August 23 Marks 60th Anniversary of Concentration's Debut

[howilu]

Thursday, August 23 was the 60th anniversary of the debut of a show that would become a game show classic Concentration. Here's a link to my blog entry celebrating the show's 60th anniversary.

http://howilusports.blogspot.com/201...years-ago.html

[KurtfromPitts]

I grew up watching the Downs-Clayton version. Narz was IMO just as good a host in the '70s.

[Hawkee]

When Concentration debuted it was a breath of fresh air for game shows because of it's fun gameplay and fun rebus puzzles that fans could easily solve and Concentration was so fun to play along with. When the first episode aired did you know that the very first puzzle solution on the show was "It Happened One Night"? and the final puzzle solution on the final episode of Concentration was "Thank You For Watching" and it proved that puzzle game shows would be a hit. Also in the original Concentration the very first Tournament Of Champions featured the contestants competing for The Connie which was a trophy modeled after Rodin's The Thinker and there were two winners of The Connie in the show's history. It's a shame that after Classic Concentration ended it's run Concentration hasn't been revived and a Concentration revival would fit very well on NBC's daytime lineup
Bestie

[howilu]

Originally Posted by LaBestia

When Concentration debuted it was a breath of fresh air for game shows because of it's fun gameplay and fun rebus puzzles that fans could easily solve and Concentration was so fun to play along with. When the first episode aired did you know that the very first puzzle solution on the show was "It Happened One Night"? and the final puzzle solution on the final episode of Concentration was "Thank You For Watching" and it proved that puzzle game shows would be a hit. Also in the original Concentration the very first Tournament Of Champions featured the contestants competing for The Connie which was a trophy modeled after Rodin's The Thinker and there were two winners of The Connie in the show's history. It's a shame that after Classic Concentration ended it's run Concentration hasn't been revived and a Concentration revival would fit very well on NBC's daytime lineup
Bestie

The last puzzle on the original daytime version of Concentration was "You've been more than kind." Time ran out on the last show so both contestants got $700 from the Birthday Present prize,

[MRPITT]

Classic Concentration with Alex Trebek starts airing October 1st on BUZZR.

[simmytbone]

They're on YT as well

Concentration debut on NBC and aired from August 1958-March of 1973 and was Videotaped at the NBC Studios in New York City

Hugh Downs of The TODAY Show and later 20/20 was the original host for the Daytime Version with the late Jack Barry hosting the Prime Time Version

The late Art James who was announcer for the show was also a substitute host for the show

In January 1969, Hugh Downs stepped down to devote his entire attention to Today. The late Bob Clayton, who had succeeded Jim Lucas as announcer, took over the hosting duties but in March, NBC set him aside in favor of the late Ed McMahon due to advertiser pressure. However, Clayton returned in September and remained host until the series ended. On the Monday following Concentration's cancellation on NBC, Clayton became the announcer for The $10,000 Pyramid on CBS. NBC staffer Wayne Howell replaced Clayton in the announcer's booth during his tenure as host

Paola Diva was the Original Model for it's entire 14½+ year run

6 months later, the show was picked up by Mark Goodson & Bill Todman and moved to syndication which ran for 5 more years with the late Jack Narz as host and the late Johnny Olsen as announcer

The series was Videotaped @ Metromedia Square in Hollywood

and on May 4, 1987 after a 9 year absence, Concentration returned to television, this time, the series returned home to NBC Daytime for the 1st time in 14 years and the show was Videotaped @ NBC Studios Burbank, CA and the series was renamed Classic Concentration

Alex Trebek host of High Rollers, Battlestars and most notably JEOPARDY! since 1984 became the host of CC with Diana Taylor and Marjorie Goodson-Cutt as the Models and the late great Gene Wood as the announcer

In this version, instead of 30 Numbers, there were 25 numbers and there were 3 WILD! Cards in each game

and what I like about this version was this:

Whenever a contestant matches 2 WILD! Cards it's worth $500 in Cash, finding all 3 WILD! Cards in your very 1st Pick is worth $1000

Hugh Downs and Alex Trebek are now the 2 surviving hosts of Concentration

Hugh Downs is 97 years old and he's also outlived Art James, Bob Clayton, Ed McMahon, Jack Narz and Gene Wood and Alex Trebek is 78 years old and he's about to start his 35th season as host of JEOPARDY!

Here's a pic with the late Bob Clayton, Hugh Downs and the late Art James from the Original Concentration Years