The Joker's Wild

Johnny Jacobs, a longtime friend of host Jack Barry, was the original announcer of The Joker's Wild. Jacobs served through most of its CBS run, with Johnny Gilbert and Roy Rowan filling in for Jacobs on occasion. When the series returned to first-run syndication in 1977, Jacobs, Gilbert, and Jay Stewart alternated the primary announcer position. Stewart became the exclusive announcer for The Joker's Wild (as well as for all Barry & Enright-produced game shows at the time) during the 1978–79 season; Bob Hilton and Art James were substitutes for Stewart for the 1980–81 season whenever he was unavailable. In 1981 Stewart was replaced as Barry & Enright lead announcer by Charlie O'Donnell, who announced for the remainder of the series' run. Johnny Gilbert and John Harlan filled in for O'Donnell on occasion.

Ed MacKay, a local Los Angeles radio DJ and one-time overnight news anchor at KNX radio, announced the 1990–91 revival.

Richard S. Kline served as the director on all incarnations of the show.

The first two seasons of the CBS version, as well as the first season of the syndicated version, used "The Savers" by Perrey and Kingsley from their 1967 album Kaleidoscopic Vibrations: Electronic Pop Music from Way Out as its theme music. The final CBS season instead utilized an original composition, "Joker's Jive," composed by Alan Thicke. The second syndicated season introduced a brand-new music package by Hal Hidey, including a re-recording of "The Savers" that was utilized as the opening theme.

Two contestants, one a returning champion, played. The challenger began the game by pulling a lever to set a slot machine in motion. The game's slot machine consisted of three modified slide projectors which used six-slotted metal discs similar to the wheels used in ViewMaster toys. The discs were spun by electric motors, and unused categories were removed from the board by shutting off the projectors for those windows.

The wheels on the machine each contained five different categories, which were revealed to the contestants before the game, and a joker, which served as a wild card and could represent any category. After the wheels stopped, the contestant chose one of the displayed categories and was asked a question in it. If the contestant answered correctly, the dollar value of the question was added to his or her score. An incorrect response or a failure to answer within an unspecified time limit allowed the opponent a chance to answer and steal the money. Certain special categories gave the contestant in control a chance to win extra money, by either increasing the question value or allowing them to answer more than one question on their turn, or involved the participation of both contestants.

The values of the questions were determined by the spin. Categories were worth $50, $100, or $200 if they appeared in one, two, or all three windows, respectively. A pair without a joker, if chosen, was played for $100. A "natural triple" required the contestant to answer a question in that category for $200.

In addition, beginning in 1974, spinning a natural triple (three of a kind with no jokers) awarded a bonus prize, which the contestant kept no matter how he/she finished in the game. The bonus initially consisted of a single prize (up about $500 in value), but by late 1983, it had been changed to the natural triple jackpot, an accumulating collection that saw one prize added to it for every day it went unclaimed.

• Mystery: This category was always played for double normal value ($100 as a single, $200 as a pair or $400 as a triple). The contestant selected one of seven numbered question cards in a rack mounted on the host's podium; each card was in a different category, none of which were the same as any of the other four in play.
• Pot Luck: A question which could be about almost anything; usually from one of the other 4 categories.
• Stumpers: This category consisted of questions that were missed by both contestants in previous episodes. After the host read the question, the contestant could choose to hear the two previous wrong answers and play for the normal value, or decline the help and play for double value (originally it was a straightforward question played for an extra $100).
• Fast Forward: The contestant could answer multiple questions if desired, each worth the amount spun, and stop after any correct answer. Missing a question forfeited all money earned on that turn and gave the opponent a chance to claim the money for only that question.
• Bid: The contestant had to decide at the outset how many questions he/she wanted, with a minimum of two. Completing the bid awarded the full value of all questions answered (for example, three questions at $100 each awarded $300), but a miss gave the opponent a chance to take control with a correct answer and complete the bid him/herself. If the champion selected this category but did not bid enough questions to tie or surpass a challenger who had already reached $500, the champion immediately forfeited the game.
• Fact or Foto: The contestant could either hear a fact about a subject or see a photograph of it, then try to identify it. If he/she was wrong, the opponent got both the fact and the photo.
• Just One More: Given a question with multiple answers, the contestants bid back and forth as to how many they could name. The high bidder won control; if he/she gave an incorrect answer, the opponent could steal the money with one correct response.
• How Low Will You Go?: A question was read, with eight clues available to help the contestants, and they bid back and forth as to how few clues they would need. The low bidder won control, but if he/she answered incorrectly, the opponent got to hear all the clues before responding.
• Take a Chance: After hearing the question, the contestant could either answer it him/herself or pass it to the opponent. An incorrect answer awarded the money to the contestant who did not receive the question.
• Choose the Clues: The opponent decided whether the contestant would receive one clue and play for double value, or two clues for the normal value. If the contestant was given only one clue and missed, the opponent got both clues and played for the normal amount.

