Party Game (game show)

Last updated
Party Game
Genre Game show
Directed byHenry Pasila
Presented by Al Boliska (1970-1971)
Bill Walker (1971-1981)
Starring Jack Duffy
Dinah Christie
Billy Van
Narrated by Riff Markowitz
(as "Gardiner Westbound")
Theme music composer Burt Bacharach
("Bond Street")
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
Production
Producer Riff Markowitz
Production locations Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Running time30 minutes each
Original release
Network Syndicated through CHCH-TV
Release1970 (1970) –
1981 (1981)

Party Game was a Canadian television game show in the 1970s, produced by Hamilton independent station CHCH-TV from 1970 to 1981. [1] It aired throughout Canada in syndication, broadcast on 32 stations at its peak. [2]

The show featured two teams of three players in a charades competition: the Challenger Team was composed of a contestant joined with two guest star players, while the Home Team consisted of series regulars Jack Duffy, Dinah Christie and Billy Van. Using game play similar to the American game show Pantomime Quiz , answers were usually jokes or complex phrases involving a pun or some other form of word play (example: "Tiny Tee Hee.... "I didn't raise my daughter to be fiddled with," said the pussycat as she rescued her offspring from the violin factory"). [3] Viewers at home were also invited to send their own joke or phrase, which if used, could win them a small prize.

Especially in later seasons, the 'home team' had developed such a rapport in playing charades over the years, that the sentences they were forced to act out were often noticeably longer and more complex than the sentences given to the challengers.

The show premiered on CHCH in 1970. [4] In its first season the show was hosted by Al Boliska, [5] who was succeeded in 1971 by Bill Walker. [6] Walker hosted for the remainder of the show's run; the series ended production in 1980, but one further season featuring a compilation of prior episodes aired until 1981. [7]

Party Game was produced by Riff Markowitz, the executive producer and star of The Randy Dandy Show and executive producer of The Hilarious House of Frightenstein . [8] Writers for the series included Paul K. Willis and Michael Boncoeur. [9]

The set was a simple living room type with couches and a few wall pictures and pieces.

The voice-over announcer who announced each charade was credited as "Gardiner Westbound", a nod to a stretch of the Gardiner Expressway in Downtown Toronto heading toward Hamilton, but was actually producer Markowitz.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CHCH-DT</span> Independent TV station in Hamilton, Ontario

CHCH-DT is an independent television station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Channel Zero, the station maintains studios on Innovation Drive in the west end of Hamilton; prior to 2021, it was located near the corner of Jackson and Caroline streets in downtown Hamilton for nearly 65 years. The station has additional offices at the Marriott on the Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario. Its old transmitter was located on First Road West in the former city of Stoney Creek; it was demolished in March 2024 and replaced with a new transmitter located on Highway 5 near Millgrove Side Road in Dundas, Ontario, which started transmitting in November 2023.

<i>The Hilarious House of Frightenstein</i> Former CHCH TV Series

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein is a Canadian children's television series, which was produced by Hamilton, Ontario's independent station CHCH-TV in 1971. It was syndicated both in Canada and internationally, and occasionally still appears in some television markets. In Canada, the series has not aired on broadcast TV for several years, and used to be available on the streaming service Crave. 100 episodes are now available on the free streaming service Tubi (2021), and Pluto TV (2024).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed the Sock</span> Fictional character

Ed the Sock is a sock puppet character, created and voiced by Steven Joel Kerzner, who first appeared on Canadian local cable television in 1987. He is best known for his hosting appearances in the 1990s on MuchMusic and his own late night talk show, Ed's Night Party. He is a gray sock puppet with green hair, round eyes, a scowl, a cigar and a rough, gravelly voice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jennifer Mossop</span> Canadian journalist/politician

Jennifer F. Mossop is a former politician and journalist in Ontario, Canada. She was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2003 to 2007 who represented the Hamilton, Ontario riding of Stoney Creek.

<i>Canada Tonight</i> Canadian national television newscast

Canada Tonight is a Canadian television newscast which aired on stations owned by Western International Communications (WIC) from 1993 to 2001. It was produced out of the studio of CHAN-TV (BCTV) in Burnaby, British Columbia. There were two versions of the newscast; the one seen outside British Columbia was anchored by Tony Parsons, and the one seen in that province was anchored by Bill Good. The British Columbia version, seen only on BCTV, featured more stories related to Vancouver and British Columbia, as well as local weather and some national news reports sourced from CTV, which WIC's other stations were unable to use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Billy Van</span> Canadian actor (1934–2003)

William Allan Van Evera, known by the stage name Billy Van, was a Canadian comedian, actor, and singer.

