What's strange is this particular episode of "The Wizard of Odds" was taped on May 8th 1974, more than one month after Bobby's untimely death, and Don DeFore spoke about Bobby in the present tense, implying that Bobby was still alive. I do not know if he was unaware of Bobby's death, or if the show was aware of it but felt it was in poor taste or too shocking to discuss it during a daytime game show in that era.
Most likely, DeFore and the show's producers were simply unaware of Buntrock's passing. He had been living in South Dakota, and his obituary ran in the
Rapid City Journal the day after he died. Considering his location and the fact that
Hazel had been canceled eight years earlier, it's unlikely that news of his death traveled very far or very fast.
