The on-line episode guide does not take into account that we taped four shows with Susan Richardson and Bill Cullen for air the week of May 12, 1980. This throws the episode numbers off by one.This threw me off as well when I was trying to capture all the Cullen Password Plus episodes, and couldn't figure out why GSN was only airing four from that week.
On earlier episodes of the show, there's blue carpeting covering up what may have been the original scoreboards from the pilot episode (which was allegedly dubbed Password '79). There was also a small hole on Allen's podium that may have been used for one of two purposes: A scoring display to indicate the total of remaining points, or a window where the cards would have been fed down to a conveyor belt to give to both teams, that was aborted at the last minute.I believe Chris once said that the different-colored password wallets were on a lazy susan inside Allen's podium and the color in the little window indicated which password was in play.
Can anyone shed some light on these things?The window on Allen's podium seems to come up twice a year. It's been covered in greater detail as far back as 1998. Here's a thread (http://"http://gameshow.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=17561").
*The initial round of televised hearings ran from May 17 to August 7; the first few days were carried by all 3 networks before they began rotating coverage to cut advertising losses.This is interesting to me...I knew the hearings caused some strange scheduling, but I hadn't realized they'd started regularly-scheduled hearings that early (which may simply prove that I don't know a whole lot about Watergate). Looking at the TPIR timeline, the show was pre-empted on May 17 and 18 (a Thursday and Friday), as well as the following Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday (the 22nd through 24th), then on June 6 and 13 (both Wednesdays), and then the entire week of June 25-29, as well as Monday, July 2. Starting on Thursday, July 12, the show was pre-empted every third weekday through Tuesday, August 7; it was also pre-empted on the 8th, and then things went pretty much back to normal.
I don't know that this would help anyone else's research, but I'm kind of curious now about how long the coverage was running at different points during the summer. Do all of these pre-emptions make sense, or might some of them have been caused by something else?
Correct. This system was replaced by microswitches installed on the lazy Susan itself which activated lights at the producer table, telling Bobby which position it was in and thus which password Allen would grab next.On earlier episodes of the show, there's blue carpeting covering up what may have been the original scoreboards from the pilot episode (which was allegedly dubbed Password '79). There was also a small hole on Allen's podium that may have been used for one of two purposes: A scoring display to indicate the total of remaining points, or a window where the cards would have been fed down to a conveyor belt to give to both teams, that was aborted at the last minute.I believe Chris once said that the different-colored password wallets were on a lazy susan inside Allen's podium and the color in the little window indicated which password was in play.
On earlier episodes of the show, there's blue carpeting covering up what may have been the original scoreboards from the pilot episode (which was allegedly dubbed Password '79).Where exactly on the set was this? The scoreboards were always in the upstage wall, but they had to be moved higher up because the celebrities' heads were partially blocking them. The move was made before the first air episode.
I've checked the known Watergate coverage dates against the G-R FAQ and found three discrepancies: the NYT does show TPIR and MG airing on 8/8, 8/22 and 9/5. I have no way of verifying who is correct for these days. Thus my research into the MG 73 airdates is only preliminary at this time.According to the show's records, August 8 was pre-empted by Spiro Agnew, and August 22 and September 5 were pre-empted by Nixon. These are specifically noted in a list I have that consists mostly of Watergate hearings, so I'd assume they weren't scheduled in advance like the other ones were.
These may or may not have been the original scoreboards from the Password '79 pilot.Indeed, they may or may not have been.
These may or may not have been the original scoreboards from the Password '79 pilot.
I'm trying to keep this from being the latest "fact" for the show's Wiki page.Very much appreciated. You know how I feel about fanb0i cruft creeping into Cruftopedia.
We still have one unaccounted-for week of shows. There was a week of shows with Judy Norton-Taylor and Bert Convy (my last) numbered 495 - 499, then two weeks of shows before the Betty White/Dick Martin week, which we know from the slate included #514, taped on Saturday 12/6/80 for air on 12/23/80. Della Reese and Bill Anderson appeared either on shows 500 - 504 or 505 - 509. Who appeared on the missing week and was it before or after Reese/Anderson? My last day of employment at G-T was Friday November 21 and they did not tape the weekend of November 22 - 23 (they also had Blockbusters to tape during that time).What weeks do you have accounted for between episodes 469 (which should be Ludden's last) and 499 (your last)? I'm wondering if the confusion stems from the two all-celeb weeks Kennedy did when he first took the job (eps 470-474 [with David Doyle, Debralee Scott, Dick Gautier and Gina Hecht] aired after eps 510-514).
