From the Game Show Vault: "Just Men" Episode 15

Speaking of game shows, as we do in this week's encore presentation on the podcast, let's talk about a recent upload by the great Game Show Vault channel: A full episode of Betty White's short-lived 1983 NBC daytime game show, Just Men!

(Not to be confused with the 1959 ITV series Four Just Men. Nobody was confused? Oh. Carry on, then!)

OK, if you haven't watched the clip yet, I urge you to check it out not because I am going to reveal the best thing about it.

I warned you. Get ready for some joy!

One of the members of the panel is the great ROBERT PINE! Yes, the inaugural Genius Award winner is one of the men who answer questions so that contestants can guess what they are like based on--Well, the game itself is a mess.

Betty White is an energetic, engaging host--no shock there--but the format doesn't do much for me. Two contestants ask a series of questions in order to determine which of the 7 men answered yes or no to a specific larger question. The idea is to generate some witty banter, but there isn't enough there to make up for what strikes me as lackluster gameplay. It feels like the game is just the slimmest excuse for the banter, but the banter is not always compelling, and the sheer number of celebrity men panelists mean there isn't enough time to have interesting discussion.

That said, there are some good moments in here, and it's fun seeing a young Jerry Seinfeld--and not getting all that much to do, either. Here he is a token comedian instead of the superstar he would later be. Pine is charming if a bit out of place. It's just that the game structure is a head scratcher, with contestants asking seemingly random questions to get the answers to questions that are all 50/50 anyway.

This game show ran a mere 13 weeks after premiering in January 1983, though White did win a Daytime Emmy for her performance as host. I can see why this didn't last, but it's fun to see an episode and enjoy the odd assortment of celebrities, like former NL Rookie of the Year Steve Sax.

Inside the Guide: 70 years ago, "The $64,000 Question" was the hottest thing on TV (August 20-26, 1955)

This week we'll go back in time and look at the TV Guide Pittsburgh edition from August 20-26, 1955--70 years ago!. Here's a look at the front cover:

You will notice the cover subject is Hal March, emcee of The $64,000 Question. That quiz show had premiered just about two months earlier but was the talk of the medium, breaking summertime viewership records and capturing the public's collective attention. Newspapers, street corners, water coolers...all were abuzz with discussions about the smash program.

Yes, this was one of the shows implicated in the quiz show scandals that would soon take down the genre and help lead to network, rather than sponsor, control over TV programming. $64,000 Question was not the first quiz show exposed, nor the most egregious, but it was believed sponsor Revson did influence the direction of the series in multiple ways. At least one contestant on the spinoff 64,000 Challenge (a head-to-head format, unlike the escalating-questions-solo format of its predecessor) claimed he was given answers in advance. Producer Louis Cowan became president of CBS TV after this show took off, but he was booted out in the wake of the scandals.

All this makes the issue in question (Ha!) a fascinating read. Ah, to be innocent and read this as it played out in Summer 1955, 3 years before the scandals broke. The cover story talks about how producers select contestants, not directly mentioning how sponsors might manipulate the gameplay or try to juke ratings.  One amusing note mentions how producers verified that potential participants weren't "misrepresenting themselves": "Cowan checks with their, ministers, priests, or rabbis, with their banks and their place of work." Note: Lack of semicolons and Oxford commas is from the original text.

The article mentions that people write the mag all the time asking how the show can afford to give away the big cash prizes. Actually, the program is much cheaper to produce than most primetime entertainment shows, as a helpful list indicates. The Jackie Gleason Show cost over $72K per week last season, but even with cash winnings averaged in. Question is estimated at a little over $25K.

The "TV Teletype" feature at the front of the mag has an item on the show, saying that American Research Bureau figures reveal it draws 47 million viewers each week. "That's unprecedented for summertime TV. 

This is my favorite reference in the issue, though, an item from the "Letters to the Editor" page:

Knowing what would happen a few years later, this is quite a thing to read here!

What We Saw: The Mad Dash (Canadian game show)

In our Facebook group, our pal Charlie posted this bonkers clip from 1979 Canadian game show The Mad Dash. Everything about this amazes me--the graphics, the music, the way you feel right away, "Yes, this is quality low-rent television."

I will say that this is a loop, designed to be mesmerizing, and while it certainly works on me, the actual show is not quite as bonkers. It's still a tremendous watch, or at least this full episode is. Even the thumbnail makes me laugh:

First, let's get the disappointment out of the way. In this episode, there was very little of the random back and forth you see in the first clip. Contestants do dash around a giant track like a real-life Candyland, but they do it with purpose and deliberation, unlike the clip that shows a man and woman just prancing around with no evident direction, often on the verge of falling.

