User:Daniel Benfield/Singles and Doubles Collection

I was thinking of ideas for Video Archives, and it hit me: there's a lot of shows out there which have one or two episodes around, which (as noted on my main userpage) I wouldn't do Video Archives of because there's so little out there...but the Internet Archive has a "Singles and Doubles Collection" for radio shows. Why not do a similar page for TV game shows?

A few notes before we get to the videos:
 * This page is primarily about shows that debuted in the 1940s-70s. Shows that debuted in the 1980s and early 1990s will be added at my discretion.
 * My limit for this page will probably be around five episodes, represented in whole or in part. Pilots, whose listings will for the most part be copies from my pilot-related subpages, do not count towards that limit; promos and anything applicable from the "Not-For-Broadcast" Theatre are considered bonuses.
 * This will not include radio shows, as there tends to be a lot of 'em out there and I think the Internet Archive does a good enough job keeping track of those.
 * Also not included are shows that already have subpages (such as The Neighbors, Oh My Word/Take My Word For It!, Second Chance, and Seven Keys) or are already covered on subpages (such as the original versions of High Rollers and Name That Tune), to avoid redundancy.
 * Sony-owned shows are out of the question, for reasons I cover in User:Daniel Benfield. For the same reason, shows owned by Viacom/MTV Networks and JM Productions won't be here either.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. All footage is copyrighted by their respective copyright holders, and I'm using that wording because there's way too many of them to list here.

3 for the Money
NBC Daytime: September 29 - November 28, 1975 (40 episodes, taped in Los Angeles)

Proof that this network had no clue what it was doing sometimes: this great show got canned in two months, but The Magnificent Marble Machine was allowed to stagger on well into '76.

Probably didn't help that Money aired in a 25-minute timeslot, and didn't air at all for the week of November 3-7.


 * September 29, 1975 (Premiere: Linda Kaye Henning/Tony/Dona vs. Dick Gautier/Kim/Art, Game 1; studio master! {alternate copy of intro})
 * [Has a full credit roll.]


 * November 14, 1975 (#30: Barbara Feldon/Chris/Carroll {$4,300} vs. JIM McKRELL/Danette/Darryl {$4,100}, Game 5 {taped 10/31/75}; studio master!)
 * [While Spiegel is mentioned (the losing players each get a $1,000 gift certificate), it's never given its own plug.]

50 Grand Slam
NBC Daytime: October 4 - December 31, 1976 (65 episodes)

Ralph Andrews' attempt to bring the 1950s-style big-money quiz to the 1970s.


 * October 4, 1976 (Premiere: Sister MarthaAnn vs. David in American Women, Lee vs. Marge in Golf {which doesn't go too well}, Carolyn vs. Bonnie in General Knowledge {Parts 3, 4, and 5}, with Allen Ludden making an appearance to promote Stumpers!; taped from KNBC, with a Contestant Plug!)


 * December 31, 1976 (Finale: Duane {for $500} vs. Terri in General Knowledge: Prominent Members of the Clergy, RoseLee {for $500} vs. Bonnie in 20th-Century American Fiction, [winner of first game] vs. Lanny in General Knowledge: Flowers, Randy {for $1,000} vs. Dusty in TV Trivia: Maverick {Parts 3, 4, and 5})
 * [Tom notes that since this is the last show, no money is at risk and anything won is kept. "See you Monday on Name That Tune!"]

100 Grand
ABC Primetime: September 15-29, 1963 (3 episodes)

An attempt at bringing big-money quizzes back just three years after the scandals ended, with more focus put on making sure things were "rig-proof" than making sure things were interesting to watch. Heck, even the host (Jack Clark) thought it was boring and was glad it was canned quickly, referring to it as a "stiff show".

Television Obscurities has a great rundown of the show's history here.


 * 1963 (Promo, from ABC's Fall Preview)
 * September 15, 1963 (Intro of the Premiere; audio only)

The $64,000 Challenge
CBS Primetime: April 8, 1956 - September 14, 1958

Spinoff of The $64,000 Question where prior Question champs could compete for even more money.

Sonny Fox (April-August 1956)
 * April 15-May 6, 1956 (Gloria Lockerman vs. Andy Douglas for $8,000 in Spelling {continued from last week}, Floyd Yeomans vs. Steven Frolik for $32,000 in American History, Billy Pearson vs. VINCENT PRICE for $1,000 in Great Arts & Artists; has commercials)
 * [One commercial mentions "a great gift for Mother's Day", which fell on May 13 in 1957. Sonny and Vincent promote the latter's "new film" Serenade (released 3/23/56).]

Ralph Story (began 9/2/56)
 * Late 1956 (Clip of Dr. Joyce Brothers going for another $64,000)


 * May 26, 1957 (Billy Pearson vs. Larry Rivers for $8,000 in Modern Art, Billy Pearson vs. Charles Duveen for $2,000 in 17th & 18th-Century Art, Al Ein Frank vs. Richard Harrison for $1,000 in Geography {Part 2}; has commercials)
 * [Airdate comes from a closeup of a check.]

The $64,000 Question
CBS Primetime: June 7, 1955 - June 24, 1958/September 21 - November 9, 1958

Supersized TV revival of Take It or Leave It/The $64 Question, a radio show which had aired from 1940-52. Would've been better if it wasn't rigged by order of Charles Revson, then-head of sponsor Revlon.


 * Late 1955 (Clip of Dr. Joyce Brothers for $16,000 in Boxing)
 * [It's never been confirmed, but there's been some suspicion that Joyce cheated her way to the $64,000 given that the person hired to write her questions (which were supposed to trip her up) was a friend of her father.]


 * June 5, 1956 (1st-Anniversary Show: Bobbye O'Rourke for $32,000 in Sherlock Holmes, Captain Thomas O'Rourke for $32,000 in Sherlock Holmes, Peter Freucken for $1,000 in Seven Seas; has commercials)
 * [Includes a cake and celebration with previous champs.]
 * September 18, 1956 (Giovanna Ferrara for $2,000 in American History, Wilton J. Springer for $4,000 in Drama, Randolph Churchill {son of Winston} at category choice {The English Language}; has commercials)
 * [Giovanna won 5,000,000 Lire on the Italian equivalent, and she clearly mentions Mike Bongiorno at one point.]


 * March 25, 1958 (Virgil Earp {nephew of Wyatt} for $32,000 in The Wild West, Adelita Quejado for $64,000 in Current Events, Marilyn Southern at category choice {Opera}, with Hal promoting the Name Game sweepstakes beginning "next week" {Part 2}; has commercials, tiny bits missing)
 * [One Revlon advert mentions "a good Easter gift". Airdate comes from a closeup of a check.]

The $128,000 Question
Syndicated, Weekly: September 18, 1976 - September, 1978 (taped at the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City {Season 1} and Global Television in Toronto, Ontario {Season 2})

Proof that this format could work without being rigged. Despite the title, questions only went up to $64,000; anybody who won that came back at the end of the season for a tournament, where the winner got another $64,000.

Why? Well, the revival was going to be just The $64,000 Question, but then it was announced that Name That Tune would be adding a $100,000 Mystery Tune for the 1976–77 season. Viacom (Question's distributor), not wanting their show to have the second-biggest payout, added said tournament.

Viacom also ran into a wall when a deal to get the CBS O&O's to carry the show in major markets fell through, as CBS' then-winnings limit of $25,000 also extended to syndicated games airing on the O&O's. Despite getting the Metromedia-owned stations, the ratings weren't too great by the end of Season 2 and so the show was canned.

KDOC aired repeats of the entire run from January 31 through June 7, 1983.

Mike Darrow (Season 1)

Has Alan Kalter announcing, but the big difference is how the early questions are given: the first four questions ($64-$128-$256-$512) are on a cassette tape, which is placed into an electronic typewriter that types out the questions, choices, and answers; the next three ($1,000-$2,000-$4,000) are shown on a monitor transmitting from about a mile away. The remainder ($8,000-$16,000-$32,000-$64,000) are done in the standard isolation booth.

From what I can find, tapings continued through at least February 23, 1977.


 * September 18, 1976 (Premiere: Bernard Corman at category choice {Michelangelo}, Armando Ammoneda? at category choice {Italian Opera}; 1983 KDOC repeat, with a partial commercial and a Contestant Plug!)


 * 1976-77 (Clips of a $64,000 win and closing credits, both from a single episode; audio only)

Alex Trebek (Season 2)

With the move to Canada came a different (more basic, but also more colorful) set, a different announcer (Sandy Hoyt), and a more peppy/"disco-y" version of the Season 1 theme.

Gameplay-wise, the category board, cassettes, typewriter, and monitor were all removed. Instead, the contestant stood at a podium for all questions through $4,000, with the rest done in the isolation booth.


 * November 17, 1977 (Joseph Barletta? for $8,000 in Boxing, Dwyer Clay for $8,000 in Leonardo DaVinci, DON BENN for $64 in Television; taped from KYW with commercials and a Contestant Plug, no credits)
 * November 24, 1977 (Dwyer Clay for $16,000 in Leonardo DaVinci, Joseph Barletta? for $16,000 in Boxing, DON BENN for $4,000 in Television, Morris & Ruth Hersaun for $64 in Gilbert & Sullivan {Part 2, Part 3}; taped from KYW with a few commercials and a Contestant Plug, ends right after Morris & Ruth's question {no gameplay lost})
 * [One promo is for "Eyewitness News At 11PM" which outright mentions it's Thanksgiving.]


 * December 1, 1977 (Morris & Ruth Hersaun for $128 in Gilbert & Sullivan, DON BENN for $8,000 in Television, John Crutz for $64 in World War I; taped from KYW, with commercials and a Contestant Plug!)

All-Star Anything Goes
Syndicated: September 16, 1977 - September, 1978

The fourth and final season of Almost Anything Goes, this time with the teams being from the entertainment industry (usually casts of various shows).


 * 1977 (WOKR tel-op card promo)
 * 1978 (The New Mickey Mouse Club vs. Little House on the Prarie; taped from KMSP, montage including intro and part of credits)

All-Star Secrets
NBC Daytime: January 8 - August 10, 1979 (taped through at least April 22)

Let's get the obvious joke out of the way:

"hur hur this show is ASS"

Okay, got that out of my system, now I can actually explain the format: three contestants are given a statement pertaining to one of the celebs, usually something they did in the past, and have to figure out which one it applies to.


 * August 6, 1978 (Robert Reed, Dody Goodman, ARTHUR GODFREY, Lee Meriwether, Charles Nelson Reilly {Part 2}; Evelyn/Brooks/Joanie)
 * [Called Celebrity Secrets, with a slightly different set and a pretty different scoring system.]


 * February 1979 (Leslie Nielsen, Ruth Buzzi, Don Sutton, LaWanda Page, Pat Harrington; ? {female}/? {male}/Beverly, with Fred Travalena making an appearance; montage including Fred's appearance)
 * March 27, 1979 (Robert Pine, Dody Goodman, Conrad Bain, Anne Lockhart, Robert Gulliame; Vanessa/Michael/Dale; has some commercials and a Ticket Plug!)


 * May 4, 1979 (BILL CULLEN!, Della Reese, John Schuck, Nanette Fabray, Arte Johnson; Laura/Chris/Dee Dee; clips only)
 * June 5, 1979 (Nipsey Russell, Abbe Lane, Jamie Farr, Lynn Redgrave, Billy Crystal {Part 2}; Hazel/Gary/Liz; taped from GSN! {alternate copy, fast-forwards through commercials})
 * [Bob plugs Nipsey as performing "through January 31", suggesting this is actually from early in the run.]


 * July 9, 1979 (Wilt Chamberlain, Elaine Joyce, Jon "Bowzer" Bauman, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Wayland Flowers & Madame; Wendy/Jay/Morrisa; studio master with Ticket Plug, average video)

The Amateur's Guide To Love
CBS Daytime: March 27 - June 23, 1972 (taped March 18? - June at Television City)

Heatter-Quigley show based around relationship advice, probably better known as CBS' first foray back into the realm of the daytime game show after canning To Tell The Truth in '68.


