Author Topic: On this day in... (10/01/1976) (Read 5197 times)

Argo · « **on:** September 30, 2010, 10:33:12 PM »

Just thought id re-link the Celebrity Sweepstakes Finale from this day in 1976. Enjoy.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_33j06vv0U

As usual, the remaining sections on the right.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #1 on:** October 01, 2010, 08:10:24 AM »

I've mentioned this before on this forum, but when I read the TVGuide listing that this was the "last show of the series", I thought I've got to see this. I pretended to be sick that day so I could stay home from school and watch it. Luckily, my mother bought it that day. I'm glad this episode is in the trade curcuit, but it's too bad there aren't more episodes of this show around.

That Don Guy · « **Reply #2 on:** October 01, 2010, 12:05:19 PM »

I never knew until I saw the YouTube clip that they had gotten rid of having the celebrities write down the answers near the end of the run. (While it did make it possible for nobody to have the correct answer, it also allowed a celebrity to change an answer if the first celebrity chosen gave the same answer and it was wrong.)

I vaguely remember some promotion where some home player nearly lost $75,000 because their phone was busy. (IIRC, she was allowed to be chosen again, and she was - by Chuck Woolery, I think - and ended up winning anyway.)

-- Don

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #3 on:** October 01, 2010, 12:29:34 PM »

[quote name=\'That Don Guy\' post=\'248537\' date=\'Oct 1 2010, 12:05 PM\']I never knew until I saw the YouTube clip that they had gotten rid of having the celebrities write down the answers near the end of the run. (While it did make it possible for nobody to have the correct answer, it also allowed a celebrity to change an answer if the first celebrity chosen gave the same answer and it was wrong.)[/quote]
Couldn't tell you the date of the change, but it appeared to be designed to speed the game along, since you could get a few more questions in that way.

For such a brief series, the show has a fascinating history behind it, and a lot of unanswered questions -- or some with conflicting answers, like whether or not Carol Wayne got help. And yes, add me to the list of people who would like to see more examples from it.

mmb5 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 01, 2010, 12:42:07 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'248541\' date=\'Oct 1 2010, 12:29 PM\']Carol Wayne got help. And yes, add me to the list of people who would like to see more examples from it.[/quote]

Or when they went from three contestants to two. Even creepier...the Japanese version in the similar videos on the right. It plays like Celebrity Sweepstakes, but it has all the glitz and glamor of Countdown.

--Mike

BrandonFG · « **Reply #5 on:** October 01, 2010, 03:39:07 PM »

I saw this show back in 2003 at the Museum of TV and Radio in NYC, and was immediately hooked. I'm kinda bummed that Burt Sugarman was never able to get a revival together.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #6 on:** October 03, 2010, 01:29:33 PM »

Quote

Couldn't tell you the date of the change, but it appeared to be designed to speed the game along, since you could get a few more questions in that way.

We talked about some of this in the Celebrity Sweepstakes thread from a few months ago, but the date was approximately early July 1976. I wasn't a fan of the changes - I liked the original rules better. It was neat to see the tote board, and how each celebrity was doing. The odds for the final question were based on how many answers the celebrites missed during regular play. Once these changes were made, they were just randomly assigned odds and there was no tote board.

They went from three players to two sometime in the fall of 1974. I remember Joey Bishop even commenting on it when he appeared one time after being away for a couple of weeks.

davemackey · « **Reply #7 on:** October 03, 2010, 01:32:40 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'248541\' date=\'Oct 1 2010, 12:29 PM\']For such a brief series, the show has a fascinating history behind it, and a lot of unanswered questions -- or some with conflicting answers, like whether or not Carol Wayne got help. And yes, add me to the list of people who would like to see more examples from it.[/quote]
There was some sort of behind-the-back business going on with the production companies - at one point it was Ralph Andrews Productions, another point it was Burt Sugarman Productions, sometimes both (I have an end-of-show audio clip of John Harlan billboarding only Andrews) and there seemed to be a revolving door of executive producers - one, J. Michael Pearson, actually got credited AT THE BEGINNING OF THE SHOW.

(after I posted this, I recall that Ralph Andrews had a similar yin-yang relationship with Bill Yagemann on "You Don't Say" - I think by the end of the series, Yagemann was no longer involved, but there was still the co-production with Desilu and Paramount.)

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #8 on:** October 03, 2010, 02:34:32 PM »

Another oddity was that the series began with one main theme, changed to a peppier theme in 75, and went back to the original theme late in the run.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #9 on:** October 03, 2010, 03:01:47 PM »

I'm pretty sure that the theme changed back the same week that the rules changed in July '76.

