The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Vahan_Nisanian on January 09, 2012, 09:38:19 AM
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How did the CBS daytime edition come about? And was CBS favoring Bob Barker over Dennis James due to Barker hosting new year's specials for them?
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Goodson-Todman was going to do a prime access once-a-week show for the NBC owned and operated stations called "The New Price Is Right." for fall 72. Viacom (the former CBS Films) was given the syndication rights. Check the Broadcasting back issues at Davidgleason.com for the exact timeline, but the show was in the planning stages in late 71-early 72. Dennis James was tapped to host. CBS was having some erosion in the morning with sitcom reruns. "Sesame Street" had eaten into the kid audience for the shows, so they picked up game shows for fall 72. Again, the Broadcasting back issues will tell the complete story.
As far as Barker is concerned, he was also emcee for most of the CBS beauty pageants of the era.
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As far as Barker is concerned, he was also emcee for most of the CBS beauty pageants of the era.
I thought he just did Miss Universe. What others did he do?
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I see.
Of the many mysteries surrounding TPIR, one mystery I wish was solve one day is this: Which episode was taped first? The very first daytime episode, or the very first weekly nighttime syndicated episode (from the 1972-1980 edition)? And what day was the latter taped on?
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Jimmy's got it right. I'll expand on the genesis of TPiR with excerpts from "Johnny Olson: A Voice in Time" which includes information gleaned from interviews with Goodson, Barker, Frank Wayne, Wolpert, Dobkowitz, Brockman, Boden etc. There's more in the book about the pre-production development of the format, including the original plan for THREE showcases per episode.
Fred Silverman, former CBS daytime programmer, had turned his attention to
structuring the network’s prime-time grid. CBS hired Bud Grant from NBC as its
new Vice President of Daytime Programming. Grant’s strength at NBC had been
game shows; he understood and had confidence in the genre. With Let’s Make A
Deal a runaway success for NBC, and a 1971 revival of Password drawing a sizeable
audience for ABC, Grant looked to re-introduce game shows into the CBS daytime
line-up for the 1972-1973 season.
He purchased Gambit starring Wink Martindale from Merrill Heatter and Bob
Quigley, the producers behind the success of Hollywood Squares. He also bought The
Joker’s Wild based upon Jack Barry’s three-year-old pilot hosted by Allen Ludden.
With the network’s blessing, Barry re-cast himself in the role of emcee. Barry once
again appeared on American television screens a dozen years after his disgrace in
the quiz show scandals as the host and producer of Twenty One. Soon, Dan Enright
returned from relative obscurity in Canada to reunite with his former partner.
Grant also made a call to a trusted supplier that would change Goodson-Todman’s
fate and change Johnny’s life. Grant learned that Mark Goodson had a revival
of The Price is Right in the works for syndication, and he envisioned the show as the
perfect answer to the Monty Hall-Stephan Hatos, prize-laden hit, Let’s Make A Deal.
He requested a network version of the series for his new daytime block.
Although the show had previously been successful for both NBC and ABC, that
was years before. It took only a few run-throughs for the Goodson-Todman creative
team to realize that the original format of The Price is Right was hopelessly slow and
tedious in the context of the times. Grant encouraged Goodson to scrap the original
format if necessary to build a fresh, flashy, and exciting version of the classic. With
that, the game show guru mobilized his minions for a major overhauling of Bob
Stewart’s original hit. In an unusual demonstration of faith and confidence, Grant
and Goodson ultimately signed for a network program without a pilot episode. Roger
Dobkowitz, a newcomer on Goodson’s staff who later became the new show’s guiding
force, observed after thirty-six years of working with CBS, “The most creative
program people just trust their gut.” [33-1]
As always, development at Goodson-Todman was a group effort; two of the
brightest brains in games were marshaled for the new mission. Frank Wayne, the
company’s senior statesman, earned the title of Executive Producer, and Jay Wolpert
was awarded the role of Producer for The New Price is Right. Director Marc Breslow,
Goodson’s trusted friend, was also assigned to the project early on to devise the presentation
and staging, as well as participate in the overall creative process. Wolpert
recalled, “We worked close to 14 hours a day to develop the show — me and about
a half dozen other creative executives who were part of the Goodson coterie. We’d
sit around his pool. That sounds grand, but believe me, we were not swimming. We
worked very, very hard while Goodson swam in the pool.” [33-2]
Despite all the progress in revitalizing The Price is Right, Mark Goodson expressed
concern early in the development process. Understanding that the brisk tempo meant
drastic reductions in the time between the reveals of prizes, one product description
would follow another and another, sometimes with only seconds between sponsor
plugs. Goodson felt the audience might lose its patience with endless, sponsored
prize and product plugs; he felt that the entire show might sound like a half-hour
commercial. It became apparent that the casting of the right announcer would be a
crucial consideration.
