Bet on your celeb

On a quiet Memorial Day, Matt Ottinger chimes in with a bit of interesting news. Wink Martindale has acquired the rights to short-lived '70s show Celebrity Sweepstakes. He's teaming with Phil Gurin to pitch a new version to the networks.

If you're not too familiar with the format, don't feel bad. I have only the haziest recollection of the show myself. Wikipedia says the episodes were mostly destroyed in what was not a huge loss to western civilization. But a few bits and pieces survive on YouTube.

The show was an odd combo of quizzer and horse racing (minus the horses). The audience voted on which of six celebs had the best chance of nailing a question. A totalizer then set the odds on each celeb, and the two civvie contestants placed their bets.

We'll see if the new version gets anywhere. One grim bit of game show trivia from Wikipedia: Mama Cass Elliott made her last national TV appearance on the show.