Read an oral history of The New Hollywood Squares - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

TMC · 10-04-2020, 12:30 AM

https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/...s-oral-history

After the original Hollywood Squares aired from 1966 to 1981, the format was revived in syndication from 1986 to 1989 with John Davidson as host and Joan Rivers and Jim J. Bullock as regulars. "The ’80s game show was a nightly mini-cabaret that was way weirder and more fun than Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune — and left an outsized legacy on network TV," says C. Brian Smith, adding: "For young Gen Xers, The New Hollywood Squares was a reliably weird and occasionally entertaining backdrop to our prepubescent evenings. On most weeknights of Ronald Reagan’s waning years in office, shortly after Brokaw and just before The Cosby Show, American television sets broadcasted impromptu mini cabarets disguised as a back-of-the-envelope children’s game."

SledgeBarone · 10-06-2020, 06:14 PM

There's a lot of questionable statements in that article, IMO.

Media scholar and television historian Robert Thompson puts it on the level of “classic game shows,” alongside The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!.

That might be the case if you include the original run of Hollywood Squares. Still, TPIR, WOF, and Jeopardy! have all been running continuously for at least about 35 years now ... over twice as long as than the Marshall version.

Nedeff: I recently made a note of a TNHS episode with the most 1986 panel possible: Alf, Ed Begley Jr. from St. Elsewhere, Tempestt Bledsoe from the The Cosby Show, Nell Carter from Gimme a Break, Christopher Hewett from Mr. Belvedere and Ken Kercheval from Dallas. These were big, prime-time stars from hit shows, and it was fascinating to see them collected in one place. A show like this is such a time capsule.

I don't think ALF, St. Elsewhere, GAB, and Belvedere could be considered hits. They did well enough in the ratings to be renewed, but were they actually top 10/20 shows?

At the peak of TNHS’ popularity, Rosner took the show to New York City, where it received its highest ratings, for a week of shows at Radio City Music Hall.

...

In the end, though, what helped Hollywood Squares get on the air is also what cut its run short, as it was canceled in 1989.

Nedeff: Everyone was trying to get a game show on the air to get a chunk of that Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy! money, so it became a very, very crowded marketplace in the late 1980s. The year that Hollywood Squares went on, Card Sharks introduced a nighttime version, as did The Newlywed Game, $100,000 Pyramid and The Price Is Right. Unfortunately, there are only so many 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. windows.

Rosner: We started to lose those 7:30 p.m. time slots. The powers that be felt that it was such a valuable property, why not preserve it for future versions.

Weren't The Newlywed Game and the nighttime versions of CS/Pyramid/TPIR all gone by the 1987-88 season? The video of the show taping from Radio City Music Hall that's embedded in the article is dated 11/20/87, so that would mean Squares was still popular after beating back the competition. So was there a different reason for the 1989 cancellation? I don't understand Rick Rosner's comment, either.

===

For me, Jm. J. Bullock was a channel-changer. I remember during one of the regular monologue bits on Arsenio Hall's late-night show, Arsenio referred to his posse (section of his studio audience) as "people who avoid choosing the secret square so they don't have to talk to Jm. J. Bullock" or something like that.

I'm not sure if that was just gentle razzing or a genuine putdown, though. (They did actually appear on the same panel once, on the Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour in the early 1980s.)

howierules86 · 10-10-2020, 06:32 PM

^According to Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, in the 1986-87 primetime year, those shows ranked in the Top 30 as follows:

ALF - #28 (tied with Hunter)
St. Elsewhere - did not rank
Gimme A Break! - did not rank
Mr. Belvedere - did not rank

SledgeBarone · 10-11-2020, 03:14 PM

^Thanks for the numbers. That confirms what I said.

In addition, Christopher Hewett was a semi-regular panelist on Super Password, Ed Begley Jr. recurred on Pyramid, and Ken Kercheval was seen on those and many more game shows, so they weren't necessarily huge "gets". Hollywood Squares isn't a game that requires much competence, so it can draw from a larger pool of celebrities who won't have to worry about embarrassing themselves. But other than at the very beginning of TNHQ's run, when Burt Reynolds and some other big stars appeared, I still didn't think the star wattage was that much brighter.

I was somewhat off about the other game shows. Tom Kennedy's nighttime Price Is Right went off the air in September 1986, but the 100K Pyramid aired until September 1988, and the New Newlywed Game went until December 1988. Still, the Davidson Squares outlasted all of them.

