Today's Classic Game Show TV Milestones

[AaronHandy3]

JUNE 27, 1975

Password played its 1,099th and final daytime telecast on ABC, with Sam Melville and Kate Jackson of The Rookies as the final celebrities. In the final seven minutes, after a regular game was played, producer Howard Felsher and Frank Wayne and several other Goodson-Todman staffers came out to play one last game, even though there was little time to declare a real winner. Show creator Mark Goodson made a special appearance to present host Allen Ludden with a gold watch (which he juxtaposed with railroad companies giving their retiring employees watches) and declared him "Mr. Password." Goodson even humorously thanked Betty White Ludden for "keeping Allen straight."

With Betty joining Allen on a stool at stage center in the final segment, Allen Ludden, after 4 years, signed off with the classic line: "Sometime, somewhere, someday, there will be another game show, but never one with the class of this one." Surprisingly, unlike the color episodes of the 1961-67 CBS daytime version that preceded it, no syndicated reruns were planned; Password was never even produced in a first-run, once-a-week nighttime syndicated version, either! Happily, shortly thereafter, Allen Ludden was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host for Password (his only one!), just as Password itself won an Emmy for Best Game/Audience Participation Show.

And Blankety Blanks, a short-lived Bob Stewart-devised word game starring Bill Cullen, and Split Second, a Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall-created/produced venture emceed by Tom Kennedy, staples on ABC Daytime both (and also happened to sandwich Password at the time), also received the fatal blow by The Alphabet Network’s hatchet as well. Split Second ‘s series finale featured future ABC News (and later CNN) anchor Judd Rose as a contestant. Reruns of The Brady Bunch (which Blankety Blanks replaced in the first place!), the Bobby Van-hosted gameshow Showoffs (another Goodson-Todman vehicle), and All My Children all replaced Blankety Blanks, Password and Split Second in their former time slots the following Monday.


JUNE 27, 1980

After 8 long years of doling out cash to lucky contestants by the truckload, the 1,808th and final edition of The $20,000 Pyramid aired on ABC Television. The final celebrity guests were Lois Nettleton and Bill Cullen (erstwhile emcee of the by-now canceled 1974-79 weekly syndicated nighttime $25,000 Pyramid). While Dick Clark said this was the final edition, he made certain to viewers that they would definitely be seeing it again. (His claim proved to be very prophetic; surprisingly enough, Pyramid would leave a profound impact on the 1980s, on CBS and in syndication, with [New] $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 formats!) The show ended on a humorous note as the final segment of this finale saw Dick displaying a phoney Winner's Circle round with such sidesplitting categories like "Used Car Dealers You Can Trust," "Hit Shows on NBC-TV", "Things That Kissenger Didn't Foul Up" "Famous Japanese Rabbis," "Oil Companies In Bankruptcy," and "Famous Italian TV Directors" (an inside joke and tribute to Pyramid director Mike Garguilo). Bill Cullen made TV history as the last celebrity on the original Pyramid series to aid his civilian contestant partner to win $10,000 on the show with clues on "Things That End" like "this show...the world one day".

As Dick Clark thanked everyone in the show's fading minutes, Bill Cullen commended him for being a great all-around host. Clark finally says to end the show, "...and we'll see you again soon!" and gathered the entire production crew on-stage, including a rare appearance by Pyramid creator/producer/executive producer Bob Stewart, as the long credits crawl superimposed over them. Effective the following Monday (June 30), The $20,000 Pyramid was replaced with Family Feud.