In this image, a contestant has just spun three jokers. Doing this enabled contestants to win the game simply by correctly answering one question in any of the categories in play.

When one or two jokers came up during a spin, a contestant could use them to match any displayed category and create a pair or triple, increasing the value of the question. They could also substitute a joker for a category in play but not displayed on the wheels (which was referred to as going "off the board") for $50 using one joker or $100 using two jokers. In addition, if a contestant spun a natural pair and a joker, he or she could discard the pair but use the joker to go off the board in another category for $50.

Spinning three jokers allowed the contestant to choose any of the categories in play during the game. A correct answer automatically won the game, regardless of the contestant's score or whether a full round had been played or not. The winner received either $500 or the total amount he or she had accumulated to that point, whichever was greater. If unsuccessful, however, the opponent could not steal and the game continued as normal.

Using jokers was optional, and contestants occasionally declined to use them if enough money was at stake for their opponent to win the game or take the lead (e.g., spinning a natural pair and a joker, then playing the pair for $100 instead of turning it into a $200 triple). By playing this way, the opponent had less of an advantage if the contestant missed the question and the opponent answered it correctly.

The game was played in rounds, with each contestant guaranteed one turn per round unless the outcome of the challenger's turn made it unnecessary for the champion to take his/her own. If the challenger reached or surpassed $500 on the first turn of the round, the champion had one last chance to spin either three jokers or a combination that would tie or beat that score. Either contestant could win the game by reaching $500 with a correct answer to a question missed by the other, or by spinning three jokers and correctly answering a question in any category. If a round ended with the scores tied at $500 or more, the game continued until the tie was broken. Contestants received a new car after every fifth victory.

Champions usually played until defeated, but from 1981 to 1984, there was a specified winnings threshold that would force a contestant to retire if it was passed. This was a common practice at the time, as some syndicated programs had what was referred to as a network-of-record; in such a case the network in question would treat the show like it was airing on their network schedule and would subject the program to the same set of regulations, such as a cap on winnings. In this case, the network in question was CBS, which was affiliated with many of the stations airing The Joker’s Wild and later added the show for the stations it owned outright.[5] During this period, there was only one instance where a champion was retired due to the limits imposed by the network, with clinical psychologist Joe Dunn winning a total of $66,200 in cash and prizes during his appearance in 1983. On the episode where he was officially retired as champion, Jack Barry opened the program by explaining in detail the rules the show had to follow at the request of CBS. He also noted that Barry & Enright Productions had been negotiating with the network to extend the limit for Dunn, with the two sides agreeing to a $50,000 cap; as per the rules, any overage went to a charity of his choice.[5]

The wheels now contained 12 slides each, displaying various amounts of money ($25, $50, $75, $100, $150 and $200). One wheel contained a slide depicting the devil. If the devil did not appear on a spin, the total of the displayed amounts was added to the pot. The object was to score $1,000 or more without spinning the devil; doing so won the money accumulated plus a prize package worth anywhere between $3,000 and $5,000. Spinning a natural triple automatically awarded the prize package, along with either $1,000 or the total in the pot plus the value of the triple, whichever was greater. (For example, a contestant who had $850 and spun a triple of $100's would receive $1,150.) If the devil came up, the round ended and the contestant lost the accumulated money. After every safe spin, the contestant had the option to stop and keep the money won up to that point. Contestants who chose this option were often invited to take an unofficial spin to see if the devil would have come up next. For the 1974–75 CBS daytime episodes, as well as the first six syndicated seasons, the same prize package was at stake for the entire show until won, but this was changed to a different prize package for each bonus round for the final three seasons.