In going over the guest list, I remember Bobby not being too happy about booking Bill Cullen and Peggy Cass together during the same week. He called them "octogenarians" even though Peggy was still shy of her 60th birthday.That's interesting, because their prior association (TTTT) made that week must-see TV when I saw it coming up.
We still have one unaccounted-for week of shows. There was a week of shows with Judy Norton-Taylor and Bert Convy (my last) numbered 495 - 499, then two weeks of shows before the Betty White/Dick Martin week, which we know from the slate included #514, taped on Saturday 12/6/80 for air on 12/23/80. Della Reese and Bill Anderson appeared either on shows 500 - 504 or 505 - 509. Who appeared on the missing week and was it before or after Reese/Anderson? My last day of employment at G-T was Friday November 21 and they did not tape the weekend of November 22 - 23 (they also had Blockbusters to tape during that time).What weeks do you have accounted for between episodes 469 (which should be Ludden's last) and 499 (your last)? I'm wondering if the confusion stems from the two all-celeb weeks Kennedy did when he first took the job (eps 470-474 [with David Doyle, Debralee Scott, Dick Gautier and Gina Hecht] aired after eps 510-514).
Were there one or more preemptions around this time? According to this tally, #514 should have been a Friday show but the air date given on the slate was a Tuesday. A Thanksgiving preemption would have pushed Friday's show to Monday, and a preemption the day after Thanksgiving would have pushed Friday's show to Tuesday. At some point they may have had a three-show taping day to get back on the Monday through Friday track. Bobby could have arranged this three-show week ahead of schedule had he known about the preemptions in advance.
There could have been another pre-emption the day after the 1980 Election. There was at least one Reagan press conference related to developments there.According to the Vanderbilt News Archive, there was a press conference on 11/6 (two days later) but it didn't take place until 2PM ET/1PM CT.
Perhaps the Macy's parade on Thanksgiving day and football the day after?Were there one or more preemptions around this time? According to this tally, #514 should have been a Friday show but the air date given on the slate was a Tuesday. A Thanksgiving preemption would have pushed Friday's show to Monday, and a preemption the day after Thanksgiving would have pushed Friday's show to Tuesday. At some point they may have had a three-show taping day to get back on the Monday through Friday track. Bobby could have arranged this three-show week ahead of schedule had he known about the preemptions in advance.
There could have been another pre-emption the day after the 1980 Election. There was at least one Reagan press conference related to developments there.
I recorded Password Plus on GSN pretty religiously back when they were running the Kennedy shows, and followed along with the PDFs on Steve Beverly's site and then the Buzzerblog when they moved over there. They had the Norton-Taylor/Convy week numbered as 500-504. Not sure what that means, however.I believe that's in error. I remember thinking as Gene Wood was reading the slate that I wouldn't be around for the 500th show.
QuoteI recorded Password Plus on GSN pretty religiously back when they were running the Kennedy shows, and followed along with the PDFs on Steve Beverly's site and then the Buzzerblog when they moved over there. They had the Norton-Taylor/Convy week numbered as 500-504. Not sure what that means, however.I believe that's in error. I remember thinking as Gene Wood was reading the slate that I wouldn't be around for the 500th show.
I have made a spreadsheet which reconciles the show numbers with the celebrities, taking into account the six-show week for the discarded George Peppard show and the two four-show weeks, one due to the preemption on 4/25/80 and the other consisting of shows #257 through #260 with Brett Somers and Ross Martin. The Somers/Martin shows would have been taped some time in December after NBC told us "Oh by the way, we preempted your show on Thanksgiving day" and we realized we were off the Monday through Friday celebrity cycle. The spreadsheet puts the last Bert Convy episode right at #499. Anyone reading this may have a copy of the spreadsheet once it is further along. The Somers/Martin taping also resulted in a P+ staffer being dismissed from the show due to a misunderstanding involving Brett Somers.
I insist that there is a missing week out there. It might not be reflected in GSN records but TV listings of the time may have it.
The Somers/Martin taping also resulted in a P+ staffer being dismissed from the show due to a misunderstanding involving Brett Somers.You can't bury the lede like that.
