Friday, March 23, 1973

[AaronHandy3]

Concentration, the popular game show based on the children's game, created by Jack Barry, Dan Enright, Robert Noah and Buddy Piper, in which matching like cards is the key, while adding the ever-popular "rebus" puzzles to create an endlessly fascinating game of wits, aired for the 3,796th and last time on NBC Daytime, after 15 years, the longest-running daytime game show in NBC history.

Its last ever rebus was "You've Been More Than Kind." Heatter-Quigley's Baffle, a remake of their earlier syndicated P.D.Q. emceed by Dick Enberg, succeeded its timeslot the following Monday.

At the end of the NBC run, Concentration switched representatives to Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, which oversaw both of the later versions of this show: the 1973-79 syndicated edition hosted by Jack Narz (Now You See It), and the 1987-91 NBC Daytime revival, Classic Concentration, emceed by Alex Trebek (Jeopardy!). It remains one of only 3 programs in Goodson-Todman's entire game show repertoire that was not created by the company; the others being the Bob Stewart-created Price Is Right and the Hollywood Squares component of The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.

The videotapes of virtually every segment of the original 1958-73 NBC-produced version of Concentration were unfortunately destroyed or wiped clean for reuse by The Peacock Network (save for a precious few!), but all of the Goodson-Todman-produced episodes remain. NBC still retains the rights to the show, which explains the appalling dearth of repeats of Concentration on Game Show Network (GSN).

Afterword: Bob Clayton, the final host, signed a contract with Bob Stewart Productions to be the announcer of the hit game show which premiered on CBS the very Monday following Concentration's demise on NBC: The $10,000 Pyramid! (Clayton passed away in 1979.) Hugh Downs later became an anchor for ABC News, hosting the TV news magazine 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Ed McMahon became the aide de camp of Johnny Carson for thirty years on his Tonight Show. And, of course, Jack Barry's exile from TV due to The Scandals (aside from brief emceeing duties on Juvenile Jury and The Reel Game) would officially end with the September 4, 1972 CBS Daytime premiere of The Joker's Wild!

(Pic courtesy of David Jackino and David P. Johnson)

[AaronHandy3]

Concentration, the popular game show based on the children's game, created by Jack Barry, Dan Enright, Robert Noah and Buddy Piper, in which matching like cards is the key, while adding the ever-popular "rebus" puzzles to create an endlessly fascinating game of wits, aired for the 3,796th and last time on NBC Daytime, after 15 years, the longest-running daytime game show in NBC history.

Its last ever rebus was "You've Been More Than Kind." Heatter-Quigley's Baffle, a remake of their earlier syndicated P.D.Q. emceed by Dick Enberg, succeeded its timeslot the following Monday.

At the end of the NBC run, Concentration switched representatives to Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, which oversaw both of the later versions of this show: the 1973-79 syndicated edition hosted by Jack Narz (Now You See It), and the 1987-91 NBC Daytime revival, Classic Concentration, emceed by Alex Trebek (Jeopardy!). It remains one of only 3 programs in Goodson-Todman's entire game show repertoire that was not created by the company; the others being the Bob Stewart-created Price Is Right and the Hollywood Squares component of The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.

The videotapes of virtually every segment of the original 1958-73 NBC-produced version of Concentration were unfortunately destroyed or wiped clean for reuse by The Peacock Network (save for a precious few!), but all of the Goodson-Todman-produced episodes remain. NBC still retains the rights to the show, which accounts for the appalling dearth of repeats of Concentration on Game Show Network (GSN).

Afterword: Bob Clayton, the final host, signed a contract with Bob Stewart Productions to be the announcer of the hit game show which premiered on CBS the very Monday following Concentration's demise on NBC: The $10,000 Pyramid! (Clayton passed away in 1979.) Hugh Downs later became an anchor for ABC News, hosting the TV news magazine 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Ed McMahon became the aide de camp of Johnny Carson for thirty years on his Tonight Show. And, of course, Jack Barry's exile from TV due to The Scandals (aside from brief emceeing duties on Juvenile Jury and The Reel Game) would officially end with the September 4, 1972 CBS Daytime premiere of The Joker's Wild!

[Jude The Obscure]

Thanks Aaron for this! It is sad how much good old game show stuff we are denied due to corporate greed.