During the last season of the CBS run, a special "Lucky $100" symbol was added to each of the bonus reels. If a contestant spun all three of these symbols in one turn, he/she won not only the prize package and the $1,000, but also a $3,000 cash bonus and a trip around the world worth approximately $7,000. The bonus increased by $100 per day until it was won or the combined value of the bonus and trip reached $15,000. After the extra prizes were claimed, the Lucky $100 symbols were removed and the bonus game reverted to its standard format. It was also during this time that audience members were selected to play the bonus game, except that they only played if the main contestant chose to quit the bonus game and take the cash in the pot.

From 1972 to 1975, the program was taped at CBS Television City.[6] From 1977 until 1986—with the exception of the 1984–85 season, which was taped at the Production Group Studios near Columbia Square in Hollywood—the taping location was moved to the La Brea Avenue studios of KCOP-TV. Taping returned to CBS Television City for the 1990–91 version. The current version of the show tapes at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

A tryout series aired locally on Los Angeles' KTLA for about three months and was hosted by Jack Barry. The rules were similar to the regular 1972–86 versions with the following exceptions:

Three contestants competed in each game, with the champion spinning first to begin the game. Spinning three different categories and answering a question in any of the three categories was worth $25, while pairs were worth $50 and triples were worth $100. $250 was needed to win, and as before an equal number of turns was given. A three-joker spin resulted in an automatic win with a correct response to a question from any of the five categories in play.

In the event of a tie, the lowest scorer was eliminated and play continued until one was ahead after each round. The bonus round was similar to that of the Ludden pilots but had more elaborate prizes.

Highlights of this version were shown during promos of the eventual series, which began production on CBS in 1972.

For the first two weeks, triples were worth $150 and a three-joker spin resulted in an automatic win for a contestant without having to answer a question. From the premiere until around May 1974, the champion went first.

The bonus round went through a few different permutations:

• Prize Round #1: Contestants received two spins and could take whatever prizes they spun the first time or could spin a second time, but were forced to keep the prizes that were spun on the second spin. There were black circles around some of the prizes' icons, and if all three prizes in a spin were circled, the contestant also won a new car. This format was only used on the first two episodes.
• Prize Round #2: Beginning with the third aired episode, the circles were eliminated and the car became a regular prize on the wheels (other big prizes, including a boat or a trip, were also added to the board).
• Jokers and Devils: Beginning with the third week, the wheels contained only jokers and devils. The contestant was given up to three spins, and each time three jokers came up, a different prize was won, increasing in value with each spin taken. If a devil appeared, the contestant lost it all. Originally the winning contestant received four spins, with the last spin being worth a larger prize such as a car or trip. For a brief period, the prize was not told until after the reels had been spun. In 1973, to avoid confusion between the category wheels and the bonus game reels, the jokers featured on the wheels in this format were marked with the word "Joker" instead of the word "Wild".
• Face the Devil: Starting around May 1974, the Face the Devil round described above had been implemented.

Early in the show's run, returning champions were competing for a chance to win the Joker's Jackpot, an accruing cash jackpot that started at $2,500. Contestants won this jackpot if they won three (originally four) consecutive games. After the jokers and devils bonus round stopped offering a fourth prize, a new automobile was added to the jackpot. However, if the champion was defeated, all of his or her cash winnings were forfeited to the jackpot; though prizes won in the bonus round were his or hers to keep. After every game, the champion decided whether to play on for a chance to win the jackpot or play it safe and retire from the show with his or her current winnings. The jackpot continued to build until it reached $25,000, which was at the time CBS's maximum winnings for game show contestants.

