Earliest Game Show Memory...

[SRIV94]

I had mentioned in my "Let's Meet Our Players" post that my earliest recollection was of the prize signage on THREE ON A MATCH, but after further review, I do have vague recollections of shows that had aired before, like EYE GUESS (the title just stood out), LMAD, NEWLYWED, DATING, and even CAN YOU TOP THIS?.

Whatever it was that sparked my interest, though, I'm just glad that it did.

[Chief-O]

I was pretty much a "Price" fan since birth, but one of my weirdest early memories was remembering "Blackout". For a long time [until I found info on it, at least] I thought Bob Eubanks hosted it......which must mean I saw some "Card Sharks" as a baby too.....

[Ian Wallis]

I think my earliest memory of game shows was watching the Jack Narz version of Beat the Clock, which ran at 5:30 p.m. for a while in my area.  It was on opposite Get Smart reruns.  We only had one color set at the time (the other was black and white), and my sisters always wanted Get Smart while I always wanted Beat the Clock.  We usually took turns watching in color!  This probably would have been very early '70s.

I also have vague memories of the original version of Sale of the Century, before they changed to the couples format.

By summer '73 I was hooked on the genre, and whenever home from school always watched shows like Joker's Wild, Baffle, To Tell the Truth, Hollywood Squares, Narz's Concentration and just about everything else that was available over the years.

Those were the days!!

[BrandonFG]

More memories are coming back to me, still from c. 1985, when I was living in Dallas, and visited family in Norfolk. From what I've been told, I get my fandom from my great-grandmother, who loved Match Game in the 70s.

-I remember a neon Joker light, which I'm thinking was the circle of red Joker icons, that lit in a 360-degree design. When I saw TJW on GSN some 13 years later, I was surprised at how different I remembered the neon, which I thought was a white/pink neon color as a child.

-The Tune Topics board from Lange's Name That Tune. From what I remember, the show (and TJW) aired in the late-afternoon, along with TTD and syndie $ale, all on the station I work at now.

-Back in Dallas, I remember TTD airing on channel 39 (forgot the call letters), but I remember the logo was a bold Helvetica font, in a shiny gold.

-I think Kennedy TPiR was the first TPiR I became familiar with.

-Telling an uncle I thought they got the wheel for "Wheel of Fortune" from Pep Boys.

-Also remember wanting the Card Sharks table that Lacey and Suzanna worked from (this would be 1986).

[PYLW]

I was never a huge fan of game shows as a child...If I were sick I'd watch the occasional episode of TPiR because nothing else was on. Sometimes my Mom would leave TJW and TTD on from 7-8 (I THINK it aired on WWOR-TV here, not sure, I know it was from 7-8 P.M.). My Mom also LOVED Barris stuff...Gong Show and Newlywed Game were two shows she made sure to watch as much as she could. I only started getting interested in shows due to Body Language.

[wheelloon]

I was born in 86, and until I was about 5, I watched only two things on TV: Sesame Street and GS's.

My GS tapes from this time period are from both USA and the networks. I watched all of the Nick games, but my only remaining memories are that of Double Dare.

My earliest memories were of Wheel (oh what a surprise!).  I clapped along with the Wheel, and called out the letters, dollars, and puzzles. My parents say I tried to host Wheel with Pat. I would jump up when the player is going for $25k, and scream bloody murder when someone would win it (same deal when TPIR's intro was playing). BUT, I would run out of the room just when somebody was about to hit bankrupt, because I was not fond of what it did to the players or its sound (negative association, I'd have to believe).

I got the Nintendo when I was 3, along with the newest editions of Wheel, Jeopardy, and Classic Concentration, and they we the only games I played. I still have them, along with all the other GS video games they released. In the morning, CC aired right after daytime Wheel (at least, locally), so that hour was my "must see TV" until Wheel went off. When CC started in repeats, it aired at the same time as Combs FF, so I had to flip channels until both went off the air, and I was at school all day.

I watched the daytime games on NBC and CBS in the morning, I watched USA in the afternoon, and my bedtime was 7:30 (purposely placed right after Wheel). My USA tapes have TTD 90, PYL, Scrabble, and $25K Pyr. I also remembered watching SoTC and $100k Pyr on USA as well.

One semi-interesting tidbit is that I also remembered watching another show on USA, where there was a group of players on the right side of a glitzy set, an electronic board on the left, and a host in the middle, standing in front of a car or a huge podium, and that I knew the host from somewhere else. Only recently did I discover (after FG2 started Quickplay) that the game was Wipeout! Thus, I have recently developed a sort of fondness for the show...

