Bowling for Dollars explained

Creator:Bert Claster
Presenter:Various (see below)
Narrated:Various (see below)
Country:United States
Location:Various locations throughout the United States and Canada
Runtime:22–24 minutes
Channel:Various local stations

Bowling for Dollars is a television game show on which people could play the sport of bowling to win cash and sometimes prizes based on how well they bowled.

Unlike most TV game shows of the time, which were taped in either New York or Hollywood and broadcast nationally, Bowling for Dollars was produced by local TV stations and featured contestants from the immediate area. The show was actually a franchise, created by Bert Claster of Claster Television, also the creator of Romper Room. Episodes of Bowling for Dollars were taped either in a local bowling alley or on a pair of bowling lanes constructed right inside the TV studio.

The show reached its heyday in the 1970s. The most recent station to air the format was Detroit, Michigan independent station WADL, which relaunched Bowling for Dollars in September 2013.[1]

The show

The show's main set consisted of a sliding door from which the host emerged, as did the contestants, one by one. There was also a Jackpot light with a numeric display of its value, and a Pin Pal container (see below). There were also stands set up for an audience.

Local editions may have varied, but there were two musical themes used. One was a custom theme for the show's opening and close (with a short phrase to introduce each contestant). The other was played when a contestant hit the jackpot, also used for commercial bumper music in some editions. The latter was an instrumental version of "Keep the Ball Rollin'" by Al Hirt, a song originally done by Jay & the Techniques.

Game play

As each contestant appeared, the host would interview him or her for a couple of minutes. Then the audience camera would cue as the contestant pointed out whom he had brought along ("There's my wife Paula, there's my son Nick..."). The contestant was then instructed to pick a Pin Pal out of a container filled with postcards sent in by home viewers, then went off to the lanes where they would bowl at least two balls.

A half-hour show had seven contestants.

Prizes

Each contestant received $1 for each pin knocked down (e.g., a contestant who knocked down a total of eight pins won $8, though some versions may have had a $5 minimum for fewer than five pins). A strike or spare awarded $20. The real allure of the show was the Jackpot, which was awarded to any bowler who got two consecutive Strikes. The jackpot started at $200, $300, or $500 (depending on the version) and was increased by $20 each time it was not hit.

Some versions of Bowling for Dollars awarded prizes in addition to the money. In the Detroit edition of the show, a contestant who got a spare won a dinner for two at a local restaurant. If that spare was a split, they would also get two large pies from Buddy's Pizza. If the contestant got only one strike, they got to pick a pin from a "pinboard" for a prize from a local jeweler; one such prize was a genuine diamond ring. Finally, contestants breaking the jackpot got to bowl one more time, and if that was a strike (a "turkey") they would receive yet another prize, such as a recliner chair or bicycle. The Los Angeles version awarded a portable television set for three consecutive strikes and a car for four.

Pin Pals

Each contestant, just before approaching the bowling lane, was instructed to pick a postcard at random out of a large, horizontally mounted container. The name on the card was then read aloud by the host. These were Pin Pal cards, allowing a viewer at home to participate in the game on TV. Whatever the contestant won, the Pin Pal won also, although in many markets the jackpot was actually split between the two of them (e.g., $8 to share with your Pin Pal). Many people wrote clever messages on their Pin Pal cards, like "Strike it rich!" A Pin Pal was only eligible once per show, in case a Pin Pal tried to send an overwhelming number of postcards at one time.

Popular culture

The show's title has been so popular, it has been parodied quite a bit.

The show is mentioned in "Get a Load of This" by R. Crumb & His Cheap Suit Serenaders.

Local editions

Bowling for Dollars was broadcast from TV stations serving medium to large communities all across North America. In many of these markets, the host was introduced by the announcer as "the Kingpin himself".

Baltimore

There were two separate runs. Both aired on WBAL-TV, and both sites were filmed in studio (with bowling being with a Brunswick set):

Hosts: Bailey Goss, then Chuck Thompson
This show only required contestants to make one strike for the jackpot — a significantly harder task in duckpin bowling than in standard tenpins.

