I'm Addicted to Buzzr TV!

I was watching Match Game '75 last week, and they had this really hot young gym teacher contestant from Bakersfield on. As I was watching, I was wondering if he was still alive and what he might look like.

So I googled his name and "Bakersfield," and sure enough, I found his Facebook page! He's still alive, recently retired, was a gym teacher at the same Bakersfield high school all those years. I'd guess he's in his late 60s now, but still looks pretty good.

It was funny watching him on the show, because Fannie Flagg was fawning all over him. Quite an acting job by lesbian Fannie Flagg!

Everybody in OP's picture is dead now, except for Elaine Joyce.

Who are Barbara & Dick? I think I know as much about game show celebrities as the next gay but those two are not ringing a bell. Dick Gauthier?

R3 Yes, Dick Gautier and his wife Barbara Stuart.

She was in the movie "Airplane." She played Robert Stack's wife, the owner of the rapid dog Shep.

R1 The cute gym teacher was a big hit on the show and a big winner. He lasted several days and won more that he made in a year. His name was Ron, and both the male and female celebrity panelists were making passes.

R5 Yes, that's him! He was so 70s hot. The junior high gayling in me would have loved to have had him as my gym teacher!

More interesting facts about Ron Livingston - he became an HIV/AIDS educator in Bakersfield in the 1990s.

R6 A few years ago I saw a comment on that YouTube page that Fannie was acting like Rosie over Tom Cruise. He actually replied to the comment, missing the lesbian innuendo, but saying he had a great time, all the panelists were kind, and he made more money than a year's teacher salary. Some of his students also commented what a popular guy he was and how he was much beloved.

Straight, married with children unfortunately,

There's a picture of him on his Facebook page in the hospital with no hair, so it looks like he had cancer at some point, but in recent pictures, he's looking healthy, so I hope he's won the battle.

I'm watching a Tattletales episode featuring Ronny Cox and his wife, who he said had a PhD in chemistry and was a cancer researcher at Sloane Kettering. Sadly, she died of cancer in 2006.

I like Password episodes with Elizabeth Montgomery. She played the game well and was on the show often.

R11 Elizabeth Montgomery and Carol Burnett were the best Password players.

I always wondered that if I was ever a contestant on Password if I'd be able to concentrate and play the game or just sit there the whole time thinking, "Oh, my God! I'm sitting right next to Carol Burnett and playing Password with her!"

Only on DL would you remember a CONTESTANT from a 70s game show.

R13 I didn't remember him. I was watching Match Game recently and SAW him. For the first time. Even though the show was from 1975.

What cracked me up about Tattletales was the money the celebrities would win for their sections of the audience. In most cases, the maximum a celebrity couple would win would be something like $275. Assume there were 50 people in their audience section, each member would get about $5.

I watch the ‘70s, syndicated versions of To Tell the Truth and What’s My Line, the latter’s last edition (understandably, because it’s a much inferior version of the CBS show). The channel’s catalogue of these shows, though, is extremely limited, with the same shows aired repeatedly.

I've done that, too, R1, with Match Game contestants! I don't know why they spark that impulse in me. There was one contestant who was a "lady wrestler", and I was able to find her, and some foreign guy who traveled around giving talks to the Rotary Club.

Anyway, I love old Match Games and the one with "the banana section." Is that Tattletales? I used to think Bobby Van and Elaine Joyce were the bee's knees.

It's so funny, my dad knew Bert Convy when they were 17/18. They were both working as Production Assistants at CBS. They both wanted to be professional baseball players and bonded over this but Bert got bitten by the acting bug and decided to dive deeper into Hollywood.

When I was 13, I remember sitting on the couch in front of the TV while my dad told me that story. I remember thinking, "Man, look at Bert-- all handsome and fit and rich and full of personality-- and look you, Dad... A fat, bald, alcoholic asshole loser who never amounted to anything." Then, I went to the bathroom and jerked off, fantasizing about Bert Convy, just to spite my shitty homophobic father.

I wonder if they could do "Password" today.

Would guests and contestants have a large enough vocabulary?

I remember Bert Convy as very cheesy, but, in retrospect, he was actually quite handsome and could be funny!

R17 I'm sometimes more fascinated by the contestants and wondering whatever became of them than the actual celebrities. Sometimes I'll look at them and think, "I wonder if they're still alive." "I wonder if they had a good life." Strange, huh?

And yes, Tattletales was the show the "banana" section - the red, green, and yellow sections.

R18 Great story! And I agree - Bert Convey was very fuckable.

I love that Elaine Joyce has turned out to be a massive cunt. She was my spirit animal as a gayling.

R23 She drives me nuts when I watch her on Match Game and Tattletales. She really played up that dumb blonde character.

Yes, I heard that after she married Neil Simon, she became a total Park Avenue bitch.

That's two husbands she's killed now.

[quote][R3] Yes, Dick Gautier and his wife Barbara Stuart.

Dick Gautier was a rabid heterosexual....who looked like a total queen.

I liked Richard Dawson in the early Match Game years then he became all somber and silent refusing to smile or engage because his Family Feud had become a hit and he wanted off Match Game and they wouldn't release him from his contract.

R25 I always thought Dick Gautier was a queen. Yes, he was married, but I never bought that he was straight. Like Dom Deluise.

R26 Yes, Richard became a real prick when he was splitting his time between the Feud and Match Game.

He used to root for the contestants and seemed to actually be interested in helping them win. Then he just became an asshole.

But Brett was always a fun, zany drunk on the show. She had a great gig and she knew it.

r26, Dawson killed Match Game that year (78-79). He left early in the season, and the show was cancelled at the end of the season (though PM continued into the 80s).

Who knew Joyce Bulifant had such a gaping vagine? Many husbands lurking under that facade of dippydo.

Ew. I couldn't stand that lechorous Richard Dawson!!!! The way he would kiss all those women on the lips made me cringe!!! My 8 year old mind couldn't understand why anyone would want to kiss him. Then I turned 12, and boy, things CHANGED!!!

On the lower left tier, Match Game always had some flavor-of-the-month starlette, usually cute and perky or beautiful and sultry. They were almost always unmemorable to the point that when I watch the reruns on Buzzr, I have to go to IMDB to find out what made them (semi) famous in the first place.

I think it was either in Gene Rayburn's or Richard Dawson's - or both - of their contracts that they got a pretty girl in that spot, because they both practically molested whoever happened to occupy that chair. Poor things.

[quote]I watch the ‘70s, syndicated versions of To Tell the Truth

I was on TTTT in the 70s. I was just a kid. They had kids on occasionally. I wonder if you've seen my episode. I got a recording of it at great cost, cos I never saw it at the time. I look so nervous and uncomfortable I can't bear to look at it.

R32 We need a little more info, please. What was the subject? Who were you? And were you the real person or an imposter?

I used to watch all of these shows in the summertime when I was a teenager. I usually needed to take care of business after the shows. My mom thought I was reading in my bedroom. Dick Gautier and Bert Convy got me all fired up, Clifton Davis, too. Davis would wear a shirt unbuttoned to the top of his abs; I would spend the time trying to spot a nipple when he turned or bent.

I heard Playgirl approached Ron Livingston after the broadcasts. They probably didn't offer enough money to be a centerfold. My 15-year-old self would have figured out some way of getting that issue.

Clifton Davis was sexy, yes. I even kind of liked Bobby Van.

How I wish Ron would have done Playgirl. He was one sexy hunk.

Ron Valenti was his name, not Ron Livingston. Sorry. I screwed it up.

Ron Valenti's independent baseball team...

R37 He looked hot. I was he had been my gym teacher.

The first comment on the YouTube video of Ron’s appearance on MATCH GAME is by his daughter. She said her dad was 69 two years ago.

[quote][R32] We need a little more info, please. What was the subject? Who were you? And were you the real person or an imposter?

I was a liar.

You know who else was on it as a kid?

You can watch the Anderson ep here >

starts at 4:34

R40, R41 - That was great! I had no idea he had been on To Tell the Truth.

He was very convincing. If I hadn't known who he was, I'd have voted for him as the real bear trainer.

So, R40, tell us more! What was the episode about? And how did you get cast as one of the liars?

Watching Card Sharks right now. God, what a stupid show this one was.

"All of it higher!" "$200 lower!"

The winner of this match I'm watching now is definitely a dyke. She looks very uncomfortable in her multi-colored maxi dress and platform shoes. I'm sure it was the first time she had worn a dress since she was in the 5th grade.

I love how most of the contestants on these shows were from the burbs in Southern California - places like Fullerton, Irvine, Northridge, Tustin, Santa Ana.

[quote]So, [R40], tell us more! What was the episode about? And how did you get cast as one of the liars?

My father met some woman at a party in New York. I don't live in America so had never heard of TTTT. Anyway he came back from NYC and said when you go, you're going to be on this show. Sounded fun and interesting.

I got $100 for appearing and another $100 for fooling someone, which was nice for a 12 yr old in 1975. She was just being sweet picking me. Kitty Carlisle took the whole thing very seriously and totally ignored me.

The people from the show were so sweet afterwards, saying how good I was.

It was filmed at a studio in the Rockefeller Center. Old-timey New York.

I invited everyone I knew.

I am watching the entire series of Super Password right now, one episode at a time, luckily there are over 1100 episodes from 1984 to 1989. Bert Convy is a very affable, friendly host, and he keeps the game moving right along.

I am still somewhat amazed to know that he appeared on Broadway over 10 times, and that he created the role of the bisexual writer/narrator Clifford Bradshaw in the original 1966 production of Cabaret.

OMG! I can watch this from England!

Jay Leno with black hair!

I thought the shows were from the 70s. 90s, not so interesting or enjoyable.

R35, Michael Jackson once had a major crush on Clifton Davis, to the point of practically stalking him.

There are dozens of vintage Passwords on YouTube from 1962 through 1967.

R46 I love this. I wanna know more! Who were you pretending to be? And Kitty Carlisle was a bitch to you?

A great recurrent gag on Match Game was Brett being upset at the buzzer. This is a montage and it's great to see how drunk Brett is.

It's a game ... for the UNINHIBITED!

Our stars this week are Mindy Cohn and Ted Lange. Watch their BODIES do the talking ... on BODY LANGUAGE!

It was a takeoff on charades but fun to watch. I think all the contestants were aspiring actors and/or college students, sometimes both.

Their celebrity partners, not so much.

Love Brett!

Burt Convy played a character once or twice on the original Perry Mason show back in the 50s/60s. You think he was good looking on the game shows, he was smoldering before them.

BERT (not Burt) was on one episode of "Perry Mason." Here he (age 27 in 1960.) Do you think Ray Burr tapped that?

