5.2 /10 1 Votes
Directed by Bob Schwarz Country of origin USA First episode date 16 June 1975 Presented by Jim Lange Director Bob Schwarz | 5.2/10 TV Narrated by Johnny Jacobs No. of episodes 50 Final episode date 5 September 1975 Number of episodes 50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Created by Nick Nicholson
E. Roger Muir Executive producer(s) Nick Nicholson
E. Roger Muir
Barbara Horn Program creators E. Roger Muir, Nick Nicholson Similar Game show, Give‑n‑Take, The Newlywed Game, Howdy Doody, Pay Cards! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spin-Off is an American game show created and produced by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir for CBS in 1975 that was based on the dice game Yahtzee. The series was hosted by Jim Lange and announced by Johnny Jacobs. The show replaced The Joker's Wild on CBS' daytime schedule and debuted on June 16, 1975, but was cancelled on September 5, 1975. Spin-Off originated in Stages 31, 33 and 41 at CBS Television City in Hollywood, California.
Contents
Gameplay
Two couples, one pair being the returning champions, competed. The couples answered questions to spin a series of five "spinners" — rapidly changing eggcrate readouts that flashed numbers from 1 to 6 at the rate of 17 digits per second — to build a Yahtzee-type hand.
With each correct answer, each spinner randomly flashed the numbers rapidly and were stopped by pressing a button. The couple could keep the hand shown, or reject some or all of the numbers and earn up to two opportunities to improve the hand (but must gain control with a correct answer). If the couple kept the hand, the opposing couple had one chance to better the hand. The couple with the top hand received one of the following payoffs:
The first couple to amass $250 (later $200) won the game and advanced to the Super Spin-Off bonus round. Both couples kept their money and bonus prizes.
Super Spin-Off
In the Super Spin-Off, the winning couple had up to three tries to build the best hand possible, with a maximum payoff of $10,000 possible. They could only work one spinner at a time, with up to three chances to change each number in sequence. Once the couple had used up all three of their allotted changes on a spinner, it froze and the number displayed on it automatically became part of the player's hand.
In order to win the top prize, the couple had to not only spin a straight but have it displayed in the proper sequence, with the numbers 1-6 needing to be displayed counting up to six or backward to one for it to count. These were also the only straights that paid off, as no money was awarded for normal straights in the bonus game.