Make That Spare
| Make That Spare | |
|---|---|
| Presented by | Johnny Johnston (1960-1961, 1962-1964) Win Elliot (1961-1962) Chris Schenkel & Nelson Burton Jr. (1988) |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Running time | 15 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | October 8, 1960 – September 11, 1964 |
Make That Spare is a fifteen-minute bowling program that was broadcast on ABC from October 8, 1960, to September 11, 1964.[1]
Broadcast history
The series was hosted by the former actor and
The program was consistently paired with
The professional bowler Don Carter made history on October 28, 1961, when he was the first to convert the 6-7-8-10 sweepstakes spare. For his efforts, he was rewarded with the grand prize of $19,000. Carter made the same split four episodes later, winning another $8,000. Monroe Moore also made the 6-7-8-10 spare and held the program's record by winning nine weeks in a row.
Make That Spare was ABC's first foray into televised bowling. The network began showing full PBA bowling matches in 1962 and eventually the Professional Bowlers Tour, which showed regular contests on the network until Disney took over ABC in 1997. Because Make That Spare was inextricably tied to Fight of the Week, that show's cancellation also led to Make That Spare ending.
Game play
Each bowler was given a series of pin configurations and one roll of the bowling ball to knock down all the pins and convert the (hypothetical) spare. As the bowlers progressed, the spares became more challenging and the point values increased. Each frame was configured as follows:
- The "dinner bucket": pins 2-4-5-8, worth 25 points.
- The "clothesline": pins 1-2-4-7, worth 25 points.
- The "steam fitter": a 4-5 split, worth 50 points.
- The "washout": pins 1-2-4-10, worth 50 points.
- The 5-7 split: worth 100 points.
The highest scorer won $1,000 and the right to convert a "sweepstakes spare" worth a minimum of $5,000; making all five spares in the main game earned an additional $1,000 bonus. The loser also received a check for a lesser, unspecified "loser's share". In early seasons, the sweepstakes spare was always the 6-7-8-10; this was later changed to a randomly chosen spare. If this spare was not converted on a given program, $1,000 was added for the following week until won. In 1964, making the sweepstakes spare won a Ford Mustang.[2] The winner of each weekly episode also earned the right to return the following week to defend his championship against a new challenger.
There was some controversy over the selection of spares, as the arrangements were not reversed for left-handed bowlers. (The chosen configurations of the "clothesline" and "washout", as well as the sweepstakes spare, are all easier for right-handed bowlers to convert.) This is mentioned on one of the extant episodes of the series.[2]
Revival attempts
1988 pilot
The program was shown as a one-time special on March 12, 1988, with
Late 2000s revival
Episode status
The series was never copyrighted and extant episodes from the 1960s run are thus in the public domain. Three episodes are known to exist; the March 27, 1964[4] episode with Roger Helle bowling against Dick Weber, the May 8, 1964[5][6] episode with Bud Hodgson facing J.B. Blaylock, and the July 24, 1964[2] episode with Jim Schroeder competing against Jerry McCoy.
As the program was broadcast live, it is not known as to how many episodes survive.
References
- ^ "Make That Spare" at IMDB. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
- ^ a b c Video of the Jul. 24, 1964 "Make That Spare" episode, showing random selection of the sweepstakes spare and prize of new Ford Mustang, and ending with a plug for a boxing match that took place the following Friday, YouTube. Retrieved June 26, 2013.
- ^ "'Make That Spare' set to strike again", Reading Eagle, December 17, 1987.
- ^ "'On The Strike Line", Daily News, March 27, 1964.
- ^ TV Listings, Daily News, May 8, 1964.
- ^ Video of the May 8, 1964 "Make That Spare" episode, ending with a plug for a boxing match that took place the following Friday, YouTube. Retrieved March 11, 2021.