Fame Is the Name of the Game (1966) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 TV-movie

Television movie

A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...

, directed by Stuart Rosenberg

Stuart Rosenberg

Stuart Rosenberg was an American film and television director whose notable works included the movies Cool Hand Luke , Voyage of the Damned , The Amityville Horror , and The Pope of Greenwich Village .-Early life and career:Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Rosenberg studied Irish...

, that aired on NBC

NBC

The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...

 and served as the pilot episode of the subsequent series The Name of the Game

The Name of the Game (TV series)

The Name of the Game is an American television series starring Tony Franciosa, Gene Barry, and Robert Stack that ran from 1968 to 1971 on NBC, totaling 76 episodes of 90 minutes. It was a pioneering wheel series, setting the stage for the likes of The Bold Ones and the NBC Mystery Movie in the 1970s...

. The film stars Tony Franciosa as an investigative

Investigative journalism

Investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. An investigative journalist may spend months or years researching and preparing a report. Investigative journalism...

 journalist

Journalist

A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...

 and presents the screen debut of 20-year-old Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Early life:...

, who also continued her role in the later series. The telefilm also features Jill St. John

Jill St. John

Jill St. John is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tiffany Case, the lead Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever.-Early life:...

, Jack Klugman

Jack Klugman

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...

, and Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

.

In an unprecedented blitz of TV ads which garnered phenomenal ratings leading to a spin-off

Spin-off (media)

In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...

 series, NBC erroneously billed the telefilm as television's first "world premiere" of a "major motion picture".

Principal cast

Tony Franciosa

Anthony Franciosa

Anthony Franciosa was an American actor, usually billed as Tony Franciosa during the height of his career.-Early life:...

 as Jeff Dillon

Jill St. John

Jill St. John

Jill St. John is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Tiffany Case, the lead Bond girl in Diamonds Are Forever.-Early life:...

 as Leona Purdy

Jack Klugman

Jack Klugman

Jacob Joachim "Jack" Klugman is an American stage, film and television actor known for his roles in sitcoms, movies, and television and on Broadway...

 as Ben Welcome

George Macready

George Macready

George Peabody Macready, Jr. , was an American stage, film, and television actor often cast in roles as polished villains.-Background:...

 as Glenn Howard (replaced by Gene Barry

Gene Barry

Gene Barry was an American stage, screen, and television actor. Barry is best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City and The War of The Worlds and for his portrayal of the title character in the TV series Bat Masterson, among many roles.-Personal life:Barry was born...

 in the subsequent series)

Jack Weston as Griffin

Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James

Susan Saint James is an American actress and activist, most widely known for her work in television during the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.-Early life:...

 as Peggy Maxwell

Lee Bowman

Lee Bowman

Lee Bowman was an American film and television actor.Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Bowman graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1936 and began his film career playing a bit part in Swing High, Swing Low .His many film appearances include A Man to Remember , Love Affair , Third...

 as Cruikshank

Robert Duvall

Robert Duvall

Robert Selden Duvall is an American actor and director. He has won an Academy Award, two Emmy Awards, four Golden Globe Awards and a BAFTA over the course of his career....

 as Eddie Franchot

Jay C. Flippen

Jay C. Flippen

Jay C. Flippen is an American character actor who often played police officers or weary criminals in many films of the 1940s/'50s....

 as Dizzy Shaner

Nicholas Colasanto

Nicholas Colasanto

Nicholas Colasanto was an American actor and television director, known primarily for his role as Coach Ernie Pantusso on the sitcom Cheers...

as Detective