Author Topic: 1975: A Year of Classics... (Read 3394 times)

Ian Wallis · « **on:** February 18, 2009, 04:15:37 PM »

I think it's safe to say that most of us on this forum have a special place in our hearts for '70s game shows. When you think back to the '70s, the year that seems to stand out is 1975. There were more game shows on TV that year than ever before; more network time-slot changes; and quite possibly more short-lived shows than any other year.

Many of us remember watching them back in the day, or have seen reruns on GSN. A lot of us have even acquired tapes/discs of some of the lone existing episodes of that time.

When you think back to '75 now, what's your impression?

While I like shows such as Money Maze, Big Showdown and the You Don't Say remake, and would love to see stuff like Spin-Off, which we know exists, were they "classics" that just didn't last long because of the craziness of that year, and were cancelled too quickly; or, were they "duds" that maybe never should have made it on the air?

I'm certainly not saying Blank Check or Musical Chairs are is a masterpieces, but there's a certain charm about them when you see them now, that seems to be missing from many of today's games. Maybe just looking through the eyes of a young child I remember them more fondly than they should be; but whether it's the theme songs, the splashy sets, the big (for the time) money, the general "feel-good" attitude of the shows, they still hold a special fondness for me.

I guess a lot of it might have to do with the fact that most of the shorter-run shows from that time have never aired on GSN, but do you think '75 was a great year for the genre, or do you think the networks just tried to throw anything at the wall in hopes it would stick?

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #1 on:** February 18, 2009, 05:33:55 PM »

I thought Jan-July 4 was great. After that the new shows introduced weren't as appealing to me as those on during the first half of the year.

Then they started the experimentation phase. TPIR, LMAD, HSq and WOF tried hour-long versions and only TPIR succeeded. You had stuff like "David Steinberg's Noonday" on NBC which disrupted the game show viewing patterns for a week. One by one the game shows were knocked out for stuff like "All in the Family" "Brady Bunch/Happy Days" and expanded soaps.

First half of '75: great. Second half: Not so great.

TimK2003 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 18, 2009, 07:42:34 PM »

Musical Chairs wasn't too bad...I think that what they should've done with the main game is when they got to the point in the songs when the contestants had to pick the correct answer, they should have put all 3 answers up at the same time and read them ala "Millionaire". Once the contestants answers were revealed, they could have had the singers "sing" the correct answer.

The combo of revealing the multiple choices one at a time and the fastest correct answer(s) wins was poorly crafted. Most of the time, all the answers were locked in by the first few words of the 2nd choice.

Other than that, Big Showdown was one of my favorite buzz-in shows just because of the strategy factor (blocking out other players to answer 'harder' questions on your own).

Don Howard · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2009, 02:55:17 PM »

The big move of 1975 which confounds me (I grant you, it was very late 1975) was moving Let's Make A Deal to noon and Rhyme And Reason into the 1:30pm spot. With Monty having trouble against the newly expanded Days Of Our Lives, what made the programmers believe Bob, Nipsey, et. al. were going to fare any better?

Winkfan · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2009, 04:40:20 PM »

Here's another tidbit about the year in question:

14 new shows either debuted, were revived, or earned nighttime versions in syndication during the calendar year. Only three became long-running hits: Wheel Of Fortune, The Cross-Wits, and Match Game PM.

By the way, Jimmy, the fall didn't really begin until JUNE of that year when CBS dropped The Joker's Wild and Now You See It.

Cordially,
Tammy

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2009, 05:38:28 PM »

Quote

The big move of 1975 which confounds me (I grant you, it was very late 1975) was moving Let's Make A Deal to noon and Rhyme And Reason into the 1:30pm spot. With Monty having trouble against the newly expanded Days Of Our Lives, what made the programmers believe Bob, Nipsey, et. al. were going to fare any better?

Reportedly, when Rhyme and Reason (and later Break the Bank) were both cancelled in 1976, they still had decent ratings. A couple of years ago some ratings numbers were posted here which indicated they held their own throughout their runs.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2009, 05:47:57 PM »

Quote

First half of '75: great. Second half: Not so great.

I've always been amused by the wild scheduling that took place that year...each of the three networks had at least one show that lasted 10 weeks or less - Blankety Blanks on ABC, Spin-Off on CBS and 3 For the Money on NBC. Give-N-Take, the show that replaced Spin-Off, only lasted 12 weeks before it too was cancelled.

Even if a show doesn't start off strong, how can it be expected to build an audience in such a short period of time? You've gone through all the trouble of building a set, paying for the music and host, any promotion the show might have got - then it's gone after just a few weeks.

It's also kind of puzzling that Give-N-Take was moved from 10AM to 4PM after Musical Chairs was cancelled, but only lasted there three weeks before it was gone too. If neither show was doing well, why not just extend Musical Chairs three more weeks than making such a drastic time change for another failing show? It doesn't seem likely CBS was hoping to save Give-N-Take by moving it. It's likely most of the remaining episodes were already taped before the November '75 time change. Maybe they saved money by not having to book more celebrity guests on Musical Chairs(?)

