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 & created some of the long-running and greatest game show formats ever in television history. They did manage to find time to produce other types of TV shows even though none of them was as successful: shows such as The Web, The Richard Boone Show and the Chuck Connors classic Branded.

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. 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", as well as its subsequent revivals, which is 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 FremantleMedia").

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 & Goodson-Todman broke contact with each other after Barry relaunched his TV career.

Two of Mark Goodson's children, Jonathan & 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)
 * Celebrity Family Feud (2008)
 * Choose Up Sides (1956)
 * Concentration (1973–1978)
 * Double Dare (1976–1977)
 * Family Feud (1976–1985, 1988–1993, 1988–1995, 1999-present)
 * 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, 1973–1979, 1975–1982, 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, 1972-1980, 1985-1986, 1994-1995, 1972–present)
 * 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 (1948–1950, 1951, 1952)

Mark Goodson Television Productions (1982–2007)

 * Child's Play (1982–1983)
 * Match Game Hollywood Squares Hour (1983–1984)
 * Body Language (1984–1986)
 * Trivia Trap (1984–1985)
 * Super Password (1984-1989)
 * Classic Concentration (1987-1991)
 * Illinois Instant Riches (1994-1998)
 * Bonus Bonanza (1995)
 * Flamingo Fortune (1995)

Shows based on Goodson-Todman Formats (2002-2009)

 * Beat the Clock (2002-2003)
 * I've Got a Secret (2000-2001, 2006)
 * Celebrity Family Feud (2008)
 * Million Dollar Password (2008-2009)

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

Beat the Clock


 * 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.
 * Card Sharks 1978 - A variant from Card Sharks in 1978 over a shot of the set. The logo and credits appeared in either white or yellow, depending on the episode, but this is the white variant.
 * Mindreaders 1979 - Mindreaders had the logo at the bottom of the screen in a different font.
 * Blockbusters 1980 - A variant from Bill Cullen's version of Blockbusters in brown. The logo and credits were shown in either white, yellow, or brown, depending on the episode.
 * Password Plus 1982 - A variant from Password Plus during Tom Kennedy's run. The logo and credits were shown in white or yellow, depending on the episode.

"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