For many episodes during the first year of Password Plus, there was an announcement that Elizabeth Montgomery, on her final Password Plus appearance, had the fastest Alphabetics time in the history of the show with 28 seconds left . That record would be tied (by Joanna Gleason) and broken (with 31 seconds left on the clock by Betty White, and broken first by Joanna Gleason) throughout the show's run. What they didn't know about was evident in this past Sunday's episode of Password Plus with the Mary Tyler Moore-Bill Cullen pairing.
Bill won his game and made it to the Alphabetics where he helped a contestant win the $5,000 with 29seconds left on the clock, surprising this viewer that no one noticed.
It's interesting that at that time no one has forseen that these fine shows would be rebroadcast or such a thing as a game show channel would exist and yes, the record that was acknowledged was broken but before it was announced, Bill had the faster unacknowledged time by one second. It's not the biggest deal but being this is a game show forum, I thought it would be good to note the one that got away on Password Plus, a game that never got the ratings it should have but today remains one of the great constant treasures that, like the best game shows, holds up well after so many years.