Bert Convy was prominent on Broadway in the 1960s.

He was in the OBPs of Cabaret and Fiddler on the Roof.

[quote]I watch the ‘70s, syndicated versions of To Tell the Truth and What’s My Line, the latter’s last edition (understandably, because it’s a much inferior version of the CBS show). The channel’s catalogue of these shows, though, is extremely limited, with the same shows aired repeatedly.

I preferred watching the 1950s and early '60s episodes of "What's My Line?" and "To Tell the Truth," but they were replaced with the syndicated '70s versions, probably because the latter are in color.

[quote]Dick Gautier was a rabid heterosexual....who looked like a total queen.

Dick Gautier played Conrad Birdie in the original Broadway production of "Bye Bye Birdie."

^^ His son is a porn star (straight).

My boyfriend and I have been a watching a lot of this, too!

We have Sling, though. During commercial breaks (when I guess they have empty ad space), it sometimes sits on a Buzzr graphic with jazz music playing for like 30 seconds to a minute.

It’s sad how a lot of the women contestants have nothing to say about themselves when introduced and immediately go to “Well, I’m a wife...”

Mentioned this on another game show thread. While doing an Oxygen game show it came up that I was putting together a memorabilia Christmas present for a friend. I had purchased lots of autographs and odd autobiographies on eBay but hadn’t found anything from Brett Sommers. The EP said, “She’s my next door neighbor. Write her a note. I’ll give it to her.” She s3nt an autograph immediately and invited me to her cabaret show. I went, she invited me for a drink, great fun. Wonderful conversationalist. Jack Klugman and Marcia Wallace joined us. Great night.

I was also on Cash Cab & Deal or No Deal as a supporter. Met Meghan Markle. Also very nice.

Love game shows.

R64 Great story! Brett sounds like she was a nice person.

So how did you get on Cash Cab? Is it really unplanned and spontaneous?

R62 I've never heard this. What's his name?

I'm watching To Tell the Truth, and Kitty Carlisle just walked out in this huge flowing red gown with tons of chiffon trailing her.

It was just like watching Kristen Wiig in the SNL "Secret Word" game show skits.

R65, it was spontaneous although later found out we had been previewed via an audition I went to. Great experience.

R68 Well, how did they find you on the streets of New York City? Do you have a microchip or something?

And did you win any money in the Cash Cab?

Ethel Merman is sitting in that lower left spot in the hot gym teacher Match Game clip.

I remember Brett mentioning that she lived in Beverly Hills. And Charles chimed in with the funniest riff that her house was on Pico (?). Those two made the show. Richard Dawson..... well....not so much.

R40/46, what year were you on the show? Although it has shown the later episode with Anderson Cooper, the channel only seems to air shows from 1972-1973.

R68 here, I showed up for a callback, was told the location had changed. They hailed me a cab. Boom! Cash Cab. We won around $1,600. My husband opted to pass on the video bonus. I respected his wishes and didn’t push. We had just bought a condo in Harlem. The prize money paid for window shades.

The only shows on Buzzr I can't watch are Supermarket Sweep and Let's Make a Deal. I never liked those shows when they were on originally. All those stupid people in costumes shrieking and jumping up and down, trying to get Monty Hall to notice them as he walks around and says, "I'll give anyone $100 who has a hard boiled egg in their purse." No thanks.

And on Supermarket Sweep, all those midwestern fraus in their sweaters and mom jeans running through the aisles with their carts, trying to pile as many legs of lamb on as they can and make it back to the finish line in 60 seconds. Nope.

Give me the cheesy game shows with D-list celebs just hanging out, trying to make a few bucks and raise their profiles.

R73 So let me get this straight. You went on a casting all for a game show, they called you and told you the location had changed, and they called you the cash cab. Okay, so it's semi-spontaneous.

Well, that kind of bums me out. I was always hoping the guy was just randomly driving around NYC and picking up whoever he happened to see on the street.

On a side note, I always found the Cash Cab guy kinda hot. He has big dick face. Is he the slightest bit hot in person?

I have definitely googled some of the hot guy contestants on these old game shows to see if they're still around, just curious to see whatever became of them. I've had the most luck with guys from Classic Concentration I guess because being the late '80s/early '90s they're more likely to have a presence online. I can't remember the name of the one guy that I thought was the hottest but it turned out he had a few credits on IMDB as a bit part actor and had actually died a few years after he appeared on CC from AIDS. Kind of a bummer.

I find it hilarious to watch Tattletales when they have as one of their "couples" Dick Sargent and Fannie Flagg. Any time anyone argues with me "they can't be gay! they have a girlfriend/date girls/have a wife!" I point out obvious PR crap like that. Hollywood is full of BS.

Tattletales always had gay bearding couples. Once they had Charles Nelson Reilly on with Julie Harris.

I think Bill Cullen was an underrated host. He was good on Blockbusters - had a sense of humor about him.

Bill Cullen was brilliant at puzzles. He used to do The NY Times Crosswords in ink and people were amazed at his vocabulary.

Thanks, R77, for this...

[quote] Tattletales always had gay bearding couples. Once they had Charles Nelson Reilly on with Julie Harris.

I burst out laughing at this. Hilarious. The mind boggles.

All episodes of "What's My Line" are on YouTube

R73 here, they also do spontaneous pick ups between previewed people. I think they preview to get players who think quickly. People who go three and done are less likely to have been previewed.

Also, the audition wasn’t for a game show. It was to be an online tour guide thru the neighborhoods of NYC.

Host? Great guy. Very sexy in person. BDF for days.

R82 Thanks for the clarification. And thanks for the confirmation on the Cash Cab guy.

r78, Bill is always fucking up on Blockbusters (as in screwing up his reading, or the cards), though he is amiable and genial. He also shows a great deal of respect for the contestants.

Contrast that with Monty Hall on Split Second (which airs at 10a just before Blockbusters). This one-season wonder should be great, but it's a maddening exercise in no small part because Monty is both host and judge, and he makes many errors in judgement (accepting answers after the buzzer, accepting wrong answers). He also seems to hate his life and has no real affection for the (Canadian) contestants (it filmed in Toronto).

r81

It's too hard to watch the slow agonizingly painful decline of Dorothy Kilgallen.

Bill Cullen seemed like a great guy, didn't look down on the contestants, good sense of humor....but good lord, on Blockbusters he acted more like a chatty comedian than a game show host. They could have fit twice as many games in if he hadn't been going on and on trying to make jokes.

R77, didn't they have a few where Paul Lynde was paired off with female stars?

On Match Game, Richard Asshole Dawson doing his Paul Lynde impression and the camera cuts to CNR sitting there smoking his pipe with a tight smile on his face.

[quote]Once they had Charles Nelson Reilly on with Julie Harris.

Charles Nelson Reilly directed Julie Harris in "The Belle of Amherst."

On "Tattletales," Charles Nelson Reilly was paired with his actress friend Elizabeth Allen, not with Julie Harris.

I can't quite picture Julie Harris, one of the premier actresses of the American stage, trying to win a few bucks for the Banana Section on "Tattletales."

Monty hall was hot. So buff.

I just found out Monty Hall's daughter is actress Joanna Gleason of "Into the Woods"

I was on two of those quiz shows when I was young. They were a lot of fun. The celebrity panelists, although very pleasant on air, never associated with us peons who were the contestants. The moment we were off the air, we were whisked away so fast it was as if we were contagious.

This was in the late 50s and late 60s -- the other thing I remember? Half of them were already smashed, even though we taped in the middle of the afternoon.

R90, "For one week in February 1975, gay comic actor Dick Sargent and lesbian comedian/author Fannie Flagg appeared on the show as a couple; Flagg was not introduced as Sargent's wife or girlfriend, or even friend, but rather "his lady". Gay actor and director Charles Nelson Reilly was booked on Tattletales during both CBS runs; his playing partner in 1977 was Elizabeth Allen, a long-time friend from his days on Broadway, and his partner on the show in 1982 was Julie Harris, another old friend from Broadway who was married to her third husband, Walter Carroll, at the time the program was produced."

R93 Tell us more! Which shows? Which celebrities?

I wish I could understand why they don't show old Price is Right Episodes from the 70s. Those were the best. A new Vega!!!!

I also love Lets Make A Deal, but sometimes Monty Hall seemed like a jerk to the contestants.

How about "Price Is Right" episodes from the '60s! Bill Cullen was the host.

A while back, Buzzr was showing black-and-white episodes of "The Price Is Right" from the '50s, hosted by Bill Cullen. The format was quite different from the later version, with its various games of chance, Basically the contestants just sat there and tried to guess the actual prices of various items.

The thing I like about watching those old game shows is that the audience respectfully applauds rather than on the current reincarnations of the shows. They're so freaking loud with an audience so full of yahoos. There is actually too little time spent on the game and getting some money into contestants hands. Yes, the 50s-70s shows had laughably small amounts, but there was much more game and far less show.

r98, I remember seeing Bill Cullen episode of that on the Game Show Network in the late 1990s. One of the big prizes was a dream home in Opa Locka, Florida. I was living in Hollywood, Florida at that time and Opa Locka was not a great area. I'm not sure if that's changed.

They aired the Fannie and Dick episodes of "Tattletales" a few weeks ago and I swear they just met the morning of the taping. At one point Dick was joking about how bad they were and said something like, "how would I know that?" in response to one of the questions.

Allen Ludden is THE WORST host ever. He constantly makes flubs in the bonus round, "J, no K," doesn't know the rules of the game, and is really stupid with the contestants. As was pointed out earlier, on one of the 1960s episodes, he introduces a woman, "Let's meet Sherry Harper from Walnut Hills, California." The next thing out of his mouth is, "what does your husband do?"

R99, if the audience is acting like "yahoos" it's probably because the producers are encouraging them to. They get cues on how to act.

I've been on a game show, I know

I think Allen Ludden is one of the best hosts, and i treasure his time on the first versions of Password and Password Plus. I don't know if I've seen him on anything else.

[quote]As was pointed out earlier, on one of the 1960s episodes, he introduces a woman, "Let's meet Sherry Harper from Walnut Hills, California." The next thing out of his mouth is, "what does your husband do?"

To be fair, few married women, especially if they had children, worked outside of the home in the '60s. And of course they'd all been interviewed and vetted beforehand, so Allen was only asking question that would elicit appropriate answers. If he'd asked what she did, it would invariably be, "oh, I'm just a housewife."

Well of course, R101, who doesn't know that?

