Celebrity Bowling
| Celebrity Bowling | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Presented by | Jed Allan |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| No. of episodes | 144 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | KTTV Studios Los Angeles, California |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Syndicated |
| Original run | January 16, 1971 – September 1978 |
Celebrity Bowling was an American syndicated sports series hosted by Jed Allan that ran from January 16, 1971 to September 1978. The series was produced in Los Angeles at the studios of KTTV.
Each week, the show featured four celebrities, on a pair of AMF or Brunswick lanes installed inside KTTV's studios, pitted against each other in teams of two. Victorious teams won prizes for studio audience members based upon the level of winning scores.
The weekly series was a by-product of The Celebrity Bowling Classic, a 90-minute TV special produced in 1969 for the Metromedia-owned stations, benefitting the Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. Foundation.
Joe Siegman created the series, and he and Don Gregory produced 144 episodes for their 7-10 Productions.
Contents |
[edit] Rules
Four celebrities played each game, separated into two pairs. The rules of the game were known as "best ball;" for each frame, both members of each team would roll a ball on their own lane. If neither of the two teammates rolled a strike, then the person who rolled the worse shot (either a split or whoever knocked down the fewest pins) would then roll for the spare on the other lane.
Each team was tied to a viewer at home, who would win prizes based upon the score the pair accumulated in the game. The viewer would win increasingly valuable prizes, mostly home appliances, if a team scored 120, 150, 180, or 210 points (with the highest category usually resulting in the viewer winning a car).
[edit] Revivals
In 1987, 26 episodes of The New Celebrity Bowling were produced for national syndication. Jed Allan again hosted.
In 2008, TVS Television Network began producing Celebrity Bowling for TV syndication, using the AMF Lanes at the Silver Nugget Casino in North Las Vegas, Nevada. Host of the new version is veteran Las Vegas TV sports anchor Ron Futrell.
A new version, called Stars and Strikes, produced by Don Gregory, will be taping at the Lucky Strike bowling center inside L.A. Live, and is scheduled to air in the spring of 2011. The format will be the same as the original.[1]
[edit] Episode status
All episodes are assumed to exist, with syndication rights being held by the Peter Rodgers Organization. Episodes are (as of November 2010) currently airing on ESPN Classic and on the Retro Television Network.
[edit] DVD Release
A three DVD set (containing fifteen episodes) was released on June 14th, 2011 by S'More Entertainment.[2]
[edit] References
- ^ EXCLUSIVE: "Celebrity Bowling" Is Back!, Stewart Levine, Variety.com, 7 October 2010, Retrieved 9 October 2010
- ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Celebrity-Bowling-DVDs-Announced/15179 Celebrity Bowling: William Shatner, Loretta Swit, George Foreman, Angie Dickenson and Many to Spare!; tvshowsondvd.com, 29 March 2011, retrieved 7 April 2011
