View Full Version : Classic Game Show Television Milestones Of The Week


AaronHandy3
07-03-2004, 02:02 PM
JULY 1, 1988

The $25,000 Pyramid aired for the 1,404th and final time on CBS Daytime television. By this time, the show had renewed the format of the opening montage of past winners, one which had been long a staple on Pyramid during the '70s. The final 2 celebrity guests were Robin Riker-Halsey and Charlie Siebert. And, sadly, neither of the civilian contestants reached the top of The Pyramid in this final telecast!

This was actually the second cancellation of The $25,000 Pyramid. When CBS first dropped it on New Year's Eve, 1987 (with guests Anne Marie Johnson and Robert Hegyes), after 5 years and 1,339 shows, its replacement, the Bob Goen-hosted Jay Wolpert Production Blackout, left much to be desired. So, by popular demand, The $25,000 Pyramid returned to CBS after 13 weeks, thus making it the only game show in TV history to be replaced by another game and then in return replace that same game!

Dick Clark’s farewell speech:

“You know, they say all good things must come to pass, and I’m afraid that’s exactly what’s gonna happen today; we’ve just had the last CBS telecast of The $25,000 Pyramid. It gives us a chance to thank our wonderful CBS crew—they’ve been teriffic over the years—and to all of my friends at Bob Stewart Productions—they make the job real easy—and for all of us, we’d like to thank you for making us a part of your day for the past several years on The $25,000 Pyramid. For now, Dick Clark. [salutes] So long!”

Rumor has it that CBS revived The $25,000 Pyramid as only filler while Mark Goodson Productions' revival of Family Feud starring Ray Combs was being groomed for its premiere, which occurred the following Monday, replacing Pyramid. This was the second time in daytime TV history that The Feud has replaced the timeslot of a cancelled Pyramid; the first happened in June 1980, after The $20,000 Pyramid completed a 7-year run on ABC.

The nighttime $100,000 Pyramid stayed humming in syndication for 2 months until September 2, 1988, thus closing the book on the Pyramid chapter for the 1980s.


JULY 2, 1973

Match Game 73, an update of the old 1962-69 NBC Daytime favorite The Match Game from the deranged minds of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman with, as host Gene Rayburn described, "more action, more money, and, as you can see, more celebrities," debuted at 3:30 (EDT), on CBS Television, sandwiched in between The Price Is Right and The Secret Storm (having been bumped a full week from its intended debut date, June 25, 1973, by ongoing network coverage of The Watergate Scandals). The celebrities on the panel of the first week of MG73 were Michael Landon, Vicki Lawrence, Jack Klugman, Jo Ann Pflug, Richard Dawson, and Anita Gillette; the series' other 2 regulars, Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly, would not be included until the third week. The first two contestants were Stanley Viltz and Joan Roselle, with Viltz emerging victorious. The show's imminent success prompted the launch of a weekly syndicated primetime edition, Match Game PM, in September of 1975.

Every New Year's Eve, there was an update of the 2 digits in the title to reflect the coming of the new year (e.g. from Match Game 76 to Match Game 77, and so on). Show creator Mark Goodson originated the idea for a new hit game show from Match Game 7X. The "Super Match" round of Match Game 7X featured a contestant choosing panelist Richard Dawson virtually every time, trying to match the correct response to an audience survey. The segment became such a huge hit with audiences the survey, Richard Dawson and The Family Feud went on the air @ 1:30 PM EDT, Monday afternoon, July 12, 1976 on ABC Daytime. Dawson did double duty on Match Game 7X and The Feud until leaving the Match Game 7X panel altogether in summer 1978. It has been rumored that the addition of a new feature, The Star Wheel, apparently "muscled in" on him.

Then, in 1977, the roof caved in. CBS made the fatal decision to move Match Game 77 to the morning @ 10 AM (EDT), where it served as a follow up for the hour-long The Price Is Right. The resulting declining ratings prompted CBS to return Match Game 77 to the afternoon, but the damage was irreparable. After finishing 6 years and 1,445 shows on CBS on April 20, 1979 (with 10 leftovers still in the can; it was replaced by the Burt Sugarman-produced game Whew! the following Monday), the show transferred to daily syndication that very fall as simply Match Game (without, alas and alack, the tried-and-true 2-digit year designation in the title), where it remained until September 1982.

JULY 3, 1978

From Television City In Hollywood, It's Everybody's Game Of Strategy, Knowledge And Fun! It's The New Tic Tac Dough!

Jack Barry and Dan Enright revived the old Tic Tac Dough program (NBC, July 30, 1956-October 23, 1959), coming on the heels of The Joker's Wild's runaway success in firstrun syndication, renaming it—with stunning originality—The New Tic Tac Dough. It premiered @ 9:30 a.m. (EDT) on CBS Daytime (replacing the ill-fated Pass The Buck), hosted by erstwhile Gambit emcee Wink Martindale.

