TFTP Game Shows: "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws" from ABC (1967)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Wink Martindale'
Length - 4:58

This set of excerpts of "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws" is from the pilot episode for a game show that in its brief 1967-1968 run was known as "How's Your Mother-in-Law?" "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws"/"How's Your Mother-in-Law?" is notable in that it is an early hosting gig for game show icon Wink Martindale. The program was part of a trend in the late-1960s towards more raucous game shows, a trend better exemplified by the shows that were actually successful, such as "Hollywood Squares" and "The Newlywed Game".

It's no coincidence that "Here Come the Mother-in-Laws"/"How's Your Mother-in-Law?" was created and produced by Chuck Barris, the mastermind behind "The Newlywed Game", "The Dating Game", and, later, "The Gong Show". Barris' MO was to create a game premise and gameplay that facilitated this kind of raucousness. The quick failure of this program was an exception to Barris' general success in a late-1960s and 1970s culture much more permissive than in the years immediately preceding.

TFTP On This Day: "Password Plus" with David Letterman from NBC (May 31, 1979)

Posted to YouTube by user 'The Fun & Games Channel'
Length - 24:05

It Was 39 Years Ago Today: "Password Plus" was the second revival of the game show "Password"; the original had run on CBS from 1961-1967 and another run of the original game had appeared on ABC from 1971-1975. In this new revival, which aired on NBC from 1979-1982 and like all versions up to this point was hosted by Allen Ludden, the "plus" took the form of an extra element in which the individual passwords accumulated to become clues to an overall word or phrase that had to be guessed.

The episode above, which aired 39 years ago today on May 31, 1979, features David Letterman and Marion Ross of "Happy Days" as the celebrity contestants. (This copy of the episode is from a much later rerun on Game Show Network, and thus has packaging and interstitial elements from that broadcast.) Letterman, a few years prior to the launch of his "Late Night" program--and thus at a point in his career where he was having to do game-show guest appearances--is his regular grumpy and irascible self, but still engaging in the game at hand. Contestant Sally cruises through two "Alphabetics" bonus games (one with Letterman and one with Ross) to become the winningest "Password Plus" contestant ever to that point (five months into the show's run).

TFTP's Monochrome Monday (Special On This Day Edition): "What's My Line? at 25" from ABC (May 28, 1975)

Posted to YouTube by user 'What's My Line?'
Length - 1:26:57

TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....

We bring you this special edition of Monochrome Monday with a program that was partly in color, but was celebrating a show that was in classic black & white for the almost all of its 17 year run: "What's My Line?"

It Was 43 Years Ago Today: "What's My Line?" stands among the most important shows ever in the game show genre--the program, which aired on CBS from 1950-1967 and then in syndication until 1975, helped establish the popularity and venerability of the TV game show. Right as "WML" was going off the air in 1975, this program, "What's My Line? at 25"--originally airing 43 years ago today on May 28, 1975--appeared as a retrospective of its quarter-century history.

Airing as an installment of the ABC late-night umbrella series "Wide World of Entertainment" (after CBS passed on the special), "What's My Line? at 25" features the three individuals most responsible for the show's success: producer Mark Goodson, host John Charles Daly, and panelist Arlene Francis. Goodson, Daly, and Francis moderate the special by sharing some of their memories but also by introducing dozens of clips from over the years.

Celebrated in the special are the panelists who guessed contestants' jobs (including Fred Allen, Steve Allen, Woody Allen, and others not named Allen, such as Dorothy Kilgallen, Bennett Cerf, and Francis herself); the many celebrity "mystery guests" and some of the shenanigans (such as fake voices) they used to trick the panel; some of the more interesting "lines" (or occupations) guessed by the panel; and a look back at the hairstyles worn on the show by Arlene Francis.

TFTP has featured "What's My Line?" a few times in the past, including the premiere episode from 1950 (which was also the premiere post for TFTP back in 2014), a commercial for longtime "WML" sponsor Remington-Rand (introduced by Daly), and early panelist Fred Allen's first appearance (with Buffalo Bob Smith and Howdy Doody as mystery guests!).