Were there one or more preemptions around this time? According to this tally, #514 should have been a Friday show but the air date given on the slate was a Tuesday. A Thanksgiving preemption would have pushed Friday's show to Monday, and a preemption the day after Thanksgiving would have pushed Friday's show to Tuesday. At some point they may have had a three-show taping day to get back on the Monday through Friday track. Bobby could have arranged this three-show week ahead of schedule had he known about the preemptions in advance.Ludden's last show aired on Monday, 10/27/80 (all of NBC's morning shows except the first half hour of LETTERMAN were pre-empted on 7/14/80 because of the Republican Convention). Thanksgiving was another pre-emption, but the day after all shows were on. So that's why 514 aired on Tuesday.
I edited my post, probably since you started replying, to reflect some additional information I culled from those GSN PDFs. At least going by their numbers, the two all-star weeks from early in Kennedy's run were taped back to back, and one of them held for later broadcast.Do you have tape dates or show numbers? If we assume the GSN records are off by five, that might provide a clue. Again, I am positive that the final Bert Convy show, my last, was #499. It is possible that we skipped ahead with the show numbers and I don't remember it. That would put the show numbers in sync. Around that time we were taping shows ahead due to Blockbusters. According to my records, the celebrity week with Nancy Walker was taped on Sunday, 10/12/80. We may have taped the David Doyle week on either Saturday the 11th or Monday the 13th.
all of NBC's morning shows except the first half hour of LETTERMAN were pre-empted on 7/14/80 because of the Republican ConventionNow you tell us.
You can't bury the lede like that.I just did :-P Can you help us out here, Mr. TV Guide?
I just did :-P Can you help us out here, Mr. TV Guide?I can't. Once the program airs, we delete the airing record from the database. Plus, for older shows we don't have episode breakdowns, such as Password Plus. Only shows that I think we have complete credits/run times for game shows with celebrities are Bergeron Squares and Donnymid.
Well, I would've volunteered this sooner had I known you needed it.Quoteall of NBC's morning shows except the first half hour of LETTERMAN were pre-empted on 7/14/80 because of the Republican ConventionNow you tell us.
According to the GSN PDFs, the Doyle/Scott/Hecht/Gautier week was show #s 470-474 (which would make that Kennedy's first taped week and would partially explain why he so gushingly wishes Allen well on the first show of that week).That puts the Bert Convy show numbers off by five. My records have this right and the on-line guide is explainably off by one, so it's at least close. I don't have a vivid memory of taping shows with David Doyle, but after 30 years and 500 shows ...
Although I can't confirm it with a PDF, I believe the other all-star week was 475-479. No idea on tape dates.
It looks like we were preempted on Tuesday 1/1/80? That would explain the short week.Yep. (You have it marked as a Thanksgiving preemption, but it's actually for New Year's.)
Believe it or not, it looks like Password Plus *did* air on 11-22-79; the New York Times has the Macy's Parade running from 9 AM to noon, then Mindreaders, Password Plus and afternoon soaps; NFL coverage didn't begin until 3:30. That's consistent with the pattern for 11-27-80, which also had the parade airing until noon, then Card Sharks, The Doctors et al. before the late afternoon football game.Confirmed. One of those rare sequences where NBC got the late Cowboys game two years in a row (usually CBS and NBC would alternate between getting the early game and getting the late game)--CBS did the early Lions game both in 1979 and 1980 (opponent both years was Chicago).
GSN's long-standing policy has been to run their classic shows in order of tape date, so if they aired Gautier/Scott/Hecht/Doyle before Perry/Norton-Taylor/Walker/Morris it had to have taped first). That would lend credence to celeb week 1 being 470-474 and celeb week 2 being 475-479 (even though celeb week 2 aired on NBC first).And it's also why back in the day we kept thinking that GSN "misidentified" Kennedy's first episode.
Going back to those GSN PDFs (http://"http://drbullfish.com/gsn/2008/gsn1-07-08.pdf"), the Reese/Anderson week was 505-509, and the White/Martin week was 510-514. (I have DVD-Rs of a good chunk of Kennedy's run, oddly beginning with the Convy/Norton-Taylor week that's been the subject of most of this thread.)The only way this theory works is if the slates on the David Doyle shows say 500 - 504. This may require a call to David Schwartz. Is he still at GSN?
