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When Bert Claster Productions
in Baltimore, Maryland began syndicating a show that
involved your average bowler, little did they realize
that they were dealing with what arguably could be
described as television's first reality show. The
program was titled "Bowling For Dollars" and it hit the
airways in the late 1960's.
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Bill Inkol hosting
Bowling For Dollars |
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In 1971, program manager Bruce
Lawson bought the Canadian rights and inserted it into a
slot following the 6.30 scan news. It became an instant
ratings success. Episodes of Bowling for Dollars were
taped at Twin City Bowl and the first host was Jim Craig
who was followed by Bill Inkol (longest serving host)
Jeff Hutcheson and Tom Knowlton.
The largest jackpot ever won was
$2,950.00 which was gradually built up over a period
close to two years. On the very next show it was won
again, only this time the windfall was much smaller -
$150.00.
From year to year "Bowling For
Dollars" audience numbers remained consistently high
thanks to the popularity of 5 pin bowling good core
audience and a chance to be on live television.
Bowling
for Dollars was 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.
Bill Inkol
Jeff Hutcheson followed Bill as the
Bowling For Dollars host and recently contacted
us providing the following information.....
Hi Paul.
I discovered this
wonderful “trip down memory lane” website
while perusing
Dan’s site.
I can update you on
the Bowling for Dollars info. I took over the
show in 1985, and continued to do it until
1992. At that time Tom Knowlton took over
and I believe it lasted another two or three
years and then went off the air. In the end,
they had changed the format to 10 pin.
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Jeff
Hutcheson hosting
Bowling For Dollars |
When I took over
the show in 1985, we actually increased the
jackpot from $15 per miss to $25 per miss.
At one point during my tenure, the jackpot
climbed to over $9,000, meaning we didn’t
have a winner for almost a year. There would
be 7 bowlers on each show, and, by the end
of my run, we would tape 9 shows on a
weekend and did this 5 times per year. We
would tape 3 on Friday night, 3 Saturday
morning and another 3 Saturday afternoon. We
would start tape, and NEVER stop, no matter
what happened, and that includes a bat
flying thru the bowling alley. Sometimes we
were the only lanes going when we taped, and
we would actually get some crew, or people
waiting to be on the show, to throw balls
down other lanes to make it sound busy!
I only ever lost it
once on the show (but tape kept rolling),
and that was in my last season as host. The
contestant pulled his ‘pinpal’ card from our
bin, and I read the name cold, and I’ve
never forgotten it to this day. Donald
Twococks, from St. Catharines. Spelled as
you see it.
I still get
recognized for doing bowling, as I’m sure
Bill and Tom do.
Jeff Hutcheson
Bill Inkol also had a funny
antidote to tell. This is from Dan Fisher's wonderful
KW Radio
History site.
Bill tells the story of
being on loan to the national network CTV for
the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In the
course of events, Bill happened to strike up a
conversation with actor Paul Newman and his wife
Joanne Woodward, in town to enjoy the Games.
After a moment or two Bill noticed a young
couple glancing their way. After a minute of
obvious deliberation the couple stood up and
began, hesitantly, to move toward them.
Bill then says to Mr. Newman and his wife that
they've likely been recognized by some fans, and
that they're on the way over. But when the
couple got close they walked right past the
Newmans and said to Bill, "Excuse us, but aren't
you the host of 'Bowling for Dollars'?"
Bill Inkol
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