 * 1972 (Intro)

Anybody Can Play
ABC Primetime: July 6 - December 8, 1958

Straightforward quiz hosted by George Fenneman, by all indication.


 * November-December 1958 (Intro)

Baby Game
ABC Daytime: January 1 - July 12, 1968 (taped in New York)

Two couples predict how children will act in certain situations, and high score at the end gets prizes for their own children.

At least one "America's Cutest Kid" contest was held, where viewers could send in pictures of their children. The winning entry got a $15,000 college education for their child, while five others got a 1968 Pontiac station wagon.

The show ran in a 25-minute timeslot (followed by the five-minute educational series The Children's Doctor), but this doesn't seem to have impacted things in any way. While the show did well enough to get a renewal in early March (Variety 3/7/68 Daily, Page 23), ratings fell enough to where ABC canned it in early May (Variety 5/8/68 Weekly, Pages 219/228), opting to retain the also-struggling Dating Game instead.

(And no, I don't know who won the aforementioned contest.)


 * January 15, 1968 (#11: George & Caroline vs. Gloria & Lloyd; has commercials)


 * Late March-Early July 1968 (Tom & Nancy vs. Nan & Alan; has commercials, sound goes up and down, credits seem to be missing {possibly ABC's doing, since the Children's Doctor title card appears at the very end})
 * [Richard, at 11:32 (following the plugs for the prizes the couples get): "Between this and Dream House, [announcer Chet Gould]'s the new Santa Claus."]
 * [Promo at 10:33 is for a Dream Whip "Strawberry Season's Greetings" motif that's pretty heavily Christmas-themed. This and a mention of "whip up Summer Christmas trees" may suggest July, given the whole "Christmas in July" thing.]


 * 1968 (Intro of a different episode than the above two)

Bank on the Stars
CBS Primetime: June 20 - August 8, 1953

NBC Primetime: May 15 - August 21, 1954

Good quiz about observation and knowledge of current movies.

Bill Cullen (May-July 1954)
 * June 19, 1954 (Joyce Collins & John Rosen, Annemarie Bernard & Edward Schmidt, Ann & Richard Dale {Part 2}, with the Bank Night Bonus at $250; Films: Johnny Dark, Mr. Hulot's Holiday, The Caine Mutiny; has commercials {alternate copy, lower quality, opening clip missing})
 * [Roger Price appears to plug Droodles (debuted 6/21/54) after Game 1, noting that it'll start "next Monday". Opening clip is from Apache.]

Beat the Odds (1961)
KTLA, Daily: July 17, 1961 - August 23, 1963

Fun word game, and easily one of the more well-known KTLA game shows (two others being Seven Keys and Liars Club).

The show ended not because of ratings, but out of spite to creator/producer Bill Derman after he "sold" Shopping Spree to Merv Griffin as Word for Word.

Mike Stokey (1961-62)
 * July 21, 1961 (#5: Arnold vs. Mildred, continued from yesterday at 900-900 with Lee and Paul playing later {Part 3}; has commercials and a Home Viewer Contest Plug! {alternate copy... thing})

Dennis James (began 7/62)
 * 1963 (Friday: Michele {Game 4} vs. Bill, continued from yesterday {500-0 in Bill's favor} with the Jackpot at $1,450; first segment only {alternate copy of intro, low audio})
 * [Dennis notes that winning four games gives you a chance at the Jackpot.]

Bedtime Stories
Syndicated, Daily: June 18 - August, 1979

Really short-lived Heatter-Quigley show that had couples guessing the most popular answer to poll questions for various prizes.


 * Taped 3/9/79 (Pilot: John & Nancy Caring vs. Janice & Joel Grace; has slate and a text-based sales pitch! {alternate copy of intro})
 * [The sales pitch notes that the show will be seen in the Fall, which might have been a better move.]


 * June 1979 (Promo)

The Better Sex
ABC Daytime: July 18, 1977 - January 13, 1978 (136 episodes, taped at ABC Television Center in Hollywood)

Six-month Goodson-Todman battle-of-the-sexes game that replaced Second Chance.


 * Taped 4/28/77 (Pilot #3: Jeffrey/Bill/Jack/William/Chuck/Major/Jerry vs. Janet/Blanche/Glenda/Pat/Sharon/Dawn/Jerri)
 * [Larger teams (seven per side), a bigger audience for the bonus round (70 people, consisting of both genders), and more money on offer ($7,000).]


 * Taped 1977 (Intro of an episode, with timecode)
 * [From the series (the teams have six members each), but not the Finale or either of the episodes GSN aired.]


 * September-October 1977 (Harold/Eric/Ray/Bill/Jim/Charles {$26,000!} vs. Beverly/Jeannette/Gail/Louise/Crystal/Carolyn; taped from GSN by way of Faux Pause {yay :P}, rightmost fifth or so cut off)
 * [The men's team has been around for "several days". Also, since it's Faux Pause, expect lots of interruptions, skipping, and painfully unfunny "humor".]
 * October-November 1977 (George/Hank/Ernest/Richard/Curtis/Robaire at Bonus, then vs. Kathy/Josephine/Susan/Leslie/Janice/Stephanie, with an amazing event that may have only happened once; taped from GSN on 12/1/96, pretty wavy video but still watchable {alternate copy of first bonus round, better quality})
 * [Bill notes that "We've been on the air for about 15 or 16 weeks."]


 * January 13, 1978 (#136-BSX-77/Finale: Neal/Vern/Robert/Bob/Angel/Mike {$28,000!} at Bonus, then vs. Johanna/Helen/Jackie/Karen/Wendy/Sherry, with a great goodbye from Bill and Sarah {taped 12/10/77}; studio master with slate! {alternate copy of intro})

The Big Payoff
NBC Daytime: December 31, 1951 - March 27, 1953

NBC Primetime: June 29 - September 14, 1952/June 21 - September 27, 1953

CBS Daytime: March 30, 1953 - October 16, 1959

Game show/fashion show hybrid that ran for most of the decade and, to my knowledge, never came under scrutiny during the quiz show scandals.

I vaguely remember seeing some silent CBS-era film clips, mainly behind-the-scenes footage, online years ago.

CBS (1953-59)
 * 1956? (Seven-minute clip of the uploader's parents, Elmer & Norma, on the show for their second day; audio only, which gets rough at a couple points due to issues with the original disc {see below})
 * [The host (likely Bob Paige) mentions "yesterday". Per the uploader, this was recorded to an Audiodisc (acetate over an aluminum disc), which was similar in appearance to a 10" vinyl record, but over the years the disc became dirty and warped to the point where the aluminum was showing a bit in three spots.]

Syndicated, Daily: approx. September - December, 1962

A revamp with the original version's second host and final format, albeit with just two couples competing instead of three.


 * Taped 1962 (Pilot: Arthur & Arlene vs. Dr. & Joyce Sykes; has a Payoff Partner Plug, low audio, first part of second segment missing {alternate copy})
 * [For whatever reason, announcer Marvin Lark calls the host "David-I mean Bob" a few times.]

The Big Showdown
ABC Daytime: December 23, 1974 - July 4, 1975

One of the bigger 1970s cult classics in the genre, and for good reason, though the $10,000 top prize was won...maybe twice? (Definitely at least once, per recollections.)


 * Taped 1974 (Pilot: Nancy/Bob/Elaine, with "Politics '74" as a Round 2 category that never gets picked)
 * [Simply called Showdown, with a slightly different set and some different payouts. Notably, the top prize is consistently said to be $5,000 until just before the champ rolls to set their Payoff Point.]
 * [Darryl Heine: "the original Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows (1987 book version) showed pics from another Show Down pilot where the catagories for the Final Show Down round were ANOTOMY, FASHION, and THE BARD." (There were definitely at least two pilots with this format; the original pilot, with a much smaller set and a "break the safe" endgame, was taped in '73.)]
 * [As for the tapedate, the best hints at one probably the Barbra Streisand question at 9:34 and the Robert Redford one at 12:46, both in the Oscars category, as the 46th Academy Awards were held 4/2/74. If the mentions of nominations refer to an announcement of the nods rather than the ceremony itself, the fact the Redford question mentions The Sting (released 12/25/73), along with three other questions (about new "Energy Czar" William Simon, the "brand-new" 13-cent price of airmail stamps, and Gore Vidal's book on Aaron Burr), would suggest this being earlier '74 with an outside chance of late 12/73 (the latter of which would help explain why Politics '74 wasn't picked).]


 * Late December 1974 (Promo, with clips of Sharon {$750}/Joel/Marge)
 * 1975 (Clip of Norma {Day 2} at the bonus round)


 * March 25?, 1975 (#38-SWD-75 {67 overall}: Andy {Day 2 - $775}/Diane/Mike, with Jim's infamous slip on the stairs! {taped 3/14/75}; studio master with a Contestant Plug, "scratchy" audio {alternate copies: #1, has some graphics added by the uploader, Contestant Plug missing; #2, has slate but really low audio})

Bingo at Home (1958)
WABD (New York), Daily: February 17 - December 12, 1958 (station renamed WNEW on September 7)

One of Monty Hall's earliest game shows, if not his first in America, and...I don't wanna say too much bad since it's essentially a DuMont show (WABD was the network's flagship station) and they tend to have effort put into them (to make up for the distinct lack of budget)... but despite Monty's attempts to make things interesting this is kinda lame. Maybe it improved later on, but I don't know.

Oh, and this show ran an hour.

There's been some confusion as to when the show aired, with various places dating the below half-episode to 1955, 1957, and 1958. The info currently on this wiki's page for the show is thanks to Variety blurbs; not mentioned there is that Stone Associates looked to shop it around to networks and syndication, the latter as a "franchise" like College Bowl and Bowling For Dollars.

Unfortunately, Bingo at Home lost its major sponsors (General Foods and Standard Brands) at the end of November, resulting in its demise shortly afterward. Producer Martin Stone attempted to shop it to the other New York stations, to no avail.


 * February 24-September 1, 1958 (Monday: First game offers a DuMont 21-inch "Beverly" television and hi-fi unit {first ball: G2}; has commercials, first half-hour only, audio hissing sometimes overtakes speech and sounds {generally pretty audible, though}, no video for last 30 seconds {alternate copy})
 * [Commercial Sponsors: Chase & Sanborn instant coffee (at the time owned by Standard Brands), Pop-A-Day Pops (vitamin lollipops), uncertain (during the final part of the available footage, which has no video); Monty's pitch for Pop-A-Day suggests it was introduced relatively recently.]
 * [At this point, the station is still known as WABD, as those call letters are used in the mailing address for those who want to play but either have an unlisted number or don't have a phone line yet. Patty notes around 6:40, when explaining how to submit a winning card, that they can only accept postcards and "letters cannot be handled by our mail sorters from now on", suggesting that letters were accepted earlier in the run. During the first game, after the sixth draw, Monty notes a comment he made "last week". 14:10 and 23:05 have drawings for the winners of last Monday's first two games, along with 10 consolation prizes for each.]

Bingo at Home (1969)
Syndicated, Daily: March 3 - May 30, 1969 (65 episodes)

Also shown in Canada, and also known as Money Makers, five players compete for an entire week. Hosted by Jim Perry, who you might not recognize on sight because his hair is gray.


 * 1969 (Liz/Graham/Pamela/Julian/Mari-Lou, Day 3; six-minute portion, including player intros)
 * [Per the uploader, Jamie Locklin: "This might actually be the show's pilot, but it could also be from very early in the run. I never have received confirmation on that."]

Call My Bluff
NBC Daytime: March 29 - September 24, 1965

Goodson-Todman format about giving definitions for odd words (only one of which is right), essentially a national version of San Francisco's Oh My Word, which debuted around the same time.

