Lottery!
{{Short description|1983 American television series}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2019}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox television
| image = Lottery$ 1983.jpg
| caption =
| writer = Hindi Brooks
Don Bullock
Tony DiMarco
Rudy Dochtermann
David Engelbach
David Gerber
Peggy Goldman
Bruce Kalish
Stephen Kendal
David Ketchum
S.A. Long
Lee Philips
Duane Poole
Ton Swale
| director = Don Chaffey
Barry Crane
Georg Fenady
Lawrence Levy
Vincent McEveety
Barbara Peters
Lee Philips
James Sheldon
Mike Vejar
Virgil W. Vogel
Don Weis
| starring = Ben Murphy
Marshall Colt
| theme_music_composer = Elizabeth Bradley
James P. Dunne
| opentheme = "Turn of the Cards" performed by Alan Graham
| composer = Ken Heller
Mark Snow
Michael Melvoin
| country = United States
| language = English
| num_seasons = 1
| num_episodes = 17
| list_episodes =
| creator = Rick Rosner
| executive_producer = Rick Rosner
| producer = Robert Janes
Robert Lovenheim
| camera = Single-camera
| runtime = 45–48 minutes
| company = Rosner Television
Orion Television
| channel = ABC
| first_aired = {{Start date|1983|09|09}}
| last_aired = {{End date|1984|06|14}}
}}
Lottery! is an American anthologic drama that premiered on ABC on September 9, 1983.{{cite web|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/09/09/arts/tv-weekend-lottery-series-tennis-and-boxing.html|title=TV WEEKEND; 'LOTTERY!' SERIES, TENNIS AND BOXING|first=John|last=J. O'Connor|date=September 9, 1983}} The series aired for one season of 17 episodes and starred Ben Murphy as Patrick Sean Flaherty, and Marshall Colt as Eric Rush. Lottery! centered on ordinary people who have won the lottery—all of a sudden becoming millionaires—and how it changes their lives.
Synopsis
Each week, several guest stars become instant millionaires (in two or three different stories) when their lottery tickets bring them fame, fortune, and usually trouble. Flaherty worked for the "Intersweep Lottery." His job was to find the winner(s), inform them of their winnings, and give him or her an envelope containing $5,000 in cash, and a check worth millions. In the event of ownership disputes with the winning ticket, Flaherty would also act as an arbitrator responsible for determining the true recipient in what method used to settle the matter.
Rush was Flaherty's partner, an IRS agent who oversaw the accounting of the payouts and the arrangement of the winner's tax obligations. Each episode also took place in a different city around the country.
The opening titles for the show featured large banks of computers and tape drives. Above what appeared to be a trading floor (similar to what one would see at a stock exchange) were large electronic toteboards showing the latest prizes, the winners's names, and the countries in which they lived. At the end of every episode, the show displayed the following disclaimer:
"The Intersweep Lottery is purely fictitious. Except for states where they are legally authorized, lotteries in this country are illegal."
The Intersweep Lottery itself was actually more akin to the Publishers Clearing House than any of the popular lottery games in the U.S. and around the world, such as the Irish Sweepstakes, which was believed to have given Rosner the idea for the series. Participants in this lottery purchased numbered tickets. Each ticket carried a unique serial number consisting of two letters followed by six numbers. The drawing of winning numbers was also never featured in any of the episodes in this series.
Lottery! is not the first series to deal with the elation and challenges of sudden wealth. The basic premise is loosely similar to an earlier series, The Millionaire with Marvin Miller, except that the money was given out by a mysterious benefactor, John Beresford Tipton, to specific named individuals without the organization of a lottery, and that any taxes on the money had already been paid in advance. In 1979, NBC produced Sweepstakes, an equally short-lived series with a similar premise; it, too, lasted only a single season. In 2006, NBC tried again with Windfall, a series about a group of twenty friends winning a multimillion-dollar lottery prize; that series lasted only three months before cancellation.