That said, this show is a riot. The host is Pierre Lalonde. Pierre Lalonde! We get two mixed-gender teams (Can we call them couples? The actual people seem to be both coy and not coy about that at the same time when Pierre asks) who compete for cash--not much of ii--and prizes. One representative of each team stands around a simulated dice table and answers questions, then rolls a die that dictates the movement of their partners on that goofy track. Each space has some associated prize or action. Oh, and you had better believe that everyone is dressed like the late Seventies, baby!

This episode seems like a debut or a very early episode. The direction is amateurish at times. At the beginning, when we meet the players, their backs are mostly to the camera, and we barely see one of them. The main gimmick of the game is seeing someone frolic on that track, yet each time it happens, the show cuts late and we miss the first step. Even Pierre Lalonde--it pains me to say this--forgets a few things. Plus, near the end, when he is counting out the whopping total of $110 in cash to the winners, there is an awkward moment when he says something like, "Let me take this 20 back and give you this." You never see Jim Lange making change on Name That Tune.

The questions are basic trivia material, but the contestants go for it with gusto, especially the ladies. Loretta in this clip seems right out of game show contestant casting, making a running commentary the whole time and reacting to everything. In the beginning, her hapless partner Jim rolls a 3, which means she has to go tot eh "Back 3 Spaces" square and return to the starting point. She pouts in a friendly sort of way that she actually has to go through the motions of walking it out. 

There are multiple awkward moments like this that you don't often see in more polished game shows. Sure, you get bloopers all the time on, say, Family Feud, but you don't see ill-conceived spots like when the woman on the track, after choosing "Brawn" over "Brains," attempts the physical challenge of...peeling two oranges with her bare hands in 15 seconds? Not only is it not even captured well visually, there isn't any kind of timer on the screen. The whole thing just ends, and everyone laughs it off and goes back to the trivia, die rolling, and dashing.

Is the dashing MAD? No, but it sure is goofy, and that is good enough for me to want to see more examples of this. The book TV North calls it a syndicated show from 1979, but the credits clearly show it was on CTV, and Wikipedia says it ran from 1978-1981. A few full episodes are on YouTube. Someone salvage the rest and put them up!

12 Days of Watching (2024) #3: Card Sharks Celebrates the Season

This episode was probably taped in July, but the festive decor and even the token Christmas-related question ("We asked 100 department store Santas...") make it feel like the holiday season to me! According to a commenter on this upload, it debuted December 21, 1978 on CBS. It's Card Sharks with Jim Perry!

The quality isn't the best on this GSN reair, and I am sure many will be disappointed that it isn't a sharper image when they see Markie Post is one of the models flipping cards, but I am glad to see this. Perry once again proves why he is one of the best: Silky smooth, able to modulate his voice just right to get the questions across, throwing in commentary every now and then, but always focused on the drama of the game as it unfolds in front of him.

What an enthusiastic contestant they have here in Jorge! Laurie suggested he could get his own show. Card Sharks is a simple game but one with plenty of "play along" appeal, and the formula is in fine form here.

Speaking of commenters, note the person who expresses doubt over the legitimacy of the surveys that form the basis of the questions. Is it possible Card Sharks is a work? Say it ain't so!

My Favorite Things Week #4/Brooks on Books: This Day in Game Show History by Adam Nedeff

I must confess I got a lot of great books in 2022 that I have not been able to read yet, but for today's post I am reviewing something that I DID read and something filled with info about Seventies and Eighties TV: This Day in Game Show History by Adam Nedeff From BearManor media.

It's actually 4 books because, presumably to keep down page count and price, each volume contains 3 months at a time, one chapter/entry for each calendar day of the year. In truth, the paperbacks are still pretty expensive, but I purchased the digital versions. Game show historian Nedeff delivers a fun daily read that could be pored through with ease, though I kept discipline and didn't jump ahead. Using the calendar gimmick as a starting point, he creates a history of games shows. I can't think of any major examples that aren't represented somehow; even though he uses this format and not a conventional encyclopedic format, Nedeff covers so much in here.

For example, just looking at, oh, let's say Volume 2, April-June. May 4, 1987 is the premiere of Classic Concentration, a logical opportunity to discuss the NBC revival of the old classic. The day before that, though, yields May 3, 1955, the date on which Twenty Questions ends, and so we get a history of that radio/TV program.

Birthdays are commemorated as well, of course, as on April 27, the date Casey Kasem entered the world. The legendary DJ didn't have a big presence in this area, but Nedeff tells the story of his super-rare (only a test run in 4 cities) 1999 show 100%.  Deaths get entries as well, and then there are some quirkier choices, like April 10, when Dr. Salk tested the polio vaccine. This is a pathway into talking about Bill Cullen's efforts in dealing with polio.

