# Old TV Game Shows **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056 "2017-06-15T20:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![NetTrekker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nettrekker/32/2909_2.png) [@NetTrekker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NetTrekker)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/61 "2017-06-24T03:54:13Z")
Password with Alan Ludden [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/bPPUcn0W5iQ/hqdefault.jpg "Password - Irene Ryan, Bob Crane & Donna Douglas") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPPUcn0W5iQ) ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/62 "2017-06-24T16:25:24Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Bzzzt. Wrong. Cite: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven\_Keys\_(game\_show)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Keys_(game_show)) Thanks! Now I know what it wasn’t called - wonder what it was? If no one else recalls a show that had contestants in swimsuits taking rubber rafts to picture perfect tiny islands trying to fit a key into a treasure chest, I suppose I’ll always wonder. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/63 "2017-06-24T17:59:02Z")
> [@MsJinx](#): > > Thanks! Now I know what it wasn’t called - wonder what it was? If no one else recalls a show that had contestants in swimsuits taking rubber rafts to picture perfect tiny islands trying to fit a key into a treasure chest, I suppose I’ll always wonder. Any chance it was Crystal Maze? (I can’t link easily; you’ll have to look it up). ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/64 "2017-06-24T19:35:23Z")
> [@Wheelz](#): > > Split Second! Yes! There were 5 cars on stage, and the show’s winner would get a key that would start one of them. Pretty sure if they won the car they were done. If not, they’d come back the next day. If they won two games, there would be only 4 cars, and so on. Any player who won five straight games just got their pick of the 5 cars. I loved that show! Tom Kennedy’s version was much faster-paced than Monty Hall’s. I remember one episode in particular that went right down to the wire. One of the contestants was a really sharp woman who was majoring in Russian at (IIRC) USC. She pounced on the buzzer when \*\*Government paper Party paper News agency \*\* came up on the board. Before Kennedy could finish the question (“Name these three things of the Soviet Union”) she’d given the correct answers (_Izvestiya_, _Pravda_, TASS) and won her fifth game! I’m pretty sure this was in 1972, because I had just started learning Russian too. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/65 "2017-06-24T22:07:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > They’re an OTA network with only 53 affiliates. If it’s not already broadcast in your market, it’s unlikely it would be carried on cable in your area. It’s only on one station in Arizona, in Phoenix. And even if it is, it may depend on your cable service. AT&T U-Verse and DirecTV, for example, do not carry broadcast stations’ “subchannels,” which is how Buzzr is broadcast. > [@MsJinx](#): > > Thanks! Now I know what it wasn’t called - wonder what it was? If no one else recalls a show that had contestants in swimsuits taking rubber rafts to picture perfect tiny islands trying to fit a key into a treasure chest, I suppose I’ll always wonder. I don’t know about swimsuits, but it sounds like you are describing a 1968 ABC show called _Treasure Isle_, but I think the rubber rafts and the treasure chest were two different parts. In one part, each husband of the two husband-and-wife teams had to move a rubber raft around and pick up one of three answers to a question, while blindfolded (the wives were calling out directions), and I think the treasure chest was part of the bonus round for the winners. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2017, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/66 "2017-06-24T22:12:55Z")
Missed the edit window… > [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > I don’t know about swimsuits, but it sounds like you are describing a 1968 ABC show called _Treasure Isle_, but I think the rubber rafts and the treasure chest were two different parts. In one part, each husband of the two husband-and-wife teams had to move a rubber raft around and pick up one of three answers to a question, while blindfolded (the wives were calling out directions), and I think the treasure chest was part of the bonus round for the winners. [Here is an episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHJtmr2XCzU), although it is in black and white. ---
**Author:** ![HyacinthBucket](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hyacinthbucket/32/3063_2.png) [@HyacinthBucket](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HyacinthBucket)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/67 "2017-06-25T16:02:10Z")
[quote=“NetTrekker, post:61, topic:789056”] Password with Alan Ludden [/QUOTE] My fav when I was in high school was another Allen Ludden show from the 1960s - **College Bowl.** Two teams from various colleges squared off every week. The questions were challenging, and for me getting 3 or 4 right every show felt like a major accomplishment. A few episodes are available on YouTube. And I just beat both USC and Barnard by knowing the exact first line of Caesar’s Commentaries in Latin - GO ME !!! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/68 "2017-06-25T16:08:19Z")
[quote=“NetTrekker, post:61, topic:789056”] Password with Alan Ludden [/QUOTE] I remember a brief period in the late 1970's when Allen Ludden's name was code for dullness: Q: What do you get when you cross Allen Ludden with cardboard? A: Cardbored. Q: What’s Allen Ludden’s CB handle? A: The click when you turn the radio off. ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/69 "2017-06-25T17:08:35Z")
> [@F.U.Shakespeare](#): > > I remember a brief period in the late 1970’s when Allen Ludden’s name was code for dullness: > > Q: What do you get when you cross Allen Ludden with cardboard? > A: Cardbored. > > Q: What’s Allen Ludden’s CB handle? > A: The click when you turn the radio off. I think it may have been Mad Magazine (possibly National Lampoon?) with a paper puzzle pieces (all irregular) that could supposedly be assembled or folded into a square (they could not)…turned out to be a picture of Allen Ludden. ---
