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 huge impact on the popularity, and organized billiards started to flourish in the late 1960s.
The Hustler starred Jackie Gleason as a fictional character called Minnesota Fats, and became a hit. Billiards halls all over the country doubled their size after the movie was released. The movie had a major influence on the popularity of organized pool and, in the latter half of the 1960s, billiards made its TV debut.
Ten-Twenty, the first billiards game program on television, was it. Frank Oliva was the original inventor of the game. It was a variation on the classic 14-1 straight pool game. The game was timed so that each player could score 10 point per inning. 100 points was the perfect match score. The game consisted 8 innings of play. The eighth inning was where the players could try to score 20 more points.
Frank Oliva, a pool player, decided in the 1960s to take the game out of the basement and start a billiards show called Ten-Twenty. Pro billiards player and celebrity would take on each other in this competition. Each player was timed and scored based upon the amount of snooker played.
Cisero Murphy, Joe Diehl and Nick Oliva were some of the players on the billiards-show. Joe Procita was one of many. It also featured amateur pool sharks like Jimmy Caras (Cowboy), and Dennis Orcollo.
This show was a big hit and billiards became very popular on television. However, billiards became less popular in the 1970s and 1980s. By then, there were fewer billiards games on television. It was only until the 2005 launch of Ballbreakers that billiards on television once again made a major impact. Ballbreakers lasted only one year and made many errors. The show's decision to limit the contestants' shots to a few, made it seem more like an amateur comedy show. However, the show was ultimately cancelled.
In the mid-1970s, the billiards game show Pick Pockets also made a big impact. Jimmy O'Connor, the host of the show, was a fun and jovial character. Although it was dated, the show had charm. Numerous celebrities, including Sid Caesar and Little Joey Canton, appeared on the show. Willie “Mr. Pocket Billilliards” Mosconi played the starring role on the show. He was considered the greatest pool player of all times. He set the straight pool world record for 1954. He also won the World Straight Pool Championships fifteen times.
The TV show featured several celebrities playing billiards including Sid Caesar, Bill Cosby, Buddy Hackett, and Bill Cosby. The show also featured a $1000 charity prize.