Host | |
Don Morrow | |
Announcers | |
Bill Wendell Wayne Howell | |
Broadcast | |
NBC Daytime: 9/27/1965 – 7/1/1966 | |
Packager | |
Merv Griffin Productions |
Let's Play Post Office was a short-lived daytime game show where three contestants guessed the identity of a celebrity letter writer as the letter was read one line at a time. The set resembled a post office, with the contestants' podiums resembling stamp window, and the game board was shaped like a giant envelope.
Gameplay
Three contestants competed, one usually a returning champion, to identify celebrities from fictitious letters they might have written. Each letter had a predetermined value of $5–$100.
In each round, the letter's value would appear on the stamp, afterwhich the cancellation mark provided a clue showing the where the letter might have been written, and when it might have been composed. Morrow would then began to read the letter one line at a time; the value of the letter decreased as Morrow continued to read. Contestants could buzz in at any time to make a guess; however, they were not told if they were right or wrong. Multiple contestants could give the same answer. Once all three players made their guesses, the player(s) with the correct answer were awarded the value of the letter when they buzzed in. Clues were often puns; for example: "The temperature outside is zero. I mostel you." (Answer: Zero Mostel)
Zip Round
The final round had five telegram-like messages, with the contestants trying to identify the name of each "sender". Correct answers added $25, while wrong answers deducted $25.
The high scorer after this round became champion and returned on the following episode.
Studio
NBC Studio 6A, New York City, NY
Rating
Gallery
Trivia
The set was later used on NBC's long-running sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live.
The object of identifying who sent a fictional letter was later used as the E-Mail element of Merv Griffin's later series Click.