**Author:** ![MsJinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/278dde/32.png) [@MsJinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsJinx)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/70 "2017-06-25T17:10:21Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Missed the edit window… > > [Here is an episode](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHJtmr2XCzU), although it is in black and white. Thank you! That must be it, and I had details very confused. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2017, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/71 "2017-06-25T18:25:39Z")
> [@MsJinx](#): > > I think it may have been Mad Magazine (possibly National Lampoon?) with a paper puzzle pieces (all irregular) that could supposedly be assembled or folded into a square (they could not)…turned out to be a picture of Allen Ludden. Not just a square, but a \*\*perfect \*\*square! It was in _ **MAD** _. He was “the most perfect square” they could think of! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/72 "2017-06-29T22:44:26Z")
[quote=“NetTrekker, post:61, topic:789056”] Password with Alan Ludden [/QUOTE] The episode of \*\*\*Password \*\*\*I remember best was one with Max Baer, Jr, aka “Jethro Bodine” (unfortunately, I don’t remember who his celebrity opponent was). The password was “Zone.” Neither Max nor his opponent could think of the obvious clue, and the \*\*only \*\*thing Max could think of was “End.” He repeated it over and over again. (I must have been 10 or 11 at the time, and not being a sports fan, I didn’t get the reference either.) Finally, after the celebrities had exhausted all their opportunities, Alan Ludden said “May I try something here? ‘TWILIGHT!’” It was a real **DUH!** :smack: moment all around. The one I remember second best had Juliet Prowse, the dancer, as one of the celebrities. They had to stop the lightning round because she, as a South African, didn’t know what “Caboose” meant. Her counterpart (a guy; which one, I don’t recall) had to take over and finish the round for her. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/73 "2017-06-29T23:04:31Z")
Whenever someone starts crowing about Alex Trebek/Jeopardy, I mention the game show he had in the early '70s with the giant pinball machine (I just found the name on Google–“The Magnificent Marble Machine.”). I remember a HUGE porn-star mustache, a sorta-afro and polyester bell-bottomed suits. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/74 "2017-06-29T23:47:22Z")
This [Magnificent Marble Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU7n6Ncojx8&t=52s)? You sure you’re not thinking of [The Wizard of Odds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GVnD5q2NO0) or [High Rollers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKG0jMPP_44)? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/75 "2017-06-29T23:55:58Z")
> [@Skywatcher](#): > > This [Magnificent Marble Machine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU7n6Ncojx8&t=52s)? You sure you’re not thinking of [The Wizard of Odds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GVnD5q2NO0) or [High Rollers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKG0jMPP_44)? Nope. Alex was a frequent “celebrity contestant.” (I thought he was the host, but not so; he was just on it a lot. With the BIG 'stache.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/76 "2017-06-30T00:14:33Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > (I thought he was the host, but not so; he was just on it a lot…) Ah, that explains it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/77 "2017-06-30T00:51:46Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Some good guests on You Bet Your Life. For instance, [Ray Bradbury](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBTrUx46b8I)… I watched that just to make sure. I guess the attitude toward television he’s now famous for – well, for the last several decades – was slow to develop. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/78 "2017-06-30T01:07:13Z")
> [@MsJinx](#): > > I think it may have been Mad Magazine (possibly National Lampoon?) with a paper puzzle pieces (all irregular) that could supposedly be assembled or folded into a square (they could not)…turned out to be a picture of Allen Ludden. But, FWIW, I take my hat off to Mr. Ludden. He lassoed [Betty White](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betty_White#Family), in her natural prime. ---
**Author:** ![Debillw3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@Debillw3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debillw3)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/79 "2017-06-30T01:33:22Z")
I loved _To Tell the Truth_–especially when the other 2 were asked questions so far in right field that it essentially turned into a game of “Balderdash”. Even better is when that happened and the panelists believed the other 2 over the one who wasn’t talking out of his/her ass. ---
**Author:** ![Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Some\_Call\_Me.Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Some_Call_Me.Tim)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056/80 "2017-06-30T02:12:45Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Seems like a good place to plug the musical I just finished writing: _Big Bucks: The Press Your Luck Scandal_. It’s about the guy who successfully scammed the show out of $110,000 back in the '80s. We did two staged readings of the show in NYC and now I’m trying to get the funds together to have an Off- or Off-Off-Broadway run. People in this thread might find it interesting to check it out! As far as could be demonstrated, and I’m quite sure the producers tried very hard to attempt to demonstrate this, Michael Larson did not “scam” Press Your Luck. He simply played the game with more skill than the producers had anticipated. He took no actions that were not within the rules of the game. See [this documentary on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzNMCXWCZzQ). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-tv-game-shows/789056.md?page=5)