As planned, Dennis James emceed the syndicated version, but CBS had Bob
Barker in mind to host its daytime show. The forty-eight-year-old veteran broadcaster
gained a national following fronting Truth or Consequences, and he had been
on Bud Grant’s radar for a future opportunity. Barker said, “I know that Bud and I
had a close relationship. He appreciated me.” [33-3] The New Price is Right was the right
vehicle for the gifted ad-libber, and Grant told Goodson that the network strongly
supported Barker as host.
Barker remembered the call from Goodson in which he explained the completely
revamped format. He said, “We’re going to call it The New Price is Right. I want you to
host it. Would you be interested?” Barker joked, “And Mark, incidentally, was always
very generous, but two or three years later, I found out that he had talked with Bud
Grant, who had said, ‘I’ll buy that show for CBS if you get Bob Barker to host it.’ I
didn’t know that when we negotiated. If I had, Mark would have been even more
generous than he was.” [33-4]
After Barker agreed to front the program, he had second thoughts. Grant recalled,
“We were in rehearsals, and I got a call from Bob, asking if he could buy me lunch.
We went to the Brown Derby in Hollywood. After exchanging the usual pleasantries
over coffee, Bob said he didn’t want to do the show. I almost fell off the chair.”
Barker told Grant that from what he had seen, he was concerned that the show
could be better produced, and he offered to do Joker’s Wild or Gambit instead of Price.
Grant remembered telling his lunch partner, “Barker, you will do Price because those
other two shows are good, solid game shows that require a traffic cop to run them,
and you’re not a cop. You have far more talent!” 33-2 Barker reconsidered, and he later
declared it to be the most fortuitous decision in his fifty-year television career.
Barker was locked, and attention then turned to the role of announcer...
Randy
tvrandywest.com
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As far as Barker is concerned, he was also emcee for most of the CBS beauty pageants of the era.
I thought he just did Miss Universe. What others did he do?
IIRC, He emceed both the Miss Usa and Miss Universe pageants on CBS, as well as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Tournament of Roses Parade.
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Of the many mysteries surrounding TPIR, one mystery I wish was solve one day is this: Which episode was taped first?
Not a mystery. 0011D, the first daytime episode.
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Of the many mysteries surrounding TPIR, one mystery I wish was solve one day is this: Which episode was taped first?
Not a mystery. 0011D, the first daytime episode.
Doofus, why'd you answer? Now he's just going to posit another of the "many mysteries". Should have let well enough alone. :)
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For all we know, 001N could have taped before 0011D...
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For all we know, 001N could have taped before 0011D...
I think you're missing the point. Steve isn't saying that the daytime show was first because of its number, he was identifying -- by number -- the episode he happens to know was taped first. The number doesn't prove anything, we're taking Steve at his word based on his proven knowledge of TPIR history.
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All I can add is that the 0011D was taped on 8/19/72.
Yon Slate (http://"http://www.golden-road.net/gg/displayimage.php?album=98&pos=112")
006N taped 9/4/72, and that's the earliest tape date for the nighttime show that I have knowledge of.
Slatage (http://"http://www.golden-road.net/gg/displayimage.php?album=102&pos=0")
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As much as I appreciate Matt's defense, I do need to clarify something -- I was checking over the data I have from the early days, and I actually don't have the tapedate of 001N. However, based on other stuff I do know from back then, I'd still be willing to bet money that it wasn't taped anywhere near 0011D.
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I wonder what, if any, footage the NBC stations used to promote the new fall prime access version. In the '70's, it was the usual practice for stations to start promoting new fall shows on or around July 4.
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I wonder what, if any, footage the NBC stations used to promote the new fall prime access version. In the '70's, it was the usual practice for stations to start promoting new fall shows on or around July 4.
Hold on just a sec, before we continue- did ALL the NBC affiliates air the syndie TPIR during this time or was it just the O&O's? I know most of them picked up Kennedy's '85 effort but I kinda am curious about the '70s effort.
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Hold on just a sec, before we continue- did ALL the NBC affiliates air the syndie TPIR during this time or was it just the O&O's? I know most of them picked up Kennedy's '85 effort but I kinda am curious about the '70s effort.
I found a site that lists some of the stations that aired the show during the James era.
http://www.j-shea.com/TPIR/nighttime/nightTPIRstations.htm
Tons of affiliates from all three major networks had it.
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There was something I have always wondered about the taping of Price back in the day. Price shared Studio 33 with a ton of shows back then. How was Price taping scheduled (or is that a mystery)? Did the Daytime and Syndicated Price tape on the same day (since they used the same everything except host)? And if they did tape on the same day, what taped fist?