R99, apparently

I wish Buzzr would bring back $25,000/$100,000 Pyramid with Dick Clark. It always seemed to take more skill than other game shows. And it made a huge difference depending on the celebrities for the week and how well they could play the game. Watching gave me my first exposure to Dick Cavett and his understated, droll humor. Shelley Smith always seemed to kick ass at Pyramid and Password as well. And Vicki Lawrence could always be counted on to play well while being jokingly antagonistic toward Dick. On one episode of the Ludden era Password Plus I saw a few months ago, Vicki's partner Karen totally missed an obvious password and Vicki kinda blurted out "Karen!!" which was hilarious. You didn't normally see the celebrities get exasperated with the contestants. Found the episode on YouTube:

(and Adam the other contestant I would almost swear I saw in some '70s porn)

R106 That episode was hilarious. Vicki was clearly exasperated with Karen.

And yes, Adam DID look familiar, didn't he?

I agree with you r106 about Pyramid. I can't stand the reboots with Donny Osmond and Michael Strahan. It was a show that required skill, had strict rules that were enforced, and was an intelligent word game. They turned it into Supermarket Sweep with stupid celebrities more concerned with jokes than helping the contestants win money.

I have stated on here many times that I think that Candace Owens is a grifter. That all being said, I think in that interview she was prepared and asked some tough questions that for whatever reason Marc either avoided or couldn’t answer. It was a good conversation between two people with opposing views. And where I’m from, I’ve heard similar types of conversations in barber shops and among family and friends.

Sorry, wrong thread

Gilbert Gottfried gave it to the contestants on Hollywood Squares

DL fave and wisecracking dyke Mary Wickes was on "Tattletales" with some elderly queen as her partner.

Elaine Joyce is DEAD TO ME.

I loved Jim Perry he was an underrated host. He was just the right combo of good looking but not Bob Eubanks level cheesy, intelligent (he went to Penn!) and sincere. And I was always so impressed how he could talk so damn fast on those Sale of the century lightening rounds without ever tripping over his words. Listen to it some time.

I also thought Bert Convy was a better and certainly more friendly Password host than Allen Ludden.

Also forgot to say Buzzer only has a very small selection of each of the shows so you keep seeing the same episodes over and over (that’s how I at least cane to actually recognize some of the contestants!) I actually watched it for a good 3 years or more but finally stopped watching it at all right around the beginning of quarantine, ironically enough. I’m assuming they haven’t changed their programming at all since then.

I agree I wish they would get the 80s Pyramid (and also the Price is Right).

R115 They definitely need to broaden their catalogue, that's for sure.

I wish they'd lose the Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour. I don't even remember this show being on, and it's painful to watch now. Why not just show classic episodes of Hollywood Squares? That show could be hilarious, especially with Paul Lynde's one-liners

[quote]They definitely need to broaden their catalogue, that's for sure.

I was wondering the same thing. How expensive could it be to rebroadcast these old shows? There are so many classics out there, I'm not sure which game shows were wiped, but Price is Right, Hollywood Square, Pyramid all great shows that are just sitting in vaults.

R117 I imagine it would be expensive to get those shows on rotation. Buzzr's budget probably isn't that high.

[quote]Buzzr's budget probably isn't that high.

It's pretty much a mesothelioma channel.

R119 LOL! Yes, their commercials are very slanted to the "you're getting older, so here's a product that will help you feel better or get out of your chair easier" set.

Plus those commercials for sunglasses, flashlights and other cheap products marketed as pseudo "tactical gear" to appeal to those who fetishize jarheads.

I like watching eps on youtube

Worse than Mesothelioma are the endless Shriner's Hospital commercials. Maybe Shriner's and the kid with the adorable blanket, who is slowly being replaced with a younger cuter kid thanks to his voice changing (welcome to showbiz, kid), can send some of their billions to Buzzr. They obviously have a great deal on the advertising time.

I was happily watching the Classic Concentration reboot with Alex Trebek, when after a few dozen or more episodes, they suddenly went back and started again. I was very disappointed and stopped watching that program altogether

I only have time for one game show at a time, so I am very happy that Super Password started at the beginning, with the 1984 shows, and now they are halfway through 1985, I hope they have access to the entire catalog because I’d like to watch all 1100 episodes, once and done. Then I will select another show

And I agree about the Hollywood squares/match game combo show; it is mind-bogglingly dreadful, I don’t know why it is so unwatchable, since separately both concepts have been proven to be winners

R70, Ethel revealed to friends that she had a crush on Gene Rayburn.

Some very talented people on those old game shows. Bert Convy was the original Perchik in 'Fiddler on the Roof" and the original Cliff in "Cabaret" on Broadway (both Harold Prince show) before becoming a game show host. I think he had also been a professional baseball player for a while.

Match Game used to have on fantastic theater people -- Charles Nelson Reilly (Tony Winner), Ethel Merman (Tony winner and legend), Patty Duke (Oscar Winner), Bobby Van (with and without his wife Elaine Joyce), Jack Klugman, etc. I think once I while Gene Rayburn would mention that he had seen Bobby Van and/or Elaine Joyce in one of their Broadway shows. I loved Brett, who was kind of the resident (female) diva there, though she had no shame -- she would do Ethel Merman singing impersonations while Ethel was on the show! Of course, Jack Klugman was known to have been one of Ethel's favorite singing partners (in the original "Gypsy") so perhaps she knew Brett from back then. Gene Rayburn, btw, I think was a replacement Albert in "Bye Bye Birdie" for Dick van Dyke.

Among the smartest players on shows back then was Anita Gillette, who when I saw her do theater finally realized she was a real and really good actress, having known her before mainly from $10,000 Pyramid and What's My Line, etc.

I never watched "Supermarket Sweep" when it was on, but I find its rather silliness, especially during the sweeps, and it's ever-cheerful host David Ruprecht, to be kind of a tonic during this tough time. Same with "Match Game", other than some dated references (Fanne Fox, Wilbur Mills), you can still play along and match the stars!

its, not "it's" - sorry

R125 don’t get your hopes up. Also, at some point during the run (you can come back and tell us what year they start), Gene Wood announces what the Password is so you annoyingly can’t play at home (well, I guess you can as the clue giver but that’s so not as fun). I watched it’s original run and I was like WTF did they do that for?

And the last episode is funny but I won’t give away why (though I’m pretty sure it’s on YouTube).

r126, I think there's two major problems.

One: the two shows shoehorned together like that created two losers (the person who lost Match Game, and then the person who lost Hollywood Squares). It was entirely possible to "win" Match Game and then still go home with nothing by losing Hollywood Squares, which made Match Game seem pointless.

Two: the celebrities (or "celebrities") were truly awful. For every Jay Leno or Arsenio Hall they had (both well before they were famous), they'd have some Leonard Frey no one had every heard of, or some bimbo who couldn't play the games properly (and you know the show is shite when Jenilee Harrison is considered a smart bimbo comparatively). Even when Marcia Wallace or CNR showed up, you could tell they seemed subdued by the un-fun environment populated by a lot of celebrities there to promote themselves. Entire weeks with the casts of Leave it to Beaver (with the names of their characters posted) or We Got It Maid! It was a shitshow, but nothing was entertaining about it.

R130, Didn't the original "Password" (Buzzr showed the old black-and-white episodes for a while) always tell you at the start of each round what the password was? Did "Password Plus" not do that from the beginning?

Leonard Frey was Oscar-nominated for the movie "Fiddler on the Roof" and is well-known to DL for playing Harold in the film of "Boys in the Band"

R132 I’m not sure about the original Password, but Password Plus (which I’ve only seen on BUZZR or GSN, before my time) most definitely did not. I find it incredibly annoying.

I can’t imagine the original Password being that great though without having a puzzle to solve or a bonus round. That’s what makes it to me. They did get some bona fide celebrities though.

The original "Password" had a "lightning round" in which the winner of each round was given one minute to a guess a certain number of words and win extra money in the process.

Also, speaking of Allen Ludden, I couldn’t stand when he would pretend like he and Betty were some sort of A list couple. The puzzle answer would be someone like Burt Reynolds or Roger Moore, and he would be all “Betty and I had dinner with them last month.” Like you’re a fucking Gameshow couple and a joke in the real celebrity world, seriously get over yourself!

Betty was a tv star in comedy shows from back in the 50s, besides her appearances on numerous game shows through the years. Some folks thought she was as funny as Lucille Ball and Joan Davis in her shows. Allen, on the other hand, mainly known for Password and being married to Betty.

R132 Yes, in the original Password, a deep-voiced announcer would whisper, "The password is..." at the start of reach round.

That Ron Valenti on “Match Game” is super-cute and sexy! Thanks for sharing that fun clip!

I'm sure that literally thousands of game show episodes from the '50s, '60s, '70s and even '80s no longer exist in any format.

With the meaning of "celebrity" so stretched now, the mystery guest on a rebooted What's My Line could be a reality "star" from Love After Lockup. I'm trying to wrap my head around Arlene Francis trying to guess the identity of such a latter-day "celebrity"

Between the Shriner's Hospital ads with the kid on the tricycle and the abused animal ads with Eric McCormack it's a little depressing. Oh and the cleft palate charity.

Arlene Francis is a frequent guest on some of these shows. I know nothing about her but she seems classy and nice.

The cute little kid just gets a thrill out of saying his line about his blanket being ADORABLE. I hope he has had lots of folks telling him he is.

[quote]Arlene Francis is a frequent guest on some of these shows. I know nothing about her but she seems classy and nice.

Sure .... until she KILLS YOU.

Lately there seems to be a HUGE upswing in commercials for CarShield -- and they've added Ice-T as one of their spokesmodels.

Alex with his adowable blanket was at least sixteen when those commercials were made--he's a student at the high school I attended. There was a very amusing thread on DL a few months imagining Caleb (Kaleb), the even smaller and presumably younger poster as Eve Harrington to Alex's Margo.

I've noticed that the Game Show Network has been featuring a steady rotation of negative attitudes about Joe Biden, focusing on his memory lapses or word finding moments. Given the presumed primary age demographic of GSN, this seems like a stupid move--insulting the very audience who watches the shows. And the cherry picking and editing of Biden's less verbally graceful moments I'd not likely to fool viewers. Trump's silver tongue could (and foes) produce far worse sound bites.

Good grief. I just found a DL wet dream of a Password episode. Olivia de Havilland/Anthony Perkins. I bet Tony wanted to get in the pants of Olivia's first partner.

Olivia has seemed to say she turned down Errol Flynn's advances all those times they co-starred together. For real, girl?

R148, I bet Tony tapped that!

I've never really found Anthony Perkins all that attractive but I gotta say, he's cute watching him in that Password episode. But so far ol' Olivia is kicking his ass.