CHML was a radio station in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. CHML's transmitter power is 50,000 watts using an eight-tower directional antenna array with a signal oriented largely west-northwest to east-southeast, covering the Niagara Peninsula and Western New York, USA strongest; the array is located between Peter's Corners and Cambridge. Its studios were located on Main Street West in Hamilton's Westdale neighbourhood. The station last aired a news–talk format branded as 900 CHML. CHML is owned by Corus Entertainment. The station's long-time slogan was "hometown radio".

Jack Duffy was a Canadian singer, comedian and actor.

Ed Allen was a television host noted for his syndicated exercise programs.

Norm Marshall was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster. He and Larry O'Brien were commentators for the first telecast of a Grey Cup football game 29 November 1952 on CBLT Toronto. CBC paid both Marshall and O'Brien CAD$250 for this inaugural broadcast. He was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1989.

Rifael Ronald "Riff" Markowitz is a Canadian-American television and theatre producer, most recently the managing director, MC and co-founder of The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, which performed at the historic Plaza Theatre in downtown Palm Springs, California until 2014.

Elaine Trebek Kares is an American businesswoman and former broadcaster. She was a Playboy Bunny in the 1960s and a television broadcaster on the program Call Callei in the 1970s.

The following is a list of events affecting Canadian television in 2015. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel launches, closures and rebrandings.

Elsie Gray (1896-1984), known professional as Jane Gray was a Canadian radio and television broadcaster, who was active between 1924 and 1979. She was one of the first women to pursue a career in radio broadcasting in Canada, and was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 1988.

Kenneth David Soble was a Canadian broadcasting executive, who became the owner of radio station CHML and was one of the founders of CHCH-TV, both of which were in Hamilton, Ontario. Under his management, CHCH withdrew from the CBC Television Network in 1961 to become Canada's first independent television station. He was also the original applicant for what would eventually become Canada's Global Television Network, although the application underwent numerous changes before being transferred to a separate company, unrelated to Soble's Niagara Television, in 1970. One indication of the esteem in which he was held was that the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation offered him the job of president of the network in late 1966; but he decided to turn it down.

The following is a list of events affecting Canadian television in 2016. Events listed include television show debuts, finales, cancellations, and channel launches, closures and rebrandings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donna Skelly</span> Canadian politician

Donna Skelly is a Canadian politician and journalist. Skelly is presently the Deputy Speaker of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario and was first elected in 2018 to the electoral district of Flamborough—Glanbrook with the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario. In 2023, Skelly was appointed to the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Its mission is to promote the advancement of parliamentary democracy by enhancing knowledge and understanding democratic governance, youth engagement in democracy, gender equality and equal representation.

Bill Walker was a Canadian broadcaster and actor.

Coming of Age is a Canadian dramatic television film, which was released on the pay-per-view channel Viewers Choice in 1993. The film stars Marion Gilsenan as Jane McKenzie, a widow who takes a number of boarders into her home to make ends meet after the death of her husband.

Al Boliska was a Canadian radio and television personality, most noted for his stint as the morning host on CHUM in Toronto from 1957 to 1963.

References

  1. ↑ TV North by Peter Kenter, p.129.
  2. ↑ "The party's over for TV charades," Jim Bawden, Toronto Star , June 3, 1981, p. C1.
  3. ↑ "Party Game with Billy Van". YouTube.
  4. ↑ "The new line-up for fall television". The Globe and Mail , September 12, 1970.
  5. ↑ Jack Miller, "Television gets set to do its thing". Hamilton Spectator , September 5, 1970.
  6. ↑ "TV program material station's direst need". The Globe and Mail , March 19, 1971.
  7. ↑ James Bawden, "Canned charades reach end of line". Hamilton Spectator , April 17, 1980.
  8. ↑ "How a publicity hunting TV mini-tycoon turns shy". Toronto Star , January 8, 1972.
  9. ↑ Robert Dayton, "La Troupe Grotesque". ByNWR.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.