The Celebrity Game

Hosts
Carl Reiner (1964–1965) Bert Parks (1968)
Announcer
Kenny Williams
Broadcast
CBS Primetime: 4/5/1964 – 9/13/1964, 12/20/1964 – 1/24/1965 (reruns), 4/8/1965 – 9/9/1965 Unsold Pilot for CBS: 2/1968
Packagers
Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Productions/Four Star Television

The Celebrity Game is the old and mostly-forgotten precursor to Hollywood Squares.

Gameplay[]

Three contestants predicted how nine celebrities answered yes or no questions. Each contestant picked a star and predicted whether the chosen star answered yes or no. After that, the panel revealed their answers and gave hilarious explanations of their answers. If all three contestants were correct, they each won $25; if two of the contestants were correct, they each won $50; and if only one contestant had the correct prediction, he/she won $100. Each player would then choose from the remaining six celebrities, and then from the final three celebrities (the same payout structure applied). The next round would be played the same way but with a different question.

In the third and final round of each show, the contestants predicted whether the majority of the panel answered yes or no with a pot of $300 at stake. Those contestants who agreed with the majority of the panel divided $300 evenly. This meant that if all three contestants were correct, they each won $100; if two of the contestants were correct, they each won $150; and if only one contestant had the correct prediction, he/she won the full $300.

On the 1968 pilot, two contestants faced a panel of six celebrities. Each correct prediction scored $25 on the first question and $50 on the second question. The player with the most money after both rounds won the game and played a bonus round in he/she had to correctly predict five out of six answers to win a new car. Each correct prediction earned the cash won in the front game.