50 years ago: the games of 1976

[Ccook]

As we are approaching a new year, which will be here before we know it, we turn back the clock to the bicentennial year of 1976 and the game shows America watched at the time:

       NEW
          ABC
Break The Bank (Apr. 12, ends June 23)
Hot Seat (July 12, ends Oct. 22)
Family Feud (July 12)
Jr. Almost Anything Goes (Sat. mornings – Sept. 11)
           CBS
Way Out Games (Sat. mornings – Sept. 11)
Double Dare (Dec. 13)
           NBC
The Fun Factory (June 14, ends Oct. 1)
The Gong Show (June 14)
Stumpers (Oct. 4, ends Dec. 31)
50 Grand Slam (Oct. 4, ends Dec. 31)
          Syndicated weekly
The Gong Show (week of Sept. 20)
The $128,000 Question (week of Sept. 20)

          CONTINUING FROM ‘75
          ABC
The $10,000 Pyramid (renamed “$20,000 Pyramid” Jan. 19)
The Neighbors (ends Apr. 9)
Let’s Make A Deal (ends July 9)
Rhyme And Reason (ends July 9)
         CBS
The Price Is Right
Match Game ‘76
Tattletales
Gambit (ends Dec. 10)
          NBC
Wheel Of Fortune
The Hollywood Squares
The Magnificent Marble Machine (ends Jan. 2)
High Rollers (ends June 11)
Celebrity Sweepstakes (ends Oct. 1)
          Syndicated weekly nighttime
The $25,000 Pyramid
Let’s Make A Deal
The Hollywood Squares
The Price Is Right
Match Game PM
Treasure Hunt
Name That Tune
High Rollers (ends week of Sept. 13)
Don Adams Screen Test (ends week of Sept. 13)
         Syndicated daily
Concentration
To Tell The Truth
The Cross-Wits

       RETURNING AFTER BEING OFF THE AIR
The Magnificent Marble Machine (NBC – Jan. 19, ends June 11)
Almost Anything Goes (ABC prime time – Jan. 24, ends May 2)
I’ve Got A Secret (CBS prime time – June 15, ends July 6)
Liars Club (Syndicated daily, Sept. 13)
Break The Bank (Syndicated weekly, week of Sept. 20)
Celebrity Sweepstakes (syndicated weekly, week of Sept. 20)

NOTES: The quick turnover for The Magnificent Marble Machine was due to it being replaced by a talk show called Take My Advice at 12:30 ET, but NBC brought MMM back after Wheel Of Fortune, which expanded to an hour in December '75,  returned to a half-hour show in January.

[GameShowKid]

What a great time to be a game show host.      My dream job as a kid, and would still be fun to do today.   

[Superballer]

About how well, if at all, are the listed non-Goodson-Todman shows above known to be at present? 

[illustriousrocket]

About how well, if at all, are the listed non-Goodson-Todman shows above known to be at present?

Do you mean how well the shows are in terms of awareness outside of fan circles, or "how well" in terms of the survival of their tapes?

[Superballer]

In terms of known tape survival

[illustriousrocket]

In terms of known tape survival

I believe most of at least Tom Kennedy's version of Break the Bank survives. Not as sure on Jack Barry's.

Hot Seat is likely gone. I don't think I've ever heard of any episodes even being held by fans.

Fun Factory has at least one episode intact that aired on GSN long ago.

I think a lot of The Gong Show is intact based on GSN's old airings of it.

Stumpers and 50 Grand Slam are considered lost.

Not sure about $128,000 Question at all.

Let's Make a Deal from 1976 forward is largely if not outright intact, if GSN's airings are indicative of anything.

Rhyme & Reason, The Neighbors and a lot of early Pyramid are largely gone. Pyramid may have more surviving episodes than the other two by 1976. I have heard that Bill Cullen's Pyramid may actually be intact.

I'm unsure how many of the 3,500 found Hollywood Squares episodes are from this time period. GSN's airing indicated survival was very patchy throughout the run.

Cross-Wits was intact at least up to the 2000s. Ralph Edwards had the tapes under his own ownership, but I haven't seen anything since then.

