Despite the popularity of billiards on television, the US networks have not looked kindly on it. While billiards had been an unpopular game for years, it became more popular with The Hustler, which was released in 1961. The movie had a profound impact on the popularity of pool and organized billiards was booming by the end of the 1960s.
The Hustler starred Jackie Gleason, who played a fictional character called Minnesota Fats. The movie was a success. After the movie was released, billiards halls across the country doubled in size. The movie had a huge impact on organized billiards' popularity. In fact, by the mid-60s, billiards was on television.
The first billiards game show on television was Ten-Twenty. Frank Oliva, a billiards pioneer, invented the game in 1959. The game was a variation on the traditional 14-1 straight pool. The game was timed so that each player could score 10 point per inning. The 100-point mark was the best match score. The game consisted eight innings. In the eighth inning, players could attempt to score an additional 20 points.
In the early 1960s, Frank Oliva decided to bring the game of pool out of the basement of pool halls, and started a billiards game show called Ten-Twenty. In this show, professional billiards players and celebrities would compete against one another. The timers were set and the scores were determined by how well each snooker player scored.
Cisero Murphy, Joe Diehl and Nick Oliva were some of the players on the billiards-show. Joe Procita was one of many. The show also featured amateur "pool sharks" like "Cowboy" Jimmy Moore, Jimmy Caras, and Dennis Orcollo.
This show was a big hit and billiards became very popular on television. The popularity of billiards on TV declined in the late 1970s. There were no billiards game programs by 1980. Ballbreakers, which was launched in 2005, made billiards on TV a huge hit again. Ballbreakers ran for just one year and made many mistakes. The show's decision not to allow contestants to take more than one shot made it look like a sketch comedy show. However, the show was ultimately cancelled.
Pick Pockets, an infamous billiards program that was broadcast in the mid-1970s had a significant impact. Jimmy O'Connor, a cheerful host, hosted the show. It was a very old show but it had charm. The show featured several celebrities including Sid Caesar, Mickey Rooney, and Little Joey Canton. Willie "Mr. Pocket Billilliards" Mosconi was the show's star. He is considered to be the greatest pool player ever. He set a straight pool world record in 1954. He also won the World Straight Pool Championship a total of fifteen times.
The show also featured a number of celebrities playing billiards on TV, including Sid Caesar, Bill Cosby, and Buddy Hackett. A $1000 charity prize was also offered on the show.