LOTTERY! STARTS THE NEW SEASON WINNINGLY
People Weekly, 1983
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 9
LOTTERY!
ABC (8-9:30 p.m. ET)
 
Remember the old Millionaire series from the 1950s? Well, this is the 1980s version. And although it's a variation on a familiar theme, Lottery! looks like a winner in the fall TV sweepstakes. This 90-minute special is a kickoff for an hour-long series beginning Friday, Sept. 16. Marshall (Those Lips, Those Eyes) Colt and Ben (Alias Smith and Jones) Murphy star as two agents who inform three people each week that they are instant millionaires. Murphy plays the Irish charmer who dispenses the money from Intersweep Bank; Colt is the boyish rep from the IRS who tags along. There are dark moments as well as comic ones. The first winner is a retarded youth (Christopher McDonald) whose sister and her fiance try to cheat him out of his due. The clever script, by David Engelbach, speaks volumes about poverty, hope and the kind of gingerly mixture of greed and love that money can produce. Here's hoping that subsequent shows can sidestep cliches as deftly as this one. (Premiere)
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