I know these are not every show on the list, and I am only going on information I've picked up over the years. Just wanted to help.

[Ccook]

An episode of The Magnificent Marble Machine is on YouTube as is an episode of Hot Seat.

[illustriousrocket]

An episode of The Magnificent Marble Machine is on YouTube as is an episode of Hot Seat.

Hot Seat is news to me. I was aware Magnificient Marble Machine had something floating around, I think two or three have surfaced by now?

[William]

I'm unsure how many of the 3,500 found Hollywood Squares episodes are from this time period. GSN's airing indicated survival was very patchy throughout the run.

Wait a minute... could you elaborate on that, or is this a typo? By my count, 3,500 should be approximately the number of daytime episodes that aired between 1966-1980.

I don't think that many episodes of the original Hollywood Squares exist. Did you mean to say "how many of the 3,500 episodes have been found?"

[pannoni1]

I still believe that most of those surviving Hollywood Squares episodes are just multiple copies from the 1971-78 syndicated run combined with most of the 1968 primetime run. That said, here is a rough survival guide regarding the game shows that exist from '76. Note that this doesn't include any pilots or foreign adoptions.

       NEW
          ABC
Break The Bank (Apr. 12, ends June 23)- Intact
Hot Seat (July 12, ends Oct. 22)- One episode exists from early in the run, possibly the premiere
Family Feud (July 12)- Intact
Jr. Almost Anything Goes (Sat. mornings – Sept. 11)
           CBS- Lost
Way Out Games (Sat. mornings – Sept. 11)- Unknown. An intro from an episode exists
Double Dare (Dec. 13)- Intact
           NBC
The Fun Factory (June 14, ends Oct. 1)- Two episodes are known to exist, probably lost otherwise
The Gong Show (June 14)- Intact
Stumpers (Oct. 4, ends Dec. 31)- Only the premiere and finale exist, otherwise lost
50 Grand Slam (Oct. 4, ends Dec. 31)- Like Stumpers, only the premiere and finale exist, otherwise lost
          Syndicated weekly
The Gong Show (week of Sept. 20)- See above
The $128,000 Question (week of Sept. 20)- Lost (five episodes from the 1977-78 starring Alex Trebek exist though)

          CONTINUING FROM ‘75
          ABC
The $10,000 Pyramid (renamed “$20,000 Pyramid” Jan. 19)- Five episodes known to exist, one in B/W quality and another in poor quality. One episode's studio master exist, but per the practice of ABC's tape wiping practices, probably lost.
The Neighbors (ends Apr. 9)- Two episodes known to exist, probably lost
Let’s Make A Deal (ends July 9)- Possibly lost, unlike the syndicated version. No daytime episodes from 1976 have aired after their first airing
Rhyme And Reason (ends July 9)- Only the finale exists, otherwise lost
         CBS
The Price Is Right- Intact, but relatively few episodes circulate due to the de facto fur ban
Match Game ‘76- Intact
Tattletales- Intact
Gambit (ends Dec. 10)- Intact, but hard to find due to never being rerun since. A few episodes posted online by the late Wink Martindale indicate its survival.
          NBC
Wheel Of Fortune- Seven episodes are confirmed to exist, four in audio form only, otherwise lost
The Hollywood Squares- Two daytime episodes known to exist. Probably lost despite the rumors of the discovery
The Magnificent Marble Machine (ends Jan. 2)- Lost (outside of one episode from 1975)
High Rollers (ends June 11)- Lost
Celebrity Sweepstakes (ends Oct. 1)- Two episodes known to exist, both from a studio master likely courtesy of the celebrities. Probably lost
          Syndicated weekly nighttime
The $25,000 Pyramid- Probably intact
Let’s Make A Deal- Intact
The Hollywood Squares- Probably intact
The Price Is Right- Intact, but unairable due to the de facto fur ban
Match Game PM- Intact
Treasure Hunt- Intact
Name That Tune- Two episodes circulate, including a "Not For Air" parody episode from a studio master. Questionable in terms of still existing
High Rollers (ends week of Sept. 13)- Lost
Don Adams Screen Test (ends week of Sept. 13)
         Syndicated daily- Probably lost (only the pilot is known to exist)
Concentration- Intact
To Tell The Truth- Intact (a tough to find season however, with BUZZR currently up to 1974 in terms of new episodes)
The Cross-Wits- Missing

