A question about wiped shows

[blozier2006]

I thought of that one too here, only incarnation of Password really not represented in any form isn't it? (the pre all star format anyway)

Actually, GSN did run a single December 1971 episode (with Brett Somers and Jack Klugman), and another from February 1972 (with Sheila MacRae and Martin Milner) is known to be in one trader's library.

Here's the 1971 episode

[Ccook]

Some more daytime eps of the Cullen TPIR. There are a scant few out there in its nine year run—four from 1957, one from 1964 and about three from 1965.

[RJSchex]

Woolery's version of Wheel of Fortune.

[pannoni1]

In addition to all answers provided above, I'd pick the original Sale of the Century. I've only seen a short clip of an episode during the couples format later in its run, but outside a couple UK episodes that had a similar format, it's all gone outside a couple surviving episodes deep in UCLA's vault. Unlike the more familiar versions, a contestant could buy multiple prizes in the Shopping Round instead of just one upon retiring, and progressively higher values for answering a question was a good format of itself, and you still had the instant bargains. But the odds of any of these episodes turning up are almost as long as winning billion-dollar lottery jackpots.

But since we're out in left field, we may as well include non-game shows.

Non-game show answer: The Tonight Show prior to its move to Burbank in May 1972. That's 18 years of interviews, monologues, performances, and skits that would be apt to reveal so much that given how residually popular the surviving Carson shows are. Yet just a few dozen survive in full or in part, mainly because TV wasn't yet seen as a serious enough medium to be worth preserving, and this is surprising since kinescopes could had easily been preserved. In addition to Johnny, I would have loved to see how Jack Paar and Steve Allen enjoyed their tenures.

Children's TV answer: Captain Kangaroo. Before Sesame Street, this was the show that preschoolers would grow up fondly, and only a single episode from the 1960s exist, along with a few from the '70s and early '80s.

Music program answer: 1950s and '60s American Bandstand episodes. Sure, a number of music programs from those decades (especially post-move to Los Angeles in 1963) exist showing the numerous pop/rock/jazz stars of those eras, but American Bandstand always stood out with Dick Clark, rate-a-record, the everyday people dancing around, and of course, the artist interviews/performances. A handful of episodes from the ABC era survive, but only a small amount like The Match Game and '70s Pyramid, but the first five years on WFIL in Philadelphia are all history.

[pricefan18]

Non-game show answer: The Tonight Show prior to its move to Burbank in May 1972. That's 18 years of interviews, monologues, performances, and skits that would be apt to reveal so much that given how residually popular the surviving Carson shows are. Yet just a few dozen survive in full or in part, mainly because TV wasn't yet seen as a serious enough medium to be worth preserving, and this is surprising since kinescopes could had easily been preserved. In addition to Johnny, I would have loved to see how Jack Paar and Steve Allen enjoyed their tenures.

On this, it's worth noting too that the main reason we even have what we have today, is only because Johnny himself found out that the shows were being wiped before he moved to Burbank and personally put a stop to the practice/took over the rights to the library himself. Imagine how much ELSE coulda been lost to history if not for that. We're quite lucky to have those last 20 years of shows, easily coulda not happened. We're also missing Gene Rayburn's time on the Tonight Show with all that was wiped incidentally, that's significant as well on this.

[GameShowsRule95]

I'm surprised nobody so far has mentioned the original NBC daytime version of "The Hollywood Squares" with Peter Marshall as a wiped show they would want to go back and save. Imagine how long of a compilation video we could post on YouTube with all the funny zingers and moments from that show (particularly from center square occupant Paul Lynde).

Also from Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley, the two runs of "High Rollers" with Alex Trebek, as that was in my opinion a pretty enjoyable game show that sadly doesn't have all the episodes exist anymore. Not to mention it was the show that put the future "Jeopardy" host on the map in this country.

I'd also love to see the majority of the first two-and-a-half years of "What's My Line?" that are lost to history, so we can see much more of Louis Untermeyer & Hal Block on the show before they were both fired for different reasons (Untermeyer for the Red Scare & Block for making too many risque jokes in a more conservative time). Not to mention the mystery guests from those episodes that never appeared on any of the episodes from July 20, 1952 (when Goodson-Todman started saving the kinescopes) to September 3, 1967 (when it ended).

[Teddy]

Seconded on Cullen's TPIR, plus I'd throw in Truth or Consequences, just to see how Bob evolved into the WGMC that we all know and love.

[pricefan18]

I'd also love to see the majority of the first two-and-a-half years of "What's My Line?" that are lost to history, so we can see much more of Louis Untermeyer & Hal Block on the show before they were both fired for different reasons (Untermeyer for the Red Scare & Block for making too many risque jokes in a more conservative time). Not to mention the mystery guests from those episodes that never appeared on any of the episodes from July 20, 1952 (when Goodson-Todman started saving the kinescopes) to September 3, 1967 (when it ended).

Daytime Password and To Tell The Truth in this era would be great too.

[Ccook]

Also from Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley, the two runs of "High Rollers" with Alex Trebek, as that was in my opinion a pretty enjoyable game show that sadly doesn't have all the episodes exist anymore. Not to mention it was the show that put the future "Jeopardy" host on the map in this country.

It was 1973’s The Wizard Of Odds that put Trebek on the map in the U.S. High Rollers made him a household name.

[tpir04]

Some more daytime eps of the Cullen TPIR. There are a scant few out there in its nine year run—four from 1957, one from 1964 and about three from 1965.

Does anybody know if all the nighttime episodes are intact? Just curious.

[GSNSmashFan3]

Does anybody know if all the nighttime episodes are intact? Just curious.

GSN looped the same 65-70 episodes when they aired it in the 90's, so that's not a promising sign.

[Alfonzo]

A tie for me between both versions of Trebek's High Rollers,  Showoffs and The Better Sex.

[Roadgeek Adam]

A tie for me between both versions of Trebek's High Rollers,  Showoffs and The Better Sex.

Was the NBC version of High Rollers wiped? I know NBC did wiping a lot longer than the other two of the big 3 networks, which is why Mindreaders is basically dead save for a few.

[Alfonzo]

Was the NBC version of High Rollers wiped? I know NBC did wiping a lot longer than the other two of the big 3 networks, which is why Mindreaders is basically dead save for a few.

Pretty much so for both runs, I'm afraid. Most of the YouTube episodes were from a private collector.

[Ccook]

GSN looped the same 65-70 episodes when they aired it in the 90's, so that's not a promising sign.

There are a few more GSN didn’t run on YouTube, including the Dec. 25, 1961 to Jan. 8, 1962 shows with commercials.