Originally, after winning the Joker's Jackpot, the champion was retired undefeated, but in February 1973 the rules were changed to allow champions to continue playing until either being defeated or reaching the maximum CBS winnings limit.

Upon implementation of the Face the Devil bonus round, the Joker's Jackpot was abandoned. Contestants kept whatever they earned while still retiring after winning $25,000. Winning five straight games, in multiples of five, won a car.

From 1977 through 1980, an annual tournament of champions was held. The first tournament was won by Frank Dillon, a contestant on the CBS network series who won $25,000 in his initial run, and the top prize was $50,000 in cash and prizes. Dillon returned for the second annual tournament and won that as well, taking an additional $100,000 prize. In the 1979 tournament, Dillon advanced to the finals where he faced Eileen Jason, who had previously won over $55,000 in cash and prizes in her reign as champion. Jason defeated Dillon to end his two-year reign as tournament champion, winning the $250,000 prize. Immediately after the game (on-air), host Jack Barry offered Dillon a job as a writer for the show, though it remains unknown if he ever accepted it.

In 1980, The Joker's Wild became the first television program to advertise that it was giving away a $1,000,000 prize. It was the total purse for a special 16-contestant tournament of champions. The eventual winner received $500,000 ($250,000, paid $25,000 annually for 10 years, plus $250,000 to the charity of his or her choice), and the runner-up received $200,000 ($100,000, paid $10,000 annually for 10 years, plus $100,000 to the charity of his or her choice). The remainder of the money was divided among the other participants in the tournament, depending on how they performed, with once again half of their winnings going to charity. Those eliminated in the preliminaries received $15,000 (with $7,500 going to charity), the quarter-final losers pocketed $25,000 (with $12,500 going to charity), and the two losing semifinalists collected $40,000 (with $20,000 going to charity). Rob Griffin won the grand prize winning three games to none, half of which went to the March of Dimes. Cassandra Dooley won $200,000 for second place, half of which went to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. Other tournaments of champions ($50,000 in 1977, $100,000 in 1978, and $250,000 in 1979) were held prior to this, but no tournaments were held after the $1,000,000 tournament due to winnings cap limitations.

Different rules applied to Tournament of Champions play. Contestants played for points instead of dollars, with 500 points the target number to win. In the championship game, winning two games out of three was needed to claim the top prize (three out of five games for both the $250,000 and $1,000,000 tournaments). No special categories other than visual categories were used. In the event a natural triple was spun, a $500 bonus was awarded to that contestant (later, it was a $500 donation to the contestant's favorite charity). Contestants drew numbers to determine who spun the wheels first. In the $1,000,000 tournament, contestants also drew numbers to determine who played first in each individual game. If the contestant at the challenger's lectern spun three jokers and answered a question correctly, that contestant's score was increased to 500 points. The contestant at the champion's lectern was given one final turn to tie the game or win the game if trailing by less than 200 points. The contestant who was ahead after each completed round once the target score of 500 points was reached was declared the winner, but as in non-tournament episodes, both contestants received an equal number of turns. Also, no bonus game was played throughout the tournament; after one game was completed, another game began.

Other special weeks over the years included "College Week", "Couples Week", "Teen Week", and "Children's Week".

An audience game was played beginning with the 1981–82 season. Three members of the studio audience were selected to win money and a chance to spin against the devil. Each audience member had one spin to get as much money as possible. The wheels contained money amounts ($10, $20, $30, $40, $50 and $100), with $300 the highest amount possible in one spin. All three audience members kept whatever totals they spun; the high scorer went on to play Face the Devil for a bonus prize and cash, using the same rules and dollar amounts as the onstage contestants. Ties were broken with an additional spin, and the tied members kept the money they scored on this spin in addition to their previous winnings.

When Bill Cullen began hosting in fall 1984, two audience members were chosen along with a home viewer who played by pressing a key on their touch-tone telephone to spin the wheels. The game was played onstage instead of in the audience, since a childhood attack of polio and a motorcycle accident as a teenager had greatly limited Cullen's mobility.

