It appears that, while various people have mentioned performing research at UCLA, no one has written an account of doing so. To break that trend:
I was at UCLA on Sunday afternoon to view some material, including the 9/28/73 Password, a Jeopardy! episode from 1967, and a local episode of Queen For A Day with Adolphe Menjoe (no, I'm not joking) as guest host.
First, some general comments on process:
I sent an email to the ARSC a week before my trip, and, by requesting only study copies, was able to view all I requested.
The viewing room is on the second floor of Powell Library, not the Film and Television Archive per se. I was led into a small room with a door to view my material off a large screen television, which I controlled by remote.
One slight issue: I had to signal the people at the desk to advance to the next program, which grew complicated due to my viewing ten different tapes in a four-hour period.
As for what I viewed (sorry about the spoilers, but there are some people on this board who regrettably make it necessary:
The Password tape is in b/w, and, because it contains commercials, doesn't seem likely to have been dubbed from a master but, based on picture quality, doesn't seem to come from an off-the-air source. Maybe a tape made by the LA affiliate?
The Jeopardy episode seems easier, as the opening title card seems to be the one used by NBC for reference library kinescopes, though it is in rather rough quality
Speaking of Jeopardy, it was the first episode of the High School Students Week, with plugs galore for the local affiliates. Interestingly, the music used on the program (other than Take Ten) is special for these episodes.
Menjoe is problematic as a host: he seems reliant on cards (though, in fairness, the vast majority of the audience would have only heard the program), and screws up some important matters, such as contestant names. He certainly dressed well (then again, it was his persona) for a daytime program. It's a King For A Day special, and it raises one question: Does anyone know if Queen For A Day was ever charged with using fake contestants? The first one feels a bit like a plant.
As for Password, other than feeling a little loose compared to the 1960s run (Ludden and James Shigeta argue over a clue), there's not much of great excitement. It is interesting to note that the set and many of the wardrobes seems off in b/w, rather than color- this suggests a difference between television production designed for b/w sets (as in the 1950s and early 1960s) compared to color sets.
If anyone cares, I can offer some stories (that need not be spoiled) about the non-game programs I viewed.