Match Game (1974)

Mindreaders with host Dick Martin (1979)

Decisions, Decisions with celebrity panelist David Letterman (1979)

Decisions, Decisions (1977) with panelist David Letterman

The Riddlers with host David Letterman (1977)

As previously mentioned, after moving to Los Angeles and working on his stand-up act every night of the week, David Letterman's next big goal was to break into television. Most stand-up comedians will jump at the chance to do absolutely anything on television when they're first starting out and Letterman was no different. In 1977, while game shows like Let's Make a Deal, The Match Game, and Hollywood Squares were still drawing ratings as high as anything else in the television world - new game shows were constantly being churned out.

As we will see in this pilot episode for The Riddlers, the panel features many stock game show faces. Joanne Worley and Joyce Bulifant were appearing on things like this all the time. History has proven that Robert Urich has done nothing but appear on panels or occasionally host shows with names like "World's Greatest Magic Tricks" during sweeps. Michael McKean probably had the most street cred at the time due to his work on Laverne and Shirley. The opening music we hear is the same tune once heard on the National Lampoon comedy LP That's Not Funny! That's Sick! in which Bill Murray played a clueless game show contestant. This pilot was never turned into a series.

"...will be competing against these five dance instructors..." Bet you didn't see that coming!