Game Shows

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation Presents

02:26

Tabs

About

“I was a huge game show fan. As a matter of fact, before I moved to Los Angeles, I was a huge fan of ‘Wheel of Fortune.’ I even wrote in to be a contestant on the show. They wrote me back a letter and said, ‘If you’re ever in the Los Angeles area, give us a call and you can come in and audition to be a contestant.’” - Vanna White, Host

Game Shows describe fixed-format shows in which contestants compete for prizes.

Highlights

Vanna White on her fashions on Wheel of Fortune

Herbert Stempel on finally being "defeated" by Charles Van Doren on Twenty-One

Bob Stewart on how The Price is Right almost never got on the air

Monty Hall on co-creating Let's Make a Deal with Steve Hatos

Chuck Barris on his difficulties hosting The Gong Show

Ralph Edwards on a typical Truth or Consequences show

Who talked about this genre

Berle Adams

Berle Adams on negotiating deals for Ralph Edwards for his shows Truth or Consequences and This Is Your Life

Alan Alda

Alan Alda on how his TVQ rating from game show appearances may have helped him get cast on M*A*S*H

Army Archerd

Army Archerd on the celebrity game show, The Movie Game

Bob Barker

Bob Barker on the origin and premise of the game show The Price is Right

Bob Barker on the secret to The Price is Right's longevity

Bob Barker on the success and inclusiveness of The Price is Right

Chuck Barris

Chuck Barris on developing The Dating Game

Chuck Barris on developing The Newlywed Game

Chuck Barris on developing The Gong Show

Chuck Barris on The Newlywed Game

Chuck Barris on the staff and legacy of The Gong Show

Joe Behar

Joe Behar on directing the pilot of Let's Make a Deal and the premise of the show

Joe Behar on directing Let's Make a Deal and memorable moments from the show

Tom Bergeron

Tom Bergeron on hosting Hollywood Squares

Sam Bobrick

Sam Bobrick on his first official writing job for Make Me Laugh, hosted by Robert Q. Lewis, and on writing for Captain Kangaroo

Vin Di Bona

Vin Di Bona on producing Animal Crack-Ups

Al Borden

Al Borden on being propmaster for You Bet Your Life

Harvey Bullock

Harvey Bullock on writing for Johnny Carson on Who Do You Trust?, and on writing McKeever & the Colonel

Allan Burns

Allan Burns on being a page on Queen for a Day and having to kick someone off the show

Robert Caminiti

Robert Caminiti on the fast pacing and structured environment of being part of a crew on a game show

Robert Caminiti on stage managing for Goodson-Todman Productions' game shows

Robert Caminiti on what he enjoyed about working on game shows, particularly What's My Line?

Robert Caminiti on stage managing for various game shows including Concentration, Jeopardy! and Winning Streak

Steve Carlin

Steve Carlin on creating and producing The $64,000 Question (Part 1)

Steve Carlin on creating and producing The $64,000 Question (Part 2)

Steve Carlin on creating and producing The $64,000 Question (Part 3)

Steve Carlin on creating Jackie Gleason's infamous You're in the Picture game show

Gilbert Cates

Gilbert Cates on the quiz show scandal surrounding Dotto

Gilbert Cates on the Quiz Show scandal surrounding Dotto (contd.)

Cyd Charisse

Cyd Charisse on appearing as a mystery guest on What's My Line?

RuPaul Charles

RuPaul Charles on hosting RuPaul's Drag Race

Nick Clooney

Nick Clooney on hosting the game show The Moneymaze

Gary Owens with Emerson College

Gary Owens on being the original host of The Gong Show, and on Murray Langston, "The Unknown Comic"

Anderson Cooper

Anderson Cooper on appearing on Jeopardy!