TFTP Game Shows: "Queen for a Day" from NBC (c. 1960)

Posted to YouTube by user 'NewQueenForADay'
Length - 8:50

"Queen for a Day" is a legendary program (airing from 1956-1964, and on radio before that) that seems of questionable taste to us now today. Four female housewife contestants each told the story of their circumstances, which were sometimes of impoverishment or affliction. Then audience response, measured by an applause meter, selected one of them as "Queen for a Day" (with accompanying prize package, of course).

Host Jack Bailey interviewed the women with a tone that was charmingly folksy but paternalistic and often patronizing. The set of clips above is from an episode with a circus theme, and the irony of the show's tendency to regularly have a circus atmosphere seems lost on those involved. The winner here gets a watch, a new washing machine and oven range, a record player, and a Spiegel catalog gift certificate.

TFTP Game Shows: "Get the Message" from ABC (c. mid-1964)

Posted to YouTube by user 'MatchGameProductions'
Length - 21:35

"Get the Message" was one of a number of "clue-guessing" games that were in vogue in the early-1960s after the success of "Password". (TFTP featured another one, "The Object Is", in a recent post.) Hosted at the time of this episode by Frank Buxton (later replaced by Robert Q. Lewis), "Get the Message" itself wasn't much in vogue--it only lasted for about nine months in 1964.

Two three-person teams--one regular contestant and two celebrities on each team, one team all men and the other all women--competed in guessing a "message" (a name, a title, a phrase, etc.). (The celebs here are Howard Keel and Orson Bean on the men's side and Peggy Cass and Phyllis Newman on the women's side.) The two celebs each wrote a one-word clue that were given to the regular contestant who would try to "get the message" based on those clues. The guess alternated until one side solved it. First side with three correct guesses won the game and got to proceed to a bonus game where the regular contestant gave clues to the celebrities.

TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "Break the Bank" from ABC (Dec. 1955)

Posted by YouTube by user 'Shokus Video'
Length - 27:35

TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....

"Break the Bank" was a pretty simple game show, both from a gameplay perspective and from a production values perspective. Host Bert Parks and contestants simply stood on a mostly bare stage as Parks asked questions for progressively higher amounts of money ($25, then $50, then $100, $200, $300, and $500). At the top of the money ladder was a final question that if answered correctly would "break the bank" and win the contestants whatever amount the "bank" had built up to (starting at $1000 and rising with each set of contestants that didn't win it).

Contestants generally were couples or groups, as with the young family and then the older couple in the above episode. The family in the first part of the episode is successful in its attempt to "break the bank" (to the tune of $1300), whereas the older couple is not. In some respects, as with a lot of 1950s game shows ("You Bet Your Life" for sure, probably others), on "Break the Bank" it's the interaction between host and contestants that is just as important as whatever game is being played.

"Break the Bank" was sponsored by Dodge automobiles, so there are a couple of filmed Dodge ads in the mix in this episode, as well as the Dodge logo that is displayed prominently on the backdrop on stage.

TFTP On This Day: "Winner Takes All" from CBS (Apr. 17, 1951)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Game Shows n' Stuff'
Length - 28:46

It Was 67 Years Ago Today: "Winner Takes All" is a landmark program in broadcasting history, especially for game show history--it was the first game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. In addition, it was the first show hosted by game-show icon (and Goodson-Todman mainstay) Bill Cullen. "Winner Takes All" began on radio in 1946 and on TV in 1948; the episode above, which is from the program's brief daytime stint in 1951, first aired 67 years ago today.

Barry Gray is the host of the above episode, and he's not exactly the most endearing game-show host ever. He's a bit dismissive of the contestants and seems more interested in cracking wise than in facilitating the gameplay. The gameplay is pretty simple and consists of the host asking the contestants questions (many of them based on brief little skits that are presented) to which the contestants try to "buzz in" on. One contestant had an actual buzzer, the other a bell--with respective symbols for buzzer and bell displayed in front of them. (TV game shows were young. Viewers needed some help.)