Betty White and Burt Reynolds were very good friends, R136. They and a few other Hollywood notables created the template for "Win, Lose or Draw" and pitched it to the networks. They had been playing the game for years in their small gatherings at home.

This will probably get me banned, but I always found Password dull as dirt. I'd watch the old reruns from the 60s, because I love old shit but as a gameshow it just never did anything for me. The old B&W Price is RIght is fun because the contestants were so unsophisticated and it was fun to watch them. What's My Line and To Tell The Truth was like going to some elegant cocktail party with the coolest people. Password just never had any umpf.

And the fact that Olivia is plugging "Lady in a Cage" in that "Password" episode makes it even more irresistible for DL.

I introduced some '60s episodes of Password to some Millennial colleagues & they loved it.

Every celebrity that has been on multiple times over the years you can see the changes in them, especially hairstyles. Carol Burnett probably had 10 different hairstyles. Allen Ludden? The same damn 1955 whatever the hell you call his hair through the years.

[quote]With the meaning of "celebrity" so stretched now, the mystery guest on a rebooted What's My Line could be a reality "star" from Love After Lockup.

Even by the time of the syndicated "What's My Line?" in the early '70s, the mystery guests seemed somewhat less stellar. In the 1950s, Eleanore Roosevelt was a mystery guest. In the '70s, it was more likely to be someone like Dr. Joyce Brothers.

^^ Sorry, Eleanor.

R157 the 1970s version was five days a week, not once a week like the prior version. So, they had many seats to fill.

I loved Dick Gautier...he was sex on a stick. Sorry to hear that he passed.

That was great, R148. Thanks for posting!

What star power, huh? I got such a laugh watching Olivia relate to her salesman-in-training from Deerfield, Illinois. It was as if they were from two different species.

By the time the 60s came along, most people knew Betty White only from her sugary commercials, as TV host for the Rose Bowl Parade and appearances on game shows. Her sitcom career in the early 50s was mostly forgotten. In fact, Johnny Carson would regularly make fun of Betty and Allen as the squarest couple in Hollywood (he knew better).

It was not until she appeared on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in the 70s did her acting career take off again and her reputation was saved.

Betty White also appeared on afternoon talk shows like Mike Douglas's in the 60s and 70s. My grandmother and mother did not like her because she dared to challenge the men in a conversation. She felt she was equal in intelligence and was able to deliver a snappy or quick-witted response.

They didn't like that; they thought she should stay in a demure role.

I never thought this France/French thing was all that funny; the funniest part was Betty at the 1:04 mark. Some people are just funny without even really trying.

^^Poor Betty.

She was stuck with a stupid contestant, idiotic celebrity competitor and clueless host.

It's really not funny to see her despair.

R164, Elder gays will recall . . .

In 1962, Dick Martin worked solo, playing next door neighbor to Lucille Ball during the first season of her comeback comedy "The Lucy Show".

I recall it now that you've reminded me about it, R166!

R15, In the book Sacha Newley wrote in which he described his father Anthony as a pedophile, which enraged his mother Joan Collins, he also wrote that Joan HATED having to appear on game shows in the 1970s like "Tattletales", but she and then husband Ron Kass needed the money.

R168, now I'm curious. How much money could Tattletales have been paying?

Betty played a Senatrice (but not THE Senatrice) in the 1962 movie "Advise and Consent."

[quote]Alex with his adowable blanket was at least sixteen when those commercials were made--he's a student at the high school I attended. There was a very amusing thread on DL a few months imagining Caleb (Kaleb), the even smaller and presumably younger poster as Eve Harrington to Alex's Margo.

[bold]'All About Alec: Is Kaleb scheming to push him out as the Shriners' spokeskid?'[/bold]

[quote]"Nice speech, Kaleb. But I wouldn't worry too much about your heart. You can always put that adowable bwanket where your heart ought to be."

[quote]"What a story, Kaleb! Everything but the bloodhounds snappin' at your rear end."

[quote]"Stage-struck kid! Kaleb's a young man of QUALITIES. And I'll have you know I'm fed up with both the young man and his QUALITIES. Studying me as if I were a play or a blueprint, how I walk, talk, think, act, sleep..."

Someone above mentioned 80s Pyramid so I totally went down the rabbit hole. DL favorite Richard Kline bonus round — stay tuned for the last clue it’s fucking brilliant!

Agreed that I don’t think you could find players this good today whether they’re A/B/C/D list celebs.

Oh crap the actual link

R173 Wow, the lady in that clip is the textbook definition of LESBIAN.

R174 so you’re saying Larry Dallas didn’t tap that?

R175 No, but I can't say the same for the ladies on the set.

That lady in the clip is fantastic at the game! Thanks for posting it, Xennial.

only thing that would have made her better was wearing a man's necktie.

I was watching the new version of "Match Game" and it occurred to me that it was practically a Zoom setup to begin with; I'm wondering if we'll be seeing a lot more game shows now that the TV networks are scrambling for new content, since a lot of them could be produced in a socially distant manner fairly easily....

There aren't too many of today's celebs (and many C and D list one are appearing in the new version) who can compare to the wonderfulness of Richard Dawson (at least before he was trying to get out of his contract), Brett Somers, Charles Nelson Reilly and such folks as weirdo Patti Deutsch, fabulous future writer but apparently un-diagnosed dyslexic Southern charm offensive Fannie Flagg, the always delightful Betty White, even if occasionally one had to put up with there by nepotism and silly Joyce Bulifant.

[quote] fabulous future writer but apparently un-diagnosed dyslexic Southern charm offensive Fannie Flagg,

Don't you mean DYKE-lexic?

Joyce Bullifant - I swear half the time she wasn't trying to match, just come up with the worst "funny" answer she could think of

I couldn't take Kaye Stevens (I think that's her name?) she was always acted like a wack-a-doodle and flirting outrageously with the male contestants. Even Brett would try and tell her to calm the fuck down

R182 I always thought patty Deutsch was the worst with that.

(Back when I watched this on GSN and buzzr)

And boy Brett really hated Elaine Joyce. When she joked with Betty you could always tell it was good natured, but with Elaine she really hated that bitch.

R183, She used to date Joe Namath, in his prime.

Yeah, I watched it on some documentary about Game Shows. Brett hated Elaine Joyce. She also hated Richard from probably about 76 or 77 to until he left the show, but I’m not sure why.

yes Brett loved making comments about Elaine Joyce's roots. I think Brett hated her because she was putting on an obvious ditzy act. When Elaine was on Super Password in the '80s she acted completely different.

I seem to recall Joyce Bullifant given a filthy answer one time of "Pie" which she obviously meant as pussy. You could tell by the way she was laughing when she revealed it. Actually I just googled "Joyce bullifant match game pie" and lo and behold here it is. Listen to her comments.

R183 I actually loved Kaye Stevens' laugh. It was infectious!

R187 I noticed how Elaine Joyce changed from a Goldie Hawn imitation in the 1970s to mature, intelligent woman in the 1980s. I guess after Bobby Van died, she decided she had to grow up a little.

R186, Brett was quite reverential to Ethel Merman when she was a Match Game panelist.

Yet, she must have known that Ethel repeatedly tried to bed Jack Klugman during Gypsy rehearsals/previews while they were married.

Then she got truly nasty when she married Neil Simon and delivered an infamous letter from Simon to Mary Tyler Moore in person when MTM was having some problems memorizing her dialogue in Simon's play, Joyce seems kind of fake on Match Game, though she tempers it a bit and is better when hubby Bobby Van was also on.

R172, one reason that Richard Kline was such a good celebrity player was that he, himself, had earlier been a contestant on another iteration of the show.

R192 What was this letter Joyce delivered?

I believe that letter to MTM was something along the lines of "you better shape up and learn your lines or we're gonna fire you". I think it was meant to be humiliating to MTM, who had some health problems. I think she was also starting to go blind from her diabetes, too, mind you. I think MTM walked out of the theater after receiving it, never came back and her understudy got the role, and the show flopped anyway (though it was at Manhattan Theater Club so ran its run, but to not good reviews).

For some reason, I seem to remember Joan Fontaine being on these shows more than DeHavilland. I learned who was "Broadway famous" watching these shows and wondering who the hell Betsy Palmer, Bert Convey and Phyllis Newman were.

Joan Fontaine

[quote]For some reason, I seem to remember Joan Fontaine being on these shows more than DeHavilland.

Olivia moved to Paris, where she still lives today, in the mid-50s, after having married a Frenchman. When she appeared on "Password" in the 1963 clip posted above, she was in the U.S. to make "Lady in a Cage."

[quote] I learned who was "Broadway famous" watching these shows and wondering who the hell Betsy Palmer, Bert Convey and Phyllis Newman were.

All three were known for their work on Broadway, although Betsy Palmer's New York shows tended to have short runs, or else she was a replacement. Bert Convy was the original Cliff in "Cabaret" and the original Perchik in "Fiddler on the Roof."

Joan Fontaine was a frequent panelist on "To Tell the Truth" in the 1960s.

Im afraid we'll never see the likes of most of these engaging personalities again

I have a vague memory of Bert Convey being on "Love American Style." On the episode, I seem to recall that he was in pajamas, but might have flashed his chest. It was nice, whoever it was.

Here's Bert Convy (with Shelley Hack) on the "Love Boat Angels" episode of "Charlie's Angels," a cross-over episode with the cast of "The Love Boat."

R203 Mmm. Nice and toned and smooth. Just the way I like 'em.

R203, that’s Cheryl Ladd. Turn in your gay card.

Oops. You're right, R205. I couldn't be more embarrassed. But it was during the Shelley Hack season. It was so confusing when "Charlie's Angels" had two blondes.

The original Password from the 1960s is on Buzzr right now. I love how respectful the celebrities were on this version. They actually introduced their non-star game partners to the viewing audience.

And Arlene Francis has a handsome, hunky guy from Brooklyn as her partner on this episode.

R207, Damn! That contestant was "Rock Hudson handsome" and a Harvard guy, to boot.

R203, Poor Bert had a sad ending . . .

In April 1990, Convy was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after collapsing while visiting his mother, who had been hospitalized for a stroke. He was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme. The inoperable tumor forced him to retire. On July 15, 1991, Convy died at his home in Brentwood eight days before his 58th birthday. His remains were buried at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles.

R209 The password is lethal.

R209 That's sad. He suffered for over a year before passing away. Brutal.

R208 I know, right? Built and beefy and smart.

R211 The banana section was really rooting for him.

R212 People who do the "I know, right?" thing, should also get brain cancer.

