Make That Spare (1964)
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- čas přidán 20. 02. 2012
- From 1960-1964, ABC-TV aired live boxing matches on Saturday nights at 10 PM Eastern, lasting about 45 minutes. The network needed a short "filler" program to take it to the top of the hour, so ABC Sports concocted this short-format (approximately 15 minutes) bowling show called "Make That Spare." Hosted by night club singer/performer-turned-sports announcer Johnny Johnston, Make That Spare pitted two of the PBA's stars in a five-frame sparemaking competition to crown the week's "Sparemaker" champion. Players were awarded points for converting a sequence of five spares. Frame #1 was the 2-4-5-8 for 25 points. Frame #2 was the 1-2-4-7 for 25 points. Frame #3 was the 4-5 for 50 points. Frame #4 was the 1-2-4-10 for 50 points. And frame #5 was the 5-7 split for 100 points. If tied after five frames, the winner would be decided in sudden death as the players started the spare sequence over. The winner was given the opportunity to convert the "Sweepstakes Spare" for a brand new 1964 Ford Mustang. In the 1964 season of Make That Spare, the Sweepstakes Spare was selected at the beginning of the show by an electronic contraption like the old "Whammy" board that randomly moved from one split to another until the player hit the button and stopped it. Sometimes the boxing matches would end early and Johnny Johnston would be called on to vamp to fill the time. Other weeks, the boxing matches would run a little long and they'd have to rush through the show. Ah, the age of live television. Johnny Johnston was masterful as emcee on this series. In this episode from 1964, reigning Sparemaker champion Jim Schroeder faces Jerry McCoy. This is classic TV at its very best.
- Sport
This was the golden age of bowling!
My memory is that this was on Friday nights. Reason I remember it that way: My mother used to bowl in the Morris County Women's Major League on Friday nights in New Jersey. I was home with my Dad. We used to watch the Friday night fights (as well as Make That Spare afterwards) before Mom got home (she'd have had a cow knowing my Dad was letting me stay up that late and watch the fights, not to mention the few tastes I got from his Rheingold Beer ;-) )
I know that Make That Spare was on Saturday nights for most of its run on TV. But on this episode, host Johnny Johnston clearly says in his wrap-up at the end that they'd be back next week after the Fight of the Week, and then says next Friday night's fight should be quite something. So clearly, it was on Friday nights for part of its run.
I remember the show on
Friday evening
I bowled jbt at paramas bowl. Later some regionals, Bo Burton filmed the tip of the week in the upstairs private 6 lanes.
That said, there were years in the very early days of TV in which boxing aired on multiple nights. So you might be remembering a Friday night on which boxing did air. I don't know about that. But I'm 100% certain that Make That Spare followed boxing on SATURDAY nights.
Thank you
Actually, you're both right. Boxing and "Make That Spare" aired on Saturday nights on ABC for several years. However, both subsequently moved to Friday night, which was billed as "the traditional fight night" inasmuch as the Friday Night Fights were a staple in the early days of TV. I can recall seeing Boxing and "Make That Spare" on both nights. Thanks SO much to BowlingOldies for posting this - the show was done live and I didn't realize any of them had even survived!
Friday night fights .make that spare.chiller theater.as a kid my grandpa pop pop we'd watch together..!!!!!
@@marymarino3986 They tried to revive it as a spin-off of the Pro Bowlers tour. The pilot was produced before a tour event and is somewhere on CZcams.
It's too bad that we couldn't see the following week's show with Johnny King smoking his cigar in front of that KOOL sign.
I think ABC's prime-time boxing matches were broadcast on Saturdays from 1960 through 1963, then went back to Fridays for the final season, 1963/64.
This would be one of the last episodes, since the Ford Mustang was introduced in April, 1964 as a "1964-and-a-half" car, it's introduction coinciding with the opening of the 1964 New York World's Fair, where the car was on display.
"Make That Spare" was broadcast live; it's length depended on the length of the boxing match.