The radio and TV versions of "Winner Takes All" combined had about six years on the air, from 1946 until 1952. In these earliest years of TV history, networks tended to keep bringing back programs again and again, and networks more often picked up existing programs that had been dropped by other networks. Both happened with "Winner Takes All": CBS kept the game going in a few different formats (including as a segment on the daytime variety program "Matinee in New York") for several years before cancelling it for good in 1951, when it was picked up by NBC, where it ran for an additional year.

TFTP On This Day: "Scrabble" from NBC (Apr. 5, 1993)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Digifangsn'
Length - 21:20

It Was 25 Years Ago Today: Scrabble the board game has been a family favorite for decades. "Scrabble" the TV game show, while not quite matching up to that record, did have a healthy, two-part run on NBC, first from 1984 to 1990, then for a brief time in 1993. The episode above, which aired 25 years ago today on April 5, 1993, is from the short second run of "Scrabble".

The host for both runs was game-show mainstay Chuck Woolery. Woolery brought his easygoing and amiable demeanor to a game that did not really have the easiest gameplay. "Scrabble" the game show has only a passing similarity to Scrabble the board game, and that similarity is mainly cosmetic. Contestants are shown words with one letter completed on a Scrabble-like board, words which they then have to guess based on other letters that they can choose from to fill in the word.

This gameplay--apart from being somewhat convoluted--is completely different from what one does when playing the board game Scrabble, which involves a player taking an assortment of letters and creating words from them. Nonetheless, contestant Jean, who cleans up on all of her opponents in this episode, seems to have gotten the hang of it.

TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "Rate Your Mate" from CBS (1951)

Posted to YouTube by user 'videoarchives1000'
Length - 26:31 (total)

TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....

Every single year of television history there have been pilot episodes made for programs that were never picked up by the network. The game show genre has had more of these pilots than most types. Here we have one of these game show pilots that was never picked up as a regular series.

"Rate Your Mate" was an early game show pilot by Goodson-Todman Productions, based on a radio version of the same concept, that was made for CBS in 1951. Goodson-Todman had been producing TV game shows for a few years by '51, with its early flagship program, "What's My Line?", having premiered the previous year. "Rate Your Mate" has some characteristics that are similar to other early-1950s game shows (Goodson-Todman or otherwise), including a format that features a married couple as contestants, relatively simple gameplay, extremely small stakes for winning (maximum $100 here), and fairly crude production values.

In "Rate Your Mate", hosted by comedian Joey Adams, one spouse goes into a soundproof booth while the other spouse guesses whether or not they will correctly answer questions that are posed to them. Some of the questions are straight factual questions but other ones involve models either wearing or displaying objects which must be correctly identified. Three different couples appear in this pilot, each with varying success.

TFTP's Monochrome March, On This Day: "The Object Is" from ABC (Mar. 26, 1964)

Posted to YouTube by user 'WarioBarker88'
Length - 28:44

College basketball has March Madness. TFTP: Television from the Past has Monochrome March! 

For the entire month of March, TFTP brings you posts featuring monochrome programs and clips in glorious black-and-white!

It Was 54 Years Ago Today: Early-1960s TV saw many game shows with a clue-guessing format that tried to capitalize on the popularity of "Password". "The Object Is" is a short-lived example of those game shows, and this next-to-last episode of the program aired 54 years ago today on March 26, 1964.

Like others of the clue-guessing subgenre of TV game show, on "The Object Is" a celebrity guest was paired with a regular contestant, with two such teams competing against one another. (The celebrities here are actress Joan Caulfield and comedian Stubby Kaye.) One member of the team tried to guess the identity of a famous or legendary person from a clue given by the other in the form of an object associated with that person. (For example, in this episode the clue "bearded clock" is given for the person "Father Time".)

The game-play seems to proceed smoothly enough, but it must not have been too compelling to viewers, because the show only lasted for about three months, from Dec. 30, 1963 until Mar. 27, 1964. Dick Clark, although already well-known to audiences as the long-time host of "American Bandstand", was making his game-show hosting debut with "The Object Is".

TFTP Game Shows: "Play the Percentages" from syndication (1980)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Million Colors of Light'
Length - 22:09

The landscape of television history is littered with the carcasses of failed game shows. "Play the Percentages", a syndicated game show that aired for several months in 1980, is one of those carcasses.

