High Rollers (lost syndicated game show; 1975-1976)

The show's logo from the NBC version

Status: Lost

High Rollers was a game show based on the dice game "shut the box" that ran on NBC and in Syndication between 1974 to 1976, 1978 to 1980 and 1987 to 1988. The show was created by Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley who previously created Hollywood Squares and was hosted by the late Alex Trebek from 1974 to 1980 and then by Wink Martindale in 1987. Although many episodes from the NBC version has surfaced online, the syndicated version has no episodes viewable anywhere.

Format

The show consists of two contestants and a board of numbers from 1 to 9. The object of the game is to eliminated all nine numbers on the board to win. In order to do that you have to buzz in with the correct answer and the hostess (Elaine Stewart) would roll two dices and whatever number they add up to, the player in control has to eliminate numbers from the board that add up to the number that Elaine rolled. Behind all nine numbers are prizes, if you knock out a number, you get that prize (but to win the prizes you got, you have to win the round). If Elaine rolls a number that can't be added with the available numbers on the board, you lose and your opponent wins the round. If Elaine rolls a double (a number that both dices land on) you get an insurance marker, where if Elaine rolls a number that can't be added with the available numbers on the board, you get another chance. This happens twice (three if a tie occurs) and the first person to win two rounds will go on to play the big numbers.

In the big numbers, the winning contestant has to eliminate all nine numbers in order to win $10,000. Rules are the same as they were in the main game but if Elaine rolls a number that can't be added with the available numbers on the board, the game ends and the contestant gets $100 for each number eliminated. If all nine numbers are eliminated, the contestant wins $10,000.^[1]

Availability

The syndicated version has no available or viewable episodes and it is unknown if any of the episodes exist today. The exact number of episodes of the syndicated version is unknown.^[2] In November 2020, Fox News Channel aired a tribute to Alex Trebek (who died on November 8). Part of that tribute, a clip from the syndicated version was used. The clip has not surfaced online although a screenshot of it has been posted on Facebook,^[3] leading to speculation that an episode from the syndicated version has survived. According to a comment by game show author Adam Nedeff, the tapes for the show still exist. But the number of episodes that did survive is unknown.^[4]