When the audience game was first introduced, it was played at least once every week (usually on the Friday episode). Each audience member was allowed a maximum of two spins, and could either stop after the first or decline that score in hopes of improving it on the second. These rules were later changed to those described above and began appearing daily halfway through the 1981–82 season.

Joker! Joker!! Joker!!! was a special once-weekly version of The Joker's Wild in which children competed with appropriately-themed subject matter. Prior to its debut, beginning in 1973 The Joker's Wild featured children playing every year around Easter.

The format was essentially the same, with some slight alterations. In the main game the children played for points instead of money, with 500 points needed to win. The winning contestant received a $500 education bond, while the loser received a $100 bond. The special categories "Mystery" and "Fast Forward" were not used in this version, but "Multiple Choice" was. As before, full rounds were played, and the contestant who reached 500 points or more after each completed round won; if the score was tied at 500 or more, additional rounds were played to break the tie. A three-joker spin still was worth an automatic win with one correct answer from any of the five categories in play. More jokers were also added to the wheels, which Barry himself pointed out during one episode.

The joker cards contained a more juvenile-looking animated joker performing a handstand (with the word Joker written below the design), and the children played the Face the Devil round under the same rules as the adults on The Joker's Wild, except that members of their family joined them onstage for assistance. During the CBS era, the jokers and devils round was in play; however, prizes already won were not at risk when going for future prizes. Also, both the winner and loser got to spin for prizes; the loser got to spin one time, while the winner got to spin up to three times. Additionally, children were allowed to confer with their parents/relatives when choosing categories, but were required to answer questions themselves.

Game play was changed dramatically when the series returned to syndication in 1990. In particular, the regular questions were replaced with terms that the contestants had to define. This version lasted only one season and was hosted by Pat Finn. A memorial plaque was placed on the slot machine as a tribute to Jack Barry.

In the first round, three contestants (one a returning champion) competed to be the first to reach $500. The game began with a toss-up clue, and whoever buzzed in first with the correct answer gained control of the machine. The wheels contained various dollar amounts (generally $5 to $50 in each window), with a joker in the third window tripling the value of the first two if it came up (and giving that contestant 15 seconds to come up with as many correct answers as possible).

After spinning, the contestant was given a series of rapid-fire clues and had to provide a definition to those clues. Each correct answer earned the current value of the wheels. If a clue was missed, the other two contestants buzzed in and attempt to steal the money and control of the board.

After this, the wheels were spun again, either by the contestant with the last correct answer or the controller of the last question if no one had answered correctly. When one contestant reached the $500 target number, the round ended and that contestant and the second place contestant advanced to the second round. The lowest scorer was eliminated and left with parting gifts.

The two remaining contestants advanced to the second round, which was played much like the first but with higher dollar amounts on the wheels (generally $10–$75 in each window). The contestants built on their scores from the first round and were able to choose from two categories after each spin. Additionally, an "Opponent's Choice" card appeared in the third window; this allowed the other contestant to choose the category from which the spinner answered definitions.

Contestants were not guaranteed the same number of spins as their opponent as on the original version of the show. The first contestant to reach $2,000 or more won the game and kept the money, while the loser left with parting gifts.

On January 7, 1991, the front game format was reworked to incorporate elements of the original Joker's Wild game. Although still played with the definition format, the categories and multiple jokers returned to the wheels with spins worth $25 per correct answer for a single category, $50 for a double, or $100 for a triple. In this format, the contestant in control continued answering questions until he or she answered incorrectly or took too long to answer, at which point an opponent attempted to steal the money and control by supplying the correct answer.

Spinning three jokers automatically added $250 to his/her score and the right to pick one of three categories for $100 a question.

However, unlike with the classic version where contestants went off the board and chose any of the categories in the round, jokers only represented categories on the wheels and the value of the question had to be taken for $50 with one joker and $100 with either a pair and a joker or two jokers and a category. Additionally, no bonus was awarded for spinning a natural triple.

The winning score for Round 1 was increased to $1,000 at this point. In addition, the pace of the game was changed to allow games to straddle between shows if there was not enough time to play the bonus game in that particular show.

