| The Joker's Wild | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Joker! Joker!! Joker!!! |
| Created by | Jack Barry |
| Directed by | Richard S. Kline[1] D.A. Diana Rich DiPirro |
| Presented by | Jack Barry Jim Peck Bill Cullen Pat Finn Snoop Dogg |
| Announcer | Johnny Jacobs Jay Stewart Charlie O'Donnell Ed MacKay Dave Burchell |
| Theme music composer | Perrey and Kingsley Hal Hidey Alan Thicke Joe Manolakakis[1] |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Producer | Justin Edgerton Ron Greenberg Gary Cox Allen Koss Eric Warner[1] |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Production companies | Jack Barry Productions (1972–1975, 1977-1986 (copyright only), 1990–1991) Barry & Enright Productions (1977–1986) Kline & Friends, Inc. (1990–1991) Sony Pictures Television (2017–2019) Snoopadelic Films (2017–2019) SMAC Entertainment (2017–2019) Studio T (2017) |
| Original release | |
| Network | CBS (1972–1975) Syndicated (1977–86, 1990–91) TBS (2017–2018) TNT (2019) |
| Release | September 4, 1972 – March 27, 2019 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times between 1972 and 2019. Contestants answer trivia questions based on categories determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine. The show's title refers to the game's slot-machine mechanism also having jokers, which may be used to represent any category.
The show was billed as "the game where knowledge is king and lady luck is queen", and was notable for being the first successful game show produced by Jack Barry after his company's role in the quiz show scandals during the late 1950s. The success of the series led in part to the reformation of Barry & Enright Productions in the 1970s, which reunited Barry with his partner Dan Enright. It aired on CBS from 1972 to 1975, and from 1977 to 1986 in broadcast syndication. A children's version, titled Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!, aired from 1979 to 1981, also in syndication.[2] Barry also served as host of The Joker's Wild until just before his death in 1984, and was replaced by Bill Cullen afterward. Jim Peck also filled in for both Barry and Cullen at various points.
Barry's sons, Jonathan and Douglas Barry, were co-executive producers for a revival of the series that aired in 1990 and 1991, which was produced in association with Richard S. Kline and billed as "a Kline and Friends production in association with Jack Barry Productions". Pat Finn hosted this version of the show. The series returned in 2017 on TBS, with Snoop Dogg as host. He was also co-executive producer with Michael Strahan. In December 2018, it was announced that the show would be moving to TNT in 2019.
- ^ a b c Schwartz, David; Ryan, Steve; Wostbrock, Fred (1999). The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (3 ed.). Facts on File, Inc. pp. 116–117. ISBN 0-8160-3846-5.
- ^ Woolery, George W. (1985). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946–1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series. The Scarecrow Press. pp. 252–253. ISBN 0-8108-1651-2.