Off on a tangent, but this thread triggered a thought and a story that might be of interest. The ending is the opposite of this thread's intent - but it was a game show!
Like a lot of us, I've always enjoyed thumbing through old TV listings. I grew up in a small-medium sized area of the deep south that had a unique TV landscape because of geography.
Anyway, digging through the listings of old newspapers and TV guides laying around my grandparents house circa mid-80s. Come across a show on the CBS affiliate after the late news - Pitfall. I'm thinking it has something to do with the Atari game I've been playing. Imagining an Indiana Jones-esque action series with a guy in a brown overcoat and hat. Think nothing of it.
Parallel - I vaguely remember a gameshow that has elevators. No reason to remember this. But it's a nagging memory. Strike it up as confabulation.
Fast forward a few years to early 90s, get CompuServe, find ATGS. Discover there was a gameshow that has elevators. It's named Pitfall. Do a tape trade and bingo, I'm not crazy - this is exactly what my vague memory was. But why on earth would I remember this?
Fast forward a few more years and I make the connection between the memory and the discovery as a kid and it makes me crazy. I start digging online, and the timing was right - CBS affiliate aired Pitfall for about 6 months in the Spring/Summer of 1982 after the late news. But there's no way a small-medium market in the deep south would air Pitfall after the late news, right? That feels like alternate reality level insanity from a programming decision.
I've become good friends with a local meteorologist who started her career at the hometown CBS affiliate in the late 80s. This thread reminded me of all of this and I mentioned it to her the other day. She told me it was before her time, but she knew who to call. A few days ago I get a call from the retired program engineer at the hometime CBS affiliate. He confirmed they absolutely aired Pitfall the gameshow in 1982 for a brief period, and does not remember why they made that choice. All he remembers is that the ABC affiliate was kicking everybody's butt in local news, and that it was probably something the New York Times (their owners) had negotiated with someone, and was probably a directive to fulfill a contract. He was more shocked that anyone would remember something so vague and random, followed by 'glad to know there was at least 1 person watching, even if it was a kid'.
So the sometimes the cool thing is - it was a game show!