R214 People who criticize other people's posts while offering absolutely nothing else probably already have brain cancer.

R215 I know, right?

"I know, right?" is just so dismal. I bet you say "veggies" too.

[quote]"Broadway famous"

I was always surprised at the number of them who had cabaret acts. I had no idea what a cabaret act was, then I figure out it was like what Ricky Ricardo did on I Love Lucy. I guess all that died out in the 80s.

Looking at a couple of '67 Password shows featuring Arlene Francis - from different "weeks," no less, as they had her paired up against different male celebrities - not only were the audiences the same, but the exact footage of the audience was used in both!

Who's the tall hottie contestant with the hairy chest on Card Sharks right now?

R220 I don't know. He's hot, all right, but he looks like got his clothes from Merry-Go-Round at the mall. He'd look much better with nothing on.

Yes this guy playing with Arlene Francis is quite the hottie. Richard Koppel or something like that. When Allen talked to him first thing he said "Dick, how do you enjoy spending your time?"

One of the things I've noticed on these game shows from the early '70s and before is how often the men's names are abbreviated or enlarged. As in R222's example, a contestant initially identified as Richard is then called Dick. But the opposite is also true, as a contestant identified as Bill will be called William.

[quote]When Allen talked to him first thing he said "Dick, how do you enjoy spending your time?"

Interestingly, dick was how Allen Ludden enjoyed spending *his* time.

[quote]I was watching the new version of "Match Game" and it occurred to me that it was practically a Zoom setup to begin with; I'm wondering if we'll be seeing a lot more game shows now that the TV networks are scrambling for new content, since a lot of them could be produced in a socially distant manner fairly easily....

Triumph the Insult Comic Dog did a Zoom version of "Quarantine Squares" with panelists including Jason Alexander, James Carville, the Mooch and a bunch of others. The contestants were COVID-19 frontliners. It was mildly funny but didn't quite work.

Did they drink during these shows?

R226 One only needs to watch Brett Somers for a few minutes to get the answer to that question.

Thanks, R203, but I've given a little more thought to that long ago vision, and I seem to recall his spouse was Jo Ann Pflug. Gonna let my fingers fly through google at some point. Regardless, that's a nice photo. He was sexy.

R228 No, Jo Ann Pflug was once married to that right wing Trump fucker Chuck Woolery.

R229, I meant in this old show that I'm recalling. I think Pflug played Convey's spouse on something or other.

I agree about Woolery--such a pig.

[quote]I agree about Woolery--such a pig.

WOF fired him for that dull-as-hell, equally a pig Pat Sajak.

Sajak is such a pig. At least Woolery was kind of easy on the eyes...when one ranks pigs.

R232 I used to think Woolery was hot back in his Scrabble and Love Connection days. Then when he went nuts and became a racist, xenophobic Trump stooge, it was all over for me.

r230 I saw a "Love Boat" recently where JoAnn Pflug's story co-starred Vic Tayback!

Love the Pflug!

If Pflug had been on "Wheel of Fortune", do you think she would buy a vowel?

I loved Jo Ann Pflug on Match Game. She seemed more genuine than some of the other celebrities. Of course Brett gave her a hard time.

The Pfulg did appear on at least one episode of Wheel of Fortune on Christmas.

Bonnie Franklin was on Match Game and didn't play so well. The entire time I was thinking why the hell wasn't CBS star Linda Lavin ever a celebrity panelist?

Maybe they were afraid she would sing?

[quote]Maybe they were afraid she would sing?

She could have scatted the "doo, doo, DA DOO DOOT DOOT da doo" thinking music as the stars wrote down their responses.

Then-Minnesota Gov. Wendall Anderson was on WML today. What a deep-voiced, major hottie.

Wendell Anderson was very handsome.

Before his identity was revealed (not guessed), the woman panelists, Arlene Francis & Sheila MacRae, we’re positively swooning over the good governor. Sheila MacRae thought he must be a clergyman because he looked “so heavenly.” After the reveal, Arlene asked for his party affiliation & obviously approved when he said he was a Democrat.

I was watching a Password from 1984 today, and one of the contestants said she had come to LA from New York to live for 3 months and see if she could make it as a writer in Hollywood.

So just for kicks, I looked her up on IMDB, and boy, did she ever! She's been a very prolific writer and producer, and she won an Emmy as one of the writers of the coming out episode of Ellen's sitcom!

Dava Savel is her name. She lost on Password, but she hit the big time.

r245, I was going to look her up too, but I got distracted. I hate when working from home interrupts my games and stories!

On a 1973 TTTT a few weeks ago, a cute blond kid who won a Norman Rockwell painting contest was featured. Norman Rockwell was one of the judges and he was very impressed with this kid's talent.

I looked him up on Google. He continued to paint, but he developed severe diabetes and had to have a leg amputated. He later suffered a crippling stroke and his parents cared for him until his untimely death at 48.

R247 I hate finding out stuff like this. :-(

r247=Paul Harvey

R247, what was his name?

R250 . . .

ROBERT CHARLES HOWE

Robert Charles Howe found fame in the mold of Norman Rockwell--painting his self-portrait with the exact pose and type of pipe and mirror that Rockwell used in his famous depiction of himself.

The image Mr. Howe painted in 1971 was not some postmodern Rockwell takeoff. He painted out of reverence for a man whom he had made a pilgrimage to Massachusetts to see. And soon thereafter, his illustrations appeared on Rockwell's old turf, the cover of the Saturday Evening Post.

Bob Crane was on Password today making eyes at his female partner. I wonder if he invited her back to his place to make a movie. He truly was a skeevy acting guy.

R252, When the password was "rooster", I was hoping Bob Crane would give "cock" as a clue, as Elizabeth Montgomery once did.

R253, yes! I yelled “cock” at the tv because I just KNEW he was going to do it.

I enJoy watching Bob Crane make innuendos etc. toward the female contestants, knowing about his secret appetites

Sadly, Bob said “chicken” and his partner didn’t get it. Bob has weirdly dark eyes. They almost are black, like there’s no pupil. Just all black. Gives him an evil appearance.

I'm just discovering Buzzr tv thanks to this thread. I have loved the old repeats of Match Game on GSN everyday for many years now.

Buzzr on Amazon Prime: Password Plus: I don't understand Elizabeth Montgomery. There is something off-putting about her personality that I do not like. Those over-alls are extremely stupid looking too.

That Youtube clip of Elizabeth Montgomery was missing a good one. The contestant she was working with made an incorrect guess, and the opposing contestant cheered at the sound of the buzzer. This infuriated Elizabeth, who screamed something like, "that's NOT NICE." Remember, in those days, game shows were mostly friendly competition.

I like watching the old Passwords and seeing how the celebrities related to their non-celebrity partners. Some seemed really genuine and others not so much.

Judy Norton Taylor seemed very nice and appeared to be really happy when her non-celebrity partners won (although you could tell she was really uncomfortable with some of Allen Ludden's creepy comments about her body). When one of the new contestants sat down, Judy said, "Oooh, I like your blouse!"

Then there was Mary Cadorette. I had almost completely forgotten about her - she played John Ritter's girlfriend on the Three's Company spinoff. She was so glum and uninterested. She barely interacted with anyone - Bert Convy, her non-celebrity partner, or Dick Gautier, the other celebrity playing against her. She had a major case of resting bitch face.

She must have been required in her ABC contract to do the show, because she definitely didn't want to be there.

Constance McCashin is another one who always seemed to look down on the contestants.

Linda Kaye Henning was a good player but had little interaction with her civilian partners— no eye contact, touching, etc.

Gloria Loring came across as genuine and friendly with the constants. Fred Grandy, for playing a goof named Gopher for Pete’s sake, seemed stiff and serious. I could almost see him getting pissed off when contestants wouldn’t guess right from one of his clues.

Friendly with the contestants. Stupid autocorrect on my iPad.

Somebody on another thread about a year ago said he was once a contestant on Password Plus with Edie McClurg, and he said she was a total cunt. When the camera was on, she was super jolly and happy, and as soon as they went to break, she wouldn't speak to him at all and was nasty to everyone around her.

Who would've thought?

Last week on a 1967 Password, a male contestant leaned over and kissed Agnes Moorehead on the cheek after getting a 10 pointer and she visibly stiffened.

Robert Urich was on Password Plus today. Damn, he was sexy in his younger days.

R265 I think I saw that. I'm surprised she didn't wave her arms and turn him into a monkey or something.

R266, Fuck, yeah! Everything about him was sexy.

Mary Wickes is on Match Game '77 today. Boy, what a salty bitch she was. I love her!

We are sorely lacking interesting character actors in today’s film and TV

I like watching what kind of crap they give away as "parting gifts"

Fuckin Mary Wickes rocks!

R271 Today, they gave away Jovan Musk Oil. Ooooooh!

Mary Wickes obviously didn't give a shit

Jovan Musk Oil? LOL

The maximum prize on What's My Line? remained $50.00 from 1950 to 1967.

Lee Meriwether almost fainted when a woman she was partnered with won $10,000 on the "$10,000 Pyramid".

When I was on a game show I got crap like Flintstones vitamins.

You must be desperate to watch and relish this kind of old shit.

R278 Which show?

On the vintage TTTT shows, Bud Collyer would mention that the impostors would be receiving an assortment of products from Dristan or Anacin.

Dristan! Do they even make that anymore?

Geritol sponsored lots of these ‘50s/‘60s game shows. Is that still sold?

R283 Surprisingly, it is, though you never see it advertised on TV anymore. I remember the commercials for Geritol when I was a kid - "for tired blood." What the hell is tired blood?

I wanted to mount Dick Gautier’s pole. He was so hot. There is a photo of him on the set of ENSIGN PULVER wearing nothing but short shorts and boots. I fapped to it more than once. But it’s hard to post photos.

R285 Dick Gautier was on Tattletales, and the question to the wives was, "If your husband was asked to pose nude, would he?" Dick Gautier said that not only would he pose nude, he'd take the pictures, put 'em on Christmas cards, and send 'em out!

Sounds like Dick had something to boast about.

That man was fine r286.

Here's Dick in Ensign Pulver.

R284, Serutan was a popular laxative product back then. It was advertised as natures spelled backwards.

When I was growing up, I remember Turtle Wax and Z-Brick were popular parting gifts for the losers.

R290 and Rice-a-Roni!

For the longest time I thought they were giving party gifts to the losers. Rice a Roni made sense, but Turtle Wax never did.

Thanks r288, luscious. Those thick thighs are so impressive.

