Buzzr Q2 2025

[BrandonFG]

Buzzr showed last night  the first 2 episodes of the 2 contestants being on for 4 days with Jayne Meadows and Steve Allen. If you have seen the episodes on gsn, you know how bad the game play was . I guess many NBC stations dropped password plus after that

The episode aired in December 1981, so the show was gone in a few months. But I don't think this particular episode was the reason why.

[mmb5]

I rarely watch Buzzr anymore or even TV anymore outside of sports, but I had Buzzr on when putting away laundry because it's an antenna-only TV in the bedroom.  Why was Buzzr showing a religious infomercial at 5 PM?

[SRIV94]

Buzzr showed last night  the first 2 episodes of the 2 contestants being on for 4 days with Jayne Meadows and Steve Allen. If you have seen the episodes on gsn, you know how bad the game play was . I guess many NBC stations dropped password plus after that

The episode aired in December 1981, so the show was gone in a few months. But I don't think this particular episode was the reason why.

To be fair, the game play was pretty bad--although low clearances (probably even fewer than the CS episodes they replaced) and worse ratings figured more prominently.

I still marvel that only CS managed to survive more than a year in the 12N ET slot between when JACKPOT! was cancelled and SP debuted.

[clemon79]

Guud question. Not sure. I think when they. Changed the format of the game to 500 dollars and prolonged the game, it didn't help. For some reason it was more successful when super password debuted and had the same format.

So you are, then, in fact, guessing.

[Adam Nedeff]

I guess many NBC stations dropped password plus after that

Proof or not real.

.  Guud question. Not sure. I think when they. Changed the format of the game to 500 dollars and prolonged the game, it didn't help. For some reason it was more successful when super password debuted and had the same format.

No.

Password Plus ratings history is actually pretty wild because there were several points where, to my eye, it was actually overperforming. It peaked in the summer of 1980--during the disastrous summer of The David Letterman Show, Password Plus was actually the second highest rated show on NBC's daytime schedule with a 5.4 rating; only Days of Our Lives outperformed it. It was doing that with only 79% of stations clearing it in the 12:30 pm time slot. Its competition, Search for Tomorrow on CBS, was doing a 6.0 with 97% clearance.

By the end of summer '80, NBC moved Password Plus to 11:30 am, where it got back up to 90% clearance but also DROPPED to a 3.9 against The Price is Right. The last ratings data that I have for 11:30 am has Password Plus hovering pretty consistently at 3.6 with an 18 share, 92% clearance. The format change happened concurrently with a time slot change. When they moved to noon, it dipped to 2.7/11 with 71% clearance.

Here's where it gets wild. In January 1982--the month after the Steve & Jayne debacle, they were managing a 3.6/13. They actually got back up to their old rating while languishing in the noon time slot! The clearance level also went up to 73%, meaning NBC got some stations to come back when Password Plus was there. I once asked a former network executive what kind of ratings the network was hoping for on these shows that got stuck in the noon time slot, and he explained to me, "The goal of the show in the noon time slot was to be so good that the stations we lost would want to come back." Password Plus actually achieved that in a few cities! When it was dropped, it was replaced on the schedule by The Doctors, which got the clearance back up to 81% but delivered only a 2.4/9. Maybe being a game show fan makes me a little biased, but to my eye, the ratings data says "Cancelling Password Plus was a screw-up."

[BrandonFG]

Maybe being a game show fan makes me a little biased, but to my eye, the ratings data says "Cancelling Password Plus was a screw-up."

Any idea on whether there was any consideration to reverse the cancellation after the show won the Daytime Emmy?

I guess bringing it back as Super Password answers that question, but knowing all this it made more sense to bring this back in '83 as opposed to Battlestars.

[TLEberle]

May as well ask since we’re here—what was the Imetus behind increasing the main goal to $500. If concurrent with the Alphabetics jsckpit was the idea to limit the bonus game to once a day?

[tyshaun1]

Here are some charts I found on another site of how the not soaps were doing around that time.

[TimK2003]

^^  I see the reboot of Tattletales wasn't so hot in the ratings. How many CBS markets did NOT carry it?  I ask because TT'80 never aired in Cleveland.  Once in a while I could pick it up from the Toledo station, which IIRC aired in the mid-mornings.

[mmb5]

Cannot figure out why the pre-emption on 5/6.  Falklands was a thing but nothing amazing that day.

Detroit CBS did not carry TT, it only carried TPIR.  Detroit NBC didn't clear any game shows.

[aaron sica]

^^  I see the reboot of Tattletales wasn't so hot in the ratings. How many CBS markets did NOT carry it?  I ask because TT'80 never aired in Cleveland.  Once in a while I could pick it up from the Toledo station, which IIRC aired in the mid-mornings.

Seemed like there were quite a few by that point not carrying the 4pm offering. I recall WDAU in Scranton carrying it off and on. WTVF (Syracuse) and WBNG (Binghamton) did not carry it.

[TimK2003]

^^  I see the reboot of Tattletales wasn't so hot in the ratings. How many CBS markets did NOT carry it?  I ask because TT'80 never aired in Cleveland.  Once in a while I could pick it up from the Toledo station, which IIRC aired in the mid-mornings.

Seemed like there were quite a few by that point not carrying the 4pm offering. I recall WDAU in Scranton carrying it off and on. WTVF (Syracuse) and WBNG (Binghamton) did not carry it.

Tattletales aired in Toledo at 930AM, IIRC.

[trainman]

Cannot figure out why the pre-emption on 5/6.  Falklands was a thing but nothing amazing that day.

Looks like this Reagan press conference, which began at 11:17 A.M.: (Transcript)

[aaron sica]

As an aside, the summer docking of "Love Boat" in the summer of '81 for back-to-back "Three's Company" reruns seemed to give ABC some good ratings (at least for that week). Was that consistent throughout that summer?

[tyshaun1]

As an aside, the summer docking of "Love Boat" in the summer of '81 for back-to-back "Three's Company" reruns seemed to give ABC some good ratings (at least for that week). Was that consistent throughout that summer?

I believe most of the network reruns had their peaks during the summer of whatever year they ran, when kids were home. That's why most were taken off by fall or winter.