A British version debuted a few weeks after the US run ended, and went on to huge success, running until 1988 with a revival airing from 1996-2005. Per Frank Muir, longtime team captain on the original UK run, the American series "was a bit of a shambles, mainly because the bluffs... were so obviously false that it was painfully easy to spot the trues."


 * Taped 1/29 or 2/27/65 (Pilot/Rehearsal, intro only)
 * [Don Pardo announces, which he apparently didn't do during the series.]

Camouflage (1961)
ABC Daytime: January 9, 1961 - November 16, 1962

Answer a question, try to find a hidden object in a drawing. Good show, but Chuck Barris' 1980 revamp was...just bad.


 * January 8, 1962 (Johnny Gilbert hosts!: Begins with Johnny talking to champ Wendy Taylor and running down what she won the previous Friday, then Marita vs. Bette; has commercials {alternate copy})
 * [Also the 1st-Anniversary Show, with a small cake celebration at the end.]

Celebrity Sweepstakes
NBC Daytime: April 1, 1974 - October 1, 1976 (645 episodes, taped through September 15, 1976)

Syndicated, Weekly: September 9, 1974 - September, 1975/September 20, 1976 - September, 1977

Long ago, I didn't think a celebrity prediction game with a horse racing theme would be a thing, but here we are.

A Japanese version, Quiz Derby, debuted in 1976 and used five celebs instead of six. While the American version ran three years, the Japanese version lasted sixteen.

NBC (1974-76)

Three players (pilots and first few weeks only)
 * Taped 1/23/74 (Pilot #2: John Astin, Lucie Arnaz, Ted Knight, Dean Jones, Patty Duke-Astin, Jane Withers; Sandi {$12,850}/Cy/Jackie {Three-Day Champ Car: Pontiac Firebird})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 21:00 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one. Format and set are slightly different, a notable instance of the latter being that the celebrity nameplates are small black characters on a white background.]

Two players (rest of series)
 * January 6, 1975 (Closing credits, with Chuck Woolery plugging the premiere of Wheel of Fortune!; audio only)
 * March 18, 1975 (Darren McGavin, BETTY WHITE, Joey Bishop, Carol Wayne, Jim Nabors, Dan Rowan; Julia vs. Sherry, with a replay of yesterday's Shamrock Sweepstakes win!; taped from WAVE, ends shortly after said replay)


 * September-October 1975 (Clips of Billy Braver as a panelist)
 * [First two clips are from a week with Wolfman Jack, Lola Falana, Gabriel Kaplan, Carol Wayne, and James Darren. Third clip is from a week with Buddy Hackett, Sally Struthers, Orson Bean, Carol Wayne, and Shelley Winters. This page lists said weeks as September 22-26 and October 27-31, 1975.]


 * October 1, 1976 (Finale {taped 9/15/76}: Greg Mulavey, Debralee Scott, Alan Sues, Carol Wayne, Nipsey Russell, Pat Cooper {Part 3}; Dave {$11,630!} vs. Hilary; studio master! {alternate copy of an Alan Sues question})

Celebrity Time
ABC Primetime: April 3, 1949 - March 26, 1950

CBS Primetime: April 2 - June 27, 1950/October 1, 1950 - September 21, 1952

Four panelists (two men, two women) tried to identify people and events from newsreel footage and other films. TV Obscurities has a post about the show here.

CBS (1950-52)
 * October 1, 1950 (Kyle MacDonnell & KITTY CARLISLE vs. Herman Hickman & Zachary Scott; taped from WCBS with commercials, last six minutes only)

Chain Letter
NBC Daytime: July 4 - October 14, 1966

Two teams of two were given a category, then had to give a word that starts with the last letter of the previous word given.


 * Taped 4/25/66 (Pilot: RUTA LEE & Dick Patterson; credits only)
 * [Uses "Put On A Happy Face" as the theme (the series used a different piece), and seems to be the source of the press photos on Getty Images. UCLA's copy lists an airdate of July 4, suggesting this was an aired pilot.]

The Cheap Show
Syndicated, Weekly: September, 1978 - September, 1979 (taped at Metromedia Square in Hollywood)

Does for the genre as a whole (especially low-budget ones) what The Gong Show did for talent contests and The $1.98 Beauty Show did for beauty pageants. That's pretty much the best way I can describe it.

(Oh, and "hella weird". That too. :P)


 * Taped 5/5/78 (#4: Rita Moreno & David Doyle {No-Show: Henry Ford}; Marta & Jone vs. Jeff & Stewart {Part 2, Part 3}; video quality is for the most part fine, but occasionally goes borderline unwatchable)
 * [Car: Chevy Chevette four-door hatchback. UCLA holds four episodes (2, 4, 18, and 23), with Rita and David listed for Episode #4.]

Choose Up Sides
NBC Saturday Mornings: January 7 - March 31, 1956 (13 episodes)

Short-lived children's stunt show that was also Goodson-Todman's only attempt at doing a game show for kids. Shame, too, since this seemed to show they could pull it off pretty well...although Mr. Mischief (series announcer Don Pardo doing a falsetto; yes, really) is a bit creepy-looking.

Problem is, the show was sustained by the network, and there were no advertisers who offered to sponsor it.


 * January 7, 1956 (Premiere: First game is Dino {playing for Ann} vs. Marc {playing for Patty}; taped from GSN, seems to end during credits)

Players' sweaters change from images of a rocket and cowboy hat to "SP" and "BB" respectively (began by 1/21/56)
 * January 21, 1956 (First game is Donna {playing for Earl} vs. Marilyn {playing for Johnny}; taped from GSN with commercials, audio is a bit low)
 * Early 1956 (Intro, from original broadcast; pretty low audio)

Dealer's Choice
Syndicated, Daily: January 21, 1974 - December 12, 1975 (300+ episodes, taping began in 1973)

I love this show: lots of games, a great atmosphere, and a catchy theme tune.

Pilots were shot on August 24 and September 8, 1973, with at least the latter hosted by Robert Horton (Variety 8/20/73 Daily, Page 7; Variety 8/29/73 Daily, Page 6).

The show was originally produced by Odyssey Productions and syndicated by Les Wallwork and Associates. Around June 1974, these were altered to Fishman-Freer (same company as Odyssey, just a different name) and Columbia Pictures Television respectively.

Bob Hastings (first few weeks)

Feels like an actor playing a game show host rather than being one, which is never a good sign.

According to Russell Freer, he also talked way too much (requiring a bunch of edits), which wouldn't necessarily be a "get out"-worthy issue...except that during one taping, Hastings told a severely-trailing player "you don't have a Chinaman's chance", which freaked everybody out.

So...we have a lousy host who cost the show a ton of money in post-production, plus he dropped a racial slur. And the show probably hadn't even debuted yet. Yeah, no surprise he was kicked out after just a few weeks were taped; I'm not sure when he was canned or how many episodes he did, but he was still listed as host for tapings as late as January 25 (Variety 1/21/74 Daily, Page 13).


 * January-February 1974 (Liz/Dick/Linda {taped 1973}; begins during Game 2 {Wheel of Chance}, low audio, audio/video is off)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 6:45 is...the Spring/Summer 1974 one? What, did they edit in the current-for-airdate one right before sending it out or somesuch? Regardless, at this point the original set is still in use.]

Jack Clark (began 2?/74)

And with this, the show has substantially improved before even resuming tapings. :)

The cover of the home game, Place Your Bets! (long story), shows Jack next to the original Wheel of Chance and near the original contestant podiums, indicating that they were still present when he took over. The standard set definitely debuted by about July 1974.

Around January 1975, the show moved from the Tropicana Hotel in Vegas to The Burbank Studios in California (Variety 1/8/75 Daily, Page 24); according to Chuck Donegan's page on the show, for the last part of the run taping moved again to KTTV in Los Angeles.

Production ended by early July 1975 (Variety 7/9/75 Weekly, Page 46), with Columbia citing "the rough economy" as the reason (Broadcasting 7/28/75, Page 31). I'm not sure when first-run episodes stopped, but repeats were definitely airing for the last few months or so.

Standard set (debuted by about 7/74)
 * 1974 (Janet/Mel/Terry {alternate copy of some portions, edited down as a pitchfilm})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 6:35 of Part 1 is the Spring/Summer 1974 one. At one point, Jack introduces the "Dealer's Choice A's", a baseball team (presumably Little League) who went undefeated, although I can't seem to find any info on them.]

Show moves to Burbank (began 1?/75)
 * 1975 (#301: Marilyn/Carolyn/Kate; studio master with slate, video issues at times {particularly during credits})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 14:55 is the Spring/Summer 1975 one. One prize is tickets to see The Stepford Wives (released 2/12/75), starring Katherine Ross and Paula Prentiss.]

Don Adams' Screen Test
Syndicated, Weekly: September 7, 1975 - February 21 [September 18], 1976 (24 episodes)

Essentially a pet project of Adams, who served as executive producer and host along with directing the various scenes.


 * Taped 5/16/75 (Pilot: First 12 minutes, with James Cann appearing and segment with Connie Stevens only)
 * [Runs an hour, and was financed by Adams himself. The slates used for the screen tests are generic, whereas the series used a slate with the show's logo present.]


 * Taped 1975 (Clips of Pamela Rodriguez's screen test with Doug McClure)
 * [The uploader (Nancy Ellen Sonnabend) worked on the show, and has a lot of insightful comments on what turned out to be a one-season syndicated obscurity. She also tried to get Universal to release the series on DVD at the same time they were putting out Get Smart, but the company wasn't (and isn't) interested.]
 * 1975-76 (Various bloopers {including some with Mel Brooks!}, from the 1984 special Foul-Ups, Bleeps and Blunders)

Down You Go
DuMont Primetime: May 30, 1951 - May 20, 1955

CBS Primetime: June 11 - September 3, 1955

ABC Primetime: September 15, 1955 - June 14, 1956

NBC Primetime: June 16 - September 8, 1956 

Long-running game of televised hangman, with phrases sent in by home viewers. Dr. Bergen Evans hosted the first three runs, with the NBC run being more of a comedy game hosted by Bill Cullen.

CBS (1955)
 * 1955 (Francis Coughlin, Patricia Cutts, Jerome Weidman, Laraine Day, with a cameo by announcer JACK CLARK!; has a Phrase Submission Plug, video is a bit blurry, audio/video is off {alternate copy of intro, far better quality})

Everybody's Talking!
ABC Daytime: February 6 - December 29, 1967

ABC's last daytime show produced in black-and-white, in which players had to determine what people on the street were talking about.

On April 3, the show did two weeks with celebrities playing for home viewers (Variety 3/29/67 Weekly, Page 32), but this appears to have become permanent (if not seamlessly, then definitely by June 2), making this possibly the first instance of a game show going the "all celebs, all the time" route.

When the show debuted, the announcer was Wink Martindale. Around late June, when he left to do Dream Girl of '67, he was replaced by Charlie O'Donnell.

First-run episodes appear to have ended in October, possibly due to the NABET strike, with repeats airing afterward (Variety 11/1/67 Weekly, Page 27).

Original format
 * February 6, 1967 (#1-67/Premiere: Geri/Mike/Pat, with Bob and Bonnie playing later {alternate copy of intro})

Funny You Should Ask!!
ABC Daytime: October 28, 1968 - June 27, 1969

Heatter-Quigley's revamp of The Celebrity Game: this time, a celebrity panel was given a dilemma-type question and shared their thoughts, after which the players were brought out and had to match a given answer to the celeb who gave it.


 * January 1969 (Noel Harrison, Nanette Fabray, Jim Backus, Jan Murray, Donna Jean Young; intro and clips mostly involving Noel, B/W video)


 * March 24, 1969 (Glenn Ford, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Stu Gilliam, Jim Backus, Martha Raye {Part 2}; Susan vs. Nick, with the Funny Money Jackpot starting at $4,400!; has commercials, B/W video)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 6:15 of Part 1 is the Spring/Summer 1969 one.]