Bill Daily

Bill Daily on being a panelist on Match Game

Richard Dawson

Richard Dawson on Family Feud

Hugh Downs

Hugh Downs on hosting the popular game show Concentration and security on the show during the Quiz Show Scandals

Charles Dubin

Charles S. Dubin on directing Twenty One, produced by Dan Enright just before the Quiz Show Scandals broke, and on being called to testify about it

Patty Duke

Patty Duke on how her managers gave her the answers for the $64,000 Challenge; on testifying during the Quiz Show Scandals

Ralph Edwards

Ralph Edwards on the pilot, idea, and initial response to the radio version of Truth or Consequences; on typical acts and successful war drives

Ralph Edwards on memorable moments on Truth or Consequences and the show's move to television; on producing Truth or Consequences on film using new techniques of live television (a technique credited to Al Simon)

Dick Enberg

Dick Enberg on hosting the show Sports Challenge and producing the show The Way it Was

Dick Enberg on hosting several game shows including Perfect Match and Baffle

Bob Eubanks

Host Bob Eubanks on the role of the host on The Newlywed Game

Nanette Fabray

Nanette Fabray on appearing on Password

Nanette Fabray on appearing on The Hollywood Squares

Jamie Farr

Jamie Farr on his involvement with The Gong Show

Ruth Duskin Feldman

Ruth Duskin Feldman on being a panelist on Quiz Kids (Part 1)

Ruth Duskin Feldman on being a panelist on Quiz Kids (Part 2)

Ruth Duskin Feldman on being a panelist on Quiz Kids (Part 3)

Ruth Duskin Feldman on appearing as a panelist on Quiz Kids (Part 4)

Sonny Fox

Sonny Fox on his short-lived time as host of $64,000 Challenge

Charles Fox

Composer Charles Fox on composing for Goodson-Todman game shows early in his career

Fred Foy

Fred Foy on being an announcer for game shows and changing his voice for that genre

Albert Freedman

Albert Freedman on contestants knowing the answers ahead of time of The Big Surprise and the reasons for "fixing" panel and quiz shows

Albert Freedman on his dealings with Twenty One contestant James Snodgrass during the Quiz Show Scandals

Albert Freedman on the format of the quiz show, Tic Tac Dough and how winners were selected ahead of time based on pre-test results

Albert Freedman on the most difficult pre-test of all the quiz shows - on Twenty One - and how producers selected which answers to give contestants

Albert Freedman on specific contestants on Tic Tac Dough

Albert Freedman on becoming a producer on Twenty One, coaching contestants, and convincing Charles Van Doren to become a contestant on the program

Albert Freedman on Charles Van Doren becoming a celebrity because of his appearances of Twenty One; on the beginning of the Quiz Show Scandals; on not wanting to implicate Charles Van Doren

Albert Freedman on being indicted during the Quiz Show Scandals, being blacklisted, going to Mexico, and returning to the U.S. to testify again after Charles Van Doren agreed to testify

Albert Freedman on reaching out to Charles Van Doren's lawyer to explain the circumstances under which Freedman would be testifying before the Grand Jury for a third time, on Robert Redford's movie "Quiz Show" and whether or not the film was accurate, and the impact of the Quiz Show Scandals on the medium of television - the end of the intelligent era of live TV

Albert Freedman on whether today's quiz shows are affected by the Quiz Show Scandals

Harry Friedman

Harry Friedman on writing and producing Hollywood Squares (Part 1)

Harry Friedman on writing and producing Hollywood Squares (Part 2)

Harry Friedman on writing and producing Wheel of Fortune (Part 1)

Harry Friedman on producing Wheel of Fortune (Part 2)

Harry Friedman on producing Wheel of Fortune (Part 3)

Harry Friedman on producing Jeopardy! (Part 1)

Harry Friedman on producing Jeopardy! (Part 3)

Pamela Fryman

Pamela Fryman on working on The New Hollywood Squares

Melissa Gilbert

Melissa Gilbert on appearing on Hollywood Squares and dining with Paul Lynde

Mary Lynn Gottfried

Mary Lynn Gottfried on writing questions for game shows, including Card Sharks

Mary Lynn Gottfried on booking talent for Hollywood Squares

Monty Hall

Monty Hall on briefly hosting Twenty-One and the subsequent quiz show scandals that emerged

