This Day in Game Shows: September 4

[Jimmy Owen]

I know that Don Morrow always had an answer for me regarding which kind of gas to put in my car.

[Don Howard]

I know that Don Morrow always had an answer for me regarding which kind of gas to put in my car.

As the Shell Answer Man....I remember it well. During that week in the summer of 1980 when Don was the announcer on WOF in-between Charlie O. and Jack Clark and Don was doing the \"look at this studio\" spiel, I was expecting a good word about our good friends at the gas stations. But alas, no one picked that as a prize with their winnings. Of course, that could be because such a gift wasn't available. Great voice, excellent presentation and as Randy West has indicated to us earlier, \"a class act\".

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Sep 5 2003, 11:01 AM\']I wish I could run into Don Morrow while running errands. The best I can do is the guy on the bicycle who collects aluminum cans. Maybe I should start hanging out with you, Randy.[/quote]
Come on Down! You're more than welcome, as long as you're willing to drive   ;-)

It IS a kick to run into these guys and share conversation in the waiting rooms at auditions. There is nothing sweeter than spotting an old friend or an old pro; it can make you hope the audition process is running even later than it usually does.

Just this week I caught up with Don (I also loved him as the Shell Answer Man!), Shadoe Stevens (You'll hear/see him on a game show soon), and Chuck Riley (The ubiquitous big-piped voice of Ford - \"Winning Lines\" was his latest game show connection). But just remember that for each of these trips into the \"Audition Zone\" one must drive an hour in and an hour out through the hellish traffic and heat, wait up to an hour to be \"read\", and shuffled in and out to display your wares like a hooker at The Bunny Ranch.

Why up to 50 guys will be auditioned for a spot that will run for a week or two is a mystery, and it makes the odds seem more like being called to \"Come On Down\" at a TPIR special taped at The Coliseum in Rome (Even more seats than Radio City Music Hall, and an even worse facility for \"Price\")!

OK, I vented. Thanks for listening. I still wouldn't trade it for another career... especially because I don't know how to do anything else!  

So yes, come hang with me... but YOU drive!    ;-)


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Sep 6 2003, 01:40 AM\'] Shadoe Stevens (You'll hear/see him on a game show soon) [/quote]
 Shadoe's coming back? I wonder which show he's doing....I doubt it's TPIR [he wouldn't do well, IMO] and I don't think it's H2 [John Moschitta Jr taking over, unless he was already fired?]

[inturnaround]

[quote name=\'Fedya\' date=\'Sep 4 2003, 10:00 PM\'] [quote name=\'tvrandywest\' date=\'Sep 4 2003, 10:06 AM\'] Excuse me, but isn't the BIGGEST story about September 4th the 1972 debut of TPIR? I sure hope so, because I've been telling the audiences that all week!

Randy
tvrandywest.com [/quote]
1972 debut?  Didn't some guy named Cullen host TPIR in the 50s and 60s?  :-p [/quote]
 Yes, but he said the 1972 debut. It couldn't have been the 1972 debut if it was in the 50s and 60s now could it?

[tvrandywest]

[quote name=\'inturnaround\' date=\'Sep 6 2003, 12:34 PM\']Yes, but he said the 1972 debut. It couldn't have been the 1972 debut if it was in the 50s and 60s now could it? [/quote]
Now HERE'S a guy who did well on his SATs!   Congrats     ;-)

Randy
tvrandywest.com

[Kevin Prather]

[quote name=\'PeterMarshallFan\' date=\'Sep 4 2003, 07:36 PM\'] I hate to say it, but I think this will be Rod's last year.......even if he does recover from this latest problem, I dunno if Fremangle will want to keep putting money into him [is he getting paid leave? I'd assume he does] Add to that the fact they've tried 3 replacements in the last year [Burton, Paul, and Randy] plus possibly more in the live Vegas shows, and it looks like they're ready to throw in the towel and replace him for good.

Get well soon, Rod! :-( [/quote]
 lol@Fremangle. was that a typo? because it seems so right.

[johnnya2k3]

It's true; the show aired at 7:30 in the morning in LA. Actually, in Hawaii, they were still watching Bill Cullen host The Price Is Right and Hugh Downs host Concentration in 1972.

Funny you should mention this; when The (New) Price is Right and Joker's Wild debuted on September 4, 1972; we in Fairbanks had to wait till SEPTEMBER 25 (I would be born six years later that day) for them!

Of course at that time there only three channels on the air: Two commercial and one PBS. Television in Alaska was VERY limited with network shows aired weeks behind the Lower 48.

