A Kin to Win was a Canadian television game show initially produced in Montreal in 1961, then aired on the CTV network in 1962. Jimmy Tapp was the programme's host.^[2]

Production

The series was produced by a Canadian subsidiary of NBC, led by Nick Nicholson and E. Roger Muir. Episodes were recorded in Montreal in the studios of CTV affiliate CFCF-TV at a cost of $2500 (CA$) apiece.^[3][4]

Premise

Each round of the game consisted of a competition between two families. Fathers of each family acted as team leaders, coaching the other family members. Quiz questions were posed to the players. When answered correctly, they earned a symbol to be added to a square board. A family won after successfully placing four symbols in a row, receiving a designated Prize Chest and proceeding to a bonus prize round known as the Big Plus. The winning family proceeded to a new round, competing against another family.^[4]

Broadcast

Initially, the series was broadcast locally in Montreal on CFCF-TV in the early evenings (6:00 p.m.) starting on 2 October 1961.^[5] The series was also broadcast on CJSS-TV in Cornwall, Ontario.^[6][7]

Distribution through the full CTV network began from 14 January 1962 and continued until July 1962. Episodes were seen on weekday afternoons at varying times depending on the market (e.g. 1:30 p.m. in Toronto, 4:00 p.m. in Ottawa and Montreal).^[8][9] A weekly Sunday evening episode was also broadcast, typically at 7:30 p.m.^[10]

CTV did not renew the series for the 1962-1963 national schedule, although episodes continued to be broadcast locally on CFCF-TV at least until May 1964.^[11]

According to Ross Bagwell, an NBC programme developer who worked on A Kin to Win, the series was a forerunner of the American-based game show Family Feud.^[12]

Reception

Jeremy Brown, television critic for the Toronto Star, deemed the debut on CTV to be "boring, trite, badly paced, lacking in suspense and incredibly bland."^[13]