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Host
Chuck Gaidica
Hostess
Diane Sarnecky
Broadcast
Michigan Lottery's Fame & Fortune
Syndication (Weekly, Michigan area): 1/28/1989 – 4/6/1991

Fame & Fortune was a lottery game show developed by the Michigan Lottery. The show was hosted by Chuck Gaidica, chief Meteorologist from WDIV, and Diane Sarnecky, a Detroit area model.

The show taped on Friday afternoons at Detroit's WDIV-TV and aired Saturday evening on WDIV and eight other stations around the state. Breaks during the show allowed for commercials and coverage of live drawings of the evening's Daily 3, Daily 4, Lotto and Zinger games.

Each week, six contestants competed. Their names were drawn from those who had submitted scratch-off Fame & Fortune lottery tickets with three TV symbols.

The show was replaced by Megabucks Giveaway on April 13, 1991.

Format[]

Main Game[]

The object of the game was to accumulate $1,000. Dollar amounts from -$300 to +$300 were randomly hidden behind the seven letters in the word FORTUNE. One by one, contestants picked a letter and the amount was revealed and added to/subtracted from the contestants score. If the revealed amount would put the contestant below $0 or over $1,000, the score did not change. However, landing back on $0 eliminated the contestant from the game with a $500 consolation prize.

A BONUS card was used at least once in each game beginning in Round 2. The contestant who found it had the option of leaving the game with a luxury car (usually a Cadillac) or playing on, taking whatever amount was behind the BONUS card.

If a contestant was to accumulate exactly $1,000, the current round was played out to give the remaining contestants a chance to tie. Ties were broken by having the tied contestants play one additional round, although random two digit numbers were used instead of dollar amounts.

If no contestant reached $1,000 after four rounds, the contestant with the highest score was declared the winner. The winner of the game was awarded $50,000.

Spin To Win[]

The remaining contestants then played a consolation round called Spin To Win. They had the choice of keeping the money they earned in the main game, or risking it by spinning a wheel with prizes ranging from $500 to $5,000.

Draw for Next Week[]

At the end of the show, the hosts drew submitted tickets from a plexiglass drum and read the names aloud to determine who would play the following week. At some point (most likely in 1990), the drawing was moved offstage and only the winning names were read from a list.

Gallery[]

Set Shots[]

Host Pictures[]

Press Photos[]

References[]

Michigan Lottery Through The Years
THE MEDIA BUSINESS; State Lotteries Win on TV Game Shows
Wilcox plans home repair with $50,000

YouTube Links[]

Full episode from March 25, 1989
A "Fame & Fortune" Promo from April 1989

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