Like a lot of game shows, "Play the Percentages" (which was hosted by journeyman game show host Geoff Edwards) had a main game and a bonus game. The main game consisted of simple quiz questions from one of three categories--one category selected by each of the two contestants, a third called "Potluck" that was a grab bag. (In this episode, Libby selected "Cooking" while Tom chose "Sports".)

The bonus game on "Play the Percentages" had a question with six possible answers. One of those answers was guessed by zero percent of survey participants, and if the contestant kept picking answers other than the zero percent answer, they collected cash, winning when the zero percent answer was the only one remaining.

TFTP On This Day: "The Price is Right" from NBC (Feb. 1, 1961)

Posted to YouTube by user 'What's My Line?'
Length - 24:17

It Was 57 Years Ago Today: "The Price is Right" is one of the longest lasting and most venerable of TV programs--its current daytime version has been on for 46 years! But the program goes back even earlier than that. From 1956 to 1965, the original version of the program, hosted by game-show mainstay Bill Cullen, aired in both daytime and prime-time first on NBC, then (for the last two years of that span) on ABC. (With the current daytime version on CBS, this makes "TPiR" the rare game show that played on all three of the major networks.)

This prime-time episode (recorded from a much later rerun on Game Show Network), which aired 57 years ago today on February 1, 1961, features guest-host Arlene Francis of "What's My Line?" panel fame. The game play in this original version of "TPiR" is vastly different than in the current daytime version. Contestants make repeated, escalating bids on an item, with the one who gets the familiar "closest without going over" price as the winner. There were no pricing games per se, although in this episode there is one short price guessing bonus that follows a bid. The same four contestants compete throughout an episode (no "come on down" moments here), anchored by a returning champ from the previous week.

Contestants in this episode bid on some rather unique and elaborate prizes. The episode kicks off with a bid on a personal submarine (!), before moving on to more mundane (but still big-ticket) items such as a car, a grand piano, and a home swimming pool. The final prize of the night--won by returning champion Mrs. Patrick--was a house in Florida.

TFTP's Monochrome Monday: "Video Village" from CBS (Sep. 16, 1960)

Posted to YouTube by user 'videoarchives1000'
Length (total) - 29:28

TFTP's Monochrome Monday brings you a classic black & white TV program or clip every Monday morning to kick off the week....

"Video Village" is one of the more interesting game shows in TV history. It's basically a life-size board game--with the contestants themselves as the pawns marking where they are on the board. The show's set is a large representation of an undulating ribbon of game spaces, each space indicating a different kind of action--some with cash prizes, some located in front of mock storefronts with merchandise prizes, some dictating certain types of movements (e.g., trading places with the other contestant), some sending the contestant to jail (like in Monopoly, but with an actual mock jail cell).

The program, from game-show impresarios Heatter-Quigley (best known for "Hollywood Squares"), had both daytime and prime-time versions that debuted within days of each other in July 1960. The daytime edition lasted for two years, until June 1962, but the prime-time version only made it a few months, until September 12, 1960, with the episode featured above. Jack Narz hosted both versions until the prime-time run ended; Monty Hall took over the daytime version thereafter; Red Rowe substituted for this final prime-time episode.

TFTP Game Shows: "Classic Concentration" from NBC (Jul. 23, 1987)

Posted to YouTube by user 'TVLubber'
Length - 28:47

The history of TV game shows can in one respect be seen as early, popular game shows being revived later in newer versions--and then revived again; and revived again; and revived again. This is clearly evident in the recent successes by ABC with the latest versions of game show chestnuts like "Match Game" (first broadcast in 1962) and "$100,000 Pyramid" (first broadcast in 1973).

"Concentration" (original run: 1958-73) was far from the first game show to be revived when "Classic Concentration" debuted in May of 1987. (In fact, there had already been one "Concentration" revival--a five-year syndicated run that came on the heels of the original's 1973 cancellation.) But it might be the game show that benefited the most from technology having advanced since its original run--rather than the clunky rotating mechanical game board pieces of the original, the show in its '87 revival featured a state-of-the-art computer screen with digital, and much more versatile, game board elements.