There were several instances on CBS' Tic Tac Dough which differentiated it from its impending syndicated version:
For the front game, the game board consisted of six categories with a black background and three with an orange background. The black-backgrounded categories were regular category questions; whereas the orange-backgrounded categories were jump-in questions. The categories only shuffled before the game started and after both the "X" and "O" player have had a turn at the board. When the categories shuffled, so did the colors as to which ones were regular categories and which ones were jump-in categories(because of the "jump-in's", this is why the podiums at the beginning of the syndicated run had signaling buttons despite the fact that they were never used).
In the event of a tie game, a jump-in question decided the winner.
For the bonus round there were four X's, four O's (both are $150 for each one found), and the dragon on the board. Finding The Tic Tac Toe on the board wins a prize package along with the money.
Contestants retired after surpassing/reaching the CBS $25,000 limit.
The Dragon had flashing red eyes and a yellow background.
Wink's first words on the premiere were:

"Welcome to our brand-new series, The New Tic Tac Dough! I gotta be honest with you; I think this is probably the best television game I have ever come across! I must admit I'm a little prejudiced, but I hope you agree with me. Thank you for being with us!"

The first contestants on The New Tic Tac Dough were Ruth Fried and Dan Thomas, with Fried emerging victorious as the first champion crowned--unfortunately, the first box she picked in the first bonus game was that nasty ol' Dragon! (She would finally win her next bonus round, though.)

The New Tic Tac Dough, unfortunately, endured only a 2-month, 45-episode run in CBS Daytime, only to be unceremoniously pushed aside on September 1, 1978 to make room for more All In The Family repeats. But it would be 2 weeks later when it would defect to firstrun syndication and finally find a niche with viewers ("The New" remained in the title until sometime in the 1979-80 season). Wink emceed Dough for 7 seasons until leaving the show in 1985 to host a game show he created called Headline Chasers (which bombed after one season), and, from a nationwide search, the people at Barry & Enright selected Jim Caldwell (who finished a stint co-hosting New York City's P.M. Magazine) to take over hosting duties for the final season. Not only for the next season did the show get a new host, but a new set as well!

The New Tic Tac Dough Is A Jack Barry And Dan Enright Production! Stay Tuned For The Price Is Right, Next Over Most Of These CBS Stations!

(Source of info: The Unofficial Tic Tac Dough Supersite (http://www.ttdsite.cjb.net/))

musicradio77
07-03-2004, 05:03 PM
Originally posted by AaronHandy3
JULY 2, 1973

Match Game 73, an update of the old 1962-69 NBC Daytime favorite The Match Game from the deranged minds of Mark Goodson and Bill Todman with, as host Gene Rayburn described, "more action, more money, and, as you can see, more celebrities," debuted at 3:30 (EDT), on CBS Television, sandwiched in between The Price Is Right and The Secret Storm (having been bumped a full week from its intended debut date, June 25, 1973, by ongoing network coverage of The Watergate Scandals). The celebrities on the panel of the first week of MG73 were Michael Landon, Vicki Lawrence, Jack Klugman, Jo Ann Pflug, Richard Dawson, and Anita Gillette; the series' other 2 regulars, Brett Somers and Charles Nelson Reilly, would not be included until the third week. The first two contestants were Stanley Viltz and Joan Roselle, with Viltz emerging victorious. The show's imminent success prompted the launch of a weekly syndicated primetime edition, Match Game PM, in September of 1975.

Every New Year's Eve, there was an update of the 2 digits in the title to reflect the coming of the new year (e.g. from Match Game 76 to Match Game 77, and so on). Show creator Mark Goodson originated the idea for a new hit game show from Match Game 7X. The "Super Match" round of Match Game 7X featured a contestant choosing panelist Richard Dawson virtually every time, trying to match the correct response to an audience survey. The segment became such a huge hit with audiences the survey, Richard Dawson and The Family Feud went on the air @ 1:30 PM EDT, Monday afternoon, July 12, 1976 on ABC Daytime. Dawson did double duty on Match Game 7X and The Feud until leaving the Match Game 7X panel altogether in summer 1978. It has been rumored that the addition of a new feature, The Star Wheel, apparently "muscled in" on him.

Then, in 1977, the roof caved in. CBS made the fatal decision to move Match Game 77 to the morning @ 10 AM (EDT), where it served as a follow up for the hour-long The Price Is Right. The resulting declining ratings prompted CBS to return Match Game 77 to the afternoon, but the damage was irreparable. After finishing 6 years and 1,445 shows on CBS on April 20, 1979 (with 10 leftovers still in the can; it was replaced by the Burt Sugarman-produced game Whew! the following Monday), the show transferred to daily syndication that very fall as simply Match Game (without, alas and alack, the tried-and-true 2-digit year designation in the title), where it remained until September 1982.

Wow! "Match Game" is still the 2nd favorite show next to my #1 show is "Full House". "Match Game" started in 1973 as "Match Game '73". The show ended in 1979 on CBS, a few episodes were shelved. "Match Game PM" was in syndication during prime-time since it began in 1975 until 1980 and just plain "Match Game" started after CBS ended in 1979 until the show ended for the last time in 1982. It was hosted by Gene Rayburn. I love that show. Still my favorite. "Match Game" is still popular before Howard Stern and Jerry Springer came to a lack of inappropriate humor. I hope the new GSN will keep it on forever. No question about it.:)