If this show aired in 1964 it was on Friday night; "The Fight of the Week" and "Make That Spare" moved from Saturday to Friday in the fall of 1963; both had their last telecast on September 11, 1964. Johnny Johnston was co-host with Pat Summerall of "Pinpoint" on CBS in the early '70s; that was the show where bowlers had to knock down an exact number of pins, from 10 to 1, in each frame.
You're wrong. I have videos of Pro Bowlers Tour, which ALWAYS aired on Saturdays. Telecasts in which they said "Tune in tonight for Make That Spare."
@@BowlingOldies Sorry, but if you look at Friday-night schedules for 1963-64 you will find "Make That Spare" at approximately 10:45 (ET) on ABC. I wonder if you have "Pro Bowlers Tour" videos from the winter of 1964. In fact, on this episode of "Make That Spare" host Johnny Johnston mentions the next week's Friday-night fight which precedes "Make That Spare."
@@bobthetvfan -- Okay, I'm not really interested in debating the point. It could be that my memory of this (I was 10 at the time) may have been shaped by the local ABC affiliate recording the network feed on Friday nights and playing the fights and Make That Spare back on Saturdays. I really can't say. What I do know is that in Kansas City, where I grew up, the show aired on Saturday nights, and I have no recollection of it moving to Friday nights. But maybe it did.
What I'd much rather talk to you about is another show that you mentioned in your original remarks posted six years ago (above). That show is "Pinpoint," which you recalled was hosted by Pat Summerall. I have no recollection of who hosted the show (which is unusual for me considering that I spent the last 53 years in broadcast media and have been a play-by-play announcer myself). I have my recollections of a show whose name I could not recall, and when you mentioned "Pinpoint," it rang in my head that the show for which I couldn't recall a title might, indeed, have been "Pinpoint."
Would you mind sharing what you remember about the show? The game's format, etc.? And whether there was a "jackpot shot" at the end for the winner to attempt in an effort to win the big prize of the show.
I think I know the answers to these questions, but rather than share them here, I'm curious as to whether your recollection aligns with my own.
On another CZcams channel, I produce a series called PRODIGY BOWLERS TOUR. On it, I have, on a couple of occasions, had our bowlers compete in a contest I called "Pinpoint," which is the show as I remember it. After you post your recollection of the format, you might wanna check this out and see if it agrees with your memory.
czcams.com/video/xnVkSnrJ0Oc/video.html
@@BowlingOldies I know the show aired on CBS Sunday afternoons in 1971. In each frame the bowlers had to knock down an exact number of pins, from 10 to 1. The point values added up to a maximum of 300. I don't recall if there was a jackpot available to the winner at the end of the show. I do seem to recall that Johnny Johnston had a hand in creating this show and that he worked as color commentator while Pat Summerall did play-by-play.
@@bobthetvfan -- That's how I remember the show, too. The format worked like this:
Frame 1: Knock down 10 pins, worth 10 points
Frame 2: Knock down 9 pins, worth 10 points
Frame 3: Knock down 8 pins, worth 20 points
Frame 4: Knock down 7 pins, worth 20 points
Frame 5: Knock down 6 pins, worth 30 points
Frame 6: Knock down 5 pins, worth 30 points
Frame 7: Knock down 4 pins, worth 40 points
Frame 8: Knock down 3 pins, worth 40 points
Frame 9: Knock down 2 pins, worth 50 points
Frame 10: Knock down 1 pin, worth 50 points
In frames 1 and 10, the bowler only got to throw one ball.
In frames 2 thru 9, the bowler could throw a second ball if he didn't get enough pins on the first ball, but if he exceeded the required number of pins on the first ball, he did not get to try again.
In each frame, you either scored the points that the frame was valued, or you scored 0 for the frame.
Now, as for the jackpot shot at the end, I can't say with any degree of certainty if what I'm about to describe was what happened on Pinpoint, but I know it was the jackpot shot at the end of some bowling show I used to see on TV back in the day. It might have been on Pinpoint, or it might have been on some other show whose name and format I have long ago forgotten. But see if this doesn't ring a bell:
The jackpot shot I'm speaking of was a full rack of pins MINUS the 1 pin. So the 2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10 spare was the jackpot shot. I only saw it made once or twice.