"Concentration" in all its versions consisted of a combination of a memory game, in which contestants had to match two tiles with prize names on them, and traditional rebus puzzles made up of picture and letter clues that formed common sayings, quotes, or axioms.

The new "Classic Concentration" was hosted by Alex Trebek, who in 1987 was already a game show icon and doing double-duty along with "Jeopardy", which he'd hosted since 1984. In the episode above, just a couple of months into the revived run (which would last until the fall of 1991), champion Sten fends off a challenge from former champion Hilary. The episode here has most of the commercial breaks intact, giving us a great glimpse of '87-era commercials for Always maxi pads, Dash detergent, Aqua Fresh toothpaste, and Doan's pills, as well as NBC network program promos for "Miami Vice" and "Crime Story" (and an end-credits voiceover by NBC Nightly News anchor Tom Brokaw).

TFTP On This Day: "Go" from NBC (Oct. 5, 1983)

Posted to YouTube by user 'excuseyou77'
Length - 21:58

It Was 34 Years Ago Today: Having premiered on Monday, Oct. 3, 1983, this episode of the game show "Go"--which aired 34 years ago today--is only the third episode of the series. Kevin O'Connell (before and after "Go" a longtime weatherman) hosted with game-show master Bob Stewart producing--and both would be out of a job by January of 1984 when the show was cancelled.

Two five-person teams (with one celebrity on each team) competed in a game that resembled the one where two people alternate in giving one-word each in a sentence meant to be a clue for guessing a word. (If this sounds a bit elaborate and incomprehensible, it is, and additional rules added on top of this may be one reason why the show only lasted four months.) In "Go", four of the team members gave clues in chain fashion while the fifth was the guesser. In essence, "Go" was a ridiculously overcomplicated (and much faster-paced) version of "Password".

The celebrities in this episode are Richard Kline, then at the height of his fame as a cast member of "Three's Company", and actress Elaine Joyce, by 1983 near the end of her remarkable decade-plus run as a go-to game-show celebrity guest (she appeared on everything from "Tattletales" and "Match Game" to "Super Password" and later versions of "What's My Line" and "I've Got a Secret").

TFTP Game Shows: "You Don't Say" from NBC (Mar. 1967)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Million Colors of Light'

"You Don't Say" was a reasonably popular game show that had a run of several years during the 1960s (from 1963-69). Similar to "Password" only with contestants guessing names of celebrities rather than simple words, it was the first high-profile hosting gig for long-time game show host Tom Kennedy. Also similar to "Password", two two-person teams (one a celebrity, the other a "civilian") faced off against each other, with one giving clues to the other in order to solicit a correct guess. Unlike "Password", the rules seemed to be much looser on "You Don't Say", as the contestants chatter on when giving clues (in contrast to the single word clues of "Password") and utilize gestures as much as they want.

This episode, from the later years of the show's original run, in 1967, features Mel Torme and Pat Carroll as the celebrity contestants. Some original commercials are included here, such as Contac, Sunsweet Prunes, VO5, Excedrin, and Prime dog food. "You Don't Say" had a couple of revivals in the 1970s, including a 1975 ABC run also hosted by Kennedy and a 1978-79 syndicated run with Jim Perry as host.

TFTP Game Shows: "Letters to Laugh-In" from NBC (Sep. 30, 1969)

Posted to YouTube by user 'Million Colors of Light 2'

Perhaps one of the most curious spin-offs ever, "Letters to Laugh-In" was spun off of the #1 hit "Laugh-In" that had taken the country by storm in 1968 (and which TFTP featured in a post a couple weeks ago). "Laugh-In" of course was a revolutionary program for its time, both in terms of content (the mainstreaming of the "counterculture") and in terms of form (quickly edited blackout spots assembled in post-production). "Letters to Laugh-In" was somewhat more traditional in format as a game show, although the game play of using applause meters to measure the audience response to jokes sent in by "Laugh-In" viewers was nonetheless unorthodox.

Not that "Letters to Laugh-In" ever got anywhere near the popularity of its progenitor--it lasted only a few months between September and December of 1969 on NBC's daytime schedule. It's interesting to watch now simply for its gaudy production design (borrowed from its parent show), for the lame humor evident both in the jokes that are competing and in the cringe-worthy banter between the celebs, and for the fact that it was ever on the air at all. The fact that it was is a sign of just how big "Laugh-In" was in the late-1960s.