Also noteworthy is that Match Game and Tattletales (the latter also moved around the schedule several times) ended up the year in the exact same time slots they started the year in.

It's fun looking back at those old TVGuides!

Don Howard · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2009, 06:52:52 PM »

[quote name=\'Winkfan\' post=\'208462\' date=\'Feb 19 2009, 04:40 PM\']
the fall didn't really begin until JUNE of that year when CBS dropped The Joker's Wild and Now You See It.
[/quote]
I wonder how TJW or NYSI would have fared if one of them had been granted a stay of execution and moved to the afternoon with TPiR moving back to the morning two months sooner than it did. Either have TJW anchor the afternoon game block or place MG75 at 3:00 putting NYSI at 3:30.
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'208466\' date=\'Feb 19 2009, 05:47 PM\']
It's fun looking back at those old TVGuides!

[/quote]
[Last show of the series. On Monday, this program will be seen one half hour earlier and Now You See It moves here.]

Jay Temple · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2009, 11:50:38 PM »

I liked 1975 in no small part because of the short-lived shows. In hindsight, losing NYSI and TJW was bad, but I absolutely loved Blankety Blanks and Musical Chairs. (I'd still like to see a remake of the latter.)

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #9 on:** February 20, 2009, 09:34:15 PM »

Quote

I liked 1975 in no small part because of the short-lived shows.

I do too. Some of them were really cool that I thought should have had longer runs to try to find an audience. From what we've heard over the years, some of the shows that were cancelled still had decent ratings. I've read that Now You See It and Split Second were still pulling in decent numbers, but got the axe anyway. Steve Beverly's page (...I know...) once had an article that Monty Hall was angered over Split Second's cancellation partly because of the still-good ratings.

I wonder if part of it was the daytime programming chief trying to "make their mark" on the schedule at the time. We've heard about Lin Bolen and NBC, but it seems odd the other networks would jettison steadily-performing shows and then end up cancelling their replacements at lightning-fast speed. Maybe they could have brought the older show back(?)

From Magnificent Marble Machine to Money Maze, and all the others, those were interesting times.

TenPoundHammer · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2009, 11:54:44 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'208530\' date=\'Feb 20 2009, 09:34 PM\']Steve Beverly's page (...I know...)[/quote]

Okay, someone clue me in on this one, 'cause as usual I'm lost.

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'208530\' date=\'Feb 20 2009, 09:34 PM\']From Magnificent Marble Machine to Money Maze, and all the others, those were interesting times.
[/quote]

Speaking as one of the younger members of this forum, I think what draws me to the 70s shows is the fact that I never got to experience the 70s firsthand. Seeing what TV in general was like 30-35 years ago is definitely an interesting experience for someone my age. Heck, just seeing anything from before my own generation is an interesting experience, and I think that's part of what drew me to classic game shows in the first place. My generation didn't have a game show that consisted of six often-sloshed low-level celebs giving double entendre answers to fill-in-the-blank questions (even though we did get a pale imitation thereof, but it's just not the same). I just know 30 years from now, I'll probably hear one of my kids say something to the effect of, "Wow, back then, nearly EVERY country had a game show where contestants did nothing but stand there and pick briefcases?"

calliaume · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2009, 11:44:23 AM »

I guess I should weigh in at some point.

[quote name=\'TenPoundHammer\' post=\'209190\' date=\'Mar 1 2009, 12:54 AM\']
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'208530\' date=\'Feb 20 2009, 09:34 PM\']Steve Beverly's page (...I know...)[/quote]

Okay, someone clue me in on this one, 'cause as usual I'm lost.
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'208530\' date=\'Feb 20 2009, 09:34 PM\']From Magnificent Marble Machine to Money Maze, and all the others, those were interesting times.
[/quote]
Speaking as one of the younger members of this forum, I think what draws me to the 70s shows is the fact that I never got to experience the 70s firsthand.[/quote]

1. Steve Beverly, years ago, had a huge page dedicated to Password in all its various versions. (The link will take you to the archived version.) His notes on the 1971-1975 edition of Password include the claim that Split Second was still drawing decent ratings at 12:30, and shouldn't have been canned because Password (All-Stars) was such a weak lead-in. (Of course, it's possible Split Second was getting better ratings was because Password's competititon in the 12 noon time slot was far worse than Split Second's was at 12:30.

2. You didn't miss much. Big hair, big cars, lots of chest hair instead of waxing, no bras... wait a minute.

As a 12-year-old growing up in the suburbs of NYC, it was kind of fun to watch game shows all day and most early evenings. That year, there were simply a lot more shows to choose from -- weird formats were being trotted out and bounced real quick. My page sprung from the text box in Jefferson Graham's 1987 Come On Down! book that a record 26 game shows aired that year (he was only off by 16), and it seemed a halcyon year as a result.