 * April 1969 (Dean Jones, ROSE MARIE, Stu Gilliam, Marty Allen, Meredith MacRae; Rita vs. Jake, with the Funny Money Jackpot starting at $1,100; has commercials, B/W video {alternate copy, video is a bit pixely and bright})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 6:40 is the Spring/Summer 1969 one. Includes that day's Children's Doctor presentation.]

The Generation Gap
ABC Primetime: February 7 - May 23, 1969 (16 episodes, taped January 26 - May 7)

Great quiz that pit the "older generation" against the "younger generation" 15 years before Trivia Trap. Probably better known as the show that brought Jack Barry back to hosting on national television, though.

Dennis Wholey (through 4/11/69)

When the series began, all six contestant podiums had solid-color bases, and they were all the same color. The standard look (red-on-yellow for the adults, yellow-on-red for the teens) debuted by March 14.


 * Taped 10/68 (Pilot: Mrs. Murray/Mr. Gallagher/Mrs. Poliakin vs. Nancy/Jonathan/Reeta; Special Guests: The Turtles, Kenny Delmar {Part 2, Part 3})
 * [One question is about the new Peter Sellers film I Love You, Alice B. Toklas (released 10/7/68). Another is about the newest Ambassador to the United Nations, James Russell Wiggins (who held the office from 10/68-1/69). The Turtles play "Elenore", released 9/68.]


 * February 7, 1969 (Premiere: Nancy/Thomas/Jane Henesy vs. David Henesy/Sue/Victor {taped 1/30/69}; Special Guests: The Ohio Express, Bill Kenny; has commercials {alternate copy of some portions})

Standard contestant podiums (began by 3/14/69)
 * March 14, 1969 (#6: Mrs. O'Brien/Hugh O'Brian/Mrs. Stone vs. Chris/Jon/Paul Levine {taped 3/5/69}; Special Guests: Pinky Lee {about a decade after he stopped being relevant}, The Brooklyn Bridge; intro, player interviews, and Pinky's portion only {alternate copy of intro})


 * March 28, 1969 (#8: Mrs. Morgan/ORSON BEAN/Barbara Cowsill vs. Bob/Cathie/Tony {taped 3/20/69}; Special Guests: Del Reeves, The Classics IV, Katherine Raht, Jonathan Frid {as Barnabas Collins!}; intro and Frid's portion only)
 * April 4, 1969 (#9: Jonathan Frid/Mrs. Mundy/SOUPY SALES vs. Tony Sales/Ruth/Andy {taped 3/20/69}; Special Guests: Chubby Checker, Gladys Knight and the Pips, Renzo Cesana; montage, centered around Frid)

Get the Message
ABC Daytime: March 30 - December 25, 1964 (195 episodes, taped at the Elysee Theater in New York City)

Another Password variant by Goodson-Todman, this time with teams of two celebrities and one contestant.

Frank Buxton
 * April 9, 1964 (Peggy Cass, Phyllis Newman, Orson Bean, Howard Keel {taped 3/13/64}; Ellen vs. Wilson, then Betty vs. Dave; taped from GSN, low audio, ends during credits)

Set slightly altered, messages now displayed in a split-screen effect, bonus round changes from Turnabout to Open Round (began by 5/1/64)
 * May 1, 1964 (Ann Sothern, Nancy Dussault, Abe Burrows, Daryl Hickman; Barbara vs. Al, who stay for the whole show; has commercials, low audio {alternate copy of intro})
 * [Also by this point, Chet Gould has become announcer, replacing Johnny Olson.]

Robert Q. Lewis (began 9/28/64)
 * December 25, 1964 (Finale/Celebrity Special: Arlene Francis, Barbara Cook, Marty Ingles, Douglas Fairbanks; Joan Fontaine vs. Mitch Miller, then Julia Mead vs. Orson Bean; taped from GSN, audio is a bit low)
 * [By this point, nameplates have been added for the celebrities.]

Giant Step
CBS Primetime: November 7, 1956 - May 29, 1957

Basically a children's version of The $64,000 Question, with the top prize being an all-expenses paid college education and a travel scholarship around the world after graduation.

CBS, wanting to boost affiliate clearances for the show, offered a closed-circuit telecast in early October 1956 (essentially a pilot, I suppose). Step was originally going to be canned by sponsor General Mills after February (Variety 2/6/57 Daily, Page 6), but the company gave it a last-minute reprieve (Variety 3/6/57 Weekly, Page 27)...only to bring the axe down permanently just after April (Variety 5/1/57 Weekly, Page 46).


 * November 21?-December 19, 1956 (Kenny Sweetman? for Step 7 in Entymology, Joseph Pikliter? for Step 8 in US Presidents, Stephanie Maris for Step 6 in Astronomy; has commercials and a Contestant Plug! {alternate copy})
 * [One promo is for Christmas ideas. Has a fun (though I suppose one could argue for it being arrogant) moment I've never seen in any blooper specials: Bert tells a joke to the first contestant, which Kenny not only doesn't like but goes on to explain why the joke doesn't work.]

Give-N-Take
CBS Daytime: September 8 - November 26, 1975 (58 episodes, taped at The Burbank Studios)

Really an "odd one out" in '75: there's really not much to the format, plus it has a dark set in an era of bright colors/pastels. Television Obscurities has a print ad for the debut here, which also has a quick plug for the "special full-hour The Price is Right" shows airing that week.

And honestly, that was probably the first slap in the face to this show's chances, which became even worse when Price permanently expanded to an hour on November 3, shoving Take all the way down to 4:00 PM Eastern. Still, Bill Carruthers saw some merit in the format, revamping it into Up and Over in 1986.


 * September 26, 1975 (#0015 {taped 9/19/75}: Gina/Susan/Judy/Ann {Part 2, Part 3}; has slate and Ticket Plug, video quality is about average)
 * [Judy was later on The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime (1987).]

Golf For Swingers
Syndicated, Weekly: January 15 - September?, 1972 (13? episodes, began taping October 8, 1971)

Short-lived show where two celebs play three holes against Trevino, a pro golfer. The show seems to have been canned without much notice, as Variety blurbs as late as 11/22/72 mention it in the present tense, with one (9/27/72 Daily, Page 7) mentioning a second season.


 * 1972 (First half of an episode with Sammy Davis Jr. and Jack Benny)

High Low
NBC Primetime: July 4 - September 19, 1957 (done in New York)

Quiz kinda based on High-Low Poker, with celebrities and isolation booths. One of the regular panelists, Burl Ives, was replaced for the last two episodes by Walter Slezak so the former could co-star in Big Country with Gregory Peck (Variety 9/11/57 Weekly, Page 48).

High Low was a Summer replacement for Tennessee Ernie Ford's Ford Show, with the same sponsor. While it was under consideration by Pharmaceuticals Inc. and the Parkson agency as a midseason replacement for What's it For?, this never got off the ground.


 * 1957 (Intro, with timecode)

Hold That Note
NBC Primetime: January 22 - April 2, 1957 (broadcast from New York City)

Short-lived Name That Tune-esque musical quiz where the earlier you identify a song, the more money gets put into a Jackpot ($50 per remaining note). Winner gets the entire Jackpot, loser gets a separate 10% cut. Interesting show, and certainly fast-paced in the one episode known to exist.

Note replaced Break the $250,000 Bank, also hosted by Bert Parks, and by all indication used most of the "Hall of Knowledge" set Bank had for that final season (hence the artsy statues in the wide set shots and the bookcase behind Bert). The show doesn't seem to have been all that popular, though, as the Medford Mail Tribune remarked on 9/16/57 that Note was "a fairly clumsy piece of TV furniture" and "the victim of a mercy killing by NBC".

Oof.


 * March 26, 1957 (TINA ROBIN {Game 5 - $19,100} vs. Frankie, continued from last week {1-0 in Tina's favor and $500 in the Jackpot} with John, Millie, Jackie, and Stanley playing later; has a Contestant Plug, bad commercial edits {alternate copy of intro})
 * [Bert mentions that Tina got a contract with Coral Records as a result of her appearances on the show. Tina notes that she made a record "today" (which she can't name), which will be released "in ten days". 45cat's discography page on Tina indicates that said record, containing the songs "My Mammy" and "I Have A Heart", was released in April 1957.]

Hot Seat
ABC Daytime: July 12 - October 22, 1976 (taped at ABC Television Center in Hollywood)

The show that replaced Let's Make A Deal was, basically, televised lie-detector tests.


 * July 1976 (Debut promo, with clips of the 3/23/76 Pilot)


 * July 12?, 1976 (Premiere?: Fred & Debbie vs. Jeff & Susan {Part 3, Part 4}; has some commercials, begins as Jim walks out, average video)
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 4:33 of Part 3 is the Fall/Winter 1976 one.]

I'll Bet
NBC Daytime: March 29 - September 24, 1965

Fun little game where celebrities determine whether their spouse can answer a given question. At some point in the run, the NBC affiliates began to be revealed after the game rather than before (or possibly vice-versa).


 * September 6, 1965 (Denise Darcel & Bob Atkinson vs. Robert & Nancy Culp; First Question: "What sea parted to allow Moses and the Israelites to escape from the Egyptians?"; has commercials, first five minutes only, video is a bit bright {alternate copy of intro})
 * [Robert is plugged as being from "NBC's new series I Spy" (debuted 9/15/65). NBC affiliates revealed after the game.]

Information, Please!
CBS Primetime: June 29 - September 21, 1952

A long-running radio quiz where panelists answered questions submitted by listeners made the jump to TV four years later...and got canned in three months.

To be honest, I'm making this section for one reason only...


 * 1940 (RKO theatrical short comprising part of an episode: Franklin P. Adams, Oscar Levant, John Kieran, Deems Taylor; quality isn't the greatest at times, but still very watchable)
 * [Okay, admittedly I'm stretching this since it's from the radio version (one of many filmed episodes RKO released as shorts between 1939-42), but I'm not particularly interested in sections for radio shows for the reasons I mentioned at the top of this page.]

It's Your Bet
Syndicated, Daily: September 29, 1969 - September 7, 1973

While I'll Bet ran just six months, the revamp ran four seasons, albeit only on NBC affiliates. Also well-known for having a revolving emcee door.

Hal March
 * September-October 1969 (Michael & Patricia Callen vs. Jan & Toni Murray; studio master, intro only)

Tom Kennedy
 * November 5, 1969 (#28: Lyle & Sharon Waggoner vs. Imogene Coca & King Donovan {taped 10/21/69}; studio master with slate!)
 * [At this point, Tom is simply filling in for Hal.]

Junior Almost Anything Goes
ABC Weekend Mornings: September 11, 1976 - September 4, 1977 (moved from Saturdays to Sundays in January)

The third season of Almost Anything Goes, this time for children, with the teams all from the same city.


 * Summer 1976 (Debut promo, with some clips)

Keep Talking
CBS Primetime: July 15, 1958 - September 2, 1959

ABC Primetime: October 29, 1959 - May 3, 1960

Teams of celebrities had to work a specific phrase into an ad-libbed conversation, after which the opponents tried to identify the phrase.

While beginning as a standard Summer replacement show, Keep Talking became a full-time series thanks to the cancellation of The $64,000 Question.


 * 1959? (Clip of a blooper involving Orson Bean and Pat Carroll; not sure who the host is here)
 * [The wall behind Orson and Pat shows a sponsor of Mutual of Omaha, which appears to have become a permanent sponsor after the CBS run.]

Knockout
NBC Daytime: October 3, 1977 - April 21, 1978 (taped at NBC Studios in Burbank)

Good show that might have run longer if NBC hadn't put it up against Family Feud.

A British version, Odd One Out, was one of three Paul Daniels-hosted adaptations of shows that ran briefly in the US but became hits in the UK (the others being Every Second Counts and Wipeout).


