| Host | |
| Joe Garagiola | |
| Announcer | |
| Johnny Olson | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Merv Griffin Productions | |
Joe Garagiola's Memory Game was a Q & A game where contestants had to memorize not only the answers, but the questions as well.
Gameplay[]
Five contestants, all of them women and one of them a returning champion (or designate) seated at the 1 podium, competed and were spotted $50 at the start of the game. Before each round, they were each given an equal share of the questions and answers to be used that day as the contestants introduced themselves. After the players studied their questions for 25 seconds, Joe would then collect all of the questions.
After Joe read a question, one player, chosen at random to start the game, could elect to answer or call out an opponent's number. That player could then answer herself or call any of her opponents' numbers, and so on and so forth. A correct answer was worth $5, a wrong answer cost that player $5. If all players' numbers had been called and no one answered, all players lost $5.
Subsequent rounds were played with increased stakes ($10 in Round 2, $20 in Round 3). Starting in the second round, each question came with a time limit which started once Joe started the question. If time ran out, the last player whose number was called must answer. In round two, Joe announced the time limit on each question. In round three, the players were given a mystery time limit on each question. The player with the most money became champion. Any players tied for the lead, however, became co-champions (ala Jeopardy! pre-2014). The champion would wager any amount of her winnings before answering anyone of that day’s questions. Any co-champions, however, would each be given a different question. If a contestant stayed on for three days, she retired undefeated and won a new car.
Ticket[]
Inventor[]
Studio[]
NBC Studio 8G, New York City, NY
Rating[]
Broadcast history[]
Memory Game was one of eight shows NBC attempted to program in the 1:30 PM (12:30 Central) time slot between 1968 and 1975; like most of the others, CBS' As the World Turns and ABC's Let's Make a Deal (formerly seen on NBC) soundly defeated it in the ratings.
Three weeks after this show's cancellation, NBC moved Garagiola to another daytime game, Sale of the Century, which he hosted for the rest of its original run. Three on a Match, hosted by Bill Cullen, replaced Memory Game on the NBC schedule.
Production[]
According to The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television by Wesley Hyatt (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1997), Griffin did not identify his production company on the end credits of the program. The talk-show host and entertainment mogul never gave any explanation for his decision.
Episode status[]
Much like other NBC games of the era, most episodes of Memory Game are believed to have been wiped as per network practices. Five episodes are known to exist at the UCLA Film and Television Archive.