User:Daniel Benfield/Liars Club Video Archive

Liar's Club (spelled Liars Club in its 1960s-70s runs, and sometimes as Liars' Club in articles) was a fun show that hasn't really made a comeback since, although Balderdash seems to come the closest.

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. Footage ©1969/1974-79/1988-89/1991-92 Ralph Andrews Productions/Northstar Productions and associated entities.

The Original Series (1969)
Syndicated, Daily: January 20 - July 18, 1969 (130 episodes, taped in Los Angeles)

Hosted by Rod Serling, the first run had two contestants simply picking the panelist they thought was giving the correct description of that round's item. The player with more points at the end of the game won $100.

I should note that, if I'm not mistaken, The Encyclopedia of TV Game Shows lists an end date of June 13, a total of 105 episodes. However, Broadcasting mentions in an article about Ralph Andrews that the show "recently completed a first-run of 26 weeks in syndication" (11/10/69, Page 57).


 * 1969 (Rolfe Peterson, BETTY WHITE, Dick Gautier, Pia Lindstrom {Part 2, Part 3}; Barbara vs. Bob, with a fifth round played; studio master, brief video glitch during intro, no last segment)
 * [Celebrity nameplates are in all-caps, with the contestants having similar nameplates.]


 * May 22, 1969 (#89: Norm Crosby, Betty Walker, Bill Bixby, BETTY WHITE; Judy vs. Tom; studio master with slate, blue-tined video during last commercial outro {alternate copy of Round 1})
 * [Celebrity nameplates are signatures which are kinda hard to read, but the contestants don't have nameplates. After her description of the third object, White jokes that "I'm ten years older than I was when I started the show six months ago."]

The Second Decade (1974-75/1976-79)
KTLA, Weekly: September 7, 1974 - 1975

The show was revamped with new host Bill Armstrong, plus Golden West Productions co-produced with Andrews. The contestants (now four) now played for cash, starting with $200, and could bet up to half of whatever they had. The odds began at 1-1, increasing in later rounds to 2-1, 5-1, and finally 10-1. Also, if only one player bet correctly in any round, their payout was doubled.

Doing some number crunching, if a player bet half their total in all four rounds and was always the only one to pick the right celeb, s/he would win $59,400. (The betting placards have four number spots, so it seems four-digit bets were possible if a bit unlikely.)

While I'm not sure when this version ended, it was definitely still going as of mid-February 1975 (Broadcasting 2/10/75, Page 43), with Variety blurbs suggesting the show was still running even later on (6/12/75 Daily, Page 8; 10/28/75 Daily, Page 173).

Original betting rules and contestant area (Pilot only, I hope)

To clarify, each player begins with $100 and can bet up to $50 (they also verbally state their bets, for reasons I'll get to shortly). Also, there's no contestant nameplates and the score displays are tiny.

The biggest difference is that each player has different odds, mainly because each celeb can only be picked once per round (resulting in 2-1 for the first player, 5-1 for the second, 10-1 for the third, and 20-1 for the fourth).


 * Taped 1974? (Pilot: George Savalas, Joey Bishop, Fannie Flagg, PETER MARSHALL; Jim/Terri/Diane/Maggie, with several indications that the players realized how crap these betting rules are; USA repeat from 1986-87 with a few bits of commercials, video is somewhat dark, no credits)
 * [Aside from the above, Bill enters from in front of the stage rather than through the doors at center stage. Oh, and this thing runs over 29 minutes.]

Standard betting rules and contestant area
 * 1974-75 (Pat McCormick, PETER MARSHALL, JoAnne Worley, Larry Hovis; Mickey/Clara/Aileen/Linda; USA repeat)
 * [Credits have Ralph Andrews Productions and Golden West Broadcasters on the same graphic.]


 * 1974-75 (Pat McCormick, PETER MARSHALL, Betty White, Larry Hovis {Part 2}; Dave/Kathy/Camille/Pam; color kinescope, audio is a bit muffled)
 * [Credits have Ralph Andrews Productions and Golden West Broadcasters as separate graphics, with the latter using its logo. On a side note, I've seen some claims that this was the pilot, but I doubt it since this has the standard contestant area and betting rules.]

Syndicated, Daily: August 16, 1976 - September, 1979

Not really different from the KTLA run, except a slightly altered intro and a different announcer (Joe Seiter). The set also looks a bit different, plus there's now "1-1" cards for the tumblers to show in Round 1.

The format was also altered a bit: the players now start with $100 and can bet from $10-$100 in $10 increments (resulting in a much more sane maximum of $1,900), Bill now reveals the first three rounds' answers himself (although the announcer always notes where the object came from), and Bill reveals who each player bet on by flipping down the front of each betting placard (previously, the players revealed this themselves by flipping the placard around).

