The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. Contestants answer trivia questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's title refers to the game's slot-machine mechanism also having jokers, which may be used to represent any category.
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. It 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 also served as host of The Joker's Wild until just before his death in 1984, and was replaced by Bill Cullen afterward. Jim Peck also filled in for both Barry and Cullen at various points.
Barry's sons, Jonathan and Douglas Barry, were co-executive producers for a revival of the series that aired in 1990 and 1991, which was produced in association with Richard S. Kline and billed as "a Kline and Friends production in association with Jack Barry Productions". Pat Finn hosted this version of the show. The series returned in 2017 on TBS, with Snoop Dogg as host, appropriately titled Snoop Dogg Presents The Joker's Wild. He was also co-executive producer with Michael Strahan. In December 2018, it was announced that the show would be moving to TNT in 2019.
Personnel
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 premiered 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).
By January 1973, with no complaints from the viewers or the network and good ratings, Barry signed a regular contract to host the program and continued in that role up to its cancellation in June 1975. Enright was brought on as executive producer of Joker during its final CBS season, and was mentioned by Barry himself on the program's final CBS episode.
In 1981, Barry hired Jim Peck to serve as a regular substitute host for when he was unavailable. Peck subbed for Barry several times between 1981 and 1984, and the original plan set forth by Barry and producer Ron Greenberg was to have Barry end the 1983–84 season as host, announce his retirement on the first episode of the next season, and hand the show over to Peck on a permanent basis. When Barry died of cardiac arrest in May 1984, Enright posthumously overruled his partner and selected Bill Cullen, who had just completed five months of hosting the cancelled NBC game show Hot Potato for the company, to take over the series. Cullen hosted for the final two seasons and Peck subbed for him for one week in 1986. Pat Finn hosted the 1990–91 version, and Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus helmed the 2017–2019 version.
Announcers Johnny Jacobs, a longtime friend of host Jack Barry, was the original announcer of The Joker's Wild. Jacobs served through most of its CBS run, with Johnny Gilbert and Roy Rowan filling in for Jacobs on occasion. When the series returned to first-run syndication in 1977, Jacobs, Gilbert, and Jay Stewart alternated the primary announcer position. Stewart became the exclusive announcer for The Joker's Wild (as well as for all Barry & Enright-produced game shows at the time) during the 1978–79 season; Bob Hilton and Art James were substitutes for Stewart for the 1980–81 season whenever he was unavailable. In 1981, Stewart was replaced as Barry & Enright lead announcer by Charlie O'Donnell, who announced for the remainder of the series' run. Johnny Gilbert filled in for O'Donnell on occasion.
Ed MacKay, a local Los Angeles radio DJ and one-time overnight news anchor at KNX radio, announced the 1990–91 revival.
Other personnel Richard S. Kline served as the director on all incarnations of the show.
Music The first two seasons of the CBS version, as well as the opening of the first season of the syndicated version, used "The Savers" by Perrey and Kingsley from their 1967 album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music from Way Out as the program's theme music. The final CBS season instead utilized an original composition, "Joker's Jive," composed by Alan Thicke; this was also used as the closing theme during the 1977–78 syndicated season. The second syndicated season introduced a brand-new music package by Hal Hidey, including a re-recording of "The Savers" that was utilized as the opening theme.
Gameplay
Main game Two contestants, one a returning champion, played. The challenger began the game by pulling a lever to set a slot machine in motion. The game's slot machine consisted of three slide projectors that had been modified to use discs loaded with slides for the categories and jokers, similar to the wheels used in ViewMaster toys. The discs were spun by electric motors, and unused categories were removed from the board by shutting off the projectors for those windows.
The wheels on the machine each contained five different categories, which were revealed to the contestants before the game, as well as jokers that could represent any category. After the wheels stopped, the contestant chose one of the displayed categories and was asked a question in it. If the contestant answered correctly, the dollar value of the question was added to their score. An incorrect response or a failure to answer within an unspecified time limit allowed the opponent a chance to answer and steal the money. Certain special categories gave the contestant in control a chance to win extra money, by either increasing the question value or allowing multiple questions on that turn, or involved the participation of both contestants.
Question values The values of the questions were determined by the spin. Categories were worth $50, $100, or $200 if they appeared in one, two, or all three windows, respectively. A correct answer on an individual category (a "single") awarded the contestant only $50. A "pair" (without a joker), if chosen, was played for $100. A "natural triple" (three of a kind with no jokers) required the contestant to answer a question in that category for $200.
In addition, beginning in 1974, spinning a natural triple awarded a bonus, which the contestant kept whether or not they answered the question correctly or won the game. The bonus initially consisted of a single prize worth approximately $300-$500, but by late 1983, it had been changed to a jackpot of prizes that increased in value after every show in which it was not won. Under these rules, the largest single jackpot award totaled $26,550, won in the 1983-84 season after going unclaimed for 46 consecutive days.
Special categories Mystery: This category was always played for double normal value ($100 as a single, $200 as a pair or $400 as a triple). The contestant selected one of seven numbered question cards in a rack mounted on the host's podium; each card was in a different category, none of which were the same as any of the other four in play. Pot Luck / Grab Bag: Questions could be about any topic, not necessarily one of the other four in play. Alphabet Soup: All answers began with the same letter of the alphabet, stated by the host at the start of the game. Stumpers: This category consisted of questions that were missed by both contestants in previous episodes. After the host read the question, the contestant could choose to hear the two previous wrong answers and play for the normal value, or decline the help and play for double value. When first introduced, this category consisted merely of straightforward questions and was played for an extra $100. Fast Forward: The contestant could answer multiple questions if desired, each worth the amount spun, and stop after any correct answer. Missing a question forfeited all money earned on that turn and gave the opponent a chance to claim the money for only that question. Bid: The contestant had to decide at the outset how many questions they wanted, with a minimum of two. Completing the bid awarded the full value of all questions answered (for example, three questions at $100 each awarded $300), but a miss gave the opponent a chance to take control with a correct answer and complete the bid themself. If the champion selected this category but did not bid enough questions to tie or surpass a challenger who had already reached $500, the champion immediately forfeited the game. Fact or Foto: The contestant could either hear one or more facts about a subject or see a photograph of it, then try to identify it. If they were wrong, the opponent got both the fact(s) and the photo. Just One More: Given a question with multiple answers, the contestants bid back and forth as to how many they could name. The high bidder won control; if they gave an incorrect answer, the opponent could steal the money with one correct response. How Low Will You Go?: A question and one clue were read to the contestants. Seven more clues were available, and the contestants bid back and forth as to how few clues they would need. The low bidder won control, but if they answered incorrectly, the opponent got to hear all the clues before responding. Take a Chance: After hearing the question, the contestant could either answer it or pass it to the opponent. An incorrect answer awarded the money to the contestant who did not receive the question. Choose the Clues: The opponent decided whether the contestant would receive one clue and play for double value, or two clues for the normal value. If the contestant was given only one clue and missed, the opponent got both clues and played for the normal amount.
Jokers
When one or two jokers came up during a spin, a contestant could use them to match any displayed category and create a pair or triple, increasing the value of the question. They could also substitute a joker for a category in play but not displayed on the wheels (referred to as going "off the board") for $50 with one joker showing, or for either $50 or $100 with two. In addition, if a natural pair and a joker came up, the contestant could discard the pair but use the joker to go off the board in that same category for $50.