I may be taking a risk in doing so, but I'm going to stick by my guns that, at least the way the episodes were numbered, the Scott/Gautier/Hecht/Doyle shows were 470-474 (are also Kennedy's first taped, and were held until Christmas week) and the Walker/Norton-Taylor/Perry/Morris week was 475-479.
That would indeed make the last show of the Convy/Norton-Taylor week the 499th to air, but the 504th taped.
If we could find out who the contestants were A) in the last game of Norton-Taylor/Convy episode #5 and in the first game of Reese/Anderson episode #1 and B) in the last game of Reese/Anderson episode #5 and the first game of White/Martin episode #1, that should tell us pretty certainly whether or not a week is missing. Wouldn't entirely solve the episode number conundrum, but we'd have the weeks accounted for.That would be a big clue. It leaves open the question of whether they taped only one day over the weekend of 11/29-30, but with the Blockbusters factor it may have been the case.
The only way this theory works is if the slates on the David Doyle shows say 500 - 504.If they did, why would GSN have them numbered as 470-474?
I spoke with a gentleman named Andre at GSN who works in the library and he pulled this up on the computer for me (and he promises to E-mail me further details since he's a little tied up at the moment). But long story short--in their computer they have eps 470-474 indicated as the week with Doyle/Hecht/Scott/Gautier. Tape date was 10/11/80.This is a lot to ask, but would you mind calling Andre back and asking about shows 500 - 504? If he says Norton-Taylor/Convy taped on 11/16/80 then my recollection has been flawed all these
Maybe NBC or GT "reslated" the first all star week episode numbers to jive with the next tape date?DEFINITELY not NBC or GT as confusion would have reigned supreme. GSN on the other hand ...
My request was to find out the VTR dates of shows 470-509. He has E-mailed me but something seems off, so I want to clarify with him before I report.I spoke with a gentleman named Andre at GSN who works in the library and he pulled this up on the computer for me (and he promises to E-mail me further details since he's a little tied up at the moment). But long story short--in their computer they have eps 470-474 indicated as the week with Doyle/Hecht/Scott/Gautier. Tape date was 10/11/80.This is a lot to ask, but would you mind calling Andre back and asking about shows 500 - 504? If he says Norton-Taylor/Convy taped on 11/16/80 then my recollection has been flawed all theseyearsdecades.
He confirmed these:My request was to find out the VTR dates of shows 470-509. He has E-mailed me but something seems off, so I want to clarify with him before I report.I spoke with a gentleman named Andre at GSN who works in the library and he pulled this up on the computer for me (and he promises to E-mail me further details since he's a little tied up at the moment). But long story short--in their computer they have eps 470-474 indicated as the week with Doyle/Hecht/Scott/Gautier. Tape date was 10/11/80.This is a lot to ask, but would you mind calling Andre back and asking about shows 500 - 504? If he says Norton-Taylor/Convy taped on 11/16/80 then my recollection has been flawed all theseyearsdecades.
Are you sure that couldn't have happened? (Granted, it appears not to have, but I'm just speaking in general now.) There are six pre-empted episodes (and, strangely, one non-pre-empted one) from the first season of TPIR that were rescheduled to all air in a row in June so as to get all of the The New Price Is Rights broadcast before the name change, and each of them has a second production number that falls between the last TNPIR and the first TPIR.QuoteMaybe NBC or GT "reslated" the first all star week episode numbers to jive with the next tape date?DEFINITELY not NBC or GT as confusion would have reigned supreme.
470-474: David Doyle/Gina Hecht/Dick Gautier/Debralee Scott (VTR 10/11/80)This confirms that 495-499 were taped on Sunday, 11/16/80. Good enough for me. The on-line episode guide still has the show numbers wrong. Note also that 480 - 484 were taped on a Friday, a departure from our usual Saturday - Sunday tapings.
475-479: Jim Perry/Judy Norton-Taylor/Greg Morris/Nancy Walker (VTR 10/12/80)
480-484: Patty Duke Astin/John Astin (VTR 10/17/80)
485-489: Barbara Rhoades/Bill Cullen (VTR 10/18/80)
490-494: Audrey Landers/Jack Jones (VTR 11/15/80)
495-499: Vicki Lawrence/Fred Grandy (VTR 11/16/80)
500-504: Judy Norton-Taylor/Bert Convy (VTR 11/29/80)
505-509: Della Reese/Bill Anderson (VTR 11/30/80)
So your last week apparently was Vicki Lawrence and Fred Grandy (if you left on 11/21/80).