That Don Guy · « **Reply #10 on:** October 03, 2010, 10:04:50 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'248644\' date=\'Oct 3 2010, 12:01 PM\']I'm pretty sure that the theme changed back the same week that the rules changed in July '76.[/quote]
If you're referring to when:
(a) they went back to starting each player with $50 (which, IIRC, was what they did when they first switched from three players to two early in the run),
(b) they also went back to the old Homestretch rule where if you tried to double your money but the second celebrity was wrong, you lost what you earned from the first celebrity (but not your initial bet - and, although McKrell didn't say this, you did have the option to stop without choosing a second celebrity),
and (c ) the All Or Nothing odds changed from "how many questions did that celebrity miss so far" to basing it on an audience vote
(and possibly, but I'm not sure, (d) odds were set after the category was read but before the question asked, instead of the question being asked and then the odds set - presumably so somebody (Buddy Hackett did this once) wouldn't say, "I know this one!", and the audience not vote for that celebrity to drive the odds up to 99-1)
then I'm pretty sure you're right.

-- Don

That Don Guy · « **Reply #11 on:** October 03, 2010, 10:09:24 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'248639\' date=\'Oct 3 2010, 10:29 AM\']We talked about some of this in the Celebrity Sweepstakes thread from a few months ago, but the date was approximately early July 1976. I wasn't a fan of the changes - I liked the original rules better. It was neat to see the tote board, and how each celebrity was doing. The odds for the final question were based on how many answers the celebrites missed during regular play. Once these changes were made, they were just randomly assigned odds and there was no tote board.[/quote]
I'm pretty sure the change from tote board to studio audience determined All or Nothing odds happened before the change to no longer have the celebrities write down answers - and the latter change wouldn't have been in the summer as I would have been home from school to see it.

-- Don

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #12 on:** October 04, 2010, 05:01:43 PM »

Quote

I'm pretty sure the change from tote board to studio audience determined All or Nothing odds happened before the change to no longer have the celebrities write down answers - and the latter change wouldn't have been in the summer as I would have been home from school to see it.

I was a big fan of this show and I know it happened early in the summer. I remember the show in which it occurred - Carol Wayne wasn't on the panel that week - Bobby Troup and Julie London were, and on the Wednesday show they switched the seating so that Bobby and Julie were seated beside each other. Usually they didn't switch seating mid-way through a week. Also, that week they had 4 men and 2 women - which wasn't unusual - but one of the men was seated in position 4 - Carol's spot. Usually if Carol wasn't there they'd put another woman in her spot.

The All or Nothing changed that week too because I remember Jim mentioning it, and how the odds could only be from 1:1 to 5:1 (it might have actually been a 7:1 maximum in the beginning). I was disappointed because it meant the loss of the tote board the same week.

Unfortunately the TVGuide listings are of no help to determine the exact date because in the summer of '76 they weren't accurate for several weeks. They'd list "Scheduled: " and then only list 3 or 4 celebrities. Quite often at least one of the celebrities listed wasn't actually there. They must have taped pretty close to air date during that period and probably couldn't get the info to TVGuide in time.

If I could find the written records I made of that show and others back then (buried in my parents' basement somewhere) I could verify the exact date.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #13 on:** October 04, 2010, 06:01:15 PM »

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'248700\' date=\'Oct 4 2010, 05:01 PM\']

Quote

I'm pretty sure the change from tote board to studio audience determined All or Nothing odds happened before the change to no longer have the celebrities write down answers - and the latter change wouldn't have been in the summer as I would have been home from school to see it.

I was a big fan of this show and I know it happened early in the summer. I remember the show in which it occurred - Carol Wayne wasn't on the panel that week - Bobby Troup and Julie London were, and on the Wednesday show they switched the seating so that Bobby and Julie were seated beside each other. Usually they didn't switch seating mid-way through a week. Also, that week they had 4 men and 2 women - which wasn't unusual - but one of the men was seated in position 4 - Carol's spot. Usually if Carol wasn't there they'd put another woman in her spot.

The All or Nothing changed that week too because I remember Jim mentioning it, and how the odds could only be from 1:1 to 5:1 (it might have actually been a 7:1 maximum in the beginning). I was disappointed because it meant the loss of the tote board the same week.

Unfortunately the TVGuide listings are of no help to determine the exact date because in the summer of '76 they weren't accurate for several weeks. They'd list "Scheduled: " and then only list 3 or 4 celebrities. Quite often at least one of the celebrities listed wasn't actually there. They must have taped pretty close to air date during that period and probably couldn't get the info to TVGuide in time.

If I could find the written records I made of that show and others back then (buried in my parents' basement somewhere) I could verify the exact date.
[/quote]
I wonder if the nighttime show of the 76-77 season used some if, not all, of the same panels of the daytime shows? I'll check my LA editions of TV Guide. In the summer of 77, I was visiting Washington DC and caught the nighttime version on WRC. It was good to see the show again after what seemed like forever.