In either format, if at the end of round 1, the first player reached their target score and the other two players were tied for second place, then each player will be asked as many general knowledge clues as they can. Whoever had the most correct answers won the right to move on to the second round.

The champion was given up to three definitions to different words, all starting with the same letter. Each correct answer given within a 60-second time limit earned one spin of the wheels. The wheels this time contained prizes, cash amounts ranging from $500 to $2,000, and jokers. The object was to get three of a kind of any prize. After each earned spin, the contestant had the option of freezing windows containing a prize they wanted to win. For future turns, only the unfrozen windows continued to spin.

Jokers could be used to match any prize showing; spinning three jokers won a jackpot that started at $5,000 and increased by $500 each time until won. However, this could only be done in one spin, as jokers could not be frozen and had to be converted into other prizes on the board when they appeared. The largest Joker Jackpot won was $36,000 in 1991.

Like the previous version, the revival also had audience members spin the wheels for money – however, this was only done when games ended sooner than expected, being used to fill remaining time and avoid straddling. Each audience member was given three spins to get three of the same bonus prize or cash amount on the wheels; if successful, $100 was awarded; otherwise, the contestant received a Joker T-shirt as a consolation prize.

During the final first-run week of this version (March 4–8, 1991), the format reverted to the original format without categories.

On May 17, 2017, it was announced that TBS would reboot the show with Calvin "Snoop Dogg" Broadus acting as host and serving as the executive producer along with Michael Strahan.[7] The revival premiered on October 24, 2017.[8][9][10] In January 2018, the show was renewed for a second season.[11] On December 21, 2018, Broadus announced that the show would be moving to fellow WarnerMedia network TNT starting with its third season premiering in 2019.[12] Jeannie Mai served as hostess in the first season. Beginning in the second season, there is no co-host.

Each episode is self-contained, with no straddling games or returning champions. The front game consists of two rounds, each of which uses a separate set of five categories. Both contestants receive four spins in the first round and three in the second. In the first round, singles, pairs, and triples are worth $100, $200, and $300 respectively; spinning three jokers earns the contestant a separate question worth $500. Dollar values are doubled for the second round, with the trailing player or, in case of a tie, the player that went last, spinning first. Jokers may not be used to go off the board, but must be matched to a displayed category, and the game can end early if one contestant attains an insurmountable lead. If one contestant misses a question, his/her opponent is not given a chance to steal. If the scores are tied after two rounds, each player takes one last spin and the high scorer becomes the champion.

In the second season, the game is played in three rounds. Both players get two spins in each round, with all values doubled for the second round and tripled for the third. New categories are only introduced at the start of the second round. Additionally, in the third round, a player may challenge his or her opponent to answer the question ("Slang That Thang"); the opponent receives the money with a correct response, while the player scores on a miss. If the scores are tied after three rounds, each player chooses one of three face-down cards and the one with the higher draw becomes the champion; if the cards match, further tiebreakers are played until there is a winner.

The winner plays Face the Devil, with values from $300 to $1,500 and jokers worth $2,000 on the wheels. If the player either spins three jokers or accumulates at least $10,000 without seeing the Devil, his/her total is increased to $25,000 in season 1 or $50,000 in season 2, in addition to the money won in the main game. In season 2, the host occasionally offers extra cash in addition to the accumulated total as an incentive for the player to quit the round.

Prior to the shows' premiere,[13] an all-exclusive six episode documentary series aired on TBS app, TBS social media handles including Facebook Watch tab along its very own website at TBS.com. Directed by Rory Karpf, the show chronicles Snoop Dogg's transition to a game show host as it explores his creative processes behind the show's reboot. The six episodes were posted on the official Facebook and YouTube page every Friday at 4:20 p.m. ET.[14]

A Snapchat[17] video lens was released on October 18, 2017, where Snoop would dance in the lens next to the snapchat user who would act as the dancing joker. The lens features custom green screen footage of Snoop Dogg that was shot exclusively for the lens experience.

An online game[18] was released on October 24, 2017, where fans of the show can play along via the TBS Android and iOS apps, or on TBS.com.