NBC Concentration

[joker316]

In a recent thread about Concentration, its cancellation from NBC was discussed. My question is this: Since G-T's version began airing that fall, had NBC not cancelled its version, would the G-T version have gone on the air? It seems as if the timing of the final NBC show and the first G-T episode seem a little too close for deals to not have been in place prior to March of 73. And even though NBC was licensing the show to G-T, I don't think they would want two versions playing against each other (either on in the same daypart or viewing area). Your input would be most appreciated. Thank you!

[chris319]

No, the G-T version would not have gone into production had Concentration not been cancelled by NBC when it was. Others can speak to the exact timing of the NAB show of that year. We will never know the exact role of Jim Victory in the timing of the deal.

[William A. Padron]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'179552\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 12:37 AM\']
No, the G-T version would not have gone into production had Concentration not been cancelled by NBC when it was. Others can speak to the exact timing of the NAB show of that year. We will never know the exact role of Jim Victory in the timing of the deal.
[/quote]

I recalled reading a February 1973 news article clipping from The Hollywood Reporter, as found on file in the theater collection of the New York Public Library, that the original date for the finale of NBC's Concentration was to have been Friday, March 30 of that year.  It was later changed a week earlier to March 23 instead, but there was no mention in that article of the network licensing to anyone a syndicated version of the show at that time yet.

[davemackey]

[quote name=\'William A. Padron\' post=\'179613\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 03:03 PM\']
I recalled reading a February 1973 news article clipping from The Hollywood Reporter, as found on file in the theater collection of the New York Public Library, that the original date for the finale of NBC's Concentration was to have been Friday, March 30 of that year.  It was later changed a week earlier to March 23 instead, but there was no mention in that article of the network licensing to anyone a syndicated version of the show at that time yet.
[/quote]
I used to watch the old Bob Clayton episodes, then you see the first of the Jack Narz episodes, it's hard to imagine they were produced within a year of each other.

[joker316]

I used to watch the old Bob Clayton episodes, then you see the first of the Jack Narz episodes, it's hard to imagine they were produced within a year of each other.

That's the part that made me ask. I would think you would need a few months between the cancellation announcement to mount the sets, audition hosts, tweak the format (or in this case invent a bonus round). It just seemed as though the timing was so close. Unless the decision was made, to cancel by NBC, even sooner than we've been led to believe.

[TheGameShowGuy]

I also think it had to do with the ending of the daily It's Your Bet in 1973. That was the strip many NBC affiliates and most O&Os plugged the off-net 1PM slot that went to syndie Concentration in fall 1973. Wonder if  that show's ending was directly related to Concentration's NBC cancellation and a push by NBC for its affiliates and O&Os to take a modernized (slightly) Concentration (I'm just speculating;by 1973 I recall It's Your Bet getting kind of rediculous and worn out.)

A funny note... I never realized until  near the  end of It's Your Bet's run that it and PDQ before it were syndie not NBC. (I was a kid and didnt know about TV stuff-- only turning it on)... Then, once in 1972-3 an NBC promo touting its game shows skipped from The Who What or Where Game to "after lunch" and Three on a Match... I then understood syndication!!!

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'davemackey\' post=\'179640\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 06:36 PM\']I used to watch the old Bob Clayton episodes, then you see the first of the Jack Narz episodes, it's hard to imagine they were produced within a year of each other.[/quote]
As we've discussed before, Norm Blumenthal was pathologically resistant to change, probably even more so than Barker's TPIR, which left Concentration looking about a decade older than anything else on the schedule.  I didn't get to see the Narz show the first time around, but I'm sure I would have marveled at the upgrade too.

[fishbulb]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'179664\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 07:05 PM\']
[quote name=\'davemackey\' post=\'179640\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 06:36 PM\']I used to watch the old Bob Clayton episodes, then you see the first of the Jack Narz episodes, it's hard to imagine they were produced within a year of each other.[/quote]
As we've discussed before, Norm Blumenthal was pathologically resistant to change, probably even more so than Barker's TPIR, which left Concentration looking about a decade older than anything else on the schedule.  I didn't get to see the Narz show the first time around, but I'm sure I would have marveled at the upgrade too.
[/quote]


I remember being very let down by the Narz edition at the time.  I'm trying to remember the reason for that.  I think it was that there was less time devoted to the main game, and if I remember right, the Narz edition never straddled.  I didn't like that either.
Edit - The NBC edition did straddle, didn't it?

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'fishbulb\' post=\'179665\' date=\'Mar 2 2008, 11:24 PM\']
I remember being very let down by the Narz edition at the time.  I'm trying to remember the reason for that.  I think it was that there was less time devoted to the main game, and if I remember right, the Narz edition never straddled.  I didn't like that either.
Edit - The NBC edition did straddle, didn't it?
[/quote]
Yes, it did.

None of NBC's shows in the early 1970s were exactly "flashy" (Sale probably had the brightest and most interesting set), but when TNPIR started airing opposite Concentration in 1972, it was like comparing your house to great-Aunt Harriet's.  The Narz version looked so much better and ran so much smoother (even though they were had to create six puzzles a show), it was no comparison.

[chris319]

Replacing Milton Kaye and his Wurlitzer and Tony Columbia and his mallets with a MOOG synthesizer was a huge leap forward.

The NBC Concentration set was shipped lock, stock and trilons to Hollywood in 1973. No need to hold auditions, just ask Jack Narz if he's available. Get some MOOG music recorded. All of this could be done in the space of about six weeks, the usual amount of lead time for mounting an old-school game show.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'179694\' date=\'Mar 3 2008, 10:52 AM\']
Replacing Milton Kaye and his Wurlitzer and Tony Columbia and his mallets with a MOOG synthesizer was a huge leap forward.

The NBC Concentration set was shipped lock, stock and trilons to Hollywood in 1973. No need to hold auditions, just ask Jack Narz if he's available. Get some MOOG music recorded. All of this could be done in the space of about six weeks, the usual amount of lead time for mounting an old-school game show.
[/quote]

Did the midgets turning the trilons go, too?

Did Let's Make a Deal fire the band before they left ABC? I remember the slick graphics with Monty riding a dollar-bill magic carpet, but despite that TPIR made that LMAD look pretty old, too.

[Chief-O]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'179699\' date=\'Mar 3 2008, 10:16 AM\']
Did Let's Make a Deal fire the band before they left ABC? [/quote]

Ivan Ditmars retired when the Vegas season began.

[chris319]

Did the midgets little people turning the trilons go, too?

Of course! How do you think the trilons turned, motors or something? :-P

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'179706\' date=\'Mar 3 2008, 11:17 AM\']
[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'179699\' date=\'Mar 3 2008, 10:16 AM\']
Did Let's Make a Deal fire the band before they left ABC? [/quote]

Ivan Ditmars retired when the Vegas season began.
[/quote]

And was saluted by Monty on the last daytime show, along with a prop man named Bernie who had been with the show from the NBC days--and the only other time he was mentioned on the air was when Jay Stewart opened up a watch case--and a $500 watch wasn't there!  They made lots of jokes about Bernie leaving it in the vault--and then I believe found out later that someone had gotten into the vault and stolen the watch.