TFTP Kids: "Quiz Kids" from NBC (1951)

Posted to YouTube by user 'ClassicTVShows'

"Quiz Kids" was a renowned program that aired on both radio and TV throughout the 1940s and 1950s and gave inspiration to a generation or two of youngsters. Several children ranging in age from 12 to 16 formed a panel to which the moderator asked challenging questions sent in by viewers/listeners based on various areas of knowledge. The child panelists were regulars who rotated on and off of the panel for extended periods of time, thus fostering viewer/listener identification and familiarity. This is why many of the questions asked seem to hint at familiarity with the particular child on the part of the letter writer asking the question.

"Quiz Kids" was on radio on NBC from 1940 to 1953 and on TV on NBC and CBS simultaneously from 1949 to 1953, returning for a brief run in 1956. For most of this time, the program was sponsored by Alka Seltzer, thus the commercials for that product included here. The producer of the show was Louis G. Cowan, who would go on to produce the massively popular "$64,000 Question" on CBS in the mid-1950s, success that he would then parlay into the presidency of CBS for a short time before stepping down amid the quiz scandals of the late-1950s. At the time of this "Quiz Kids" episode in 1951, the show's host was Joe Kelly; "Kukla, Fran, and Ollie" host Fran Allison is subbing for him in this episode, which she addresses in a statement near the end of the episode.

"Quiz Kids" had a long-lasting influence on television, inspiring every high-school quiz challenge program that has appeared since, mainly by local stations drawing on children in their local area. Quite a few national versions or extensions of the program were tried over the years as well, and the program even was the inspiration for the quiz program and related characters in the Paul Thomas Anderson film "Magnolia".

TFTP Game Shows: "Shadow Stumpers" from WAAM/Baltimore (c. early-1950s)

Posted to YouTube by user 'ClassicTVshows'

From the days when local stations produced programs for their local audiences in genres such as the game show, "Shadow Stumpers" is a fascinating example of a game show premise and of game play specifics very unlike other game shows, before or since.

Aired on WAAM (now WJZ) in Baltimore, and hosted by Brent Gunts, who was apparently sort of an impresario of local Baltimore TV, the show has a delightfully quaint pace and tone. Two families compete by guessing what an object is from a silhouetted shadow of the item; points are given for each correct guess, but that's mostly beside the point, as the purpose here is to showcase the wholesome family members (especially the kids) and highlight the interchanges between Gunt and family members. A family living-room set further enhances the tone.

Before program syndication became prevalent and networks took over almost every spare hour of a local affiliate's schedule, local stations used to produce programs in many genres--weekday talk shows, afternoon teenage dance parties, kids' programs--but relatively few ever attempted a local game show (outside of the high-school knowledge bowl variety, at least). "Shadow Stumpers" is one of those rare attempts.

The YouTube posting of this episode is labeled as being from 1962, but this is a mislabeling, as the program aired in Baltimore from approximately 1949 until 1953.

TFTP Game Shows: "The Price is Right" from CBS (Jul. 19, 1973)

Posted to YouTube by user 'PTR'

Here is a great example of a typical early episode of the 1970s version of "The Price is Right" from when the show was still only half-hour in length. The Bob Barker-hosted revival of "TPiR" had been on for less than a year (premiering in fall 1972) when this episode aired in mid-summer of '73.

The half-hour version is in most respects similar to the later hour-long version (which started in 1975 and is still on the air of course today), except there are only three pricing games and no bonus wheel to determine who got into the showcase. (The top two moneymakers of the three pricing game contestants were simply automatically advanced to the showcase.)

The three pricing games featured in this episode are a classic group that includes the True/False Game, the Grocery Game, and the Clock Game. The quality of the video in this episode is also especially good (far better than many of the blurry taped-off-of-GSN vintage "TPiR" episodes that pop up on YouTube). The upload seems to come directly from a master tape of the episode, although this means that there are long slugs of black where commercials would have been dropped in by the network or local station.