Early 60's game shows
Roy Green
popped into my head...
Please fill in the gaps of my memory (this was probably in 62 or 63
when I was about six).
"Seven Keys". I remember this as a big board with lots of pieces. I
think the theme song was "Beyond the Blue Horizon", and I think it was
primarily in prime time. That's about all I remember.
"Village Square" <??? not sure about the exact name> A kids game show
on Saturday mornings. had a "village" background and three
"sidewalks" that were painted red and white.
Finally, there was a show starring Jan Murray, and the major feature I
remember was a big "mixer" drum from which Murray drew something
pertinent to the game -- what, I couldn't tell you.
For what it's worth, my favorite game from back then was
Concentration. Hugh Downs was The Man! Loved the whirring sound of
the pieces as they turned, and the swooshing of the scoreboard. When
I finally got my mom to get me the home version of the game, I tried
my best to imitate the sounds when I uncovered pieces of the puzzle.
I also had home versions of all the shows I mentioned above.
--------
Roy Green, Atlanta
NAR #12605 SoAR #007 (SoAR Web at www.soar571.com)
http://roygreen.home.mindspring.com/
to reply by E-mail, remove the 'xxx' from the address given
Tammy Warner
1.) 'Seven Keys' (ABC, 1961-64)--This was Jack Narz' first REALLY
successful show after the 'Dotto' debacle of 1958. It started out as a
local show on LA station KTLA (channel 5) one year before going network.
Its theme song BTW, was 'Everything's Coming Up Roses'; & for Jack, they
sure did when he got this gig.
2.) 'Video Village' (CBS, 1960-62)--The show that launched the
Heatter-Quigley game show empire, & surved as Monty Hall's true
springboard to stardom after years of fill-in work on other shows
(including 'Twenty-One' which he would've taken over as host of had it
not been for the scandals). Their 'living game-board' setup (players
being the 'pieces') was just the start of what would become H-Q's
trademark of 'larger-than-life' game show gimmicks.
3.) 'Charge Account' (NBC, 1960-62)--This was the game show portion of
what was also known as 'The New Jan Murray Show'; & it was one of two
post-'Treasure Hunt' shows he hosted in the 60's (the other was the 1966
'Password' rip-off, 'Chain Letter'; not to be confused with 'Chain
Reaction'). It was a combination game/variety show. Letters were drawn
& the contestants had to come up with words using those letters.
BTW, I was born in 1962. And though I never saw any of these above
mentioned shows, (I never even saw 'What's This Song', regretfully. And
that was the Winkster's game show debut!) I do remember many of the
decade's classics (Password, Match Game, Jeopardy. both Dating &
Newlywed Games, Hollywood Squares) in their original formats. But hey,
I was only starting out as a toddler.....oh well.
Tammy Warner--ATGS's #1 Clock Watcherette!
(TamW...@webTV.net)
'At least I don't look like I'm about to do somebody's taxes!'
--Judy Tenuta commenting on Michael Burger's wardrobe on 'Match Game'
(9-29-98)
Roy Green
>I think I can help you there, Roy.....
>
>1.) 'Seven Keys' (ABC, 1961-64)--This was Jack Narz' first REALLY
>successful show after the 'Dotto' debacle of 1958. It started out as a
>local show on LA station KTLA (channel 5) one year before going network.
>Its theme song BTW, was 'Everything's Coming Up Roses'; & for Jack, they
>sure did when he got this gig.
>
Thanks for clearing up my theme song memory... Now it's really going
through my head! I won't be able to get it out for days. But, how
was the game played?
>2.) 'Video Village' (CBS, 1960-62)--The show that launched the
>Heatter-Quigley game show empire, & surved as Monty Hall's true
>springboard to stardom after years of fill-in work on other shows
>(including 'Twenty-One' which he would've taken over as host of had it
>not been for the scandals). Their 'living game-board' setup (players
>being the 'pieces') was just the start of what would become H-Q's
>trademark of 'larger-than-life' game show gimmicks.
Wow! that was Monty Hall?
>
>3.) 'Charge Account' (NBC, 1960-62)--This was the game show portion of
>what was also known as 'The New Jan Murray Show';
Thanks
>BTW, I was born in 1962. And though I never saw any of these above
>mentioned shows, (I never even saw 'What's This Song', regretfully. And
>that was the Winkster's game show debut!) I do remember many of the
>decade's classics (Password, Match Game, Jeopardy. both Dating &
>Newlywed Games, Hollywood Squares) in their original formats. But hey,
>I was only starting out as a toddler.....oh well.