US television ratings
| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |
| Season
! Episodes ! Start Date ! End Date ! Nielsen Rank ! Tied With |
|---|
| style="text-align:center" | 1983-84
| style="text-align:center" | 17 | style="text-align:center" | September 9, 1983 | style="text-align:center" | June 14, 1984 | style="text-align:center: | 77 | style="text-align:center" | 12.5 | style="text-align:center" | N/A |
Episodes
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" |
| style="background:#;"| No.
! style="background:#;"| Title ! style="background:#;"| Directed by ! style="background:#;"| Written by ! style="background:#;"| Original air date {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 1 |Title = San Francisco: Being a Winner |DirectedBy = Lee Philips |WrittenBy = David Engelbach |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|9|9}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 2 |Title = Los Angeles: Bigger Volume |DirectedBy = Barry Crane |WrittenBy = Peggy Goldman |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|9|16}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 3 |Title = Denver: Following Through |DirectedBy = James Sheldon |WrittenBy = Stephen Kandel |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|9|23}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 4 |Title = Detroit: The Price of Freedom |DirectedBy = Mike Vejar |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|t=Rudy Dochtermann|s=Linda Elstad}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|9|30}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 5 |Title = Phoenix: Blood Brothers |DirectedBy = Lawrence Levy |WrittenBy = David Ketchum & Tony DiMarco |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|10|7}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 6 |Title = Portland: Treasure Hunt |DirectedBy = Don Chaffey |WrittenBy = Rudy Dochtermann |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|10|21}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 7 |Title = Kansas City: Protected Winner |DirectedBy = Vince McEveety |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|t=Duane Poole & Tom Swale|s=Craig Buck and Duane Poole & Tom Swale}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|10|28}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 8 |Title = Charleston: The Spenders |DirectedBy = Barbara Peters |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|t=Hindi Brooks and David Garber & Bruce Kalish|s=Bud Freeman and David Garber & Bruce Kalish}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|11|4}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 9 |Title = New York: Winning Can Be a Murder |DirectedBy = Virgil W. Vogel |WrittenBy = S.A. Long and Duane Poole & Tom Swale |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|11|18}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 10 |Title = Houston: Duffy's Choice |DirectedBy = James Sheldon |WrittenBy = {{StoryTeleplay|t=Don Balluck|s=J.J. Farber}} |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|11|25}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 11 |Title = Boston: False Illusion |DirectedBy = Don Weis |WrittenBy = Ronnie Wenker-Konner |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1983|12|9}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 12 |Title = Chicago: Another Chance |DirectedBy = James Sheldon |WrittenBy = Duane Poole & Tom Swale |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|3|1}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 13 |Title = San Diego: Bingo! |DirectedBy = Georg Fenady |WrittenBy = David Braff |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|3|8}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 14 |Title = Miami: Sharing |DirectedBy = Mike Vejar |WrittenBy = Austin Kalish |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|3|15}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 15 |Title = St. Louis: Win or Lose |DirectedBy = Barry Crane |WrittenBy = Hindi Brooks |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|3|22}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 16 |Title = Honolulu: 3-2=1 |DirectedBy = James Sheldon |WrittenBy = Duane Poole & Tom Swale |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|3|29}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} {{Episode list |EpisodeNumber = 17 |Title = Minneapolis: Six Months Down |DirectedBy = Peter Crane |WrittenBy = Rudy Dochtermann |OriginalAirDate={{Start date|1984|6|14}} |ShortSummary= |LineColor= }} |
|---|
Awards and nominations
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" | ||||
| Year
! Award ! Result ! Category ! Recipient | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Young Artist Awards | Nominated | Best Young Actor, Guest in a Television Series | Corey Feldman |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0085048}}
- {{epguides|id=Lottery_1983}}
Category:1983 American television series debuts
Category:1984 American television series endings
Category:1980s American drama television series
Category:American English-language television shows
Category:American Broadcasting Company television dramas
Category:Television series about lotteries
Category:Television series by MGM Television