Wasn't she a vice-president of daytime on (surprise) NBC back in the 1970s and screwed up all the game shows? Can anyone elaborate?

Wasn't she a vice-president of daytime on (surprise) NBC back in the 1970s and screwed up all the game shows? Can anyone elaborate?
Lin Bolen became vice-president of Daytime Programming at NBC in 1972. She cancelled long running game show Concentration believing it had "run it's course". She replaced it with a game show called PDQ (aka Baffle). This show lasted only one year due to very low ratings. In 1974 she cancelled the daytime version of Jeopardy. When Merv Griffin pointed out that Jeopardy still had a year left on it's contract she made him an offer to put a daytime version of Wheel of Fortune in that timeslot instead. In 1976 she created her own game show and it was produced for NBC by Bolen's own production company. It was called Bumpers and was basically a retooling of Password. Ironically it was hosted by Password host Allen Ludden. Lin Bolen's tenure at NBC Daytime ended in 1978.

...was also the one who turned down Norman Lear's "MARY HARTMAN, MARY HARTMAN" when he attempted to sell it as a daytime comedy serial to NBC in 1974. Bolen supposedly told him she wasn't going to schedule any series that made her female audience "look like fools". He eventually took the idea to local stations, and it became the most popular syndicated series of 1976.

Bolen was also the inspiration for Faye Dunaway's character, "Diana Christensen", in "Network" (1976)- a power-hungry female monster of an executive who eventually turns the "UBS EVENING NEWS WITH HOWARD BEALE" into a freak show (sadly, not unlike most "news shows" these days). Her mantra included, "The American people are turning sullen...I want angry shows!!!". Bolen recognized the caricature, and was not pleased with seeing "herself" on screen.

:tv:

Between Lin Bolen and Fred Silverman (who openly hated game shows), no wonder NBC was in third place in the late 70s and 80s.

She wanted to give NBC's Daytime game shows a fresh, new look and that meant cancelling the older looking shows including Concentration, Sale of the Century and Jeopardy. In their place came shows that had a more vibrant look, including The Wizard of Odds, Wheel of Fortune and Celebrity Sweepstakes, all with younger hosts. Her attempts to give NBC a makeover resulted in the network plunging to third place in daytime and solidified a long, dismal track record for years to come.

Between Lin Bolen and Fred Silverman (who openly hated game shows), no wonder NBC was in third place in the late 70s and 80s.
As we have all realized with NBC's current regime, those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. :rolleyes: :mad:

Thanks everyone, for clarifying!

I wonder if she ever received death threats from angry viewers in response to the cancellations.

I wonder if anyone zapped her office at NBC in response to the cancellations.
:lol: I don't know, but Merv Griffin sure had the last laugh when Wheel and Jeopardy went into syndication and made him a gazillionaire!!!

The Allen Ludden-hosted show was Stumpers.

The Allen Ludden-hosted show was Stumpers.
That was pretty much a rehash of Password, wasn't it?

Stumpers was indeed a word game. Considering she hired younger hosts, it was interesting that Bolen hired veteran old school host Allen Ludden for Stumpers. Geoff Edwards, Alex Trebek and Chuck Woolery were some of the younger hosts Bolen hired for NBC game shows.

Although she had a few memorable ones,like "Wheel of Fortune"(whiich lasted 14 years on NBC daytime,and was once at an hour length(anyone remember that?),but bombed at an hour and returned to its'original half-hour length,"Celebrity Sweepstakes"(which lasted 2 years NBC daytime,and 3 years syndication),and the regrettably short-lived "Jackpot",does anyone remember "50 Grand Slam","Knockout"or "To Say the Least?"All 3 were duds.

I'm pretty sure Bolen left NBC in 1976, before "Knockout" debuted.

Although she had a few memorable ones,like "Wheel of Fortune"(whiich lasted 14 years on NBC daytime,and was once at an hour length(anyone remember that?),but bombed at an hour and returned to its'original half-hour length,"Celebrity Sweepstakes"(which lasted 2 years NBC daytime,and 3 years syndication),and the regrettably short-lived "Jackpot",does anyone remember "50 Grand Slam","Knockout"or "To Say the Least?"All 3 were duds. knockout stunk and artie johnson despite being a very funny man was not good at hosting game shows

I'm pretty sure Bolen left NBC in 1976, before "Knockout" debuted.
Knockout was a Ralph Edwards production. :nod:

Knockout was a Ralph Edwards production. :nod:

Indeed it was, and Arte Johnson proved to be a decent host.

Indeed it was, and Arte Johnson proved to be a decent host.
I love Arte Johnson -especially in this Laugh-In sketch (see below)! He was also hilarious as Cousin Edgar the elf in a first season episode of Bewitched. Until now, I never knew he was also a game show host!! :cool: :D

Another notable thing that happened under Lin Bolen's watch in the mid-70s was that she expanded the soaps Days of Our Lives and Another World from 30 to 60 minutes. She also developed the highly feminist soap How to Survive a Marriage, which only survived a little over a year (1/74-4/75). Despite having soap legend Rosemary Prinz on board in a lead role, the show tanked in short order. Here's the opening:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WA-SB2lzGM