Also, the "payout doubled if only one player bets correctly in any round" rule was dropped, presumably replaced by one where a bonus prize was awarded if a player managed to bet correctly in all four rounds.

Bill Armstrong (1976-77)
 * Taped 1976 (Charlie Brill, Mitzi McCall, PETER MARSHALL, Larry Hovis; Lisa/Margaret/Bettye/Linda; USA repeat with an Object Plug, video is a bit blurry, skew present at top of screen pretty much throughout)
 * [Peter mentions at the end that his 90-minute variety show will debut "this September"; The Peter Marshall Variety Show debuted 9/76, which may suggest this airing in August.]

Allen Ludden (1977-79)

Removed the fourth contestant, and the betting rules were changed back to allow players to wager up to half of their current total (raising the possible top prize to $6,300). Presumably to streamline the betting process, each player puts up their bet and celeb on the betting placards. Also, Bill Berry returned as announcer (having previously done the KTLA series) and again reveals what each item is.

Most notably, the final round was changed to "Liar of the Day": each panelist described their own unusual item, and the players had to guess who the liar was.


 * Taped 1977 (Buddy Hackett, Betty White, Peter Jaskell, Larry Hovis. Dorothy/Betty-Lou/Ann, with Allen screwing up the bonus prize rules!; studio master, long black gaps between each segment for whatever reason)


 * Taped 5/15/78 (Monday: Dick Gautier, Betty White, DAVID LETTERMAN!, Larry Hovis; Marilyn/Vida/Martha; studio master!)
 * [Allen notes that Dave is making a "return appearance" this week, and later references the Money Trees from Name That Tune!]
 * Taped 12/4/78 (#643: Pat Butram, Betty White, James Hampton, Larry Hovis; Lorraine/Robert/Sharon, with the staff playing a joke on Allen!; studio master with slate, clips only)

The Third Decade (1988-89)
Syndicated, Daily: October 3, 1988 - June 30, 1989 (also aired in Canada)

Now hosted by Eric Boardman, this series restored the fourth contestant and the "art gallery" final round but now no longer offered money; instead, the players bet with points, but could only wager between 10 and 50 at any one time (the final round had no limit).

Oddly, despite this and the odds progression remaining the same as the previous series, the displays were shrunk to three digits. As a result, a score of over 1,000 points was shown as "999".

Originally, the announcer was Bill Armstrong. Later in the run, he was replaced by Ted Friend.

When the show began, John Barbour was the sole regular panelist, with the other three chairs rotating from week to week. Later in the run, the panel was "locked" to Shannon Tweed, Jimmie Walker, Pete Barbutti, and Barbour, almost always in that order.

One regular panelist
 * October 4, 1988 (#2: Rebeca Arthur, Paul Kreppel, Teri Copley, John Barbour; Bruce/Mary-Anne/Jim/Janice; 1990 repeat, from "Star TV Network" {alternate copy})
 * [Intro has Bill introduce the panelists and Eric.]
 * October 1988 (Rebeca Arthur, Paul Kreppel, Teri Copley, John Barbour; Lanine?/Greg/Denise/Bert?; Round 4 only)


 * Taped 1988 (Betty Thomas, Jed Allan, Kate Linder, John Barbour; Milt/Debbie/Asif/Marnie; CFMT repeat from 12/89, with commercials and an Object Plug!)
 * [Intro has Bill introduce John, who introduces the other panelists and Eric. One promo is for a Boxing Day sale running from December 27-30; the days of the week given, Wednesday-Saturday, match up with 1989 (and don't match up again until '95).]

Four regular panelists
 * Early 1989 (Pete Barbutti, Jimmie Walker, Shannon Tweed, John Barbour; Heidi/Roger/Margaret/Frank; Prime repeat with commercials and an Object Plug, audio is a bit low and hissy)
 * [Intro has Ted introduce the panelists, with John introducing Eric.]


 * 1989 (Pete Barbutti, Jimmie Walker, Shannon Tweed, John Barbour; Kim/Carey/Elsie/Jim {Part 2, Part 3}; GameTV repeat, "echo-y" audio)
 * [Intro has Ted introduce the panelists, with John introducing Eric.]

The Next Line (1991-92)
Global: 1991 - 1992 (13 weeks)

Hosted by Kevin Frank, this show recycled part of the format and most of the set, with several monitors added to the wall at center stage. The color scheme changed to blue-and-red, with the celebrity and contestant areas now having silver bases. Also, the contestant displays were expanded to four digits.

Unfortunately, even having seen the rules, I can't really judge the format as executed since the below footage cuts out practically all the gameplay.


 * 1991-92 (Veena Sood, Neil Crone, Denalda Williams, Pete Barbutti; Heather/Trevor/Sue/Peter; montage including most of intro and most of credits)
 * [Uploader dates this to 1993. Might be a repeat airing.]