The Game Show Forum > The Big Board
Face the Music seasons
Casey:
With the passing of Ron Ely, and several new episodes of Face the Music being shared on YouTube in recent days, I'm curious about the show's production history - perhaps others on here will know details.
My recollection was that the second season, with John Harlan announcing, was longer than the first season, with Dave Williams. Watching some of the recent videos on YouTube has made me question that. As an example, the angular center door border from the pilot appeared in many more episodes than I had remembered.
All of that is to say, does anyone know more details about the production history of Face the Music?
BrandonFG:
I know it was a midseason replacement, premiering in January 1980 so I'm guessing they started production in November or December of '79. I swear I saw an ad promoting a third season in Broadcasting magazine, but can't find it now.
FWIW, here's another shot from the pilot.
EDIT: I remember the source now. It was on the Game Show Wiki. I'm guessing this was a Variety ad.
Also, this trade ad indeed confirms December '79 tapings for a January '80 start.
TimK2003:
I must say the contestant podiums looked a lot nicer than the clunky ones they went to in the series.
Even though it's been said before, seeing the tribute episode that Winc posted reminded me how this show had that "so bad it was good" vibe, like a series of SNL skits.
Perhaps Sandy Frank and this particular game show started the over-caffeinated contestant pools that are more common now.
BrandonFG:
I can't tell but it looks like they used the Name That Tune podiums. I'd love to see the pilot one day.
steveleb:
Sandy indeed intended to sell a third season and acquired the rights to You Asked For It to offer an hour. But as you know Feud’s expansion and immediate success soured competitors and a little show called Entertainment Tonight was buying satellite dishes for stations and offered a new kind of genre for the marketplace. YAFI was greenlit because it too wasn’t a game show. Face simply went away like many other shows did.
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
Go to full version