 * October 3, 1977 (Premiere: Begins with Kacy/Jes/Stella; audio only {alternate copy, with a visual rendering})
 * [Winning five games awards a Chevy Chevette four-door hatchback.]


 * Early 1978 (Begins with Maxine/Jack/Anita, continued from last time; has a Ticket Plug, ends during sponsor list)
 * [Winning five games awards a Ford Fairmont. Arte mentions "tomorrow" when signing off.]

Lohman & Barkley's Name Droppers
NBC Daytime: September 29, 1969 - March 27, 1970

An interesting inversion of To Tell The Truth: one person with three stories.


 * March 26, 1970 (Bob Cummings, Ruth Buzzi, Bob Newhart; Name Droppers: Ward, Tina; intro and a round of Tina's gameplay)

The Magnificent Marble Machine
NBC Daytime: July 7, 1975 - January 2, 1976/January 19 - March 12 [June 11], 1976 (taped at NBC Color City in Burbank)

Two celebrity-contestant teams answer word puzzles, with the winning team playing the titular Machine for tons of cash and prizes. I'm not gonna mince words here – this show was overblown and not really all that good, plus by all indication the Machine got cheaper as time went on.

The show took two weeks off so NBC could air an experimental talk show called Take My Advice, hosted by Kelly Lange of KNBC. When Marble returned, it turned into an all-celeb format...and got canned two months later, with repeats airing for the next three because The Fun Factory wasn't ready to go yet.

Probably the oddest thing about the series was its cameo in The China Syndrome (released 3/16/79) as the regular programming that gets interrupted near the end of the film. Oddly, the credits never mention the show or Heatter-Quigley.


 * July 10, 1975 (#4: Roddy McDowell & Florence Henderson {taped 6/23/75}; Gary vs. Bobbie, with Lyn playing later {Parts 3, 4, and 5}; video is a bit blurry, first second or so missing, brief flash of green at times {alternate copy of intro, in beautiful quality!})
 * [Spiegel catalog shown at 0:20 of Part 4 is the Spring/Summer 1975 one.]

Masquerade Party
NBC Primetime: July 14 - August 25, 1952/March 6 - September 4, 1957/October 2, 1958 - September 24, 1959/January 29 - September 23, 1960

CBS Primetime: June 22 - September 14, 1953/June 21 - September 27, 1954/August 4 - September 15, 1958/October 26, 1959 - January 18, 1960

ABC Primetime: September 29, 1954 - December 29, 1956

Good lord, this show bounced around a whole lot.

Peter Donald (1954-56 versions)
 * May 22, 1955 (Bobby Sherwood, Dagmar, Ogden Nash, Ilka Chase; begins with a classy-looking feminine-voiced male, continued from last week with 12 seconds used out of 300; has commercials)

Eddie Bracken (1957 version)
 * 1957 (Intro)

Syndicated, Weekly: September 9, 1974 - September, 1975

Still as great as ever, now with Richard Dawson hosting.


 * Taped 7/10/74 (Bill Bixby, Lee Meriwether, Nipsey Russell; studio master with timecode, intro and "Judge" game only)
 * 1974-75 (Bill Bixby, Lee Meriwether, Nipsey Russell; studio master with timecode, "Harpo Marx" game only)

Matches 'N Mates
Syndicated, Daily: March 20, 1967 - September, 1968 (approx. 130 episodes, taped at WJW in Cleveland, Ohio {early episodes} and WAGA in Atlanta, Georgia {later episodes})

Obscure Nicholson-Muir show hosted by Art James which, based on what I've heard, has a great format. Replaced by Pay Cards! for the 1968-69 season.


 * 1967-68 (Credits)

The Match Game (1962)
NBC Daytime: December 31, 1962 - September 26, 1969 (approx. 1,760 episodes)

The original series, which started off pretty pedestrian but turned into a comedy game later on. Too bad not much of this series exists...

First set and theme
 * Taped 12/5/62 (Pilot: Arthur/Peggy Cass/Ronni vs. Rick/Peter Lind Hayes/Mary; has commercials, amusingly {alternate copies, no commercials: #1, #2})
 * [Has a slightly different set (the celebs and score displays are in the middle instead of next to each other), a slightly different scoring system (10 points per match with 50 needed to win, Audience Match awards $25 per match), and a different version of "A Surfin' Safari" (Billy Vaughn's; the series used the Bert Kaempfert version).]

Standard theme, set, and scoring
 * January 21, 1964 (All-Star Week, Day 2: Joan Fontaine/Betty White/Peggy Cass vs. Bennett Cerf/Henry Morgan/Robert Q. Lewis {Part 2, Part 3}; taped from GSN, uploader's watermark in bottom-right corner throughout)
 * [Gene mentions "yesterday", and his comments suggest this is Tuesday.]


 * July 28, 1964 (Dave/Jean/Orson Bean vs. Jayne Mansfield/Joe/Marlene {Part 2, Part 3}; taped from GSN, uploader's watermark in bottom-right corner throughout)

Redone set and theme (began 9/67)
 * November 21, 1968 (Bill/Carol/Patrick O'Neal vs. Lauren Bacall/John/Peg {Telephone Match is at $700}, with Lauren calling question writer Dick DeBartolo her "secret passion"!; two-minute clip, B/W video)
 * [Uploaded by DeBartolo himself, in tribute to Lauren.]

Mindreaders (1979)
NBC Daytime: August 13, 1979 - January 11, 1980 (taped at NBC Studios in Burbank)

Short-lived ESP game by Goodson-Todman which I'm guessing NBC bought on the strength of Password Plus. It's not bad, per se, but it could've used a bit more work.


 * August 15, 1979 (Patty Duke-Astin & Nipsey Russell {Part 2}; Jan/Barbara/Catherine vs. Brendan/David/Leonard, Game 3 {continued at $250-$50 in the ladies' favor}, with Gail/Marilyn/Gloria vs. Jim/Clayton/John later; taped from WNBC, begins during intro, video is kinda blurry, video issues during part of first bonus round {alternate copies: full show; first 9:34, as a reconstruction attempt})
 * [Reconstruction combines the primary copy with this intro clip seen in the 1992 Mark Goodson birthday tape and these higher-quality clips uploaded by one of the players.]


 * December 13, 1979 (Joyce Bulifant & Jack Jones; Julie/Ray/Elizabeth at Bonus, then Game 2 of them vs. Peter/Larry/Ralph; taped from WNBC, with commercials)
 * [Copyright date uses Roman numerals (the 8/15/79 show uses standard numbers).]
 * December 31, 1979 (BRETT SOMERS & Bill Daily; ?/?/"Captain Sticky" {$1,200} vs. Celeste/?/? {$12,550!}, Game 3; taped from WNBC, first two minutes only)
 * [Dick notes that Johnny Olson is back after a week's absence. As for "Captain Sticky"...I don't know, and I don't want to know.]

Missing Links
NBC Daytime: September 9, 1963 - March 27, 1964

ABC Daytime: March 30 - December 25, 1964

Fun little Goodson-Todman panel game that's probably most well-known for being the show that got replaced by Jeopardy!...and the first show ABC put up against it.

ABC (1964)
 * July 9, 1964 (Sam Levenson, Kaye Ballard, Joel Grey; Players: Allen H. Seed Jr., Hazel McCavden, Billy Baxter; has commercials, timecode, and a Contestant Plug, video issues during third and fourth rounds of Game 1 {alternate copy of most of intro, no timecode})
 * [Home game is plugged and given to civilian contestants. Dick notes that tomorrow's guest will be Sally Ann Howes.]


 * December 25, 1964 (Finale: Sam Levenson, Phyllis Kirk, NIPSEY RUSSELL; Players: unknown; intro only)
 * [Set decorated a bit for Christmas (there's a wreath on the wall behind Dick).]

The Moneymaze
ABC Daytime: December 23, 1974 - June 27 [July 4], 1975 (taped in New York City)

Great idea that was severely hampered by several: for one, from what I've read, critics at the time had a field day with the whole "maze" thing. Secondly, it was up against TattleTales, which itself aired right after Match Game, resulting in Maze doing stuff later on like adding more prizes, having host Nick Clooney sing at the top of the show, and having celebrity-contestant teams (with Soupy Sales and Anita Gillette) for a week rather than married couples.

Third, and the biggest issue by far, was that it cost so damn much to set up, keep up, and take down the Maze. Per this article, it cost a fortune for studio rental and the stage crew got an absurd amount of overtime pay to strike the set and store it. If Maze had dedicated studio space where they could keep the set up and simply have to rearrange the Maze paths from week to week, it might have lasted a bit longer by virtue of simply not bleeding money.


 * Taped 1974 (Pilot: George & Joyce vs. Bernard & Helen {alternate copies: full show, about 15 seconds shorter; intro only})
 * [Slightly different set (most notably the logo, which had a blue background in the series), slightly different intro, and Chet Gould announces (Alan Kalter did the series).]


 * December 1974 (Debut promo, with clips of an early episode)
 * 1974-75 (End credits, audio only)

Musical Chairs (1975)
CBS Daytime: June 16 - October 31, 1975 (taped in New York City)

Pretty obscure, but holds an important place in genre history as the first American game show hosted by an African-American (Adam Wade). Also might have inspired the "Off the Air" segments of Remote Control.


 * September 11?, 1975 (Carole/Steve/Ronnie/Gerri; Special Guests: Irene Cara, Mary Stuart, The Spinners; audio is kinda bad {alternate copies, better audio: intro, montage of Irene Cara})

Number Please
ABC Daytime: January 31 - December 29, 1961

Goodson-Todman show based around hangman, where to win you have to solve your puzzle and your opponent's. For whatever reason, just one episode seems to exist.


 * May 1961 (Begins with Katherine Secord vs. Helen DeWitt; taped from GSN {alternate copy of intro, from original broadcast})

Password (1971)
ABC Daytime: April 5, 1971 - June 27, 1975 (1,099 episodes, taped at ABC Television Center in Hollywood)

The second era of the franchise, and easily the one most affected by the wiping practices of this period. At least internally, the show numbering continued from the CBS daytime run, as they had a "2,000th show" celebration at one point.

For info on the week-to-week celebs of this run, Aaron Handy has a really good guide here. The site also includes many press photos that were released during the show's run, in many cases the only known visual evidence of said episodes.

Original Era (1971-74)

At first, the only change besides set, music, announcer (now John Harlan), and network was removing the money for winning the game and adding a "Betting Word" after the Lightning Round: the player saw a slightly harder word, then bet from $0 to the amount earned that they'd get their partner to guess the word in 15 seconds. Also, instead of each player doing two games, there were returning champs with a 10-game limit; this led to a possible maximum of $5,000, which was pretty good money for daytime in the era between the quiz show scandals and The $10,000 Pyramid.

In 1973, the format was slightly altered to be a best-of-three style; probably at the same time, champs now played until defeated, and the Lightning Round doubled its payouts to $100/word.

Around June 1974, after winning "Outstanding Game Show" at the first Daytime Emmy Awards (held 5/28/74), a large Emmy statuette graphic was added onto the set. A brief intro clip from this era appears in The Real Match Game Story: Behind the Blank.

Eggcrate score displays (began sometime between 5/28 and 12/6/71; previously, they were the CBS-era style)
 * December 7, 1971 (#177: Jack Klugman & BRETT SOMERS; Mary {$700} vs. Diane, continued from yesterday {10-8 in Mary's favor} with Pat and Shamona playing later; taped from GSN, audio is a bit low)
 * [Has a full credit roll, which GSN crunches to show a stupid promo for their lame original StarFace.]


 * February 14, 1972 (Sheila MacRae & Martin Milner; Sandra vs. Jerry {$500}, continued from last Friday {10-0 in Sandra's favor}; first segment only {alternate copy})

All-Stars Era (began 11/18/74)

After a ton of all-celeb weeks and a few other gimmicks (two weeks with Monty Hall hosting, a $10,000 Tournament of Champions featuring winners from past years, and a week where the show's producers and writers played) during Summer-Fall 1974, this was essentially the end result: an all-celeb version with a brand-new set and theme tune, plus a revamped format (featuring a new qualifying round and a new 20:20 Password endgame).