I was born in late '56. but I remember lots of TV moments of 1960-62
(many JFK press conferences, the last few Howdy Doodys, the one shot
Jackie Gleason game show where people stuck their heads into scenes
and had to guess what sort of scene they were in -- for which Gleason
came on the next week and apologized!)
Password and the Match Game were always on when I got back home from
school. I actually liked the second incarnation of the Match Game
better than the first, but I still remember the first one's theme
song. Jeopardy and Hollywood Squares were only viewed during school
vacations. I didn't get into Jeopardy till the last year or two that
Art Fleming was still host. I remember HS when Charlie Weaver and
Wally Cox were the mainstays (and I remember Charlie when he was "That
Lil' Old Winemaker, Meeee...." but I don't remember what wine he was
advertising! Swiss Colony???) I wonder if Whoopee's HS has any
plans to bring back people like JoAnn Worley or Arte Johnson for a
week or two?
CatLuver74
>I was only starting out as a toddler.....oh well.
:) I am not sure what it was like where u are from, Tammy, but....before Fox,
WB and UPN gobbled up the independent stations, it was VERY common for indies
to rerun old game shows. I know that the Password web page mentioned that the
original password was being rerun on *50* stations nationally and thats what
helped it get relaunched in the early 70s. Indies had LOTS of time to
fill....remember that its before whole sale syndication of "regular"
shows...Cat
Mebranden
shows he asked about were two of my own all-time favories, I'll take two posts
to answer them:
«««For some reason, the other day a few game shows from the early 60's popped
into my head...
Please fill in the gaps of my memory (this was probably in 62 or 63 when I was
about six).
"Seven Keys". I remember this as a big board with lots of pieces. I think the
theme song was "Beyond the Blue Horizon", and I think it was primarily in prime
time. That's about all I remember.
"Village Square" (??? not sure about the exact name) A kids game show on
Saturday mornings. had a "village" background and three "sidewalks" that were
painted red and white.
»»»
I'll take the first one in this post. Seven Keys aired in the _daytime_ on
ABC from 1961-64 and used "Everything's Coming Up Roses" (from the musical
Gypsy) as its theme. Here's how it was played:
There was a game board with 70 numbered squares, arranged in seven rows, 10
sqaures to a row. To the left of the board were three spinning wheels marked
"Bonus", "Steps", and "Penalty".
The contestant started the game at the imaginary "0" square that was to the
left of the No. 1 square at the lower left corner of the board. He pushed a
button on the podium in front of him that would stop the "Steps" wheel and
light up a number in its uppermost segment from 1 to 10 -- which determined the
number of steps he would advance toward the No. 70 square at the upper right
corner of the game board.
If the contestant landed on a question square, he would then have to
correctly answer the question for that space on order to continue from that
point. (The questions took the form of pictures of persons or objects that had
to be identified according to the category of the particular game being played,
or could be word associations of some type as they would later use on the 1990
version of The Joker's Wild.)
Squares 11, 21, 31, 41, 51, and 61 on the game board (the first square in
each horizontal row after the first one) were marked "Safe" and the contestant
got a free move from there (via the "Steps" wheel) without having to identify a
picture or clue. In addition, these were squares the contestants were sent
back to as a penalty after missing a question in that row. (A wrong answer to
a question in the first row sent him back to the imaginary "0" space where he
started the game from.)
Scattered all over the board in addition were special "Bonus" and "Penalty"
squares (with one of the "Penalty" squares cleverly placed at No. 69, as I
recall!), and if the contestant landed on one of those, he would then be called
upon to press one of two other buttons on his podium that would stop the
corresponding "Bonus" and "Penalty" wheels that were mounted on the left of the
game board. The contestant then made an additional move accordingly -- forward
after landing on a "Bonus" and backward after landing on a "Penalty"
Now, here was the catch in this game: Mounted above the game board (and also
on the podium in front of the contestant) was a readout that was labeled
"Chances Left" that started at 15 and decreased by one each time the contestant
pressed the button that stopped the "Steps" wheel, including his first such
press to begin the game. To win the game, the contestant had to advance all
the way up the board to square No. 70 (or any square that might have existed
beyond it) without running out of "Chances". However, if his last allowable
use of the "Steps" wheel to advance left him on a question square or a "Safe"
square, the contestant lost. (Moves via the "Bonus" and "Penalty" wheels,
though, did not cost the player a "Chance" -- and I recall at least one game in
which the player's last chance on the "Steps" wheel landed him on a "Bonus",
and he was able to advance from there via the Bonus wheel to the No. 70 square
and win the game.)