Geez, Match Game '77 is on now, and every single celebrity panelist (and the host, Gene Rayburn) is no longer alive:

Ron Palillo

Brett Somers

Charles Nelson Reilly

Patty Duke Astin

Richard Dawson

Patti Deutsch

It's called Grim Reaping when you watch an old show or movie and count how many people in it are dead

I remember that in the 70s, R286! I immediately took care of business, the fact Dick Gautier seemed so willing gave me an automatic hard-on. Just thinking about it later in the day allowed me to climax three or four more times, and I was a teenager at the time. His name and his likeness are still engraved in my brain.

I always thought that Geritol was the inspiration for Vitameatavegimin. It was really popular in its day because it had a pretty high alcohol content.

A lot of those so-called "patent medicines" in the olden days had a high alcohol content. This was perhaps the most famous.

I played a Zoom game of "Pyramid" last night with my gay board game group. Lots of fun. The host did a great job of coming up with categories. He does trivia, match game, name that tune games too.

R299 that’s very gay.

Is "Supermarket Sweep" the frauiest of all frau shows?

All the women contestants have that Fantastic Sam's mall haircut and wear mom jeans, and they all have jobs like "loan processor" or "data entry specialist."

r301, Even worse than the contestants are the dumb writers on the show. Some of the games and puzzles make no sense, are for products nobody has ever heard of and really succeed in making Kathie and Cathi look like the dumbest contestants in the world. The questions should be easy to give them more time to shop. That's why people watch the show, not to watch them unscramble letters to make the phrase "Kotex with Wings."

R302 I love watching Kathie try and load all those giant legs of lamb into her cart while Cathi jumps up and down at the checkout stand and screams, "Go! Go!"

This week’s episodes of Super Password with Betty White and Vicki Lawrence are among the best shows of the entire series. Fast, funny, well-played, sharp contestants and very smart banter; a real joy to watch.

I watched all the Lucille Ball episodes today, what a difference between how sharp and funny and engaged she was in 1980's Password Plus, compared to how sullen and crabby and disinterested she was in 1987's Super Password. And when she played Body Language, it almost knocked her out, she was exhausted after each round.

I guess she should be applauded for never having had a facelift, but, boy oh boy, was she haggard by the end.

R305, Instead of going the facelift route, Lucy did that elastic routine, where the loose skin is pulled up with a large rubber band that is then hidden under her wig.

Marlene Dietrich also used the elastic method.

r305, Sometimes I thought part of Lucy's general crabbiness was being partnered with Carol Channing. Lord knows it looked like Lucy wanted to slap Carol's wig off a few times. But she wasn't too much better when partnered with Betty White. I looked it up while watching - Betty and Dick and Carol are within a year in age while Lucy is about 10 years older but the gap seemed even bigger when watching Lucy next to Betty.

Watching John McCook and Juliet Prowse on Tattletales right now.

Damn, I never realized how stunningly handsome McCook was in his younger years.

I've never really been able to get interested in Tattletales. It seems to be the same group of couples over and over. And it's the '70s version of risque but seems more tame than Match Game usually. But I admit to finding it funny to watch the couples and then Google them to find out how long after the show they got divorced.

Blair Warner's mother Monica did an episode of Tattletales with some boy toy.

I agree with r309 though, I don't enjoy it beyond the first few minutes when they introduce the stars and I go to look up who most of them are/were.

I loved watching Tattletales at the time, but watching it now isn’t fun like then. I was probably 7-10 when I watched it so probably had no idea what was going on, but loved all of the celebrities right after Match Game everyday.

R309 I do the same thing! A lot of the couples seem to have divorced within two to three years after appearing on the show.

My favorite couple was Jack Carter and his wife. They detested each other, and they didn't even try to hide it. What's interesting is that they divorced soon after, then remarried years later and remained married until he died.

R312, My favorite couple was Zsa Zsa Gabor and husband Jack Ryan, who invented the Barbie doll.

She always seemed to care more about how she looked in the monitor, rather than winning the game.

Not long after they divorced, Jack committed suicide.

As one does.

R4 Barbara Stuart also played Tawny Kitaen's mother in "Bachelor Party." She's the one that got served the footlong by "Nick the Dick."

Hugh O'Brian and Eva Gabor are on Password right now. Hugh O'Brian was one handsome hunk. Eva's slobbering all over him. Whore.

It seemed to be the practice then (and now?) for closeted celebrity lesbians to slobber over the hunks. I was never persuaded that Betty White's Robert Redford obsession was anything more than an act.

Eva is actually hilarious in this episode; she's a complete ditz. Watching her try to get her partner to say the word "lick" was classic.

[quote]Not long after they divorced, Jack committed suicide.

I didn't know that two of Zsa Zsa's ex-husbands offed themselves.

R319 . . .

John W. Ryan (November 12, 1926 – August 13, 1991) was an American designer. Ryan worked at toy company Mattel for 20 years, becoming the company's vice president of research and development. There he was responsible for the Barbie doll, Hot Wheels, and Chatty Cathy. He was the sixth husband of actress Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Ryan suffered a debilitating stroke in 1989; he died by gun suicide on August 13, 1991.

I left simply because I was bored.

Nancy Kulp is on Password right now, and Allen Ludden asked her if she was "gonna get a fella" on the Beverly Hillbillies this season. She quickly answered, "No!"

Didn't Jane Hathaway have the hots for Jethro?

Eva Gabor and Hugh O'Brian were both gay, although Eva was married 4 times.

[quote]Eva Gabor and Hugh O'Brian were both gay, although Eva was married 4 times.

Eva was married 5 times, Zsa Zsa 9 times and Magda 6 times. Both Zsa Zsa and Magda were married to George Sanders, Zsa Zsa for six years and Magda for a month.

I went back and watched all the Ron Valenti episodes of Match Game, and holy fuck, he was hot. Loved his soft voice, too.

R324, Hugh O'Brian got married at 81 to his girlfriend of 18 years.

[quote] Hugh O'Brian got married at 81 to his girlfriend of 18 years.

Was it a shotgun wedding?

R323 Yes, she did. Even lesbians wanted to undo that rope belt of Jethro's and get some of that big, thick meat.

Tab Hunter is on Match Game today. Damn, he was a sexy man. Ooof.

OMG! Tab's slutty hairdresser, she calls herself La Mere, just pranced out on stage in a tube top and shorts!

On the Super Match, the question for Tab was "Stud - Blank."

I was hoping he would have written "Magazine."

Tab was close to 50 years old when he was on Match Game and he was hot AF. He was slow answering a question and Brett was cackling and mocking him, as she does. He was fluttering his hand and rolling his eyes and it just came across as SO gay but it was attractive on him.

I've become hooked on Classic Concentration, hosted by Alex Trebek in the late 1980s/early 1990s.

BUZZR airs two back to back shows each afternoon.

The show's spokesmodel is Marjorie Goodson, who was obviously hired because she was Mark Goodson's daughter.

I love Concentration, too. That show was challenging - you really had to pay attention.

I didn't know Marjorie was Mark Goodson's daughter. Now it makes sense. I always thought she was cute, but definitely not "model pretty," and I always wondered how she got that job. Now I also know why Alex Trebek always fawned over her.

I watched the original Concentration with Hugh Downs as host. I think I learned how to count to 30 because of that show. I was pretty good at solving the puzzles, even though I was a little boy. I burned through five or six editions of the board game. I mostly played by myself, others weren't so addicted as I was.

R336, My family had the Concentration home game in the 1960s. You would scroll from puzzle to puzzle, which were on a roll.

r336 I remember watching the Hugh Downs version, too. I was young enough that I didn't understand what the word "FORFEIT" meant (when the revealed square showed "Forfeit 1 Gift")

r334, I bet she auditioned under an assumed name, Mary Goodson.

[quote]I was young enough that I didn't understand what the word "FORFEIT" meant (when the revealed square showed "Forfeit 1 Gift")

I learned the meaning of "forfeit" as a youngster by watching "Concentration."

Barbara Stuart, the middle one in the OP, is sort of giving me Jane Turner as Kath Day-Knight.

The contestant coordinator on Classic Concentration must have been a gay man. So many of the male contestants were hot, young guys, quite a few were college students.

R342 Yes, the Concentration versio hosted by Alex Trebek had a lot of cute guys. So did the Card Sharks version hosted by Bob Eubanks.

Why is Card Sharks so compelling? The premise is so completely stupid - cards are turned over and you win based on whether you think the next card turned over will be a higher or lower number than the last card turned over. It requires no skill- just common sense and luck.

And watching some of the contestants blather on, clearly without any knowledge about the subjects of the questions they're asked, can be annoying as hell.

Bob: "We polled 100 divorced mothers and asked, 'Would you remarry for money over love?"

Contestant: "Well, Bob, I know there are a lot of single mothers out there who are struggling to make ends meet and would like to marry a rich man who will take care of them, but times are also changing and we have more women's lib and independence and a lot of these women wanna remain single and make their own way in their careers and personal lives and make their own money and support themselves, so I'm gonna say that'll be a fairly low number. 68."

"Ding"

Yet I can't stop myself from getting sucked into this vacuous vortex. Why? WHY?

I'm getting sentimental, R337, R338 and R340. That's how I learned "forfeit" too. I learned a lot from game shows back in the day. All the other kids went outside to play. Not me! I just couldn't explain it when I told someone he forfeited his turn in a game.

R335, There are dozens of Classic Concentration shows on YouTube.

The original spokesmodel was gorgeous Diana Taylor, who made Marjorie Goodson look like a soccer mom.

The rules were different when CC first aired in 1987. If you won a car, you kept playing until you reached the limit of 5 games. So, there were some contestants who went home with two cars and a lot of other prizes. Later, the rule was once you won a car you were done.

Why does the host of Supermarket Sweep wear such awful over-sized shirts?

[quote]Why does the host of Supermarket Sweep wear such awful over-sized shirts?

To hide his moobs?

R348 He looks like he had a nice, tight body under those awful shirts. If he had worn more form-fitting shirts, his gay viewership would have skyrocketed.

There's a hot sailor dude on Classic Concentration this morning.

[quote]There's a hot sailor dude on Classic Concentration this morning.

Hey, hoy, sailor boy, want it snugly harbored? Open the gate, but dock it straight, I see it lists to starboard.

R350, He became "nerdy hot" every time he put on his glasses. Liked the tuft of chest hair poking out at his collar.

R352 Yes, I was actually more attracted to him when he put on his glasses to read the puzzles.

What an obvious ad post.

R353, This 6'7" hunk is HAF.

I love Supermarket Sweep

R356, These days, the most expensive grocery store items are baby formula and cartons of cigarettes.

R355 Hell, yes! Bet he had a big, floppy dick.