Also of note, the entire run consisted of two "Grandmaster Tournaments", with the winner of each getting a trophy and $25,000 for charity. Given this version lasted 14 weeks, it's probably a safe bet that each Tournament lasted seven.


 * February 21, 1975 (Grandmaster Tournament II, Finals: Richard Dawson/Bill Bixby/Hal Linden/Betty White, one of whom will become the second Password Grandmaster today; has commercials)
 * [Allen notes that due to audience response and requests, the show will go back to having regular contestants starting next Monday. That probably translates to sagging ratings, especially since he says "We hope you'll be with us-tell your friends we need you."]

"Big-Money Lightning Round" Era (began 2/24/75)

Aside from restoring civilians to the format, removing the tournament aspect, and replacing 20:20 Password with a Two for the Money-esque three-stage Lightning Round, pretty much the same rules as the All-Stars era.


 * March 14, 1975 (Betty White & Vicki Lawrence; Charlene at Lightning Round, then Charlene/Nancy/Sharon/Jim, with Mark Goodson making an appearance at the end!; muffled/bad audio, video is a bit bright)
 * June 27, 1975 (Finale: Kate Jackson & Sam Melville; Susan at Lightning Round, then Susan/Helen/Barbara/Terrie; has commercials, first part of intro missing, video issues for first five seconds {alternate copy of complete intro})
 * [Has staff members playing the final game (including Howard Felsher and Frank Wayne), and Mark Goodson makes an appearance afterward. Closing voiceover plugs the debuts of You Don't Say! and Rhyme & Reason.]

PDQ
Syndicated, Daily: September 6, 1965 - September 26, 1969 (taped at NBC Color City in Burbank)

Fun game where players guess words or short phrases with as few letters showing as possible.


 * Taped 1964 (Pilot: Stubby Kaye & Dick Patterson vs. Gisele Mackenzie & Jerry {alternate copy})
 * [Has a different logo and slightly different set, from what I've heard. Shot for ABC primetime, and was financed by the network, but ended up in syndication instead.]

Place the Face
NBC Primetime: July 2 - August 20, 1953/September 18 - December 25, 1954/June 28 - September 13, 1955

CBS Primetime: August 27, 1953 - August 26, 1954

Relph Edwards' spinoff of This Is Your Life, which is kinda like that show except considerably less sobby.

Bill Cullen (1954-55)
 * February 11, 1954 (Players: Joanne Gilbert {placing Asher Warshofsky}, Ken Pollock {placing Ann Baker}, Xavier Cugat {placing Bob Brinton}; has commercials)

Play Your Hunch
CBS Daytime: June 30, 1958 - January 2, 1959

ABC Daytime: January 5 - May 8, 1959

NBC Daytime: December 7, 1959 - September 27, 1963

Goodson-Todman show based somewhat on observation and somewhat on luck: here's three items/animals/people, marked X, Y, and Z; which one is the correct answer? Little more than observation, barring the endgame of the CBS and ABC runs where it was just luck.

Originally hosted by Merv Griffin, who left after the September 28, 1962 show. Robert Q. Lewis subbed for two weeks, followed by Gene Rayburn for five, with the former chosen to take the reins permanently on November 19.

CBS (1958-59) a Problem involving Jerry Leiber, Burt Bacharach, and Norman Gimbel, all from original broadcast {[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1sQB9oYc1Y alternate copy of songwriter segment, taped from GSN})
 * July 30, 1958 (Bob & Peg Sheppard at Bonus, then vs. Mr. & Mrs. Molidor; intro, montage of clips involving Bob & Peg, and

NBC Primetime: April 15 - September 23, 1960/June 20 - September 26, 1962

Same as the daytime show, just with a little more money involved.

1962
 * June 20, 1962 (Premiere: Mr. & Mrs. David Braun vs. Dr. and Mrs. Gary Nitz; First Problem: Which is actually doing the motions of their job?; Special Guest: Kaye Ballard; has commercials, B/W video {alternate copy})

Rhyme and Reason
ABC Daytime: July 7, 1975 - July 9, 1976 (taped at ABC Television Center in Hollywood)

Players had to predict how a chosen celebrity would finish a displayed rhyme. Probably most infamous for the Finale, where the celebs trashed the set; unfortunately, the fact the only known available copy is an audio recording doesn't do it justice.


 * Taped 1975 (Pilot #2?: Nipsey Russell, Lee Meriwether, Richard Dawson, Jaye P. Morgan, Jack Cassidy, Adrienne Barbeau {Part 3}; Patrick vs. Yensin; glitchy video during bonus round {no gameplay lost, I think})
 * [Slightly different logo and set. Probably the biggest indicator this is a pilot is the credits, which are a near-illegible mess of signatures in a circle.]
 * [Intro begins with a clip of another pilot with different panelists (Mitzi McCall, Nispey Russell, Jaye P. Morgan, Jack Cassidy, Adrienne Barbeau, Charlie Brill), no "1-2-WIN" labels on the score lights, no contestant nameplates (they're wearing nametags instead), and different players.]


 * July 1976 (Pat Harrington, Shari Lewis, Rick Hurst, Terry Carter, Mitzi McCall, Charlie Brill; intro only)
 * [From the final week.]

Sale of the Century (1969)
NBC Daytime: September 29, 1969 - July 13, 1973

Syndicated, Weekly: September 10, 1973 - June 3 [September 13], 1974 (39 episodes)

The original Sale had some elements that remained through nearly all of its incarnations, most infamously the original British version. Originally hosted by Jack Kelly, who was replaced in mid-1971 by Joe Garagiola.

On March 26, 1973, likely in an attempt to combat the success of Gambit, the show replaced the now-standard three-player setup with two married couples. At the same time, and set was overhauled into a blue-and-white motif and the logo was entirely redesigned. These elements were retained for the syndicated version, which was through Screen Gems.

Joe Garagiola (began 8/23/71), two-couple format/blue set (began 3/26/73)
 * 1973-74 (Clips of a syndicated episode, from a 1982 pitchfilm for the revival)

Say When!!
NBC Daytime: January 2, 1961 - March 25, 1965

Two players try to get as close to $2,000 in prizes as possible without going over. Interesting show, from what little is around.


 * Taped 12/20/60 (Test Episode: Mary Guest vs. Paul Mortensen and Ed Hobby vs. Marian Trick, with kind of an awkward moment in Game 3; first second or so missing {alternate copy, pretty low audio})
 * [Slightly different logo and set, but the big difference is that there's a tournament-style format: three games are played, with the first two having a $750 goal; the winners of those games then play a "Championship Match" with $2,000 as the target.]
 * [The other big difference is that you have to "say when" before you pick a prize, rather than after your turn. If, say, you end up with exactly the target amount but didn't "say when" before that pick, and your opponent is still under the target, you have to pick again and lose by default.]


 * June 30-September 15, 1961 (Friday: Fernita? Wallace {Champ, no Strikes} vs. Maria Roels {no Strikes}, continued from yesterday; has commercials {alternate copy}
 * [Still has the original set, and is still sustained by NBC.]

Show switches to color (began 1964)
 * 1964-65 (Mr. Peabody vs. Miss or Mrs. Roy; clip of the infamous Peter Pan blooper!)
 * [Uploader lists this as 1964. By this point, the set has become noticeably fancier.]

Showoffs
ABC Daytime: June 30 - December 26, 1975 (taped in Los Angeles)

Goodson-Todman's first attempt at a format based around charades.


 * Taped 5/24/75 (Pilot: Elaine Joyce, Ron Masak, Linda Kaye Henning, Dick Gautier; intro and clip seen on Game Show Moments Gone Bananas)
 * [Slightly different format and logo, but the big thing is that Larry Blyden's hosting; this was his last game show, and likely his last television-related appearance, prior to his death in an auto accident on June 6. I'm not sure who decided to put the series into production anyway, but...I dunno.]


 * November 28, 1975 (Dr. Joyce Brothers, Dick Gautier, Karen Morrow, Mike Farrell {Parts 2, 3, 4, and 5}; Dick at Bonus Round, then vs. Cathy {alternate copy of intro})

Snap Judgment
NBC Daytime: April 11, 1967 - March 28, 1969

Password variant hosted by Ed McMahon which is probably most well-known for having no video footage known to exist, an extreme rarity for the Goodson-Todman stable (the only other example I can think of is By Popular Demand, which doesn't seem to have anything around).

Originally, the theme music was Bob Cobert's "Window Shopping", recycled from The Price Is Right. On September 4, 1967, this was replaced by a Score Productions piece called "Snap Judgment".

By far the biggest change came on December 23, 1968, when the format was overhauled to basically revive Password, which CBS had canned 15 months earlier. The set, which looked like this, changed to this; why yes, that is the Password desk.

Original format and theme (1967)
 * July 31-August 4, 1967 (Phyllis Newman & Paul Anka; intro, audio only)
 * [Date per a comment by Jon H.]
 * 1967 (Clip of a Big 5 round, audio only)

So You Think You Got Troubles?!
Syndicated, Daily: September 13, 1982 - September, 1983 (taped at Metromedia Square in Hollywood)

Comedic advice-giving show that tackles social issues you probably wouldn't expect to see discussed on TV at this point.

The game show element comes with the audience voting on which of two advisors gave the better advice; if the guest picks the right one, s/he gets the percentage times $10.


 * December 1982 (Dr. Joyce Brothers, Ruth Revzen, Dr. Robert Schuller; Guests: Jenny Lee, Terrell Williams; taped from WGR with commercials and a Contestant Plug, begins after first player walks out)
 * [Several commercials are related to Christmas (although primarily Ronco products), with the one at 8:55 for this week's sale at Zellers. Terrell is introduced by Rod as, and I swear I'm not making this up, "God"; that's actually what this guy changed his name to, and the reason he changed it is...even odder.]


 * Taped 1982 (Rod Roddy's warmup with appearances by Jay, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Spencer Grendall?, and Dr. Robert Schuller, followed by a couple of clips of Rod announcing; some bits missing, mostly when other people are talking)
 * [Rod notes that "this is the last show for this cycle". The episode being taped seems to be the same one as above, given what little is shown from the episode proper (particularly Rod introducing a guest named "Jenny Lee").]

Spin-Off
CBS Daytime: June 16 - September 5, 1975 (60 episodes, taped June - August at Television City)

Yahtzee-esque game that really deserved a longer run.


 * 1975 (Promo, with what may be clips of the pilot)
 * 1975 (Clips of Mike & Debbie vs. Eddie & Loretta, with added narration that indicates this is a sales reel)
 * {The score displays here are much longer, with bigger numbers, than the ones in the above promo.]


 * September 1, 1975 (Martin & Becky {$625} vs. Alden & Donna, continued from yesterday {champs have $175 and 2-2-3-6-2} with Alan & Patrice and Joe & Nancy playing later {taped 8/75}; audio only, which is a bit buzzy but otherwise fine {alternate copy})
 * [Visuals are a reconstruction by the respective uploaders, though I personally recommended the former. Jim notes this is the final week, plugging the debut of Give-N-Take. Closing voiceover plugs the debut of Phyllis "one week from tonight".]

Split Personality
NBC Daytime: September 28, 1959 - February 5, 1960

Two players try to identify celebrities from biographical clues split between two electronic game boards.


 * Taped 1959 (Pilot, intro only)

Stumpers!
NBC Daytime: October 4 - December 31, 1976 (65 episodes)

Lin Bolen's first game show under her own production company, with Allen Ludden hosting.