Hosts: Tom Cole, then Ron Riley, then Royal Parker
At one point, the show alternated between duckpin and tenpin bowlers.

Boston

This edition was titled Candlepins for Cash, featuring the regional candlepin variation of bowling, and had two separate runs:[2]

Both editions only required contestants to make one strike for the jackpot — a significantly harder task in candlepin bowling than in standard tenpins. In the last two seasons of the show, the player would get $30 for a spare plus one bonus ball, worth $2 more per pin knocked down. When a person threw a 10-box (all pins knocked down on the third ball) they got $20 plus one bonus ball.

The 2006 show Candlepins For Dollars that aired on WLVI Channel 56 was not related to this format.

Buffalo

A revival of Bowling for Dollars aired between January and February 2008 on WGRZ, also hosted by Kilgore. This version, airing weekdays at 11:45 AM, was much shorter, with only one frame. It used a rotation of numerous theme songs, mostly from game shows of the 1970s.

A similar competing show, called Beat the Champ, aired on WBEN-TV during the original Channel 2 program run, hosted by Van Miller. This was one of two local-origination bowling programs on Channel 4 throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the other being a women's team-bowling program called Strikes, Spares & Misses hosted by Chuck Healy.

Charlotte

Cincinnati

Cleveland

Had three separate runs of Bowling for Dollars. Two used in-studio lanes.

Columbus, Ohio

Dallas/Fort Worth

Dayton, Ohio

The show aired Mon-Fri at 7:00 p.m.

Detroit

This was originally at Highland Lanes in Toledo, Ohio, where it was also seen on WDHO Channel 24 (now WNWO-TV). It moved to Detroit in about 1974. A revival of this show began in June 2013 on WADL, initially as a one-hour retrospective special, with a weekly half-hour series starting in September. As with the original version, the WADL version was hosted by Bob Allison and originated from Thunderbowl Lanes.[1]

Flint, Michigan

Honolulu

Kansas City

Kitchener, Ontario, Canada

Los Angeles

Milwaukee

1st station

2nd station

Minneapolis-St. Paul

New York City

Host Larry Kenney later achieved national fame as the voice of Lion-O in the smash hit 1980s cartoon ThunderCats and the voice of Karate Kat in The Comic Strip. Larry Kenney was also a regular on the Imus in the Morning radio show. At the show's run, the 48-lane Madison Square Garden Bowling Center features red AMF Magic Triangles and 82-70 pinsetters, with Lanes 47 and 48 being directly used for the program.

Philadelphia

Pittsburgh

Rochester, New York

Sacramento

San Francisco

St. Louis

Syracuse

The WSTM version was taped in the basement of the studios on James Street with a Brunswick set. The studios were also used for the taping of Challenge Bowling, a regional junior bowling show co-hosted by Marty Piraino.

Tampa-St. Petersburg

Jimmy Ingram and his family starred in one episode.

Washington, D.C.

First Version, *Station: WDCA Channel 20

Later Brunswick River Bowl in Bethesda, Maryland

Second Version:

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

York-Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Detroit Free Press: "Detroit TV classic 'Bowling for Dollars' returning with Bob Allison", April 26, 2013..
  2. Web site: Candlepin bowling . The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin . June 22, 2018.
  3. News: (Television schedule) . . 10 . September 7, 1980 . June 21, 2018 . newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan on October 21, 1979 · Page 279.
  5. Web site: Hawaii TV Bowling Online - Hawaii TV Bowling's Official Website.
  6. Web site: Hawaii Tv Bowling.
  7. Web site: KC Community News. 2011-01-26. https://web.archive.org/web/20110713141805/http://www.kccommunitynews.com/news/26549941/detail.html. 2011-07-13. dead.
  8. Book: Golembiewski, Dick . Milwaukee Television History: The Analog Years. Marquette University Press. 2008. 458. 978-0-87462-055-9.

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