Despite the widespread popularity of billiards, US networks have not been very supportive. 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. Billiards halls in the United States doubled in size following the release of the movie. 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.
The first billiards game show on television was Ten-Twenty. Frank Oliva, a billiards evangelist, developed 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 ideal match score. There were eight innings of play. In the eighth innings, players could score another 20 points.
Frank Oliva started Ten-Twenty, a billiards program that brought pool out of basements. Pro billiards player and celebrity would take on each other in this competition. The scores were calculated based on the score of each snooker player.
Cisero Murphy, Joe Diehl and Nick Oliva were some of the players on the billiards-show. Joe Procita was one of many. Amateur "pool sharks" such as "Cowboy Jimmy Moore, Jimmy Caras and Dennis Orcollo were also featured on the show.
This show was a big hit and billiards became very popular on television. In the late 1970s, television's popularity with billiards declined and there was a decrease in the number of billiards shows. Ballbreakers, which was launched in 2005, made billiards on TV a huge hit again. Ballbreakers lasted one year, and made a lot of mistakes. The show seemed like an amateur comedy program because it limited the number of shots that contestants could take. It was cancelled after the show's failure.
Pick Pockets, a billiards game show, was a hit in the 1970s. Jimmy O'Connor was the show's jovial host. Although the show was old-fashioned, it had charm. Numerous celebrities, including Sid Caesar and Little Joey Canton, appeared on the show. Willie "Mr. Pocket Billilliards" Mosconi was the show's star. He is considered to be the greatest pool player ever. 1954 was his straight pool world-record. He also won the World Straight Pool Championship fifteen times.
A number of celebrities were seen playing billiards on television, including Sid Caesar and Bill Cosby. There was also a $1000 charity prize.