It always amazed me that all those shows taped at the same place at that time.
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Hold on just a sec, before we continue- did ALL the NBC affiliates air the syndie TPIR during this time or was it just the O&O's? I know most of them picked up Kennedy's '85 effort but I kinda am curious about the '70s effort.
I found a site that lists some of the stations that aired the show during the James era.
http://www.j-shea.com/TPIR/nighttime/nightTPIRstations.htm
Tons of affiliates from all three major networks had it.
Ooh, comprehensive. I like it.
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Gosh, this brings back memories of watching nightime TPIR when I was in Batavia NY in the early 1970's. It was on BOTH Tues. & Wed. @ 7:30 PM from BOTH ABC affiliates(WKBW TV-7 out of Buffalo(Wed. 7:30 PM) & WOKR-TV 13 out of Rochester(Tues. 7:30 PM)). I don't remember seeing it out of Philly(WPVI TV-6(now 6ABC)) when I was visiting my relatives in New Jersey back then.
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I wonder what, if any, footage the NBC stations used to promote the new fall prime access version. In the '70's, it was the usual practice for stations to start promoting new fall shows on or around July 4.
Hold on just a sec, before we continue- did ALL the NBC affiliates air the syndie TPIR during this time or was it just the O&O's? I know most of them picked up Kennedy's '85 effort but I kinda am curious about the '70s effort.
By NBC stations, I meant the O&O's, not the affiliates.
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There was something I have always wondered about the taping of Price back in the day. Price shared Studio 33 with a ton of shows back then. How was Price taping scheduled (or is that a mystery)? Did the Daytime and Syndicated Price tape on the same day (since they used the same everything except host)? And if they did tape on the same day, what taped fist?
It always amazed me that all those shows taped at the same place at that time.
Here's a Price Call Sheet (http://"http://home.comcast.net/~cmjb13/callsheet.jpg") from 11/29/74.
Apologies in advance for it being blurry. This call sheet was on door #2 about 6+ years ago.
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Here's a Price Call Sheet (http://"http://home.comcast.net/~cmjb13/callsheet.jpg") from 11/29/74.
THANK YOU. What a cool find.
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Steve, about your TPIR timeline, where did the story about the original #003N (the third weekly nighttime episode, before the replacement was arranged) come from?
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There was something I have always wondered about the taping of Price back in the day. Price shared Studio 33 with a ton of shows back then. How was Price taping scheduled (or is that a mystery)? Did the Daytime and Syndicated Price tape on the same day (since they used the same everything except host)? And if they did tape on the same day, what taped fist?
It always amazed me that all those shows taped at the same place at that time.
Here's a Price Call Sheet (http://"http://home.comcast.net/~cmjb13/callsheet.jpg") from 11/29/74.
Apologies in advance for it being blurry. This call sheet was on door #2 about 6+ years ago.
I'm just curious about a couple of things on this call sheet. In the lower left where the day's schedule is indicated, what are the first two items? Obviously they stand for something. And just how many Mackenzie machines did they have listed here?
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I'm just curious about a couple of things on this call sheet. In the lower left where the day's schedule is indicated, what are the first two items?
ESU = Engineering set-up.
FAX = Facilities. I've usually seen it indicated as "Full FAX rehearsal" meaning all crew/equipment/elements.
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There was something I have always wondered about the taping of Price back in the day. Price shared Studio 33 with a ton of shows back then. How was Price taping scheduled (or is that a mystery)? Did the Daytime and Syndicated Price tape on the same day (since they used the same everything except host)? And if they did tape on the same day, what taped fist?
According to some records Roger pulled for us several years back, the show was originally taping on Saturdays, Sundays, and every other Monday, doing two shows every day (except the very first day, when only 0011D was taped); I strongly suspect that the "other" Mondays were used to tape the nighttime show. Things started to get a bit funky when the technicians' strike started, first with more shows taping each day and later with tapings becoming a bit sporadic. Unfortunately, the files we were given only went so far, so I don't know how things changed after the strike ended.
Steve, about your TPIR timeline, where did the story about the original #003N (the third weekly nighttime episode, before the replacement was arranged) come from?
Again, Roger...although this has lead me to what I believe is another mistake. I had assumed there was a "no double overbid" rule on the first week of the daytime show, but taking into account some other data I've come by over the years, I now see that the first double overbid occurred before ''any'' nighttime shows were taped (assuming my assumptions about the early nighttime tapings are correct, anyway). (Man, how many different variations on the word "assume" can I use in this paragraph?) So I need to go in and change that. Maybe that rule was in place only on the nighttime show; heaven knows they did some other things that never made it onto the daytime show.