Bob Barker's Game Show Fail

Here's a unsold 1971 pilot for a game show starring Bob Barker called Simon Says where members of the studio audience filled out a questionnaire before the taping and a 'computer' selected a few to tell their unusual stories. The contestants were then given an opportunity to win prizes if they are able to answer trivia questions.

This weird format allowed the host to use one of his best skills, an opportunity to connect with ordinary people and elicit laughs, an ability he honed during his decades long run on Truth or Consequences.



Notice the announcer was Johnny Olson who joined Bob Barker just a year later on The New Price Is Right a 40 years later the show is still going strong.

Here's the very first episode of TNPIR from September 4, 1972 where Johnny Olson calls for the contestants to stand before he yells "C'mon down!" for the very first time. This is the actual network taping from the summer of '72 with the original slate and commercials...