Jonathan Allen

[Robair]

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Sep 5 2003, 09:58 AM\']

That's preposterous. Those shows were live, coast-to-coast. Weren't they?

It's true; the show aired at 7:30 in the morning in LA.  Actually, in Hawaii, they were still watching Bill Cullen host The Price Is Right and Hugh Downs host Concentration in 1972.

Hey, in 1972 we had seven channels, no bugs, all off-network reruns in black and white except The Flintstones, F Troop, and Petticoat Junction, and smiling Captain Jack was hosting ancient Popeye cartoons on Channel 11.  When The Joker's Wild, TPIR, and Gambit, premiered, we were in hog heaven. [/quote]
 The one thing that happened on Labor Day 1972 that I never thought would happen on Labor Day 2003 is that TPIR would still be on the air from the trio of new shows, \"The Joker's Wild\", \"The New Price Is Right\", and \"Gambit\".

Then again, who knew that 31 years later Jerry Lewis would still be stumping for money as host of the MDA telethon? Back in 72 if you can believe that he was doing only his seventh telethon overall.

Also then again, who knew that le Jerry would be roughly three times as heavy as he was then?

[Ian Wallis]

Funny you should mention this; when The (New) Price is Right and Joker's Wild debuted on September 4, 1972; we in Fairbanks had to wait till SEPTEMBER 25 (I would be born six years later that day) for them!

Of course at that time there only three channels on the air: Two commercial and one PBS. Television in Alaska was VERY limited with network shows aired weeks behind the Lower 48.

I know that for many years, Hawaii was one week behind in their primetime network airings and I assumed it was the same for daytime shows as well.  A Hawaiian TVGuide I have from 1980 even has an insert that states \"all shows are screened one week after their appearance on the mainland, so if you missed an episode of your favorite soap, here's a chance to catch up\".

Does anybody know if it was one week behind back in '72, or more than that?  Was Alaska always three weeks behind in daytime?

[Ian Wallis]

Really? I thought it was in August, since that's when the first show was taped.

Unless I'm mistaken...

As far as I know, the first episode of \"The New Price is Right\" was actually taped in May 1972.  The second episode was taped in August.  In the past, it has been assumed that show might have been used for an actual pilot and they decided to run it as the first episode.  I think the premiere of \"Gambit\" was taped in early May 1972 as well.  

Maybe CBS knew they were going to add those three game shows, but didn't know exactly when they were going to start running them(?)  It does seem odd for those particular episodes to be taped so far in advance.

[johnnya2k3]

Does anybody know if it was one week behind back in '72, or more than that? Was Alaska always three weeks behind in daytime?

In Hawaii, I think network programs were seen one week after Los Angeles gets done with them, while Anchorage and Fairbanks got their tapes from Seattle. Anchorage would show them for one week followed by Fairbanks the next.

Syndicated shows at the time were still in the \"bicycling\" method (meaning it would take about a month or so for Soul Train, People's Court, Donahue, Match Game (PM), Joker's Wild, or Tic Tac Dough to come their way), so the stations had to rely on off-network reruns to fill those blanks. Of course that all changed forever in 1984 when the stations were finally able to pick up programs -- both network and syndicated -- off satellite.

Luckily for me I was living in Phoenix from late 1983 to mid-'85, when the stations were about to make the transistion from landlines to satellite.

Jonathan Allen

[trainman]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Sep 7 2003, 12:29 PM\'] Does anybody know if it was one week behind back in '72, or more than that? [/quote]
 Not that this is an exact answer to the question, but I just got a TV Guide from 1959 that has an article about \"what they watch on TV in Hawaii.\"  It says most network prime-time shows aired three weeks late; major sporting events such as the World Series aired one day late.

The article also claims that \"Maverick\" aired at the same time in Hawaii as it did on the mainland, because it was sponsored by Kaiser Aluminum...and Mr. Kaiser owned the ABC affiliate in Honolulu.  Presumably, he paid to have an extra copy of the film made especially for his station.

[Ian Wallis]

Of course that all changed forever in 1984 when the stations were finally able to pick up programs -- both network and syndicated -- off satellite.

I guess when the transition was made, there were at least one week's worth of programs that never aired at all in Hawaii.  If the change occured during summer reruns, I guess maybe it didn't matter that much.

[MissesJanice]

Now wasn't Price 72 taped a head of time, I never thought the show was aired live to the east coast. I have heard Bob talk about he used to do Truth or Consequences live to the east coast, but not Price.