium on the side of the stage. The gameplay was identical to the first round, as was the bonus game. If either one of the winners of either match lost his/her money on the bonus board, the other player became the champion; but if both winners stopped with money, they faced off against each other in a final showdown round.
[edit] The Final Showdown
To start, the top winner had the option of playing first or deferring to his/her opponent. Then, both contestants took turns playing the bonus board round described above. They kept playing until one player failed, at which point the other player became the day's champion and won the combined total of the money won by both players from their bonus board rounds.
[edit] Ratings/Scheduling
Winning Streak was the replacement for Three on a Match, also hosted by Cullen and packaged by Stewart. However, while 3oaM managed to at least stay competitive in its timeslot against two of daytime's highest-rated shows (ABC's Let's Make a Deal and CBS' As the World Turns), Streak failed badly at 10:30 a.m./9:30 Central against only one competitor: CBS' Gambit. As a result, it ended up getting cancelled on the same day as the original version of Jeopardy!, and the Dennis James version of Name That Tune. Streak's successor in that slot, however, went on to become the second-most-popular format in game show history: Wheel of Fortune.
[edit] Episode Status
Only one episode is known to exist, and it has been aired on Game Show Network. The episode was originally scheduled to air August 9, 1974, but was pre-empted due to coverage of President Richard Nixon's resignation and the tape "tossed aside", which saved it from the later destruction that befell the rest of the series.
[edit] Notes
Host Cullen sported a different wardrobe and hairstyle than most of his fans were accustomed to, probably due to directives by NBC daytime programming head Lin Bolen. He sported longer hair (a decided contrast to his crew cut on the original Price is Right and Eye Guess) and also work shirts without neckties, unbuttoned at least one row down. Several other daytime game show hosts followed this trend during that period.
The rules changed several times during the run, but since there are no known episodes beyond the sole surviving one, little is known about those changes.