A player who won a game received a key, which would unlock a padlock to one
of the seven prizes he could win on the show. There was a "Grand Prize" that
was selected by the show's staff especially for that contestant, and six
smaller merchandise prizes. He could then choose to stop playing with the
key(s) he won up to that point on the show, or return the next day to play
another game in the hope of winning another key and increase his chances of
winning his own "Grand Prize". However, if he returned to the show and lost
his next game, he forfeited all of the keys he had won up to that point and was
given a small consolation prize for being on the show.
If the contestant did choose to stop playing before winning all seven of the
keys he could try to win on the show (which would have given him his "Grand
Prize" and all six of the smaller prizes), they would put seven keys in a
tumbler and mix them up, after which the contestant drew out the number of keys
he chose to stop with. They would then try the keys in the padlocks that
corresponded to the available prizes and the contestant won the prizes that his
keys opened (and I remember one heartbreaker of a show in which the contestant
chose to stop with six keys and failed to draw out the one key out of the seven
that would have given him his "Grand Prize"!)
The show also featured a "Home Viewer Sweepstakes" which the home audiance
could enter by sending in postcards with their names and addresses on them
along with their choices of one of seven keys that were numbered from 1-7. One
card would be drawn each day from those received for each week of shows, the
corresponding key would be taken down from the game board, and tried in the
padlocks for first, that week's "Grand Prize", and then the six smaller prizes
if it didn't open the "Grand Prize's" padlock, and the home viewer won the
prize whose padlock that key opened.
Seven Keys was one of my favorite game shows of all time, and I'm surprised
that no one has thought of reviving it -- it would be a dandy!
Michael Brandenburg
(IRS employee since 1984 -- and wait until you hear about their latest goof
that could have me owing them $1600!)
Mebranden
'60s:
«««"Village Square" (??? not sure about the exact name) A kids game show on
Saturday mornings. had a "village" background and three "sidewalks" that were
painted red and white.
»»»
That was "Video Village, Jr.", a children's version of "Video Village" whose
adult version aired during the week on CBS. Monty Hall hosted it and he and
his assistant Eileen Brennan and announcer Kenny Williams were dressed up on it
as the mayor, a hobo, and a policeman, respectively. (By the way, that show is
_not_ to be confused with the similarly-themed "Shenanigans" that was hosted by
Stubby Kaye and aired on ABC in 1964, a couple of years after both versions of
"Video Village" left the air in June of 1962.)
Like its adult counterpart, the "Jr." contestants took the roles of
life-size pawns on a giant game board, moving down "sidewalks" that were named
Money Street, Bridge Street, and The Magic Mile, respectively, according to the
roll of a die in a birdcage (or the "Video Village Vizualizer Wonder Window",
as they dubbed the electronic random-number generator that replaced the
birdcage late in the show's run). However, they did add a couple of
interesting features to this version.
One was the "Penny Pile", which replaced the "$15" space on Money Street
that was on the adult version. A contestant who landed here had 20 seconds (I
think) to scoop as many pennies he or she could from a large pile of pennies on
that space into a small bucket, and gt to keep them all. (It was the only
"real" money the "Jr." contestants could win on Money Street, by the way; all
other cash awards on the show were paid out in the form of U.S. Savings Bonds
that went toward their future educations.)
The other special feature was "Going Fishing": When a "Jr." contestant
landed on one of the two "Cross Bridge" spaces at the end of Bridge Street by
exact count, he would first step on the bridge with a fishing pole that had a
fishline and a hook on the end. Below him were a number of boxes with rings
attached that contained prizes and the contestant had 30 seconds to hook as
many as he could, and would get to keep them all. He would then continue
across the bridge to the "Park Bench" at the beginning of the Magic Mile and go
on toward the finish line from there.
They also eliminated some of the more severe penalties in the adult game
from the children's version. (For example, the space on the Magic Mile in the
adult game that was marked "Lose One Prize or Go Back to Park Bench" was
replaced by a second "Finders Keepers" space that was in addition to the one on
Bridge Street that gave the contestant an extra bonus prize.)
Again, another favorite of mine, and I was about 12 or 13 when it was airing
on Saturday mornings on CBS.