       RETURNING AFTER BEING OFF THE AIR
The Magnificent Marble Machine (NBC – Jan. 19, ends June 11)- Lost (see above)
Almost Anything Goes (ABC prime time – Jan. 24, ends May 2)- Possibly intact (a studio master for one episode exists, and primetime shows are less likely to be wiped)
I’ve Got A Secret (CBS prime time – June 15, ends July 6)- Intact
Liars Club (Syndicated daily, Sept. 13)- Several episodes circulate from USA reruns, probably intact
Break The Bank (Syndicated weekly, week of Sept. 20)- Probably intact
Celebrity Sweepstakes (syndicated weekly, week of Sept. 20)- Probably lost

Overall, 1976 was still a very strong year for daytime game shows. Possible winnings were continuing their upward trend, with the revival of the $64,000 Question offering the double the top prize. Most "Big Winners" on a daily show were still in the mid- to high four figures though. But the expansion of some soap operas to an hour that year caused a slight decline in offerings compared to 1975. What's My Line? was also gone and hasn't produced any revivals since despite being frequently run on GSN and BUZZR early in their network runs. It was also the first full year that the Betamax was available on the consumer market and is were a lucky few of the surviving shows come from, but its high prices, just like the quadruplex masters meant that few could afford the luxury of recording their appearances, let alone just for saving. Speaking of which, some daytime soap operas, mainly the P&G soaps were still being wiped at the time.

[illustriousrocket]

Wait a minute... could you elaborate on that, or is this a typo? By my count, 3,500 should be approximately the number of daytime episodes that aired between 1966-1980.

I don't think that many episodes of the original Hollywood Squares exist. Did you mean to say "how many of the 3,500 episodes have been found?"

Admittedly I'm going on information I heard long ago when GSN first got them. I remembered that a specific number of episodes were found intact by someone looking for the masters of Dark Shadows. 3,500 was the number I initially recalled but now I think it was more likely 1,500 maximum.

EDIT: Was there ever a specific number of episodes attributed to the discovery of The Joker's Wild's CBS run? I'm now starting to doubt any number I thought I remembered for Hollywood Squares and given the similar circumstances between the two - both being found alongside masters of an unrelated series - I wonder if the memories are bleeding into each other. GSN certainly didn't air 1,500 episodes.

Name That Tune- Two episodes circulate, including a "Not For Air" parody episode from a studio master. Questionable in terms of still existing

Thank you for this excellent list. Can you elaborate on what this "parody episode" is?

[NewsDirector3287]

Admittedly I'm going on information I heard long ago when GSN first got them. I remembered that a specific number of episodes were found intact by someone looking for the masters of Dark Shadows. 3,500 was the number I initially recalled but now I think it was more likely 1,500 maximum.

EDIT: Was there ever a specific number of episodes attributed to the discovery of The Joker's Wild's CBS run? I'm now starting to doubt any number I thought I remembered for Hollywood Squares and given the similar circumstances between the two - both being found alongside masters of an unrelated series - I wonder if the memories are bleeding into each other. GSN certainly didn't air 1,500 episodes.

Thank you for this excellent list. Can you elaborate on what this "parody episode" is?

If it's the one I'm thinking of, it's an "episode" that (I'm assuming) was made at the end of the season or maybe some type of party that has a lot of x-rated adult humor.  For Marble Machine, I saw an all celebrity episode had been posted earlier this year, one I'd never seen before.  And with LMAD, I'm pretty sure the daytime finale was posted earlier this year as well. Monty teases an announcement at the top of the episode, which wound up being that that episode was the last in the current series.  These may have been posted long ago and I just stumbled upon them one day, but they were still interesting to watch nonetheless.