The thing that cracks me up about Supermarket Sweep is the way the losing contestants are so quickly discarded and shuffled off stage. As soon as the winners of the Big Sweep are announced, the other four losers are made to unceremoniously turn and silently shuffle off. The host barely acknowledges them.

If were one of them, I'd scream, "You just had me running up and down these fucking aisles, sweating in this ugly ass shirt you made me put on, almost dislocating my shoulder trying to throw those giant legs of lamb into my cart, almost giving me a heart attack trying push that heavier than shit thing back to the starting line. Now you just brush me off? FUCK YOU, SUPERMARKET SWEEP!"

Hot college kid on Card Sharks right now. He'd have been a great Sean Cody model, if Sean Cody had been around then.

And there's a hot, hunky, blue-eyed contestant on Match Game '74 right now. JoAnne Pflug and Kaye Stevens are salivating over him.

R361, In 1974, Pflug would have been married to Chuck Woolery and Stevens was dating Joe Namath.

Thank God Pflug dumped crazy Woolery.

And good for Kaye! She got some o' that fine Namath cock.

George Hamilton was on a Tattletales episode with his then wife Alana and was smoking a cigarette and using an ashtray in the middle of the show...something that was completely a non-issue back in the 1970's..........

R364 You see that a lot on Match Game, too. Everybody had an ashtray next to them.

Smoking was rampant on talk shows in the 1960s/1970s.

So were boom mics, long before each guest was individually wired.

Have you ever looked at Allen Ludden's crotch on Password? He must have been really hung.

Allen Ludden always seemed asexual to me.

Dick Gautier was fine as hell.

He was R369. I always thought he was so fucking hot.

[quote]Allen Ludden always seemed asexual to me.

To me, too.

I check in with Buzzr from time to time on the off-chance I'll see the Sale of the Century I did back in 1985. It was a great experience; Jim Perry was a real gentleman, the nine-time "champ" I lost to was a real cunt, but to the crew's delight I temporarily de-cunted her during a commercial break, and it showed on her face just as we went back to tape. Also won $1,600 in cash, prizes and lovely parting gifts. Fun fact: the vertical blinds I won are still hanging in the window of the apartment I lived in on Beachwood Dr. in Hollywood.

Did a pilot for ABC called "Run For The Money" a couple of years later for the production company (at the link). It was never aired in the U.S., but somehow ended up on YouTube. It ended up being a battle of the '80s gay boys - me versus a WeHo clone who had the typical attitude (and look) of the day. I ended up on top that day, and hoped my competitor would have done the same to me ... but after the show, he wouldn't give me the time of day :(

R372, Exactly how did you "de-cunt" her?

R372 So you're Steve? Great stories!

Now, about the 9-time champ on Sale of the Century - who was she? A few weeks ago, there was a woman on the show who was a long-time champ. She had very long, frizzy 80s hair and always had really bad makeup. It seemed like the makeup people on the show were purposely trying to make her look bad. Other than that, she was a good player. Was it her?

And yes, what did you do to de-cunt her?

Glad to hear Jim Perry was a good guy. He seemed like a real gentleman. Kind of sexy, too, in a generic game show host kind of way.

r372, did you get to meet Greg, the dark-haired model? If so, did you get any vibes from him? He made me feel special, especially in his Speedo!

R375 The blonde wasn't too shabby, either.

Before the de-cunting, a few answers to your questions …

The models were HOT! David (the blond) was demonstrating one of the prizes, a gym-quality ab machine that I bought for $5. He was shirtless, in skimpy blue shorts, and I think I really bought the machine so he’d make eye contact with me after the “sale” (he did). Greg was also on set, but fully-dressed. Very nice eye candy! Didn’t get a vibe from either one, although I would have presented hole for either of them.

R374 – I don’t think the contestant you’re referring to was the one when I was there.

The champion, “J,” was a great game player (she won nine times), but was cold, aloof and disinterested in any of her fellow contestants, being curt and dismissive when anyone but the producers wanted to talk to her. Even the audience didn’t warm up to her.

She was thin, brittle, middle-aged and somewhat pinch-faced, and reminded me of a malnourished Dr. Joyce Brothers. When introduced as a writer, Jim Perry ask her what she was writing. “A book,” is what she answered.

In the “contestants’ quarters,” J had her face buried in a copy of the World Almanac. I asked her why she was doing that; she waggled her hand at me and said, “Go away, I’m trying to study.” I replied, “Honey, if you don’t know that stuff right now, it won’t help you on stage.”

Cut to the game: the question asked was “In 1848, a coin toss in this Northwestern state …” I buzzed in quickly and answered “Oregon!” The rest of the question was that the coin flip determined the name of the largest city.

We went to commercial break. Jim Perry and the contestant coordinators came over to me, and asked, “How did you know that so quickly?” As the break was ending, I looked at J, who seemed pissed that I not only answered so quickly, but also cut into her lead, and said as we were going back on camera … “I read it in the Almanac.”

The camera came up on J’s tight-lipped attempt to smile during her re-introduction. As the camera panned back, I was seated next to her, beaming from ear to ear. I later got a high-five from both of the contestant coordinators.

Gotta hand it to J, though … she amassed $45,000 in winnings during her time there.

I was on a couple of game shows in the '90s: "The Challengers" with Dick Clark, and "Win Ben Stein's Money." I have a video of the former, but not the latter. Is there an easy way to figure out if it is ever posted online?

R377 I love that story! Have you searched YouTube to see if any of those episodes you were on with her are out there? I'd love to see that moment!

What was Summer Bartholomew like? She seemed nice, too, and genuinely excited for the contestants when they won.

R377 Is this the cunty woman you were referring to?

r379, a pre-Saturday Night Live Kevin Nealon, a friend of contestant Tim, attacks Summer at 17:19.

Cute hot Ohio college boy is back on Card Sharks today.

r382, I think he may have gone to the beauty parlor with Mom before the taping. That hair looks like old lady in a bucket dryer style.

fgjkkkk

R383 That hairstyle was very popular in the 80s.

R379: I've done various Google and other searches to find my old episode, but no luck so far. I'm thinking of getting touch with Fremantle, who appears to have the rights for it, but I doubt they'd allocate the manpower to find one episode out of thousands. I had my VHS copy of it until about 10 years ago, when I lost my house and belongings. Summer Bartholomew was stunning in person, and did genuinely seem happy for the contestants when they won. We exchanged a sentence or two at commercial breaks, and was sweet enough.

R380: No, that wasn't "my" champ, but you can see the cuntiness on camera. The producers must have had a bad audition turnout to pick her as a contestant.

Another fun fact: When I applied to be on the show, the contestant coordinators said that on average, they chose one on-camera contestant out of every 125 people who came to audition.

R386 I love your stories. You definitely had a great game show "look" based on that episode you showed us. How did you get lucky enough to get on two shows?

And that WeHo clone you were on with on that one show looked like a real prissy bitch. It's a good thing you didn't hook up with her.

How did you lose your house and belongings, R386? Fire?

R386, you were cute!

R387: I tried out for “Sale of the Century,” made it through several qualifying rounds, and eventually got on the show.

“Run for the Money” was much different. Reg Grundy Productions used some of their favorite former contestants to develop new shows. Every month or so, we’d gather in their offices to work out new concepts and offer our opinions. “Run” took about 15 months from our first meeting to the taping of the pilot. For our meetings, we were paid $20-$25 for 90 minutes of our time. Those of us who appeared on “Run” got $100 each.

Something I didn’t know until after we taped the pilot was that the producers specifically “cast” me as the champion because I came across as attractive and likable enough on camera, hoping that audiences (and eventually the network) would relate to me, making the show more enjoyable.

We played the game for real, and all of us wanted to win.

A fun anecdote from the taping of the pilot: All of us went into the makeup room to have a little base and powder applied so we’d read well on camera. When it came to my turn, the old queen doing the makeup shrieked out, “I know you! Sit your ass down here!” Turns out he and his partner hosted me and my ex a few times for bridge (I was terrible at it, but a cute 18-year-old twink at the time, so they put up with me). He said, “Oh, honey, I’m gonna do you up good!” I did get more attention in the makeup chair than the others, and was grateful for all the extra touches he applied to my face.

Guys who looked like Mr. WeHo Priss were all the rage in L.A. during that time, but outside of the physical attractiveness, he was a stuck-up drip.

Me, on the other hand, had trouble getting laid no matter where in town I went. I wasn’t WeHo enough for West Hollywood, and too much so for the clubs in the Valley I frequented. Often I was told (I’m paraphrasing), “I could fall in love with you - if I were looking to get married, you’d be the one … but I just want to fuck tonight.”

R388, I came down with wicked pneumonia, was in a coma for six weeks, then in isolation for another six. During that time, the house I was renting got foreclosed upon, and by the time I was well enough to get back home, everything was gone. A few friends were able to get some of my belongings - and thankfully homed my cats. Fortunately, I rented a room from a good friend and eventually started over.

R389 Thanks! I never thought of myself as all that attractive back then, but when I look at that 33-year-old video now, I have to say there was a certain appeal. Sure wish I looked like that now!

R390 So in "Run for the Money," had you really won $15,000, or was that just set up to make you "the champion" for the pilot?

Glad to know you're back on your feet again. You still living in WeHo?

R393 Unfortunately, those big "winnings" were just for show. All of us were paid $100 to appear on the pilot.

Thanks so much for your kind words. It took awhile for life to get back to normal again; I left Hollywood in the mid-90's, kicked around various parts of L.A. for another 20 years, eventually moving to the Portland (OR) area four years ago to be with my now-husband. There are times when I miss not having my photos, writing/journalism portfolio and other irreplaceable memorabilia, but I'd happily trade all that for the good life I live now.

What a great adventure you've had, R394. So glad you're happy up in Oregon. Stay away from the smoke!

Yes, it was ... and I'm grateful to have so many more. I had a grade-Z career in entertainment that has given me many more strange stories. Oregon's great! Thank God the fires are a safe distance away from us, but the smoke here is awful!

R396 Well, now you have to tell us more about this Z-grade entertainment career.

What's happened to To Tell the Truth? Not that I wasn't tired of seeing the same limited catalogue of shows repeatedly. I see that the channel has just added to its WML inventory.

R398, Maybe Kitty ran out of gowns.

[quote]Maybe Kitty ran out of gowns.

Or Peggy Cass ran out of skirt and sweater combos.

Here's a medley of Kitty's entrances . . .

I had a dream about Garry Moore the other night. Weird.

[quote]I had a dream about Garry Moore the other night. Weird.

Did he accidentally flash his penis on national television?

R403, I saw it.