Michael Brandenburg
(IRS employee since 1984 -- game show fan since the late '50s)
Dave Mackey
>TamW...@webtv.net (Tammy Warner) wrote:
>>BTW, I was born in 1962. And though I never saw any of these above
>>mentioned shows, (I never even saw 'What's This Song', regretfully. And
>>that was the Winkster's game show debut!) I do remember many of the
>>decade's classics (Password, Match Game, Jeopardy. both Dating &
>>Newlywed Games, Hollywood Squares) in their original formats. But hey,
>>I was only starting out as a toddler.....oh well.
Tammy, I have mental blocks on some shows that you think I would have
watched. I don't ever remember seeing "Words And Music" (1970), but do
remember shows prior to that like "Showdown", "Supermarket Sweep", and most
of the other NBC shows of the era.
>Art Fleming was still host. I remember HS when Charlie Weaver and
>Wally Cox were the mainstays (and I remember Charlie when he was "That
>Lil' Old Winemaker, Meeee...." but I don't remember what wine he was
>advertising! Swiss Colony???)
Anyone remember the tin wind-up "Charley Weaver Bartender" things? I think I
still have two (!) of them in Mom's Attic (tm). Charley would shake up a
drink and pretend to drink it when it was wound up. I would think that these
dated from the Jack Paar days. I don't know if the Charley Weaver Bartenders
were designed as a premium for a product, but it's a plausible explanation.
Of course, I also have the bittersweet memory of watching a stroke-crippled
Charley Weaver's final appearances on "Squares", confined to a wheelchair
and paralyzed on one side of his body.
--
Dave Mackey
To send e-mail, please remove the X's
from the e-mail address given. This is
to protect against unwanted e-mail spam.
John Sergent
thought they were destroyed?
CatLuver74 wrote:
> >But hey,
> >I was only starting out as a toddler.....oh well.
>
Chuck Donegan
>
> :) I am not sure what it was like where u are from, Tammy, but....before Fox,
> WB and UPN gobbled up the independent stations, it was VERY common for indies
> to rerun old game shows. I know that the Password web page mentioned that the
> original password was being rerun on *50* stations nationally and thats what
> helped it get relaunched in the early 70s. Indies had LOTS of time to
> fill....remember that its before whole sale syndication of "regular"
> shows...Cat
And back when it first went on the air in '85, WLNY (Ch. 55, then WLIG)
in Riverhead aired reruns of Pitfall and the Cullen Pyramid back-to-back
from 12 noon to 1 PM.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
John Sergent
Chuck Donegan wrote:
I know when The $25,000 Pyramid came back Dick Clark constantly was saying that
the shows were not reruns, that they were new, and at least once said that people
had told him they had seen reruns of Pyramid on and he had to correct them! Maybe
this is why they later added the word "New" to the title, but it was funny
watching a show ten years old where the host is insisting that it is not a rerun
(USA)
William S. Davis
>
> On Sat, 14 Nov 1998 07:13:31 GMT, royg...@atl.mindxxxspring.com (Roy Green)
> wrote:
>
> >For some reason, the other day a few game shows from the early sixties
> >popped into my head...
> >
> >Please fill in the gaps of my memory (this was probably in 62 or 63
> >when I was about six).
>
Move over, fellas -- I just hit 46!
>
> >"Seven Keys". I remember this as a big board with lots of pieces. I
> >think the theme song was "Beyond the Blue Horizon", and I think it was
> >primarily in prime time.
>
> "Seven Keys", hosted by the great Jack Narz, was a quiz. Each square had a clue
> to the answer. "Beyond the Blue Horizon" was, indeed, used on the show, as prize
> music. It aired afternoons, IIRC.
Funny, I don't remember the music, but I remember the game! One of my
all-time favorites! Wish we had VCRs 40 years ago.... (Anybody got a
tape of it?)
And yes, it was a question and answer format. The board had 100
numbered squares which lit when you landed on them, and (loosely) it was
like "Chutes and Ladders". You started at #1 and had to get to #100.
In addition to the questions, there were squares marked "Bonus" and
"Penalty" which required you to stop the respective wheel which
determined the number of spaces you went forward or backward. IIRC,
regular moves were determined by the main wheel. I'm a little vague in
the memory about some of this, though, but I think a player's turn
continued until he/she missed.
Each time you won a game, you got to pick another key off the board.
