A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sharing the rules of the program as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of game shows dates back to the invention of television as a medium. On most game shows, contestants either have to answer questions or solve puzzles, typically to win either money or prizes. Game shows often reward players with prizes such as cash, trips and goods and services provided by the show's sponsor.
Hollywood Squares is an American game show in which two contestants compete in a game of tic-tac-toe to win cash and prizes. The show piloted on NBC in 1965 and the regular series debuted in 1966 on the same network. The board for the game is a 3 × 3 vertical stack of open-faced cubes, each occupied by a celebrity seated at a desk and facing the contestants. The stars are asked questions by the host and the contestants judge the truth of their answers to gain squares in the right pattern to win the game.
Gene Rayburn was an American radio and television personality. He is best known as the host of various editions of the American television game show Match Game for over two decades.
Match Game is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank questions. Beginning with the CBS run of the 1970s, the questions are often formed as humorous double entendres.
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson. It features two families who compete to name the most popular answers to survey questions in order to win cash and prizes.
The year 1972 involved some significant events in television. Below is a list of notable television-related events.
John Leonard Olson was an American radio personality and television announcer. Olson is perhaps best known for his work as an announcer for game shows, particularly the work he did for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Olson was the longtime announcer for the original To Tell the Truth and What's My Line?, and spent over a decade as the announcer for both Match Game and The Price Is Right, working on the latter series at the time of his death.
Mark Leo Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions.
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel show in which four celebrity panelists are presented with three contestants and must identify which is the "central character" whose unusual occupation or experience has been read aloud by the show's moderator/host. When the panelists question the contestants, the two impostors may lie whereas the "central character" must tell the truth. The setup adds the impostor element to the format of What's My Line? and I've Got a Secret.
Password is an American television game show in which two teams, each composed of a celebrity player and a contestant, attempt to convey mystery words to each other using only single-word clues, in order to win cash prizes.
Eugene Edward Wood was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1950s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Classic Concentration, Card Sharks, Password, and Beat the Clock. Wood also served a brief stint as a host on this last show, and on another show, Anything You Can Do. After retiring from game shows in 1996, Wood worked as an announcer for the Game Show Network until his retirement in 1998.
Tattletales is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions in association with Fremantle. The program had two runs on the CBS daytime schedule between February 1974 and June 1984. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several announcers including Jack Clark, Gene Wood, Johnny Olson and John Harlan providing the voiceover at various times. Wood was the primary announcer during the show's first run, and Olson was announcing during the 1980s.
The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour is an American television panel game show that combined two panel games of the 1960s and 1970s – Match Game and Hollywood Squares – into an hour-long format.
The Name's the Same is an American game show produced by Goodson-Todman for the ABC television network from December 5, 1951 to August 31, 1954, followed by a run from October 25, 1954 to October 7, 1955. The premise was for contestants to guess the names of persons whose actual name corresponded to a famous person, celebrity, a place, common object or action.
You Don't Say! is an American television game show that had three separate runs on television. The first version aired on NBC daytime from April 1, 1963 to September 26, 1969 with revivals on ABC in 1975 and in syndication from 1978 to 1979. The last two incarnations were executive produced by Ralph Andrews and produced and directed by Bill Carruthers.
PDQ and Baffle are American television game shows created by Heatter-Quigley Productions. Both shows' objective was for contestant/celebrity teams to guess a given word or phrase in the shortest amount of time with the fewest letters given as possible.
Missing Links is a Goodson-Todman game show hosted by Ed McMahon which originally ran on NBC from September 9, 1963 to March 27, 1964, then moved to ABC for its final nine months, with Dick Clark replacing McMahon as host.
CBS Daytime is a division within CBS that is responsible for the daytime television block programming on the CBS' late morning and early afternoon schedule. The block has historically encompassed soap operas and game shows.
Snap Judgment is an American daytime game show hosted by Ed McMahon and announced by Johnny Olson which ran on NBC from April 3, 1967, to March 28, 1969, at 10:00 AM Eastern. The program was created and produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman.
Dough Re Mi was an American game show that aired on NBC from February 24, 1958, to December 30, 1960. The series was hosted by Gene Rayburn and was somewhat of an answer to CBS' Name That Tune, which began in 1953.