I'd love to hear if this rings a bell at all.
Finally, I'll leave you with this: If you enjoy bowling content, you should check out my other channel, BrownswickBowling, where, for the past six years, I've been producing a show called PRODIGY BOWLERS TOUR. We just did our first episode from the town where I grew up and recently returned to, Kansas City. This first episode from KC begins with a short synopsis about the history of the show and how it became a thing. Check it out: czcams.com/video/a5k1hM-tgBE/video.html
Looking to see hall of famer jim lago there he is my uncle and he bowled in paramus
I grew up in Paramus and was in the audience for the very last show.
That's awesome! :) Who were the final two bowlers? Did they acknowledge the show was ending?
@@supersaver87 I have no idea. I wasn't a bowling fan -- I was an 11-year-old kid who just wanted to get on live national TV. Yes, they acknowledged that it was the final episode -- that's how I knew to be there,
JaCob's style is reminiscent of Earl Anthony.
The show where you had to pick off a prescribed number of pins was Pinpoint. They were allowed 2 balls per frame. Each frame was worth 30 points for getting the correct number. It started with 1 pin the first frame and went up each frame to 10. The show was on for only a brief time somewhere between the years 1969-1971
It was on CBS as I remember.
@@rockvilleraven Yes, CBS Sports did it and it was shot at Thunderbird Lanes in Troy, MI near where I live today. Thunderbird closed down a few years ago.
For as long as I've been bowling, I have never seen a left hander LEAVE the 2-4-5-8. Not that it is an advantage or disadvantage but that is not a spare leave that a lefty gets to practice much. And the 1-2-4-10 is next to impossible for a lefty to leave; you'd have to cross over bad enough to miss the headpin entirely but somehow manage to not knock down the 10.
@mrdivot22 You know, I do remember that show, and I'd forgotten exactly how it worked. But the more I think about your description, I do believe you hit it on the head. There were other shows that called for players to pick off a prescribed number of pins from a full rack. But I do think the one you've described is the one I vaguely remember. And no, I don't have a copy of it.
Kickback and à wobble
IMO, I don't think it is fair to allow the left-hander to shoot the exact same pins as the right-hander. For example, the 2-4-5-8 bucket for the right-hander should've been the 3-5-6-9 for the left-hander; the 1-2-4-7 should be the 1-3-6-10 for the leftie. Doing it this way would be a true test, rather than allowing one bowler to have the advantage.
So what would that Mustang be worth today?
In today's dollars that MUSTANG WOULD BE WORTH 27000
That ' stang would be worth huge bux now, but storage would have eaten up the profits.
Wonder what a 1964 Mustang would be worth today if he'd won it?
Listen to those pins! They made from petrified wood??
@mrdivot22 It is virtually impossible to knock down just two pins using one ball on a full rack. In juniors, we even tried doing this as an exercise, and I was never able to do it. The problem is that if you hit the 4 or 6 pin, along with the accompanying 7 or 10 pin, you'll end up knocking down a third pin like the 8 or 9 pins respectively.
Pinpoint
If you factor in inflation, these guys made a lot more money then the PBA pros make today. And the leftie had a huge disadvantage in this show as all the spares were suited for right handed bowlers and they didn't mirror them for the lefties.
I attended the episode following this one. It was Johnny King against Jerry McCoy. Actually, the fights were held on Saturday night and were broadcast on NBC. At some point ABC took over and changed it to Friday nights. The episode above was bowled at Paramus Bowl in Paramus, NJ. and was definitely on a Friday night. King practiced for several hours ahead of show time, marking the approach with pencil, for where to stand for the various spares. McCoy came shortly before the show and lost
If he marked the lanes, he should be disqualified. It’s considered tampering with the surface or equipment, which is illegal
Nope. The Friday-night fights on NBC aired from 1944 (on a three-station network of New York, Philadelphia, and Schenectady) to 1960. At that point ABC picked up the fights and aired them on Saturdays from 1960-63, then moved them back to Fridays for one final season (1963-64).
what's in that guys hair? pizza grease!
They are all dead already.