Thanks a million for doing this.Anytime. Truth be told, it satisfied my curiosity too (I had wondered about the lag time between VTR date and airdate for some of these shows; throw in my long-documented fascination with airdates as well).
The main difference between TPIR and P+ is that the former has all standalone episodes, while our show had five consecutive days with the same celebrities, and it had returning contestants. Renumbering the shows would mean the tapes would have to be re-slated and all of the changes would have to propagate throughout the entire system lest an episode be repeated, omitted or air out of order. Renumbering the shows wouldn't buy us much. With TPIR it doesn't much matter in what sequence the shows run, except for the switch from TNPIR to TPIR (and Barker's hair color change).Are you sure that couldn't have happened? (Granted, it appears not to have, but I'm just speaking in general now.) There are six pre-empted episodes (and, strangely, one non-pre-empted one) from the first season of TPIR that were rescheduled to all air in a row in June so as to get all of the The New Price Is Rights broadcast before the name change, and each of them has a second production number that falls between the last TNPIR and the first TPIR.QuoteMaybe NBC or GT "reslated" the first all star week episode numbers to jive with the next tape date?DEFINITELY not NBC or GT as confusion would have reigned supreme.
Then again, The Price Is Right also has a completely different numbering system than Password Plus.
Perchance did Andre send you the entire P+ episode list?Thanks a million for doing this.Anytime.
Perchance did Andre send you the entire P+ episode list?He did not. Just eps 470-509.
With TPIR it doesn't much matter in what sequence the shows run, except for the switch from TNPIR to TPIR (and Barker's hair color change).This reminds me of a pointless bit of info: For reasons I've never figured out, the second week of Season 16 was taped out of order and wasn't aired until after the sixth week. If one were to sit down and watch the episodes in the proper order, Bob would have white hair for five days and then have dark hair again for another three and a half weeks.
Quote470-474: David Doyle/Gina Hecht/Dick Gautier/Debralee Scott (VTR 10/11/80)This confirms that 495-499 were taped on Sunday, 11/16/80. Good enough for me. The on-line episode guide still has the show numbers wrong. Note also that 480 - 484 were taped on a Friday, a departure from our usual Saturday - Sunday tapings.
475-479: Jim Perry/Judy Norton-Taylor/Greg Morris/Nancy Walker (VTR 10/12/80)
480-484: Patty Duke Astin/John Astin (VTR 10/17/80)
485-489: Barbara Rhoades/Bill Cullen (VTR 10/18/80)
490-494: Audrey Landers/Jack Jones (VTR 11/15/80)
495-499: Vicki Lawrence/Fred Grandy (VTR 11/16/80)
500-504: Judy Norton-Taylor/Bert Convy (VTR 11/29/80)
505-509: Della Reese/Bill Anderson (VTR 11/30/80)
So your last week apparently was Vicki Lawrence and Fred Grandy (if you left on 11/21/80).
Thanks a million for doing this.
This also confirms that Tom Kennedy's first taped week didn't air until almost 2 months later, and what we thought was a goof by GSN in identifying Tom's first episode all those years ago was technically accurate.Two months? Tom's first shows were taped on October 11 and 12 and started airing on October 28, unless you mean the Xmas shows we intentionally taped some time in advance.
Not sure that's what he meant. (First show of 10/12 taping aired 10/28, first show of 10/11 taping aired 12/24, so his first taped week did air two months later while his second taped week aired 2½ weeks later.)QuoteThis also confirms that Tom Kennedy's first taped week didn't air until almost 2 months later, and what we thought was a goof by GSN in identifying Tom's first episode all those years ago was technically accurate.Two months? Tom's first shows were taped on October 11 and 12 and started airing on October 28, unless you mean the Xmas shows we intentionally taped some time in advance.
I'll submit a third choice was that Kennedy was going to tape two celeb weeks to get his feet wet, but NBC would air one immediately and hold the other for Xmas week (with the decision to be made when it needed to be).I can't vouch for your theory. I don't know why he would need two weeks of celebrity shows to get the hang of the format.