Make That Spare

Make That Spare
Format	Game show
Presented by	Johnny Johnston (1960-1961, 1962-1964) Win Elliot (1961-1962) Chris Schenkel & Nelson Burton Jr. (1988)
Country of origin	United States
Production
Running time	15 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	ABC
Original run	October 8, 1960 – March 12, 1988

Make That Spare was a fifteen-minute bowling program that aired on ABC from October 8, 1960 to June 30, 1962 and again from October 6, 1962 to September 11, 1964.

The series was hosted by bowling legend Johnny Johnston in all but the 1961-1962 season, where Win Elliot hosted.

1988

The program resurfaced for a one-time special on March 12, 1988 with Chris Schenkel and Nelson Burton Jr. as the commentators, prior to ABC's long-running Saturday afternoon series Pro Bowlers Tour.

The program always followed the "Friday Night Fights", hosted by the legendary Don Dunphy. The Friday Night Fights were broadcast on WABC, Channel 7 in New York City, beginning at 10:00 P.M. Most Fridays, the fights would last until 10:45 P.M. It was in that brief time slot that ABC chose to air "Make That Spare". If the fights ran into overtime, Make That Spare was preempted. The program was broadcast live from Paramus Lanes in Paramus, New Jersey.

The show pitted two professional bowlers against one another. Each bowler was given a series of spares and splits to attempt to convert; as the bowlers progressed, the spares and splits became more challenging.

The first was "double wood", the 2-8. Next was "the close line", the 1-2-4-7. Next was "the bucket", the 2-4-5-8. The third was the first "baby split", the 1-6. Next in line was the "steam fitter", 4-5-7. Next to the last was the very complex, 4-6-7-10. The last split was the most famous...

Professional bowler, Don Carter made history on October 28, 1961 On that evening, Don became the first to convert the 6-7-8-10. For his efforts, he was rewarded with the grand prize of $18,000.

Monroe Moore also made the 6-7-8-10 spare and held the record by winning nine weeks in a row.

Current version

A new version is currently being produced by the TVS Television Network at the Silver Nugget Casino in Las Vegas.

Episode status

The series is likely intact, with selected episodes viewable on TV4U.Com's sports channel.