JUNE 27, 1975
Password played its 1,099th and final daytime telecast on ABC, with Sam Melville and Kate Jackson of The Rookies (1972-76) as the final celebrities. In the last seven minutes, after a regular game was played, producer Howard Felsher and Frank Wayne and several other Goodson-Todman staffers came out to play one last game, even though there was little time to declare a real winner. Show creator Mark Goodson made a special appearance to present host Allen Ludden with a gold watch (which he juxtaposed with railroad companies giving their retiring employees watches) and declared him \"Mr. Password.\" Goodson even humorously thanked Betty White Ludden for \"keeping Allen straight.\"
With Betty joining Allen on a stool at stage center in the final segment, Allen Ludden, after 4 years, signed off with the classic line: \"Sometime, somewhere, someday, there will be another game show, but never one with the class of this one.\" Surprisingly, unlike the color episodes of the 1961-67 CBS daytime version that preceded it, no syndicated reruns were planned; Password was never even produced in a first-run, once-a-week nighttime syndicated version, either! The Bobby Van-hosted Showoffs, another Goodson-Todman game, replaced Password the following Monday.
Happily, shortly thereafter, Allen Ludden was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host for Password (his only one!), just as Password itself won an Emmy for Best Game/Audience Participation Show.
JUNE 27, 1980
After 8 long years of doling out cash to lucky contestants by the truckload, the 1,865th and final edition of The $20,000 Pyramid aired on ABC Television. The final celebrity guests were Lois Nettleton and Bill Cullen (erstwhile emcee of the by-now cancelled 1974-79 weekly syndicated nighttime $25,000 Pyramid). While Dick Clark said this was the final edition, he made certain to viewers that they would definitely be seeing it again. (Surprisingly enough, Pyramid would leave a profound impact on the 1980s, on CBS and in syndication, with [New] $25,000, $50,000, and $100,000 formats!) The show ended on a humorous note as the final segment of this finale saw Dick displaying a phony Winner's Circle round with such sidesplitting categories like \"Used Car Dealers You Can Trust,\" \"Hit Shows on NBC-TV\", \"Things That Kissinger Didn't Foul Up\" \"Famous Japanese Rabbits,\" \"Oil Companies In Bankruptcy,\" and \"Famous Italian TV Directors\" (an inside joke and tribute to Pyramid director Mike Garguilo). Bill Cullen made TV history as the last celebrity on the original Pyramid series to aid his civilian contestant partner to win $10,000 on the show with clues on \"Things That End\" like \"this show...the world one day\".
As Dick Clark thanked everyone in the show's fading minutes, Bill Cullen commended him for being a great all-around host. Clark finally says to end the show, \"...and we'll see you again soon!\" and gathered the entire production crew on-stage, including a rare appearance by Pyramid creator/producer/executive producer Bob Stewart, as the long credits crawl superimposed over them. Effective the following Monday (June 30), The $20,000 Pyramid was replaced with Family Feud.
