Party Line

''First, let's meet are champions, the women's team: (insert five female contestants) Now the challengers, the men's team: (insert four male contestants) and (insert fifth male contestant). PARTY LINE! and now, the star of Party Line, GENE RAYBURN!''

This is a 1983 failed pilot which would soon become Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak.

Gameplay
Two teams of five players (one team consisted of the men, the other the women) competed in a battle of the sexes style game of word association with a twist.

Main Game
The captain of the team in control was given a choice of two words/phrases leaving the other team with the other word. The partners wore headphones so they couldn't hear the selected word. After choosing the word, the captain tapped the shoulder of the partner next in line and started describing the word. Once the first partner got the word, he/she then described the same word to the second partner, and so on and so forth. The team had 40 seconds to communicate down the line without repeating any previously given clues; if and when that happened, the team's turn ended right away (simple words like he, she, it, or who were considered safe). If the team in control can complete the transitioning without repetitions and before time ran out, that team will win a $500 cash bonus. Once one team finished their turn, the other team played using the word unchosen.

In all rounds, unlike the other two pilots and like the German version Ruck Zuck, each transition was worth one point. The team with the most points at the end of round three, wins the game. If the game ended in a tie, one last word would be given to the captain of the championship team who then decided to play or pass. The team controlling the word had 40 seconds to complete all four transitions. Doing so won the game, but failure to do so gave the opposing team the game.

The winners of the game won $500 and went on to add even more money at the Daily Double.

Daily Double (Party Line Bonus Round)
The bonus game was highly different from the other two pilots and series. In fact it was mostly the same as the main game. For the winning team faced a zig-zag line of nine players (which were supposed to be future players for the show) and they were all given the same word. The captain was given a baton, and with the baton he/she described the final word to as many of the nine players one by one as he/she can without repeating any clues. If the captain felt that he/she ran out of information, the he/she passed the baton to his/her partner (same rules apply for all the partners). The winning team had 40 seconds to get the nine players to say the word. The first player was worth $100, then for every player thereafter who said the word doubled the cash for a possible grand total of $25,600. If they didn't do it on the first go-round, then the winning team can decide to either try again with a brand new subject, or keep the cash they have won.

Supposedly, teams stayed on the show until they lost twice.

Trivia
The game win music from Sale of the Century was used in this pilot. Both are Reg Grundy shows, so it's not surprising.

Links

 * Jay's Party Line Page
 * The (Older) Party Line Info Page
 * The Party Line Info Page @ xanfan.com
 * The Party Line page @ Mike Burger's Game Show Pilot Light

YouTube Videos
The entire Party Line pilot episode.

Part 1

Part 2