 * October 4, 1976 (Premiere: Dick Gautier & Robert Reed; Gail vs. Mauri, with Tom Kennedy making an appearance to plug 50 Grand Slam!; has commercials {alternate copy... thing, no commercials and lower quality})


 * December 7, 1976 (Rita Moreno & Greg Morris; begins at tiebreaker of Mike vs. Kei, ends after subsequent bonus game)
 * December 8, 1976 (Rita Moreno & Greg Morris; begins near end of Mike vs. Marcia, ends after subsequent bonus game)


 * December 1976 (All-Star Week, Day ?: Peter Bonerz & Betty White vs. Joanna Barnes & Dick Gautier; intro, audio only)
 * [Per this page, from the week of December 20-24.]
 * December 31, 1976 (Finale: Anita Gillette & Bill Bixby; Bonnye vs. Jess {Part 3, Part 4}, with a great final segment)

Super Bingo
Syndicated, Weekly: September - December, 1967 (13 episodes)

Short-lived entry hosted by Bill Leyden and produced by J&H International Corp. that was tested in six cities during the 1967-68 season, which had celebrities competing for sections of the audience.

Some of the set looks remarkably like parts of The New Price Is Right, and announcer Johnny Olson appears on-camera and seems to run a "Computer Center" between the audience sections. Also, this show is really obscure, so much so that it managed to elude both The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows and Randy West's great book on Johnny.


 * Late 1967 (Arlene Dahl vs. Jack Carter; intro only)

Take a Good Look
ABC Primetime: October 22, 1959 - July 21, 1960/October 27, 1960 - March 16, 1961

Panel game where the contestants appeared in recent news, and it's up to the celebs to figure out who they are (sometimes) and what they're famous for.

Originally, clues were presented through physical props and the occasional pretaped footage of, for instance, a cat in a fishbowl. In November or December 1959, these were almost all replaced by pretaped skits starring Kovacs which hid clues, albeit so vaguely that I have the feeling they were intended for repeat use; by the end of Season 1, all the clues were skits.

About 20 episodes were put into a syndication package for the 1978-79 season.

Season One (1959-60)

For this season, the intro has various "pieces" of Kovacs' head being put together, with his face reacting to the clear absence of a cigar (which is then added).

Originally, when Kovacs' wife Edie Adams began appearing, she was seated with the night's other two panelists. Sometime in 1960, she began getting her own entrance from a curtain at center stage.


 * November 12, 1959 (Cesar Romero, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Jim Backus; Players: MARY ANN MOBLEY, ?; ends after Game 1)
 * [I have the complete episode on DVD, and upon watching it for the first time I saw an awesome show (mostly for the general laid-back atmosphere, but here there's Kovacs making a couple jabs at the quiz show scandals and a fun part with eggs in Game 1). I then saw the first episode of Season 2 and my feelings fell pretty quick.]

Announcer Johnny Jacobs begins revealing players' names and claims to fame, clues become primarily skits (began by 12/31/59)
 * December 31, 1959 (Cesar Romero, Edie Adams, Hans Conried; Players: Dr. Chesley N. Martin, Elaine Shepard; has commercials {alternate copy})
 * [Kovacs mentions New Year's Eve at 12:00.]

Edie now introduced separately from the other panelists, players' names now appear onscreen as Johnny notes their claim to fame (began by 7/21/60)
 * July 21, 1960 (Season Finale: Cesar Romero, Edie Adams, Jack Carson; Players: Harold Keables, Marilyn Moen {alternate copy})
 * [Pretty clearly preserved on videotape, which explains the really good quality.]

Season Two (1960-61)

Different intro (now emphasizing Kovacs' characters and pretty much outright admitting the skits have vague clues), and Johnny now introduces each player and their claim to fame as they enter, but otherwise it seems to be the same.


 * Late 1960 (Cesar Romero, Edie Adams, Hans Conried; Players: June Dillman, Ben Friedman; has commercials, first two seconds or so missing, low audio)


 * December 22, 1960 (Cesar Romero, Edie Adams, Hans Conried; Players: Dr. Bernard Punsly, Mrs. Russell Bowler {Part 2, Part 3}; has commercials, "stuttery" video)
 * [Barry I. Grauman: "Ernie apologizes at :41 to viewers on those stations that presented this via "delayed broadcast" (on 16mm "bicycled" kinescope film prints), becuase ABC had a VERY weak line-up of affiliates back then- most also carried other network's programs, and were unable to air the show nationally on Thursday nights at 10:30pm(et). "Christmas greetings" could be delayed as much as six weeks, depending on when the station got the program."]

Temptation (1967)
ABC Daytime: December 4, 1967 - March 1, 1968

Interesting show where three prizes are displayed, each with different values, but you can only win the prize you chose if you're the only one who chose it. The title comes from the fact the prizes get progressively bigger with each round; Rounds 3-4 allow you to change your pick, while Round 5 adds a rule where if you're the only one who wins a prize you get all three. High score after five rounds becomes champ and comes back the next day.

Temptation, along with How's Your Mother-In-Law?, was actually intended to debut around mid-October (Variety 10/4/67 Weekly, Page 28) but got postponed due to the NABET Strike (Variety 11/1/67 Weekly, Page 27) which, from what I can tell, had started around mid-September. The latter blurb also notes that The Honeymoon Race, The Family Game, Everybody's Talking!, and Dream Girl of '67 were all in repeats at this point, which would explain why one existing episode of Family is a "repeat master" from November '67.

While the series was up against Andy Griffith Show repeats on CBS and Personality on NBC, which might have contributed to its quick demise, per an interview with host Art James for Wesley Hyatt's book Short-Lived Television Series, 1948-1978: Thirty Years of More Than 1,000 Flops (Page 181) tapings took an extremely-long time due to changing out the prize displays after each round; it didn't help that, per James, Heatter and Quigley didn't treat the contestants well prior to the show.


 * December 18, 1967 (#11: Margo/Rosama/Sheryl {Champ?}; B/W video, intro, Round 1, and second part of Round 2 only)
 * [Art specifically says it's the beginning of their third week.]


 * 1967-68 (June/Lada/Robynne {Day 2 - $3,854}; low audio, B/W video)
 * [Art mentions "yesterday" and "tomorrow", and at one point notes that "in three days we've offered over $22,000 worth of prizes".]
 * [DoorNumberFour (Christian Carrion), on The Game Show Forum: "I think this is the pilot. Some subtle differences between this one and the other episode that's publicly available, including a different order for the lock-in/reveal SFX and the fact that Art is hosting as himself rather than utilizing the more subdued "character" he maintained for the series."]

Tic-Tac-Dough (1956)
NBC Daytime: July 30, 1956 - October 23, 1959

The original series, hosted by Jack Barry with Gene Rayburn filling in on Fridays for a few months in 1956-57.

On October 6, 1958, likely due to the brewing scandals, Barry was replaced by announcer Bill Wendell with Bill McCord replacing Wendell.

Jack Barry (1956-58)
 * January 31, 1958 (Morton Wilson {$3,000} vs. Shirley Fisher, with William Colpeper, John Radie, and Carol Zaner playing later; has commercials)
 * [First Edition home game given to all players.]

NBC Primetime: September 12, 1957 - December 29, 1958

Has a more upscale set and slightly bigger payouts, but otherwise the same. Was also probably rigged more often, with neither of the circulating episodes actually finishing a game.

Also likely due to the scandals, Jay Jackson was replaced near the end of the run by Win Elliot.

Jay Jackson (1957-58)
 * April 3, 1958 (Michael O'Rourke {$140,300!} vs. Martin Dowd, continued from last week during Game 6 with $14,700 in the Pot; B/W video, no intro or credits, bad commercial edits {alternate copy... thing})
 * [Jay notes this is Michael's 18th week on the show.]

Win Elliot (began 10/2/58)
 * December 22, 1958 (William "Bill" Craig {$4,900} vs. Richard "Dick" Clark {all-time daytime winner}, continued from last week during Game 7 with $16,700 in the Pot {Parts 2, 3, and 4}; has commercials, B/W video {alternate copy of first segment})

Treasure Hunt (1956)
ABC Primetime: September 7, 1956 - May 31, 1957

NBC Daytime: August 12, 1957 - December 4, 1959

NBC Primetime: December 24, 1957 - June 17, 1958

The original version of what became a Chuck Barris property, hosted by Jan Murray.

The winner of a short quiz picked one of 30 treasure chests (the show utilized a pirate motif), then selected an envelope from a nearby wheel. The player could take the cash buyout (always at least $100), or go for the chest which could contain something good, a Klunk cheap "prize" like a head of lettuce, or the top prize.

On the ABC version, the top prize was a flat $25,000; NBC's primetime run started it at $10,000 and added $1,000 each week until won. The daytime series started at $1,000 and went up $100 each day it wasn't won.

Amusingly, one other element that carried over to the Barris versions was the security guard, who like Emile Autouri never smiled and got jabs about it by the host.

NBC Daytime (1957-59)
 * March 20, 1958 (Sara {Game 3 - $2,800} vs. Bessie { Check Jackpot is at $3,900}, with the director appearing on-camera; has one commercial, a Ticket/Contestant Plug, and a Home Viewer Contest Plug! {alternate copy})
 * [Jan notes that $3,900 is the largest the daytime Jackpot has ever been.]

Treasure Isle
ABC Daytime: December 18, 1967 - December 27, 1968 (taped near the Colonnades Beach Hotel in Palm Beach Shores, Florida)

Cheesy show where two couples do silly stunts for prizes.

While all three circulating episodes are in black-and-white, there is definitely some color footage out there: an intro clip was used in a 1983 montage to celebrate ABC's 25 years of daytime programming.


 * December 1967 (Intro, B/W video)
 * [Seemingly from the first week, with a slightly different logo and a different version of the opening theme.]

Truth or Consequences (TV, 1950s-70s)
Did various things, mostly prank-like stuff but sometimes straightforward games or emotional reunions (whether with someone they hadn't seen for years, or a spouse serving military duty overseas). The show originated in radio during 1940, with creator Ralph Edwards hosting (he also did the one-off WNBT special in 1941 and the 1950-51 CBS-TV version).

One big thing, at least in the early years, was the "Q&A" part: if they asked a question, chances were pretty good that the answer was a play on the question's wording; oh, and the timer for answering was about two seconds, also intentionally. From what I've read, if you managed to answer the question correctly, you didn't actually get anything – you were just asked another question, and another, and so on until you failed; in other words, you were going to do whatever they had set up for you.

I'm not really a fan of this show, for various reasons.


 * 1950s-70s (Various clips, mostly Barker-era, from the Ralph Edwards website)
 * 1950s-70s (From the 1984 special Those Wonderful TV Game Shows, a segment with Ralph Edwards with a couple of clips)
 * 1977 (Generic KMGH promo for the show, with some clips; it's not clear whether this is the Barker or Hilton era)

NBC Daytime: December 31, 1956 - September 25, 1959/October 26, 1959 - September 24, 1965

The show that put Bob Barker on the map, put simply. (For whatever reason, Bob didn't do the 1957-58 nighttime version; Steve Dunne hosted that series.)


 * December 31, 1956 (Premiere: First event is a return appearance by Jack Dempsey, the show's first Mr. Hush, to help promote the new Mrs. Hush contest; studio master with commercials {including a brief promo for The Price Is Right!} and inactive timecode, audio is a bit low {alternate copy})
 * [Ralph makes the entrance, explains the show a bit, and mentions preceding host Jack Bailey before introducing Bob. "Remember this name, you're going to be hearing a lot about him."; little did Ralph know just what people would be hearing about Barker...]


 * 1961 (First six minutes or so, starting with a baby race involving mothers and their baby children, which will pay $300, $30, or $3; kinda-low audio)

Syndicated, Daily: September 19, 1966 - September, 1975

Same show, just a bit fancier. Production stopped after Season 9, not due to ratings but because enough episodes had been taped to cover the next two seasons.


