game play changed to feature two teams of two celebrities each playing the front game. The winning team headed to the machine. One celebrity drew a name from the drum (filled out by the studio audience) and the lucky person played the bonus round with each celebrity. Broadcast history The Magnificent Marble Machine aired in its original time slot until November 28, 1975. On December 1, 1975, the series replaced Three for the Money at 12:30 PM so Wheel of Fortune could expand to an hour. With the move, Marble was reduced in length to 25 minutes as a national newscast anchored by Edwin Newman aired at 12:55. After the January 2, 1976 broadcast, the show was pulled from the schedule for a two-week trial run of Take My Advice, a talk show hosted by KNBC news anchor Kelly Lange. When Marble returned on January 19, it changed to an all-celebrity format, which finally brought on its demise. While the last first-run episode aired March 12, its replacement, The Fun Factory, was postponed because of a technicians' strike, resulting in repeats airing through June 11. In popular culture A brief clip from The Magnificent Marble Machine is seen in the 1979 film The China Syndrome, as the "regularly scheduled programming" that the TV station interrupts to show the main character's report from inside the power plant. The clip shows celebrity guest Joan Rivers playing a normal ball on the machine, though the original audio is dubbed over with music composed for the film. The film's credits do not mention the show, Rivers or Heatter-Quigley. References Notes External links () at the () Episode #4 at the Television Production Music Museum 1975 American television series debuts 1976 American television series endings 1970s American game shows English-language television shows NBC original programming Works about pinball Television series by Heatter-Quigley Productions Television series by MGM Television Lost television shows