Monty Hall on the impact of the quiz show scandals on game shows

Monty Hall on co-creating Let's Make a Deal with Steve Hatos

On the budget, cast, crew and format of Let's Make a Deal; on the diversity of Let's Make a Deal contestants and costumed contestants

Monty Hall on the great and zonk prizes on Let's Make a Deal

Monty Hall on the production schedule of Let's Make a Deal

Monty Hall on Dick Clark getting Let's Make a Deal back on the air

Florence Henderson

Florence Henderson on her game show appearances and the popularity of game shows

Michael King

Michael King on distributing Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough for King World

Michael King on King World distributing Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

Roger King

Roger King and syndicating Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

Roger King on King World selling The Joker's Wild

Roger King on the success and legacy of Jeopardy!

Roger King on King World reviving, producing, and distributing The Hollywood Squares with Whoopi Goldberg as the center square, and on distributing Martha Stewart Living

Jeff Kisseloff

Jeff Kisseloff on his interview with Twenty-One producer Al Freeman, Jr.

Perry Lafferty

Perry Lafferty on his first television job, directing Celebrity Time

Perry Lafferty on directing Name That Tune

Vicki Lawrence

Vicki Lawrence on hosting Win, Lose, or Draw and her advice to TV hosts

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis on producing Blind Date

Charles Lisanby

Charles Lisanby on designing sets for the $64,000 Question

Stewart MacGregory

Stewart MacGregory on being stage coordinator for Americana and Barney Blake, Police Reporter

Rose Marie

Rose Marie on her long tenure as a panelist on The Hollywood Squares

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall on hosting Hollywood Squares

Peter Marshall on hosting Hollywood Squares

Wink Martindale

Wink Martindale on what makes a good game show host, and on game show hosts he admires like Bill Cullen

Wink Martindale on becoming a game show host

Wink Martindale on hosting Can You Top This produced by Morey Amsterdam

Wink Martindale on hosting Las Vegas Gambit, and on appearing on The Hollywood Squares

Wink Martindale on hosting Tic Tac Dough

Wink Martindale on creating and hosting Headline Chasers

Wink Martindale on hosting High Rollers

Wink Martindale on hosting Trivial Pursuit

Wink Martindale on hosting Second Honeymoon and Bumper Stumpers

Wink Martindale on being a contestant on Tattletales, and on his later friendship with Elvis Presley

Wink Martindale on being a celebrity contestant on Password

Wink Martindale on Tic Tac Dough being his favorite show, and on his enjoyment of hosting Las Vegas Gambit

Wink Martindale on hosting Dream Girl of '67 and How's Your Mother-in-Law?

Kent McCray

Kent McCray on working with Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life

Bob McGrath

Bob McGrath on one of his first jobs in television, working on the game show, To Tell the Truth

Ed McMahon

Ed McMahon on being announcer for Who Do You Trust? and on meeting Johnny Carson

Ed McMahon on being the announcer for Who Do You Trust?

Ed McMahon on hosting Star Search

Jayne Meadows

Jayne Meadows on getting a job as a panelist on I've Got a Secret and meeting Steve Allen

Jayne Meadows on being a panelist on I've Got a Secret

John Moffitt

John Moffitt on producing the relaunched Hollywood Squares

Robert Mott

Robert Mott on working on To Tell the Truth and on working with a laugh track

Robert Mott on appearing on What's My Line?

Robert Mott on appearing as a contestant on What's My Line? with host John Daly

E. Roger Muir

E. Roger Muir on leaving NBC, and on developing and producing The Newlywed Game with Chuck Barris

Don Pardo

Don Pardo on The Price is Right; on a typical day and his duties as announcer; on appearing on-camera while filling in for Bill Cullen; on blowing the surprise of a contestant winning a trip to "Rooooooome" on an early Price is Right episode; on rehearsals

Don Pardo on working with Bill Cullen on Jeopardy! "tell them what they've won, Don"

Don Pike

Don Pike on returning to NBC in 1967 as a technical director and acting as technical director on the Miss America Pageant

Jeff Probst

Jeff Probst on hosting Rock and Roll Jeopardy!

