Goodson-Todman Productions

Goodson-Todman Productions was a long-running and long-serving television production company formed by Mark Goodson and his longtime partner Bill Todman. Together, they produced and created some of the long-running and greatest game show formats ever in television history. While they attempted to produce other types of TV shows, such as The Web, The Richard Boone Show, and the Chuck Connors classic Branded, none of these were particularly successful.

After Bill died in 1979, Mark ran his company solo; he acquired Todman's share of the company in 1982, and renamed it as simply Mark Goodson Productions, with the closing spiel altered to A Mark Goodson Television Production to keep it in line with the original. The first shows to use this were Child's Play and Family Feud, while the rest of the pre-1982 shows slowly disbanded the Goodson-Todman for Mark Goodson's name up to 1984. The company slowly disbanded after Mark Goodson died on December 18, 1992. Mark's son, Jonathan, continued to run the company through 1995, when the family sold the rights to the library of shows (except for Concentration, which had been licensed by NBC) to All-American Television (which later became Pearson Television, now FremantleMedia), in order to pay off a massive inheritance tax.

The Mark Goodson Productions name, logo, and announcement continued to be used on some of the shows in production at the time, despite the actual company no longer being in existence. The name, logo, and announcement was used on the 2000 revival of To Tell the Truth during the end credits for its run, as well as the 1999 revival of Family Feud and the 2001 revival of Card Sharks until 2002. The Price is Right continued to sign off with the Mark Goodson Productions name, logo, and announcement all the way up until Bob Barker retired in 2007. After that, the usage of the Mark Goodson company was no more. Price started using the FremantleMedia name, logo, and announcement, and is still used to this day (although current CBS press releases for the show refer to it as "a Mark Goodson Production, in association with FrematleMedia").

Some of the producers who worked on some of the Goodson-Todman shows went on to form their successful (and not-so-successful) game show companies. They were:
 * Bob Stewart
 * Robert "Bobby" Sherman
 * Jay Wolpert
 * Steve Ryan
 * Merv Griffin
 * Jonathan Goodson (Mark's son)

Not all Goodson-Todman shows were created by Mark & Bill; some were created by the following producers working for Goodson-Todman:

At one time, then-blackballed producer Jack Barry worked for Goodson-Todman Productions and the company helped him create The Joker's Wild. Barry and Goodson-Todman broke contact with each other after Barry relaunched his TV career.

Two of Mark Goodson's children, Jonathan and Marjorie (née Cagle), worked on the company's shows in front of and behind the cameras.

Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1946–1982)

 * Beat the Clock (1950–1961, 1969–1974, 1979–1980)
 * The Better Sex (1977–1978)
 * Blockbusters (1980–1982, 1987)
 * By Popular Demand (1950)
 * Call My Bluff (1965)
 * Card Sharks (1978–1981, 1986–1989, 2001-2002)
 * Child's Play (1982, pilots only)
 * Choose Up Sides (1956)
 * Concentration (1973–1978)
 * Double Dare (1976–1977)
 * Family Feud (1976–1985, {changed from Goodson-Todman to Mark Goodson in 1983} 1988–1995, 1999-present {dropped the Mark Goodson logo in 2002})
 * Get the Message (1964)
 * He Said She Said (1969–1970)
 * It's News To Me (1951–1953, 1954)
 * I've Got a Secret (1952–1967, 1972–1973, 1976)
 * Judge for Yourself (1953–1954)
 * Make the Connection (1955)
 * Match Game (1962–1969, 1973–1982, 1990–1991, 1998-1999)
 * Mindreaders (1979–1980)
 * Missing Links (1963–1964)
 * The Name's the Same (1951–1954, 1954–1955)
 * Now You See It (1974–1975, 1989)
 * Number Please (1961)
 * Password (1961–1967, 1971–1975)
 * Password Plus (1979–1982)
 * Play Your Hunch (1958–1963)
 * The Price is Right (1956–1965, 1972-present {changed from Goodson-Todman to Mark Goodson in 1984, dropped the Goodson logo in 2007})
 * Say When!! (1961–1965)
 * Showoffs (1975)
 * Snap Judgment (1967–1969)
 * Split Personality (1959–1960)
 * TattleTales (1974–1978, 1982–1984)
 * To Tell the Truth (1956–1968, 1969–1978, 1980–1981, 1990–1991, 2000-2002)
 * Two for the Money (1952–1956, 1957)
 * What's Going On? (1954)
 * What's My Line? (1950–1967, 1968–1975)
 * Winner Take All (1946–1950, 1951, 1952)

Mark Goodson Television Productions (1982–2007)

 * Body Language (1984–1986)
 * Bonus Bonanza (1995)
 * Child's Play (1982–1983)
 * Classic Concentration (1987-1991)
 * Flamingo Fortune (1995)
 * Illinois Instant Riches (1994-1998; {dropped the Mark Goodson logo in 1996})
 * The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (1983–1984)
 * Super Password (1984-1989)
 * Trivia Trap (1984–1985)

Specials (1975, 1984)
NOTE: Both aired on ABC.