[Ccook]

In the summer of 1978, the special Gambit eps from 1975 with a $10,000 payoff for a two-card 21 were shown in syndication (our then-ABC station ran it). If memory serves, either Rhodes or Firestone distributed it, so it is remotely possible to locate the series.

[Chelsea]

The source for the 3500 number regarding Hollywood Squares was Peter Marshall circa 2002, repeating the number told to him shortly after the tapes were found and GSN reach out - all hosts had to have their appearances cleared and residuals (or payment in lieu of residuals) set up as part of the licensing process.  Although it is what Peter Marshall said, I don't actually believe the number. I DO believe nearly if not all of the 1971-79 nighttime show exists (I'm less sure if Amazon, current rightsholder, knows where those tapes ARE), and GSN ran almost all of the NBC 1968 primetime version.

GSN's initial lease had been for 150 episodes (though I've also seen 130 cited more recently, 150 was what was said at the time. I'm not aware of an existing hard count). There were plans to license more had the show been a ratings mover however it was decidedly not once the novelty wore off.

Why do I think daytime squares is mostly gone, regardless of what was said in 2002:
Prior to the debut of The Gong Show (1976), the only NBC Daytime series of any genre that is known to exist intact enough to rerun as a series is the soap The Doctors, which exists complete from 1967-1980.  Not Days (1983), not Another World (Oct. 1979), certainly not Wheel (either 1984 or 1985, I've heard both dates from reliable sources). And Gong is the first NBC daytime show period known to exist in totality from the first show to the last excluding tape damage.

 Two sidebars: The Fun Factory, which debuted 30 minutes earlier, may exist in its entirety (it was mentioned in early GSN launch materials) however Sony is known to have only converted two episodes for broadcast and a few shows that existed in 1993-94 are known to have been lost in the years since. Also, paradoxically, though The Doctors is largely complete from 12/67 to 10/80, the episodes from October 1980 through December 1982 ARE believed to be destroyed, as confirmed by the boss of Retro TV (who reruns the show) two years ago and thus while a hell of a lot of it exists, not all of it does.

Even Mark Goodson, who made a deliberate point to try keep everything, wasn't even able to fully escape network purges at both ABC and NBC. Only 5 Goodson series from 1966 onwards are missing, two of which are NBC shows including both the only Goodson series COMPLETELY gone AND the most recent wiped Goodson series (*Snap Judgment*, Mindreaders).  (ABC Password, Showoffs, and The Better Sex are also gone from that network, but each also has at least one extant episode)

I do not for a single second believe Squares escaped this.  And while plenty of masters from the non-Vegas portion of the syndicated nighttime run have emerged amongst those of us who have things, only a few daytime shows have dripped out and almost nothing from Vegas. 

I have also been told by reliable sources that the Davidson run (same rightsholders) is now explicity missing too. Which is heartbreaking for me as it's my favorite. At various points in the last 30 years there has been interest from GSN, Buzzr, AND various streaming offerings, but at some point after USA dropped the show in 1993, the studio's masters were lost (literally lost, in the "no one knows what happened to them" sense) leaving only the copies that various show staffers and others made for themselves (generally at least one show per week, sometimes more).  These are generally what have been appearing on the Wink Martindale/Game Show Vault channel and are why they're typically VHS copies).

As for Joker's Wild: The entire run except for the occasionally missing/damaged tape is now believed to exist.  Prior to 2000, Sony was believed to hold the series from mid 1974-onwards, though I've since come to believe they only held the CBS shows from that range that were offered to stations for syndication in 1976-77 prior to the new version's launch (similar to being how daytime Password in color survives). In late 2000, David Schwartz was notified that the entire network run save for occasional tape damage existed in the archives of NYC affiliate WCBS, and arranged to have copies made. They almost immediately then began appearing on GSN until shortly after a change in management in summer 2001. (GSN boss Rich Cronin was occasionally rumored to have a specific enmity for the various Barry and Enright series. It's notable that they were all removed almost immediately after he arrived, only aired in viewers choice marathons for his entire tenure, and TTD reappeared on the schedule almost immediately after he left in late 2007).