Sally Jessy Raphael

Sally Jessy Raphael on appearing on the show Quiz Kids when she was a child

Stanley Ralph Ross

Stanley Ralph Ross on developing Challenge of the Sexes

Pat Sajak

Pat Sajak on doing the weather for KNBC Los Angeles and impressing Merv Griffin and offering Sajak Wheel of Fortune

Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune

Pat Sajak on production of and memorable moments on Wheel of Fortune

Pat Sajak on Wheel of Fortune

Lew Schneider

Lew Schneider on Make the Grade, a children's game show1

Jack Shea

Jack Shea on working on Truth or Consequences, one of the first shows he directed

Fred Silverman

Fred Silverman on going up against NBC's game shows starting with scheduling Joker's Wild , Gambit and bringing back The Price is Right

Fred Silverman on Goodson-Todd, Heatter-Quigley, Monty Hall, and Chuck Barris.

Garry Simpson

Garry Simpson on directing Tic Tac Doug h

Ira Skutch

Ira Skutch on Campus Hoopla, which featured regular Eva Marie Saint before her greater fame as a movie actress

Ira Skutch on the challenges of staging and directing a game show, specifically What's My Line? and how the audience was filmed

Ira Skutch on budgets and prizes on shows like Match Game

Ira Skutch on the game show Two for the Money

Ira Skutch on directing Beat the Clock

Ira Skutch on directing Match Game, hosted by Gene Rayburn

Ira Skutch on the quiz show Face to Face

Herbert F. Solow

Herbert F. Solow on working with the game shows for NBC

Frank Stanton

Frank Stanton on the Quiz Show Scandals

Herbert Stempel

Herbert Stempel on appearing as a contestant on the rigged quiz show Twenty-One

Herbert Stempel on appearing as a contestant on the rigged quiz show Twenty-One (Part 2)

Herbert Stempel on appearing as a contestant on the rigged quiz show Twenty-One (Part 3)

Bob Stewart

Bob Stewart on the genesis of The Price is Right

Bob Stewart defines the genres of game shows versus panel shows

Bob Stewart on the creation and production of Password

Bob Stewart on his preference for game shows featuring celebrities

Bob Stewart on the process of creating game shows and how his company was run

Bob Stewart on how the popularity of word games waned

Producer Bob Stewart on what makes a good game show host

Dick Stiles

Dick Stiles on doing production design for The Wizard of Odds

Dick Stiles on doing art direction for Wheel of Fortune

George Sunga

George Sunga on being Production Supervisor on Password

William Tankersley

William Tankersley on how the Quiz Show scandals (which started with NBC shows) affected CBS Standards & Practices

Alex Trebek

Alex Trebek on hosting Jeopardy

Alex Trebek on hosting Jeopardy!

Robert Trout

Robert Trout on hosting Who Said That?, produced by Fred Friendly, first on radio and later on television on NBC

Leslie Uggams

Leslie Uggams on appearing on Name That Tune as a teenager

Leslie Uggams on her game show Fantasy

Jimmie Walker

Jimmie Walker on appearing on Match Game and Hollywood Squares

Jimmie Walker on appearing on Battle of the Network Stars

Matthew Weiner

Matthew Weiner on appearing as a contestant on Jeopardy!

Vanna White

Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune

Vanna White on the longevity, staff and production of Wheel of Fortune

Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune

Pat Sajak and Vanna White on the atmosphere on the set of Wheel of Fortune

Pat Sajak and Vanna White on the atmosphere on the set of Wheel of Fortune

Betty White

Betty White on her affinity for game shows

Betty White on appearing on Password with eventual husband Allen Ludden

Betty White on the enduring popularity of Goodson/Todman game shows

Betty White on attempting to host three different game shows, including Just Men!

Betty White on appearing on What's My Line?, I've Got a Secret, and To Tell the Truth

Betty White on appearing on Match Game

Alan Zweibel

Alan Zweibel on being offered a job to write for Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares