The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: kurtinrod62 on March 09, 2004, 06:13:01 PM
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What was the first ever game show to be produced for first-run syndication?
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There may have been others earler but I think one of the first might have been the Dennis James' Hosted PDQ in 1965-69
Tim Lones
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A quick glance at the GSE...it appears to be "Everything's Relative" from February 1965.
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I was probably close.PDQ started in August 1965.
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We can go at least a decade earlier for "Professor Yes 'n No":
Matt O's Professor Yes 'n No page (http://\"http://userdata.acd.net/ottinger/Cullen/shows/profess.html\")
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[quote name=\'Adam Nedeff\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 04:51 PM\'] We can go at least a decade earlier for "Professor Yes 'n No":
[/quote]
If you want to call that a game show in the sense that we know a game show, and I'd do that only tenuously, if at all.
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[quote name=\'kurtinrod62\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 06:13 PM\'] What was the first ever game show to be produced for first-run syndication? [/quote]
The early 60s syndicated run of Stump the Stars(c. 1962-63)?
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What's My Line (1968) was the first daily syndicated game show (which set the precedent for our present 5-day-a-week syndicated game show scheduling. Ah, for the good old days of weekly/bi-weekly syndication of the 70s!)
P.S. What do you know? This is my 100th post!
EDIT: You happy now, Zach?
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[quote name=\'Casey Buck\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 07:58 PM\'] Gary Moore's TTTT was the first daily syndicated game show [/quote]
Syndicated WML predated Syndie TTTT by a year.
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The EOTVGS lists "Home Run Derby" in 1960 as a syndicated game show. Syndicated? Yes. Game show? YOU MAKE THE CALL!!!
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Truth or Consequences in 1966.
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[quote name=\'Casey Buck\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 07:58 PM\'] What's My Line (1968) was the first daily syndicated game show (which set the precedent for our present 5-day-a-week syndicated game show scheduling. Ah, for the good old days of weekly/bi-weekly syndication of the 70s!)
P.S. What do you know? This is my 100th post!
EDIT: You happy now, Zach? [/quote]
"Good old days"?
Aren't there still a fair number of hour-long shows once a week that are syndicated (and usually seen on weekends as far as I can tell)?
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Yeah, but those are not first run shows. Those shows are reruns.
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[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 11:08 PM\'] Yeah, but those are not first run shows. Those shows are reruns. [/quote]
Which of the shows mentioned above weren't first run? I didn't find any.
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I was replying to Fedya's question about hour long shows airing in syndiciation on weekends
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[quote name=\'adamjk\' date=\'Mar 9 2004, 11:21 PM\'] I was replying to Fedya's question about hour long shows airing in syndiciation on weekends [/quote]
There's still a few hour-long dramas that air on weekends...Lost World and Andromeda, at least I *think* they're still first-run. There's some more, but I can't think of anything else.
ObGameShow: Ron Ely made a guest appearance on one of those syndicated dramas c. 2002.
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Another good question might be: What was the first syndicated strip game show meant to be played in order?
My guess would be "Joker's Wild" from 1977. The shows that came earlier could easily be "bicycled" around.
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Another good question might be: What was the first syndicated strip game show meant to be played in order?
My guess would be "Joker's Wild" from 1977. The shows that came earlier could easily be "bicycled" around. [/quote]
That actually raises a few questions on if Joker's Wild was the first, as you have me thinking....
"Cross-Wits"......I believe it was a 5-day-a-week show....Did it have returning champs? If it did, it precluded JW...
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 01:20 PM\'] [quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 08:53 AM\'] Another good question might be: What was the first syndicated strip game show meant to be played in order?
My guess would be "Joker's Wild" from 1977. The shows that came earlier could easily be "bicycled" around. [/quote]
That actually raises a few questions on if Joker's Wild was the first, as you have me thinking....
"Cross-Wits"......I believe it was a 5-day-a-week show....Did it have returning champs? If it did, it precluded JW... [/quote]
No returning champions on The Cross-Wits. I'm agreeing that The Joker's Wild was the first syndicated strip show with continuing champions. As far as the weekly syndie offerings, would that be a 2-way tie in 1976 between The $100,000 Name That Tune and The $128,000 Question?
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 04:06 PM\']
No returning champions on The Cross-Wits. I'm agreeing that The Joker's Wild was the first syndicated strip show with continuing champions. As far as the weekly syndie offerings, would that be a 2-way tie in 1976 between The $100,000 Name That Tune and The $128,000 Question? [/quote]
OK. Figured it might have been worth a try. However, it opens up a new bunch of questions from my end:
The first satellite-fed daily strip was "Entertainment Tonight" in 1981, as we know.
What was the first satellite-fed daily strip game show?
Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?
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I think syndie 'Wheel' was satellite-fed in 1983, followed by syndie shows 'Jeopardy!' and 'LMAD' in 1984. 'LMAD' in 1984 had two national 30-second commercials that were placed before the Big Deal. These national commercials aired in each market, and were placed by the distributor of the show.
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 09:10 PM\']What was the first satellite-fed daily strip game show?
Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?[/quote]
This is all a guess, but I would say Jeopardy...I think Wheel was still being bicycled in 1983, same for Joker and Tic Tac...don't know about Feud.
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This is all a guess, but I would say Jeopardy...I think Wheel was still being bicycled in 1983, same for Joker and Tic Tac...don't know about Feud.
I know that syndie $otC was still being bicycled in 1985...Hartford/New Haven didn't get it until the 2nd season in fall 1985, and WTNH (Ch. 8) began by airing the 1st season...since I recieved both WTNH and the show's NY outlet, WABC (Ch. 7) on my cable system at the time, and both aired $otC at 4 PM, it produced a glorified "WTF??" from my 6YO mind. :-)
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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"Feud" was fed by satellite by the end of the run because our local station used inferior quality or worn-out tape to dub from the bird, so the picture would roll around and drop out often, the signal was "overdriven" as well with colors bleeding over, etc. the same way ET used to when this particular station ran it.
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I remembering those sattelite fed shows in the mid-to-late '80s. I often see them A WEEK before the local stations air them. Maybe that's why I like game shows so much is because I have a tendancy to "scout" the sattelite feeds to see where & when each show would be on.
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[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 10:06 PM\']
I know that syndie $otC was still being bicycled in 1985...Hartford/New Haven didn't get it until the 2nd season in fall 1985, and WTNH (Ch. 8) began by airing the 1st season...since I recieved both WTNH and the show's NY outlet, WABC (Ch. 7) on my cable system at the time, and both aired $otC at 4 PM, it produced a glorified "WTF??" from my 6YO mind. :-)
[/quote]
I know what you mean....I remember seeing MG and TPiR air around the same time when I was little (like one following the other), and in the weeks where Bob Barker was on MG I wondered how he changed clothes and got ready for the next show so quickly...
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I think syndie 'Wheel' was satellite-fed in 1983, followed by syndie shows 'Jeopardy!' and 'LMAD' in 1984.
I know for sure "Wheel" was still bicycled in 1983. The Buffalo station started running it in late August, and Rochester (just 80 miles away) started it two weeks later, from the ep that Buffalo ran in late August. In other words, they were airing episodes two weeks apart that whole season. I think by fall 1984 they were in sync, so it might have been satellite-fed starting in '84.
As for shows being fed ahead of time, yes, "Wheel" and "Jeopardy" are fed two days ahead of time on satellite, and "Squares" and "Millionaire" one day ahead. I love searching for them too - that's where many of my "wild feeds" I have on my trade list came from!
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 04:09 AM\']I remember seeing MG and TPiR air around the same time when I was little (like one following the other), and in the weeks where Bob Barker was on MG I wondered how he changed clothes and got ready for the next show so quickly...[/quote]
Pardon the tangent...
My favorite memory that this post dredged up was one of seeing Tom Kennedy guesting on MG '6x just minutes after finishing the day's episode of You Don't Say! in Hollywood.
At one point, Gene Rayburn started joking that TK used a "five-second airplane" to appear on both shows on the same day! (Compulsive Bluffer that I am, I'd wager that the concept of the FSA was hatched by MG / Mad writer Dick DiBartolo.)
Esoteric Eric, who also thought that Hugh Downs just hung around 30 Rockerfeller Plaza every day from 9AM (end of Today) to 10:30 (start of Concentration) <Colin Mochrie> "You naive fool!" </cm>
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 09:04 AM\']
I think syndie 'Wheel' was satellite-fed in 1983, followed by syndie shows 'Jeopardy!' and 'LMAD' in 1984.
I know for sure "Wheel" was still bicycled in 1983. The Buffalo station started running it in late August, and Rochester (just 80 miles away) started it two weeks later, from the ep that Buffalo ran in late August. In other words, they were airing episodes two weeks apart that whole season. I think by fall 1984 they were in sync, so it might have been satellite-fed starting in '84.
[/quote]
I've also seen various premiere dates for syndie Wheel, for example, your market picked it up in Aug. 83, but I've seen Sept. 5, 12, and 19 as premiere dates...on someone's web page, there was a scan of a TV Guide ad from Mar. 84 stating one market's premiere.
I also remember from ATGS conflicting memories of the car given away on the "premiere" episode. One person remembered a Firebird, someone else saw a pick-up truck.
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What was the first satellite-fed daily strip game show?
Family Feud.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 11:36 AM\'] I know for sure "Wheel" was still bicycled in 1983. The Buffalo station started running it in late August, and Rochester (just 80 miles away) started it two weeks later, from the ep that Buffalo ran in late August. In other words, they were airing episodes two weeks apart that whole season. I think by fall 1984 they were in sync, so it might have been satellite-fed starting in '84.
[/QUOTE]
I've also seen various premiere dates for syndie Wheel, for example, your market picked it up in Aug. 83, but I've seen Sept. 5, 12, and 19 as premiere dates...on someone's web page, there was a scan of a TV Guide ad from Mar. 84 stating one market's premiere.
I also remember from ATGS conflicting memories of the car given away on the "premiere" episode. One person remembered a Firebird, someone else saw a pick-up truck. [/quote]
It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....
New York's WCBS picked it up in either January or March of 1984 (which would be the scan of the TV Guide ad you're alluding to)...I remember being all excited, I thought it might have been reruns of the daytime WoF with Woolery...It was neat, however, it had a special greeting at the beginning from Pat, welcoming viewers to WOF on WCBS.
WNEP in Scranton picked up the show in the summer of '84, right around when the Olympics were going on. WHP in Harrisburg started the show in September of 1984, and since then, no other show has aired at 7:00pm on WHP M-F.
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Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.
And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\'] Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.
[/quote]
Boy, imagine if these boards existed pre-satellite era....we'd be awash in spoilers.....
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And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.
Here in Tampa Bay, WTSP ch.10 also picked up Wheen when it first started in September 1983. In that year's Fall Preview issue of TV Guide, WTSP had a few ads in the listings mentioning that they have Wheel at night.
Since then, Wheel bounced to WFLA ch.8 in the late-1980s or early-1990s, before returning to WTSP.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\']
And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since. [/quote]
Michigan was well covered with WOF from the start. Channel 12 in Flint had it in late August of 83 (since moved to Channel 5) and Channel 4 in Detroit has had it on from Sept 83 and it has been there ever since.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 07:25 PM\'] [quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Mar 11 2004, 02:37 PM\']
And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since. [/quote]
Michigan was well covered with WOF from the start. Channel 12 in Flint had it in late August of 83 (since moved to Channel 5) and Channel 4 in Detroit has had it on from Sept 83 and it has been there ever since. [/quote]
Add Norfolk to the list. I saw a microfilm from fall 83; Wheel actually aired at 7:30, and Love Connection was at 7. Furthermore, I saw a trade ad for TTD from late 83; apparently TTD crushed Wheel in the Norfolk area.
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It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....
I believe the actual number is 59 stations. At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then. However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1.
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 08:55 AM\'] I believe the actual number is 59 stations. At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then. However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1. [/quote]
As I stated in a previous post, WHP has aired WOF at 7:00, and J! at 7:30, since September 1984 (save for 1985-1986 when the syndie TPiR aired at 7:30).
Curiously enough, the last show to air before J! on WHP was Family Feud at 7:30. I believe it got pushed back to 5pm or 5:30pm to make room for J!.
THe writing was definitely on the wall for FF, once WOF and J! came on the scene...
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Mar 12 2004, 08:55 AM\']
It was, what, 6 stations total across the US that picked up Wheel in the fall of 1983? I know Philadelphia's WPVI was one of them.....
I believe the actual number is 59 stations. At that time it wasn't given much hope of dethroning "Family Feud", which was the No. 1 show then. However, when ratings in those 59 cities turned out to be good, other cities started picking it up and by the end of its first season it was No. 1.[/quote]
From my end (front or rear? :-D), San Diego ,where I lived when I was very young, had syndie Wheel on KCST-TV (now KNSD-TV) from the start. The irony, as to Ian's point, is that the station carried both Wheel AND Feud on their prime-access lineup from September 1983 to at least December 1984 (I don't know whether or not they continued with Feud to September 1985, since my family moved to Huntsville, AL in December '84.)
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I collect TV Guides. and in September 1983 when Wheel first premiered in Orlando Florida where my dad lives, Wheel of Fortune aired on WCPX (now WKMG) TV. Channel 6 CBS. in Fall 1984, J! aired at 7:00 followed by the $100k Name That Tune with Jim Lange, and in 1985 (I think) Wheel moved to WFTV to join J!
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 09:10 PM\']Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?[/quote]
They were bicycled similar to how talk shows were bicycled--the larger markets would get the shows first, air them, and pass them down to smaller markets, so that a season would begin over a four-to-six week period. New stations would jump in in January, March or June and a new route was created among those stations. If a station started mid-season, they would not have summer reruns but would continue to air first-run-to-their-market eps until they caught up with the majority of the stations. WFLD in Chicago started "TJW" in January 1978 and caught up with the major markets in September of that year as the regular season started. However, they started "TTD" in March 1979 and didn't catch up with the other major markets until September 1980, meaning that Thom McKee's reign of terror aired in Chicago continuously without a break for summer reruns.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Mar 15 2004, 07:38 PM\'] [quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'Mar 10 2004, 09:10 PM\']Also, as far as TJW goes, how were the shows fed to the stations?[/quote]
They were bicycled similar to how talk shows were bicycled--the larger markets would get the shows first, air them, and pass them down to smaller markets, so that a season would begin over a four-to-six week period. New stations would jump in in January, March or June and a new route was created among those stations. If a station started mid-season, they would not have summer reruns but would continue to air first-run-to-their-market eps until they caught up with the majority of the stations. WFLD in Chicago started "TJW" in January 1978 and caught up with the major markets in September of that year as the regular season started. However, they started "TTD" in March 1979 and didn't catch up with the other major markets until September 1980, meaning that Thom McKee's reign of terror aired in Chicago continuously without a break for summer reruns. [/quote]
WCAU in Philly picked up the Caldwell season of TTD(WPVI had all seven years of Wink's syndie TTD). WCAU didn't start airing Caldwell TTD until March 1986, and started from the beginning of the season.
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Joker and Tic Tac must have been bicycled in 1979 - when my new bride and I went to see JOKER in November of '79, Wink Martindale stopped by during the taping to cut a promo for Dough. I remember hearing some of the audience members behind us talking about a particular tournament and wondering how it would turn out. We had already seen the ending in Grand Rapids. I found it interesting that, at least at that time, Los Angeles would be behind some parts of the rest of the country. You'd think they'd get first shot.
And speaking of WHEEL, I think Grand Rapids was also among the very few to buy the show in it's first year of nighttime syndication. Our NBC affiliate picked it up. It's bounced to two other net affiliates since.
WYFF in Greenville was one of the first to buy Wheel too
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WYFF in Greenville was one of the first to buy Wheel too
Fella, it's fine to take a look through the search archives at old discussions, but take a look at how old this post is. This was posted eleven years ago. When you make a reply to something, it brings it back to the top of the discussion list. In every discussion board in the world, you can't bump up a decade-old thread. People are getting really agitated, really quickly.
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I got almost excited seeing that Horan had returned. :)