 * What's My Line? at 25 (1975)
 * TV's Funniest Game Show Moments (1984)

Unsold Pilots
Note that this list includes some revivals of prior shows.
 * Nothing But the Truth (1956, the original version of To Tell the Truth)
 * Body Talk (1990)
 * Card Sharks (1996)
 * Concentration (1985)
 * Classic Concentration II (1992, never got past runthrough stage)
 * It Had to Be You (1963)
 * It's Predictable (1970)
 * Match Game/MG2 (1996)
 * Now You See It (1985)
 * Oddball (1986)
 * On a Roll (1986)
 * Play For Keeps! (1955)
 * Puzzlers (1980)
 * Rate Your Mate (1951 TV adaptation of the radio show)
 * Spell Binders (1978)
 * Star Words (1983)
 * Take Your Choice (1954)
 * TKO (1989)

Unsold Pilots based on Goodson-Todman Formats

 * What's My Line? (2000)
 * What the Blank! (2004 remake of Match Game)
 * Match Game (2008)

Shows based on Goodson-Todman Formats (2000-2009, 2014, 2016)
NOTE: most of the shows on the list (except for IGAS) are currently being produced by FremantleMedia North America
 * Beat the Clock (2002-2003)
 * Celebrity Family Feud (2008, 2015-present)
 * I've Got a Secret (2000-2001 {Produced by Oxygen Media LLC}, 2006 {Produced by Burt Dubrow Productions})
 * Road to Price (2006; a short-lived six episode web series)
 * Million-Dollar Password (2008-2009)
 * The Price is Right Male Model Search (2014; a short-lived five episode webisode series)
 * To Tell the Truth (2016; originally taped in 2015)
 * Match Game (2016)

Buzzr (YouTube) Shows based on Goodson-Todman Formats

 * Beat the Clock (2015-present)
 * Body Language (2015-present)
 * Family Feud (2014-present)
 * Password (2015-present)

Shows based on Goodson-Todman Formats not by Mark Goodson Productions

 * NY Wired (1997-1999)
 * Illinois' Luckiest (1998-2000)
 * You Lie Like a Dog (2000, animal-themed version of To Tell the Truth)
 * The Big Spin (2000-2003 format)
 * Gameshow Marathon (2006; five of the seven episodes were based on Goodson-Todman formats: The Price is Right, Beat the Clock, Card Sharks, Match Game, and Family Feud)
 * ¿Que Dice la Gente? (2006-2008; Spanish-language version of Family Feud)
 * Dame la Pista (2008; Spanish language version of Child's Play)
 * 100 Latinos Dijeron (2013-present; Spanish-language version of Family Feud)
 * Philly Pheud (2013-present; Philadelphia-area clone of Family Feud)

"A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production"
Over the years, the company name appeared in different fonts depending on the show and sometimes had an asterisk over & under it.

What's My Line?


 * Password 1964 - A black-and-white version from Password in 1964. All episodes of the original show had the logo and credits in lowercase.
 * Concentration 1973 - A variant as seen on Jack Narz's version of Concentration as announcer Johnny Olson signed off.
 * Now You See It 1974 - A variant on Jack Narz's version of Now You See It in which Mark and Bill's names appear on the game board. Taken from the show's premiere.
 * Double Dare 1976 - A variant from Double Dare in which the logo and credits would appear on the main game board in either yellow or white, depending on the episode. After the credits, the title would appear the same way as in the opening but with the two weird shapes coming together afterwards.
 * Mindreaders 1979 - Mindreaders had the logo at the bottom of the screen in a different font.

"A Mark Goodson Television Production"
The Price is Right


 * Card Sharks 1986 - Taken from 1989 CBS daytime Card Sharks finale.
 * Family Feud 1988 - Shown on the CBS daytime and nighttime syndicated versions of Family Feud with Ray Combs. Early episodes used the red variant, while later episodes used the standard version.

Links
Mark Goodson Television Productions Brochure

Mark Goodson Wiki