Many entries are ways to get various bits of info into the book. Take April 9, the debut of TV Guide. Nedeff lists all the issues of the magazine with game-show-themed covers. Leafing through this volume now, I see all kinds of interesting facts, like that Norman Lear hosted a revival of Quiz Kids in 1981 for CBS Cable. And wouldn't you like to see ESPN Plus add episodes of 1988's NFL Trivia Game, hosted by Gabe Kaplan?

Some entries are quite short, others a bit longer, but all are compelling. Nedeff draws from a variety of sources including interviews, contemporary reports, and more, and supplements it all with a wide variety of photos. What could be a haphazard or lazy effort becomes a treasure of trove of info for game show and TV history fans.

12 days of Christmas Watching 2022 Day #8: $ale of the Century with a holiday classic!

A game show brought me some of the best Christmas watching of the season! We talked about Sale of the Century in our game show episode back in , and there we explained what made it such a good series. This episode from December 23, 1988 takes it up a notch by adding CHRISTMAS to the mix!

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(Thanks to Sale of the Century Archives for posting the original episode as aired on NBC!)

The producers went all out here. I bet they taped this in, what, August at the latest, but you would never know it. It's not just decorating the set, though it looks lovely, and not just giving Summer Bartholomew a seasonal dress, though she looks lovely. Every question of the trivia-based game is about the holiday--Santa trivia, prominent retailer trivia, toy trivia, and more! 

Even the prizes are themed, including a trip to Santa Claus, Indiana. That may not sound like much, but when Jim Perry throws in hundreds of dollars in spending money and slashes the price to a dollar--well, that's a bargain! It's like a half-hour yule log...only instead of a piece of wood crackling, there are human beings competing for cash and prizes. OK, it's not like a yule log at all except that watching it is awesome.

Everyone is in a good mood here. Defending champion Angela is excited to try to go for the car again (and a La Petite grand piano today--hey, how can a grand piano be petite?). Jeff is introduced as "a man of the cloth," and the reveal that his family has had a clothing business for several generations brings the kind of game show jovial reactions you expect. 

And then there's the wine taster Ursula, giving off slight "Andrea Zuckerman after 3 glasses of spiked punch at the off-site holiday party" vibes. She is into it all right, almost too much, but it works for the game because we have the right host in charge.

That host, my friends, is Jim Perry, who gets an exciting game here to show off his skills. He does it all here, from reacting with that appropriate jocularity to the contestants to controlling the game to even sweetening the pot with a little cash when the lead contestant is pondering spending game dollars on a prize. And as the show often has him do, he even throws to break at one point by relating a Bob Hope joke about Gerald Ford golfing. 

I always thought Perry was one oft he most underrated hosts in game show history, and he backs me up in this one. Check out the way he explains a mild "situation" that occurs in the lightning round to the affected contestant: subtle but definitive, and not intrusive on the game. A funny moment occurs halfway through the show when Bartholomew forgets a prop tied to a bargain skit, and Perry reacts with aplomb. It's another outstanding performance by a true pro.

All this adds up to a tremendous Christmas episode, and let me tell you one other thing: The game itself is a thriller. Sale is not as difficult as Jeopardy!, but it provides exciting game play with its speed and the format that encourages close scores. I won't spoil the outcome, but this contest is up for grabs until the very end.

Don't take my word for it, though. Just look at the face of Jeff and his clear elation at getting a Fame Game (sit down, Mike) win and earning not the $15 card that would bring him a huge lead in the game, but an assortment of...lamps. If this doesn't scream, "Ho ho ho and all that jazz," I don't know what does:

This Day in TV History: The Reel Game premieres on ABC

January 18, 1971, ABC's mini-block of game shows featured a premiere: The Reel Game hosted by Jack Barry.

The show followed Let's Make a Deal at 7:30 and The Newlywed Game at 8:00.  Total Television says the game featured 3 contestants. "The questions concerned famous people and events, and the answers were "verified" by showing newsreel or other documentary footage.

According to this post, a similar show called Eye Bet aired in Canada at about the same time with host Jim Perry (a BOTNS favorite). The same poster says that the cost of licensing clips proved prohibitive. The Reel Game lasted until May. It was part of Barry's national comeback (he was developing Joker's Wild at this time) after his implication in the quiz show scandals of the 1950s.

This Day in TV History: The Newlywed Game premieres

The Newlywed Game may look like a tawdry trashfest. It may sound like a tawdry trashfest.  It may even feel like a tawdry trashfest. But don't let that fool you--it really is a tawdry trashfest!

The show debuted on this date in 1966 on ABC, and while that's a little outside our time frame, anyone who grew up in the BOTNS era must have been exposed to it at some time--kind of like chicken pox.