You'd then get the prizes in the box/door the key opened. If someone
won 7 games in a row, they automatically won everything -- and I think a
bonus prize -- and were retired.
I remember at one time they had a special sweepstakes going for a new
1963 car, which was kept shrouded on the set until the grand unveiling.
> >"Village Square" <??? not sure about the exact name>
>
> "Video Village" matches your description. Monty Hall's first American hosting
> gig, although Jack Narz had it first.
Ironically, Monty got the job because they moved production from New
York to Television City during the run (I think in late '61 or early
'62) and Jack didn't want to move to Hollywood.
Of course, as mentioned above, Jack changed his mind afterward and wound
up with "Seven Keys".
I used to have the "Video Village" home game a long time ago. There
were teams of two players each. One player was the marker, the other
spun the giant dice cage. Kenny Williams (The Town Crier) would call
each roll to Monty and the players, who would then have to do something
depending on the space. I remember from the home game that when the
players are walking down the last street, there were storefronts on each
space, and the players could win prizes by completing stunts.
> >Finally, there was a show starring Jan Murray, and the major feature I
> >remember was a big "mixer" drum...
>
> That was "Charge Account". The 16 letters drawn fromt he drum were arranged into
> a puzzle, crossword-style.
Used to watch this one, too! Jan had an assistant who was a singer, too,
and when they were short she'd sing a quick song. IIRC, this was
replaced by "You Don't Say", the original version, as hosted by Jack
Narz's little brother Tom Kennedy (Narz).
Another piece of trivia -- when Tom Kennedy made a guest appearance on
"Blockbusters" one day, he and Bill Cullen joked about being
brothers-in-law!
> >For what it's worth, my favorite game from back then was
> >Concentration. Hugh Downs was The Man! Loved the whirring sound of
> >the pieces as they turned...
You should have seen those early days when they were still live! I
remember at least one occasion where the equipment broke down and Hugh
had to "vamp" for a few minutes until they got it repaired...
He sat down on the floor next to the broken square (#26) and started
peeking behind it and the like! Unfortunately, you won't find that kind
of spontaneity any more -- if something breaks down they just stop tape
and fix it. :(
> You have to check out my buddy Russ' website! You can hear the click-whirr-
> click of the board! You can hear Hugh's voice saying, "Still your turn!" And you
> can guess a new rebus puzzle, piece by piece, every Sunday morning. See
> http://www.mindspring.com/~russellm/cncindx.htm
>
> Russ has also been in email contact, in recent weeks, with the show's former
> producer.
Would that happen to be Norm Blumenthal? I remember reading an article
he wrote once about Concentration for the late, lamented Game Show
Magazine.
Bill Davis -- wsd...@voyager.net
Game Shows, Trains, Old-Time Radio -- I love 'em all!
Annlindgk
>> "Video Village" matches your description. Monty Hall's first American
>hosting
>> gig, although Jack Narz had it first.
>
>Ironically, Monty got the job because they moved production from New
>York to Television City during the run (I think in late '61 or early
>'62) and Jack didn't want to move to Hollywood.
>
According to most sources (including Monty's biography), Jack started hosting
VV in NYC, but he was commuting from LA to do it. Jack asked for some time off,
due to some problems in his first marriage. Monty then came in as a sub.
Shortly thereafter, Jack called and said he would have to give up VV and stay
in California (his marriage broke up anyway). Jim Aubrey, then head of CBS,
wanted Red Rowe to take over, and the latter did host a few shows. After that,
Monty was made the permanent host. A few months later, the show was moved to
California (as Jack had originally wanted) and Monty moved with it.
Oh, and BTW, I loved Seven Keys! I was only about eight years old when it was
on, but I remember it vividly....
Annl...@aol.com (Ann Linderman)
"You're basically looking at a vault of inane, useless information, and I've
got the combination." ----Greg Kinnear
Roy Green
Thanks a whole bunch! I was pretty sure it had no relation to
Shenanigans, since in my area, the ABC station was channel 11 (for
those of you that didn't know, higher channels have weaker signals for
the same amount of transmitting power. They fared a little better at
night, which is why i do remember Seven Keys) and therefore never saw
it.
AlfonzoS
>numbered squares which lit when you landed on them, and (loosely) it was
>like "Chutes and Ladders".
The gameboard only had seventy squares, not one hundred. I have the home game
by Ideal to prove it. See? I'm holding it next to my monitor right now!
Alfonzo Smith