Long post, I know, yet I'm forgetting lots of other early GS memories. I take my games very seriously...

[aaron sica]

Other scattered memories, since others are sharing too:

- I could tell time at age 4 1/2; I remember Whew! being the show that bumped Price to the 11am time slot in '79. I would set encyclopedias across the floor and jump from book to book as the player ran the gauntlet (I remember Randy Amasia absolutely loving this story when I told it to him).

- Watching the $20,000 Pyramid at its noon time slot while eating lunch (I was fascinated by the solari's) and occasionally, switching to NBC for Chain Reaction.

- Watching Las Vegas Gambit before I had to go to school (I was in afternoon kindergarten..fall '80)

- Watching a Saturday edition of TJW from Harrisburg at 7pm and seeing a car win; watching the same show from WMAR at 7:30 so I could see the car win all over again. Being absolutely terrified the time a contestant faced the devil and pulled the lever down, where it collapsed. When Jack said "You broke my wheel!!" I actually thought he was angry! Also on the TJW tangent, being glad when Jim Peck substitute hosted; he was less scary than Barry.

- My mom would call me inside if I was outside playing when they were going to spin the Star Wheel on MG.

[Mr. Matté]

Not my earliest memory, but it's certainly a ways back:

I would watch the Winner's Circle from Pyramid being played (can't remember if it was Clark reruns or Davidson first-runs) and notice the category trilon appear between the contestant and celebrity's legs.  I would always think that they would spin the trilon around themselves, and when they spun it the wrong way, they would get buzzed and the pyramid would be showing.  Spinning it the right way got the ding and dollar amount.

Also, my dad always remembers that I would watch PYL reruns on USA and scream, "Big money, 'NUMMA, NUMMA!'"  I don't remember saying that for specifically PYL but I definitely remember screaming that when Wheel of Fortune came on (in this case, the "Numma" being the Bankrupt).

[cacLA8383]

My earliest memory would have to be me watching Sale of the Century and Scrabble every day starting around 86 or so (I was just about three at the time.)

[Allstar87]

A few memories I had forgotten about.

For years I had a vague recollection about one game show that predated my TPIR memories; remembered absolutely nothing except that losers were pulled backwards through the wall. It wasn't until I started collecting game shows that I learned that the show in question was "Remote Control".

Another show I had vague memories of was Scattergories. I remembered the gameplay and the fact I really liked the show, but couldn't remember the name or host. I finally learned what it was when I just randomly surfed the net one day and found a rulesheet for it.

As for shows I actually remembered the titles of, I also watched a lot of Carmen Sandiego, Double Dare, Nick Arcade. (for Nick Arcade, I'd dance to the theme song whenever it was played!)

[Strikerz04]

Another random moment:
I remembered Bob Goen more than Pat on "Wheel" when I was 4. Then again, I was more scared of Pat Sajak then Bob during that time as well.

[Mike Tennant]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'148574\' date=\'Mar 18 2007, 02:50 PM\']-Also remember wanting the Card Sharks table that Lacey and Suzanna worked from (this would be 1986).[/quote]
Clearly you were just a child if, looking at that picture, you wanted the table.

[WhammyPower]

I have some vague recollections of watching TPiR, PYL (USA reruns), and $100k Pyramid in my childhood.

Interesting note, I can remember shouting "PASS! PASS!" many times for one particular episode.  I don't recall which one, but when I first saw clips of the Larson eps., I thought that was the one.  Seeing as I was born in one of the hottest summers in Milwaukee record, I would be completely wrong.

[tvwxman]

Earliest memories....The big numbers on High Rollers, the pinball from Marble Machine, Jack Narz' Concentration, and Dealer's Choice. I was 2 at the time....I later told Trebek in an interview with him that I had learned to count thanks to those big numbers!

Speaking of Dealer's Choice, does anyone here remember an audience game they played to pick the three contestants? Vague, 30+ year memories of this had audience members selecting boxes off of the same board they showed the prizes (the 3 x 3 grid).... I believe, and again, i'm going on hazy memories of a baby here, that a player had to pick a box that avoided a, now i'm serious here, pumpkin? to advance on stage.

Or I may have just been loopy from the breastmilk. Confirm or Deny old timers please?

[MrBuddwing]

Well, I sure feel like a dinosaur around these here parts ...

I remember Mom watching "Queen for a Day."

I remember a game show called "Seven Keys" another one called "Camouflage."

And I remember Hugh Downs hosting "Concentration." And Bud Collyer hosting "To Tell the Truth."