The Plot Thickens (1963)

An unsold pilot for a game where four panelists in a set roughly resembling a court room sit opposite four suspects. They watch a film that runs about ten minutes showing a murder story. ... See full summary »

Directors:

Robert Dwan, William D. Russell

Writers:

Robert Bloch (mystery script), William Castle (creator)

Stars:

Jay Adler, Arthur Batanides, Linda Bennett

Cast

Credited cast:
Jay Adler	...	Mr. Lowe
Arthur Batanides	...	Kazam
Linda Bennett	...	Lois
James T. Callahan	...	Arnold Martin (as James Callahan)
Frederic Downs	...	Sid
Isobel Elsom	...	Selena Ruysdael
Kathryn Givney	...	Martha Collins
Vinton Hayworth	...	Roy Nesbit
Jack Linkletter	...	Himself
Joe Maross	...	Penfield
Groucho Marx	...	Himself
Warrene Ott	...	Warrene Ott--Bailiff
Stanley Ralph Ross	...	Himself
Jan Sterling	...	Herself

Storyline

An unsold pilot for a game where four panelists in a set roughly resembling a court room sit opposite four suspects. They watch a film that runs about ten minutes showing a murder story. They evaluate it and cross examine the characters from the film. If one of them guesses the perpetrator from the clues offered, and beats the one panelist who's a professional detective, a monetary prize is given.

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Plot Keywords:

tv special | tv pilot | seance | con game | crystal ball | 

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Genres:

Short | Game-Show | Mystery

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1963 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Plot Thickens

Company Credits

Production Co:

John Guedel Productions, Screen Gems

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

User Reviews

How could they ever think that this would have made a good TV series?!

I really enjoy seeing TV pilot episodes. Most of them never actually did become a television series--and seeing what might have been is pretty interesting. In the case of "The Plot Thickens", you can clearly see why the program never became a regular show...its concept was poor and it really was a rather dumb show.

The show consisted of a "What's My Line" sort of panel consisting of some detective, some ordinary guy, Jan Sterling (the actress) and, of all people, Groucho Marx. The four watch a re-enactment on the television about a crime and then the four panelists interview four folks from the re-enactment to try to deduce WHO the murderer is.

There were two huge problems with the program. First, the show was incredibly static and lacked energy and fun. As a result, it was awfully dull. Second, some of the acting in the re-enactment was simply god-awful....embarrassingly bad even. These, combined with a dumb game show idea made for a VERY difficult show to even finish...it was THAT bad!