30 years ago; The NEW Hollywood Squares moves to Universal Studios Hollywood

[simmytbone]

Hey guys,

30 years ago this fall

The NEW Hollywood Squares was back for a 3rd and Final Season on syndication

Former Square himself John Davidson who was also the host of That's Incredible as well as NBC's Time Machine and The NEW $100,000 Pyramid was back as emcee with the late Joan Rivers returning as Center Square and also returning to the scene were JM J. Bullock of Too Close for Comfort and Boogie's Diner and Announcer Shadoe Stevens

Now, there were a few changes including this:

For the final season, the car round was changed. The champion first chose a car, then one of the nine celebrities. Each held a key, with five of the celebrities holding keys that would start any one of the five available cars and four holding dud keys that did not start anything. If the champion failed to start the car, it was not eliminated from the round, but was available again if the champion returned the next day. However, the five-day limit was removed and a champion was able to stay until either winning a car or being defeated (a la Tic Tac Dough, The Joker's Wild, Play the Percentages, BULLSEYE and now JEOPARDY!)

also, all season long, The NEW Hollywood Squares was Videotaped at Universal Studios Hollywood the home to USA's Version of American Bandstand w/David Hirsch, Maximum Drive, Shop 'til You Drop w/Pat Finn-The Final Years on Lifetime, Crook & Chase-the 90's syndicated version and the 1st 2 Seasons of The Original American Gladiators w/Mike Adamle

Rick Rosner the Producer of this version of HS is best known as the Creator of Just Men! with Betty White, Caesars Challenge with Ahmad Rashad, 240-Robert with Mark Harmon and Joanna Cassidy, Lottery! with Marshall Colt and Ben Murphy and most notably "CHiPs" with Larry Wilcox, Robert Pine, Randi Oakes aka Mrs. Gregory Harrison and International TV Icon Erik Estrada as Ponch

The problem with the series was that there was too much Heavy Competition on Syndication from the likes of Wheel of Fortune, JEOPARDY!, Love Connection, Fun House w/JD Roth, 2 Shows from the late Ralph Edwards and Stu Billet in The People's Court w/the late Judge Wapner, the late Rusty Burrell and Doug Llewelyn and Superior Court, Family Feud with the late Ray Combs, Win, Lose or Draw w/the late Bert Convy (Vicki Lawrence was still hosting the NBC Daytime Version), Mama's Family, Star Trek: The Next Generation (which was the #1 Drama on syndication), Numerous Cartoons including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Talk Shows like Donahue, Sally, Geraldo, The Queen of Talk known as Oprah, Soul Train, America's Top 10 with the late Casey Kasem, It's Showtime at the Apollo and others

and as a result of that, the show was cancelled after only 3 seasons

also, another reason why the show was cancelled was this:

When Orion Television heard that American Gladiators was coming to Universal Studios in Hollywood, that marked the final nail in the coffin for The NEW Hollywood Squares

and now, here's the Season Premiere of The NEW Hollywood Squares with John Davidson from September 1988

JM J. Bullock filling in the Center Square for Joan Rivers