It's a lesson in celebrity that, despite an illustrious career, Garry Moore would be almost completely forgotten had he not hosted I've Got a Secret & To Tell the Truth. And Goodson & Todman had not saved the tapes.

The new Leslie Jones version of Supermarket Sweep makes the original look like Masterpiece Theatre.

God, she's so fucking annoying. How does she continue to be employed?

Damn, there's a sexy 6'7" stud on Classic Concentration right now.

Major BDF.

The new WMLs added to the catalogue were only about 2 weeks of shows. Now WML has been replaced by "new" To Tell the Truth episodes. The first show, from 1973, included the very handsome (& tall) John Gavin as a panelist. He was then on Broadway (in Seesaw) & president of the Screen Actors Guild. This was at the time that a former SAG president was governor of California, so I wonder if Gavin was thinking about a political future (other than later becoming Ambassador to Mexico).

I would love to have had dinner with Brett and Jack Klugman. They weren't really a showbiz power couple but looked like they'd be great fun.

I was watching a 1973 To Tell the Truth episode, a new addition to BuzzR TV’s collection, which featured the same person, a tigon trainer, who was also on a 1960 episode. Kitty Carlisle was the only one who was a panelist on both shows. She voted for an imposter in 1960, but got it right 13 years later. No mention was made that this trainer had been on the show before.

I love watching Sale of the Century. They tried so hard to make it a classy show, with the models escorting the contestants to their seats and the contestants introducing themselves in well-rehearsed anecdotes, smiling brightly all the way through.

r411, Salec of the Century had the two guys in their little prize vignettes who often were lounging around in Speedos. They were hot in an 80's porn star kinda way

R412 You mean lieke this?

You know those guys in R413 have posed nude for photographers. Their cocks were sucked by some NBC folks before they were handed the speedos, I'd be willing to bet.

While putting up Christmas trees I have Buzzr on in the background. TattleTales just came on. One of the couples - Miss Dionne Warwick and her husband. I'm waiting for the moment when she calls Lynn Redgrave (and her teeth the color of corn kernels) a hussy.

R415 I was watching that, too. I also noticed how yellow Lynn Redgrave's teeth were.

And Gary Burghoff's wife was awfully plain. But she and Gary went well together.

Apparently, Dionne's husband died at age 49, but I looked everywhere online and couldn't find a cause of death. Anybody know how he died?

The blond model in R413’s clip is David Gibbs. He became a pilot who was one of three killed in a helicopter accident in 2013. He was 59. The article linked details that he’d had his pilot privileges suspended twice in the past decade. He was at fault for the crash that killed him. He was working for THE AMAZING RACE at the time of his death.

One of Gibb’s modelling pics.

R417 How sad! The linked article is paywalled, unfortunately.

[quote] Dionne's husband died at age 49, but I looked everywhere online and couldn't find a cause of death. Anybody know how he died?

To escape

r416 Which husband?

Hmm, R419. It’s not paywalled for me and I’ve clicked on it several times, plus I live in Canada. A search of David Gibbs and plane crash will show you all kinds of articles.

R421 His name was William Elliott. He died at age 49 in 1983. He was already divorced from her at the time of his death.

There's a hot firefighter on Classic Concentration right now. Yum!

He just won a Jeep Wrangler on his first try, so he won't be back. :-(

When he won, his Asian girlfriend in a pair of acid washed jeans ran up onstage to hug him.

Damn it, where are the photos?

Now the original Password is on, and a young Frank Gifford is on with Betty White. Goddman, Frank Gifford was hot when he was a young stud.

For fans of the old Goodson-Todman game shows, GSN will have its annual (likely contractually-required), December, week-long showcase beginning next Tuesday, 12/15, in its 3:00-4:00 am (EST) block. This year, they're showing WML & I've Got a Secret.

On Card Sharks this week, they have a hot blonde guy contestant. When he came on the first time, I thought he looked really familiar. His name was Steve Hanks.

So I looked him up and realized he was the blonde guy on a one-season TV show on ABC in 1980 called "B.A.D. Cats," which was also Michelle Pfeiffer's debut vehicle. I loved the show because I thought Steve and other male lead, Asher Brauner, were sexy as hell. Asher Brauner also played a male hooker in "Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn" and one of Michael Ontkean's tricks in "Making Love."

Hanks appeared on Card Sharks in 1978, two years before he "made it big."

Super Password today was a special all-celebrity charity edition with Betty White, Lucille Ball, Carol Channing and Dick Martin.

Lucille and Carol were both clearly drunk and Carol was getting on Lucille's nerves. You could see what a dark drunk she was.

Betty White was getting very annoyed. She was very protective of her husband's legacy...even though Bert Convey was a much better host.

Tune in tomorrow at 3:00 PM Eastern to catch more. The show will start with Dick and Carol playing (and probably losing) the bonus round.

Good lord, Jenny Jones was a contestant on a 1985 episode of "Press Your Luck" today. Bitch didn't get a single whammy and won $10,000.00. She'll be on again tomorrow. Check out her big, curly 80s hair.

Oh, and back then she was "Jennie" with "ie."

Richard Kline is an asshole. Just because a contestant on Super Password doesn’t guess the word from his shitty clue he’ll roll his eyes, turn away from them. One time he even was shaking his head. Dude, you were on Three’s Company, and not even the star. Go back to the Regal Beagle.

R432 he was actually a very good game show player though. There’s a clip on you tube of him on the 25,000 pyramid where he gives a clue (the answer: things you sacrifice) that may have been the best clue on that show I ever heard. There’s also a very recent interview of him on YouTube and he looks GREAT.

Has anyone on DL ever taken his acting classes?

When I was in grade school (3rd grade, 1972/3/4 I think) my mom's best pal from the cul-de-sac, Cindi, went on Password. She was a champion, played for days and maxed out the prize money she was allowed to win and they made her leave. Later she was brought back to play again with other big winners. When she was on teevee, I got to come home from school for lunch and watch her while eating a grilled cheese and tomato soup.

When Password was making a comeback a few years ago, I really wanted to apply and got Cindi's number from my mom for a refresher lowdown on her prime of Password experience.

She said the best celebrity player she was paired with was TONY RANDALL. She said he was totally competitive and wanted to WIN, no matter who his partner was. TR did not fuck around with jokes and side chat! He tried his best to give good clues and respond well to the clues he was given so he could WIN!

Conversely, Lucille Ball was the worst! Cindi said she was not smart, didn't try, was half in the bag all the time, and did not give a fuck about the contestants trying to win some cash.

I just tried to find Cindi's episodes from the 70s and did not succeed. If you are watching regularly, she was a young cute, petite brunette housewife from Placentia (OC) CA, with two kids. She was probably real tan, she played tennis and had a backyard pool. She was very lucky with games and I remember she came back from Vegas with about $1500 in cash from winning black jack, and it was the most money I had ever seen.

No one has mentioned Bert Convey was also one of MTM's attempted boyfriends on the MTM show?!

There are lots of online articles about how Cash Cab is all prescreened contestants, and they don't actually walk away with cash. My dream crushed.

Before he was a celebrity gameplayer, Richard Kline was himself a Pyramid contestant.

Here it is, R433.

Dataloungers will like this series on the youtubes: a week of 1960s Password featuring Ms Carol Burnett and Hunky Route 66 actor Roger Smith! He's pretty dazzling! They seem generous with the rules and what they allow to pass.

Roger Smith was not on "Route 66."

That Password show looks like the Secret Word show on SNL.

R437 Roger Smith was on 77 Sunset Strip, but DLers know him better as little Patrick from Auntie Mame.

R439 Uh, yeah. That's the point.

R434 That was the ABC run in the seventies and I believe almost all of that run of the series was lost, from what I have read. Only a few episodes exist. They may be out there somewhere.

Whoops, Roger Smith was on a 60s tv show with a number in the title!

Everytime I watch that Match Game/Hollywood Squares show, I wish DL had been around then. I get the sense Gene Raymond really disliked fucking Bowzer from Sha-Na-Na hosting half the show and trying to be co-host instead of panelist for the first half. That's one of the oddest set-ups and the thing I hate most about that odd show. (Even worse than that awful Atari video game backdrop that sloppily featuredcelebrity names. names.) Dioes anyone know how that two-host arrangement came about and if there were BTS fireworks related to it?

R444 That show is such a train wreck. I've only been able to watch a few episodes, and I also get the sense that Rayburn hated Bowzer.

Alert! Swarthy Dick Gaultier as Ed Kavanaugh, the sportscaster Mary has to fire on season 4, episode 5.

As I read all these DG love posts, I was wondering why he'd never played one of Mary's dates over the years and totally forgot he had this little part in one episode.

Home from work early and turned on Password Plus. Lo and behold an episode I'd never seen before - Brett Somers from Match Game and Ross Martin. Brett playing with a flaming guy that in his introduction said he's married to a woman. I wanted the camera to show Brett who I'm sure was giving major side eye.

Joyce Bulifant is fucking filthy

Today's TTTT, from 1973, included Malcolm Forbes, identified as a balloonist & publisher of Forbes Magazine. The only panelist to excuse himself, Orson Bean, did so only because he had just seen a Today Show interview of Forbes. The others - Kitty Carlisle, Peggy Cass & Nipsey Russell - had no idea who Forbes was. I would've thought Kitty, at least, & Forbes traveled in similar circles. Only Nipsey picked him.

Nipsey was always the smart one of the bunch. The others did not recognize anyone who didn't show up in the social scene of New York.

Starting at 12:00, the first imposter comes out &, incorrectly, says his name his Tony "Goodheart." His cohorts were quick-witted enough to repeat the error (the real surname was "Goodstone.") You'd think an old pro like Garry Moore would've been nimble enough to follow along. But no, he asks them to repeat their entrance, at which point the correct name is stated. It seems to me that Garry should've played along & waited until the questioning & voting to be completed before letting the panel & audience in on the snafu (& then asking for the real Tony Goodstone to stand up).

As I'm wont to do when watching these old game shows, I decided to google the cute Princeton Password student, Archie McColl ...

... only to discover that he just died last month.

Good lord. Super Password just came on and Dionne Warwick is a player. How long until she slaps a hussy who doesn’t guess the password from Dionne’s clues?

I’ve been watching really old clips of $10.000 and $25,000 Puramid on YouTube. What’s with the contestants freaking the fuck out when they win the big money? Screaming, jumping about, grabbing, hugging, running, stomping. Poor John Ritter had to fake passing out to get away from this lady.

And….I love Jo Ann Worley.

R455 I think because in the seventies they were winning more than they made in a year, same with the eighties. People lived on a $4000 salary. It was a lot of money then.