Bill Carruthers

William H. Carruthers (born September 27, 1930) was a producer and director who got his start at WXYZ (the ABC affiliate in Detroit) as a junior stage manager following a four-year stint in the Air Force. On one day around 1956-57, he showed up for work on The Soupy Sales Show (then a local series) and volunteered to fill in as director at the last minute (the regular one was unable to do the program), which quickly transferred to a full-time position.

Background
In 1959, when Sales went national, Carruthers moved his family to Hollywood; a year later, he began working on shows including The Steve Allen Show and Take A Good Look followed by The Dating Game and The Newlywed Game for Chuck Barris.

Bill founded the Carruthers Company in 1968, whose first series The Johnny Cash Show (1969-71) proved to be a hit. Game shows soon began calling, to which he did Golf For Swingers (1972), an unsold revival attempt of Beat the Odds (1975), Give-n-Take (1975), The Neighbors (1975-76), and Second Chance (1977). He also directed The Family Game (1967), All-Star Secrets (1979), Whew! (1979-80), and Whodunnit? (1979) for other companies.

In 1982 and 1983, Carruthers received Daytime Emmy nominations in "Outstanding Achievement in Coverage of Special Events": specifically, directing the 1981 and 1982 Daytime Emmy Award ceremonies.

While none of his own games ran for more than a few months, Chance seemed to have a future. In 1983, Carruthers overhauled the format, putting more emphasis on the board of cash and prizes; the result, Press Your Luck, aired on CBS from 1983-86.

During the 1990s, Bill worked on Extra!, Bill Cosby's You Bet your Life, the short-lived ESPN game show Designated Hitter, and various specials for The Family Channel...but in 1996 suffered a stroke while on the set of a production (which one is not known), which forced him into retirement.

Wheel of Fortune
In September 1973, Carruthers was tapped to produce and direct the Shopper's Bazaar pilot. The fact he was not invited back for the subsequent two pilots a year later suggests that Merv Griffin and Lin Bolen considered him to be part of the problem; Bill was replaced by Nancy Jones and John Rhineheart on the production side and Marty Pasetta as director.

Interestingly, while Carruthers himself did not associate with Wheel following this, one sound effect he used on Odds and Take found its way there: specifically, what became the Bonus Round timer when the five-and-a-vowel iteration debuted in 1981. The sound was redone in July 1989, which remained until February 2007.

Death
Bill died on March 2, 2003 from heart failure, at the age of 72, shortly after completing interviews for the GSN documentary Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal (regarding the appearance of Michael Larson).

At the time of his death, Carruthers was survived by wives from his three marriages and five children.

Links

 * Bill's credits on the Internet Movie Database