 * Taped 1966 (Clip of Mr. & Mrs. Hinton talking with Bob, during which Mr. Hinton has to steal fruit from a nearby bowl without his wife noticing for $5 per fruit)


 * Taped 1968 (Clip of three couples in a waiting area, with the wives being given a release form that includes a clause about hitting their spouse with a pie)
 * [From Season 3.]
 * Taped 1968 (Clip of three church ladies being pranked by a football player arguing with someone dressed as an old lady)
 * [From Season 3.]
 * Taped 1969 (Clip of three ladies being given $50 and tested on their driving abilities with a game called "Barker Says")
 * [From Season 4.]


 * June 16, 1971 (Clip of a reunion between Giuseppe Primavera and Vittorio Belnome, two brothers who have not seen each other in 42 years {Part 2})
 * September 23, 1971 (Clips of three players being taught a monologue by three comedians {Richard Dawson, Sammy Shore, and Jack Carter}, which they then have to perform; "shaky-cam" upload, but this is clearly pretty rare)


 * Taped 1972 (Clip of Jim Ryan "racing" against several ladies, by way of swapping when a certain person passes a certain point)
 * [From Season 7. Of note, the person who swaps with Jim? Her face isn't really visible at all - and the one time the camera is close up on her and she's facing it, Bob is standing in front of her.]

Syndicated, Daily: September 19, 1977 - September, 1978

When production resumed, Barker had taken over the nighttime Price Is Right, so Bob Hilton was tapped to host. The set was also overhauled, with a much flashier look, and the logo was also redone (now called New Truth or Consequences).


 * Taped 1977 (Clips of Marie and Don; no audio)
 * [Dated 1978 by the uploader.]

Twenty-One (1956)
NBC Primetime: September 12, 1956 - October 16, 1958

Quiz with a decent format that became rigged after a disastrous first episode. Probably best known through the 1994 film Quiz Show, which I only really recommend seeing for the set recreation and some good performances; factually speaking...notsomuch.

There was at least one set change: the "GERITOL" logo on Jack's podium changed from black to white sometime between early July 1957 and the end of the run.

Thanks to the brewing scandals, Twenty-One slipped from 6th to 35th in the Nielsens in early September 1958, only dropping further when NBC pushed it to Thursday nights late that month.


 * December 5, 1956 (Herbert Stempel {$69,500} vs. Charles Van Doren, continued from last week at $2,000/point; has commercials {alternate copy})
 * [Yes, it's that episode.]

What in the World?
CBS Weekends (Saturday and Sunday afternoons): October 7, 1951 - April 2, 1955 (aired live from WCAU in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)

Three panelists are shown various objects, generally from the University of Pennsylvania Museum, and try to identify them as well as describe the items' origins and original uses. Hosting duties alternated between Dr. Froelich Rainey (then the director of the University of Pennsylvania) and Dr. Alfred Kidder; I've noted the host in the below listings.

While episodes ran almost 30 minutes each, from what I can tell the series was sustained by CBS from start to finish. There don't seem to be any commercial breaks, and if there are commercials they're all after the show.


 * 1952? (Dr. Carleton Coon, Dr. Schuyler Cammann, Dr. Matthew Sterling; first item is some volcanic glass found in northern Iraq; begins at first object intro {alternate copy})
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey.]
 * 1952? (Dr. Carleton Coon, Dr. Myron Smith, Dr. Schuyler Cammann; first item is a Spanish helmet found in the Philippines; ends during host's explanation of fifth item)
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey.]
 * 1952? (Dr. Carleton Coon, Dr. Ralph Linton, Dr. Alfred Kidder; first item is an iron bird {alternate copy})
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey. Promo at 28:25 is for Sunday's Toast of the Town, the show that became The Ed Sullivan Show.]
 * 1952? (Dr. Carleton Coon, Dr. Schuyler Cammann, Jacques Lipschitz; first item is a wooden half-man mask from Alaska; begins at first object intro, no credits, video length suggests a good ten minutes is missing from this copy)
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey.]


 * October 10, 1954 (Dr. Carleton Coon, Jacques Lipchitz, Dr. Schuyler Cammann; all objects today come from the Cincinnati Art Museum)
 * [Hosted by Dr. Kidder.]
 * December 4, 1954 (Dr. Carleton Coon, Jacques Lipchitz, VINCENT PRICE!; first item is a wood carving of a crocodile from New Guinea; first part of intro and first panelist's intro missing {alternate copies: #1, #2})
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey. Vincent is plugged as starring in the play Black-Eyed Susan, which at the time was running in Philadelphia, and he leaves a few minutes early to do a performance of said show.]
 * [Promo at 27:39 is for tomorrow afternoon's American Week and You Are There (the latter about the Battle of Gibraltar); the one at 28:10 is for Monday's Studio One, with Jackie Gleason.]


 * March 12, 1955 (Dr. Alfred Kidder, Jacques Lipchitz, Dr. Robert Eddinghausen; all objects today also challenged a panel of the British version Animal, Vegetable, Mineral, with some clips shown of said episode)
 * [Hosted by Dr. Rainey, who was a panelist on the aforementioned British episode. Promo at 28:34 is for tonight's Professional Father (the housekeeper taking a vacation), followed by one for tomorrow's You Are There and tomorrow's Sunday Night Theater Westernization of War & Peace (starring Ronald Reagan).]

What's Going On?
ABC Primetime: November 28 - December 26, 1954 (5 episodes)

Extremely short-lived Goodson-Todman panel game that had a great concept, but ran into issues due to the technology of the era. Oh, and per Gil Fates host Lee Bowman once mistook signals of "stretch for two minutes" as "sign off".

Apparently, Revlon was talked into sponsoring this and pulled out after the fifth show, opting to replace it with Pantomime Quiz to finish out the season.


 * December 19, 1954 (Hy Gardner, Audrey Meadows, Gene Redmond {Part 2, Part 3}, with the audio failing in Game 1 – resulting in Lee answering half the questions himself!; taped from GSN)

Who Do You Trust?
ABC Daytime: September 30, 1957 - December 27, 1963

The show that really put Johnny Carson (and, later, Ed McMahon) on the map.

Originally, the title was Do You Trust Your Wife?, continuing from the 1956-57 CBS version hosted by Edgar Bergen. The standard name debuted sometime between late May and late July 1958.

Carson and McMahon left for The Tonight Show in September 1962 (their contract with Trust was the reason why Tonight had that six-month stretch of guest hosts after Jack Paar left), with Woody Woodbury replacing Carson.

Johnny Carson (1957-62)

Originally, the show's announcer was Del Sharbutt, who was replaced by Bill Nimmo in November 1957 due to scheduling conflicts. Nimmo himself left in Summer 1958, but returned in 1962 with the host change.

Name changes to Who Do You Trust? (began by 7/30/58)
 * September 9, 1958 (Begins with John & Lorraine Burns {going for $2,500} vs. Carl Koffell? & Lucille Rivers, with the winners facing either Art & Pauline Wexler or Sylvia Compton? & Nicki Hishcrin?; has a Contestant Plug!)
 * [Todd Russell announces and assists. Johnny references the quiz show scandals, and a player gets locked in an isolation booth!]

Ed McMahon becomes announcer/assistant (began 11/58)
 * 1961? (Two clips from an episode, from the 1983 special Life's Most Embarrassing Moments)
 * [Ed McMahon is announcer/assistant, but that's the only thing that's really clear. The set pieces shown, plus the fact both clips come from the same episode, suggest that the second format (three couples play, high score tries to unscramble a word or phrase in 15 seconds for a bonus) is in use.]

Whodunnit? (1979)
NBC Primetime: April 12 - May 17, 1979 (6 episodes)

Short-lived American version of the long-running British game (itself probably most famous for being hosted for the majority of its run by Jon Pertwee).


 * Taped 1978 (Pilot/"Goodbye Dolly": Vincent Baggeta, Barbara Feldon, F. Lee Bailey; ends after panelist intros)
 * [Runs an hour, with a mystery in each half and the players competing for a trip to London. Also notable for being produced by Stu Billett and directed by Joe Behar, both of whom were replaced for the series by Bill Carruthers.]


 * April 7, 1979 (Debut promo #1, with clips of the Premiere)
 * April 1979 (Debut promo #2, followed by one for the debut of Highcliffe Manor)

Who Said That?
NBC Primetime: December 9, 1948 - July 19, 1954

ABC Primetime: February 2 - July 26, 1955

Host reads a quotation from recent news, and the panelists have to determine who said it and the context.

Walter Kiernan (1951-54)
 * March 30, 1953 (Frank Conniff, Deems Taylor, Dagmar, H.V. Kaltenborn; has commercials)
 * April-May 1953 (Bill Henry, GEORGE GOBEL, June Lockhart, Merriman Smith; has commercials)

Wingo
CBS Primetime: April 1 - May 6, 1958 (6 episodes)

Really short-lived quiz with $250,000 on offer.


 * April-May 1958 (Intro)

Winner Take All (TV)
CBS Daytime: February 12 - April 20, 1951

Not the first attempt at a televised version (a primetime series ran from 1948-50 with Bud Collyer as host), but still notable. Not really a fan of Barry Gray, though.


 * March-April 1951 (Monday: Henni Paul {Game 2} vs. June Schneider, continued at 2-0 with Ralph Sigel, Jack Heyman, and Virginia Bond playing later; has commercials, first and last segments missing)
 * [Barry notes that it's a rainy day in New York. Per the Old Farmer's Almanac archive, there was no rain on February 12-March 5, March 19-26, or April 9; no rain data is present for March 12, April 2, or April 16, however.]

NBC Daytime: February 25 - April 25, 1952

Easily the best version, now with Bill Cullen hosting. While it only got two months, it was given another three as a segment of NBC's Matinee in New York.

Original set
 * February 27, 1952 (Marian Tillman {Game 2} vs. Elaine Heller, with Frank McGee and Betty Shoup playing later; taped from GSN on 12/1/96, wavy video, ends after Game 1)

Win with the Stars
Syndicated, Weekly: September 18, 1968 - March 12 [September], 1969 (26 episodes)

A revamped What's This Song?, basically, with Allen Ludden hosting.


 * 1968-69 (Judy Carne & Bill Bixby; ends shortly after Judy's entrance)

The Wizard of Odds
NBC Daytime: July 16, 1973 - June 28, 1974

Alex Trebek's first game show in the States, which began with audience members answering questions based around statistics but later got overhauled into something that left the title with almost no meaning.

Aside from that...um...I know the show participated, along with all of NBC's other games at the time, in a "Games For Great Lovers Week" in February 1974 (a short promo for the lineup can be seen here), so there's that.


 * Taped 4/26/73 (Pilot intro)
 * [John Harlan announces, and the theme is different. From what I can tell, Alan Thicke wasn't tapped for the show until about late May or early June '73 (Variety 6/7/73 Daily, Page 6).]
 * 1973-74 (Credits, audio only)
 * [Sam Riddle announces.]

Your First Impression
NBC Daytime: January 2, 1962 - June 26, 1964

A panel of celebs try to guess the identity of mystery guests from clues supplied by host Bill Leyden.


 * 1962 (Monty Hall hosts!: Morey Amsterdam, Mary Tyler Moore, George Kirgo; Guests include Jerry Mathers and a mystery celebrity couple; intro only)
 * 1963? (Clip of Bill getting bit by Jayne Mansfield's dog!)

Your Surprise Package
CBS Daytime: March 13, 1961 - February 23, 1962 (taped April? - January at Television City)

The show George Fenneman moved to after You Bet Your Life wrapped taping, where players tried to identify a mystery prize.

It seems the show didn't do so well ratings-wise (available tickets suggest it was sustained by the network through at least early December), as shortly into '62 the producers attempted to pitch a nighttime version. Didn't work.

Note that the home game has "Your" printed rather small on the box, leading to some sources referring to the show as just "Surprise Package".


 * Taped 1/17/62 (Nighttime Pilot: Golda/Howard/Frances; intro only)
 * [No idea what was different from the daytime show, although it probably had bigger prizes on offer.]