10-04-2020, 12:30 AM	#1
TMC Member Forum Idol Join Date: Jan 09, 2001 Posts: 125,028	Read an oral history of The New Hollywood Squares https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/...s-oral-history After the original Hollywood Squares aired from 1966 to 1981, the format was revived in syndication from 1986 to 1989 with John Davidson as host and Joan Rivers and Jim J. Bullock as regulars. "The ’80s game show was a nightly mini-cabaret that was way weirder and more fun than Jeopardy! or Wheel of Fortune — and left an outsized legacy on network TV," says C. Brian Smith, adding: "For young Gen Xers, The New Hollywood Squares was a reliably weird and occasionally entertaining backdrop to our prepubescent evenings. On most weeknights of Ronald Reagan’s waning years in office, shortly after Brokaw and just before The Cosby Show, American television sets broadcasted impromptu mini cabarets disguised as a back-of-the-envelope children’s game."

10-10-2020, 06:32 PM	#3
howierules86 Member Forum Superstar Join Date: Dec 05, 2007 Location: Opelika, AL Posts: 29,474	^According to Tim Brooks & Earle Marsh, in the 1986-87 primetime year, those shows ranked in the Top 30 as follows: ALF - #28 (tied with Hunter) St. Elsewhere - did not rank Gimme A Break! - did not rank Mr. Belvedere - did not rank
	__________________ I love me some Susanna Hoffs - http://www.susannahoffs.com And many other very talented ladies too.

10-06-2020, 06:14 PM	#2
SledgeBarone Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 01, 2020 Posts: 1,930	There's a lot of questionable statements in that article, IMO. Media scholar and television historian Robert Thompson puts it on the level of “classic game shows,” alongside The Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!. That might be the case if you include the original run of Hollywood Squares. Still, TPIR, WOF, and Jeopardy! have all been running continuously for at least about 35 years now ... over twice as long as than the Marshall version. Nedeff: I recently made a note of a TNHS episode with the most 1986 panel possible: Alf, Ed Begley Jr. from St. Elsewhere, Tempestt Bledsoe from the The Cosby Show, Nell Carter from Gimme a Break, Christopher Hewett from Mr. Belvedere and Ken Kercheval from Dallas. These were big, prime-time stars from hit shows, and it was fascinating to see them collected in one place. A show like this is such a time capsule. I don't think ALF, St. Elsewhere, GAB, and Belvedere could be considered hits. They did well enough in the ratings to be renewed, but were they actually top 10/20 shows? At the peak of TNHS’ popularity, Rosner took the show to New York City, where it received its highest ratings, for a week of shows at Radio City Music Hall. ... In the end, though, what helped Hollywood Squares get on the air is also what cut its run short, as it was canceled in 1989. Nedeff: Everyone was trying to get a game show on the air to get a chunk of that Wheel of Fortune/Jeopardy! money, so it became a very, very crowded marketplace in the late 1980s. The year that Hollywood Squares went on, Card Sharks introduced a nighttime version, as did The Newlywed Game, $100,000 Pyramid and The Price Is Right. Unfortunately, there are only so many 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. windows. Rosner: We started to lose those 7:30 p.m. time slots. The powers that be felt that it was such a valuable property, why not preserve it for future versions. Weren't The Newlywed Game and the nighttime versions of CS/Pyramid/TPIR all gone by the 1987-88 season? The video of the show taping from Radio City Music Hall that's embedded in the article is dated 11/20/87, so that would mean Squares was still popular after beating back the competition. So was there a different reason for the 1989 cancellation? I don't understand Rick Rosner's comment, either. === For me, Jm. J. Bullock was a channel-changer. I remember during one of the regular monologue bits on Arsenio Hall's late-night show, Arsenio referred to his posse (section of his studio audience) as "people who avoid choosing the secret square so they don't have to talk to Jm. J. Bullock" or something like that. I'm not sure if that was just gentle razzing or a genuine putdown, though. (They did actually appear on the same panel once, on the Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour in the early 1980s.)

10-11-2020, 03:14 PM	#4
SledgeBarone Member Senior Member Join Date: Apr 01, 2020 Posts: 1,930	^Thanks for the numbers. That confirms what I said. In addition, Christopher Hewett was a semi-regular panelist on Super Password, Ed Begley Jr. recurred on Pyramid, and Ken Kercheval was seen on those and many more game shows, so they weren't necessarily huge "gets". Hollywood Squares isn't a game that requires much competence, so it can draw from a larger pool of celebrities who won't have to worry about embarrassing themselves. But other than at the very beginning of TNHQ's run, when Burt Reynolds and some other big stars appeared, I still didn't think the star wattage was that much brighter. I was somewhat off about the other game shows. Tom Kennedy's nighttime Price Is Right went off the air in September 1986, but the 100K Pyramid aired until September 1988, and the New Newlywed Game went until December 1988. Still, the Davidson Squares outlasted all of them.