Scrabble (1990 pilot)

This is about the 1990 pilot of the world's most popular crossword board game turned into a TV game show.

Crossword
The Crossword game was played with two contestants looking at a computer-generated image of the world-famous Scrabble board. One letter would be given at the start in the center square with the star, then host Steve would tell the players a category in which all the words for that game pertain to, the number of letters in a word, and then he read a clue to that word. Then the contestant would choose two numbered tiles and reveal two letters. The contestant would then choose which letter to place into the word first to see if it works. A correct letter is placed in its proper position in the word. When placed into the word, the contestant would then either take a guess or place the other letter. If the player still couldn't guess the word, then s/he must then select two more tiles. Play continues until the player decided it was time to take a guess by hitting his/her button, or if all but one letter appeared. A correct guess won the word, but an incorrect guess passed control to the opponent. Guessing the word wasn't easy because of the fact that there were three extra letters in the rack of tiles that don't fit, called "Stoppers"; when a player selected a Stopper, control also passed to the opponent. Along the way, players might pick letters that fall into colored bonus squares, either blue or pink (no red unlike the board game). Whenever a bonus square was landed on, if the player in control can identify the correct word, s/he won bonus money, which was kept win or lose. If a player landed on a bonus square, and answered incorrectly, the opponent can steal the bonus money by identifying the correct word. The blues were worth $500, and the pinks were worth $1,000. Once a word was finished, another word was played, using one letter from the previous word, and the player who was behind or lost the last word in case of a tie got to start. The first player to guess three words won the game.

Speedword
Whenever three stoppers were picked, when the game was at a 2-2 tie, or when time is running out, the game shifted into a Speedword round. After that third stopper, the contestant who control was passed to can either play Speedword or immediately take a guess at the risk of not being able to play Speedword if s/he is wrong. This was where letters in the word started appearing one letter at a time. The first player to buzz-in with the correct word won the word, but buzzing in with a wrong word disqualified that player, allowing the opponent to either guess the word immediately or see more letters. Guessing the word correctly after a letter appeared in a bonus square also won money according to the colored square.

The winner of the Crossword round won $500, plus a chance to play Scrabble Sprint.

Scrabble Sprint
The sprint round was played with two winners of the Crossword round, and consisted of four words. On each word, host Edwards told the contestant how many letters are in the word, then read the clue. When he said "GO", a clock started, and the contestant was shown two letters at a time. On each pair of letters, the player selected one to place into the word. Once a letter was chosen, the other one would go back into a random shuffle. There were no Stoppers at all in this round: every letter is correct. When it was time to take a guess, that player hit a plunger to stop the clock and give his/her answer. A correct answer moved on to the next word, but an incorrect answer caused a ten-second penalty and stayed with that word. Play continued until all but one letter was placed; the contestant can allow five seconds to run safely without penalty by not guessing. Missing any words entirely had the contestant try to guess some make-up/alternate words. The round ended when the player guessed all the words right. The first contestant had to set the time, with the clock counting up; and the second player tried to beat the time, with the clock counting down. The player with the best time won the game, $1,000 and a chance to play the Bonus Sprint for an increasing jackpot.

Bonus Sprint
In the Bonus Sprint, the champ of the day tried to answer two words in under ten seconds. Doing so won the jackpot which started at $5,000 plus $1,000 for every day it's not won. As the ten-second penalty remains in effect, missing either word results in an automatic loss. Win or lose, the champ returned to play the next day.

Champions stayed on the show till they won five days or defeated.

Differences from the 1990 pilot and the 1993 revival

 * Instead of the intro & spiel used in the original, an entirely different intro was used. It was sort of a journey through space & letters while an unseen couple bickered over what to do before deciding to play Scrabble. (The wife was voiced by Patti Deutsch and the husband was voiced by Jerry Houser.) When the 1993 revival came out, the spiel was reinstated, but with new visual effects.
 * Within the three years between the pilot and the revival, the cube's motor died and the crew wasn't able to fix it in time before the revival came out. So the cube ended up being stationary with the crossword side being used for all rounds. At first, the doors to the crossword monitor always stayed open. The crew managed to fix that problem and the doors were able to open & close again, plus the cube was able to move back & forth again.
 * The live tiles which rise up & down on the contestant's desk were replaced with superimposed computer graphics. So therefore, the contestants had to make verbal choices. The live tiles returned when the 1993 premiered.

Music
Marc Ellis & Ray Ellis

Inventor
Based on the board game of the same name by Selchow and Righter (later Milton Bradley, now Hasbro)

YouTube Link
Clips of the Pilot