I kid! I can't quite explain why I sometimes watched the show  as a youth, but the answer is probably similar to the answer as to why I watched many of the things I did: It was on.  It's a game show classic, though, and will be revived again and again as long as TV is a thing. So congrats to Chuck Barris, and a shout-out to longtime host Bob Eubanks, still the one we think of when we think of The Newlywed Game (except maybe for the woman who gave that answer).

And Now...a Word from THEIR Sponsor: Jim Perry for Morton Salt

It's not difficult to envision Jim Perry as a consummate pitchman. He's so polished in all  his game show work, and his Sale of the Century stint indicates he is comfortable pushing product. One of my favorite YouTube uploaders, Bionic Disco, just posted an early Perry commercial that throws me a bit, though. He just looks so...young in this one. Check it out:

At first, I am taken aback by the haircut, but as I settle in and get past that (OK, it may have taken me a few watches), I am THERE. I want that salt.  I mean, I want that salt he has right there in the ad. I want to take that little jar and chug that Morton's Lite Salt. If this were Sale of the Century, I'd throw away $10--the value of two questions--just for a heaping portion of salt. He wouldn't even have to sweeten (or salt?) the deal by throwing in a set of shakers.

The poise, the delivery, the confidence--even in the 1970s, Jim Perry was the man.

TV Guide Game Ephemera: Game Shows Edition

In our recent Game Shows episode, we also played another round of "The TV Guide Game." This time, we looked at Saturday morning, October 27, 1984, from the October 27-November 2 1984 edition of TV Guide.

Brooke caught herself
a Burgess Meredith (Cameron from Search)!

Great art one, plus the great David Morse
and Valerie Bertinelli.

Great art two!

Great art three!

Most of the schedule we used.

Not made up.

What good is a T.J. Hooker ad
without Shatner?

We mentioned this Lynda Carter/Loni Anderson
vehicle in our Wonder Woman episode.

1984 in music!

Ghosts of episodes past and possibly fu-CHA.

Did someone call Matt Houston
a cut-rate Magnum?

File under What We'd Like To See!

Rick's been watching this show recently...
strictly for research...TV research.
Listen. An episode featured Burt, OK?
Give the guy a break.

Possibly the greatest sentence ever written.

Show Notes: Episode 2-11: Game Shows

*The Face the Music episode we cover aired in syndication  in 1980; the Sale of the Century aired at 10:30 A.M. on NBC in 1985. A commenter on YouTube believes the latter aired in November.

*Jim Perry was born in New Jersey but first hosted game shows in Canada.  He was the first emcee of Card Sharks (1978-1981) but was busy with Sale of the Century and other work when the series was revised--hence the use of Bob Eubanks and Bill Raferty.

*In addition to his work on Face the Music, Tommy Tedesco was a regular on Fernwood 2Night  and of course played on countless recordings. As Mike mentions, his son Denny directed The Wrecking Crew documentary that features him.

*Renae Jacobs, a contestant on the episode of Sale of the Century that we watched for the podcast, was April O'Neil on the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series that premiered in 1987. She also starred in Masters of the Maze on The Family Channel.

*CBN was a cable network from 1977 to 1988, when it became CBN Family Channel. It later morphed into Family Channel, Fox Family, ABC Family, and is now Freeform. It hasn't aired anything like Face the Music reruns in a long, long time.

*Summer Batholomew won the 1975 Miss USA pageant representing California, edging Miss Alabama and North Carolina. She had a short stint on a version of Wheel of Fortune. A clip of that pageant is in our playlist for this episode!

*Ron Ely's stint as Tarzan on the NBC series lasted 1966-1968. Besides his acting career, he hosted several Miss America pageants

*Fred Dryer was an NFL player turned actor who starred on NBC's 1980s action series Hunter.

*Lisa Donovan, the vivacious singer on Face the Music, still performs, and according to her website had a stint in Nunsense in Las Vegas.

*Make me Laugh aired in 1958, 1979-1980, and in 1997. The "classic" version is the 79-80 one, which was syndicated and featured Booby Van as host.

*Sale of the Century began as an NBC daytime series in 1969 with host Jack Kelly of Maverick fame, then later Joe Garagiola. After becoming a success in Australia, producers brought it to the USA in 1983, where it aired on NBC until 1989. A syndicated version also hosted by Perry ran from 1985 to 1986.

*The TV Guide game at the end of this episode uses the October 27-November 2, 1984 edition and focuses on Saturday morning, 8:00 A.M. to 11:00 A.M.

*The Get Along Gang cartoon was inspired by a greeting card line.

Episode 2_11: "Face the Music" and "$ale of the Century"

This week, we dive into the world of game shows with a look at the syndicated "Face the Music" and NBC's fast-paced "$ale of the Century." Plus, an all-new TV Guide Game! Will one of us go home with a brand-new car?!

Check out this episode!

Tomorrow on Battle of the Network Shows...