Author Topic: Liz Montgomery and Password Plus (Read 10571 times)

Eric Paddon · « **on:** January 11, 2011, 12:08:53 AM »

I've been transferring my tapes of Password Plus to DVD in sequence, and I just noticed something that has me wondering if Liz Montgomery, who became the first celeb to do the show three times in the first 30 weeks, might have gotten herself banned from further appearances as a result of some "editorializing" that while not in the same league as George Peppard's would not have made NBC execs happy.

During a puzzle when "Genius" is the Password on the board the contestant guesses "Jeopardy" in desperation which then prompts some mumbling from Liz about how terrible it was that the show got canceled. She does it more than once that Allen a bit nervously asks if she's done editorializing while adding he was sorry to see it go too. Then, when the puzzle is revealed to be "Fred Silverman" she then makes an aside about "Is he the one who canceled Jeopardy?"

I rechecked the celeb list for Password Plus and this was the last time Liz was on the show after seemingly establishing herself as a frequent player in this early phase of the show's history. Coincidence?

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #1 on:** January 11, 2011, 12:49:55 AM »

[quote name=\'Eric Paddon\' post=\'254421\' date=\'Jan 11 2011, 12:08 AM\']I rechecked the celeb list for Password Plus and this was the last time Liz was on the show after seemingly establishing herself as a frequent player in this early phase of the show's history. Coincidence?[/quote]
Yes, I think it is. Montgomery was one of Password's best and most popular players. She played the original CBS version and made frequent appearances on the early-seventies version, including two weeks where she played against Allen Ludden himself. It's not a coincidence at all that she and her boy toy were the debut P+ celebs in the first place. All of that goodwill didn't get thrown out the window because she made a crack about management.

whewfan · « **Reply #2 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:30:53 AM »

It's possible that Elizabeth Montgomery was one of the original PW players that didn't like the new elements of PW+ and never appeared again, like Tony Randall. I am not sure if her Jeopardy! rant did any damage. I think Allen was a bit nervous because J! is not a GT show so it's odd that Liz mentioned it. Allen just liked moving the game along without much chit chat between games (unlike Bert Convy, who was entertaining but sometimes did ramble on quite a bit)

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:40:35 AM »

One of our co-moderators actually worked on P+, so maybe we can get the scoop without speculating. Sometimes it seemed like the bookings were tied to a TV-movie NBC was promoting.

SRIV94 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2011, 12:27:49 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'254425\' date=\'Jan 10 2011, 11:49 PM\']It's not a coincidence at all that she and her boy toy were the debut P+ celebs in the first place.[/quote]

Never knew that about Foxworth.

Also a coincidence that his last P+ appearance was the week after Montgomery's (probably taped the same weekend).

Eric Paddon · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2011, 03:29:28 PM »

I didn't get the sense Liz disliked the new format, because the fact that she was first to do the show three times in the history of the show reveals the enthusiasm that was still there (in contrast to Randall, who I agree didn't like the more lenient rules of clue giving). It's because of that, that I just found it strange that her appearances would have stopped right then and there after making her "editorializing" comments in that week of shows.

Unrelated to that is the irony in seeing a puzzle about Fred Silverman when on a game show a more appropriate puzzle would have been "Executive" "Destroyer" "Network" "Game" "Shows"!

chris319 · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:02:06 PM »

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'254434\' date=\'Jan 11 2011, 04:40 AM\']One of our co-moderators actually worked on P+, so maybe we can get the scoop without speculating. Sometimes it seemed like the bookings were tied to a TV-movie NBC was promoting.[/quote]
Elizabeth Montgomery was always welcome on Password Plus. However, Bobby and Howard were so busy booking Judy Norton-Taylor, Debralee Scott, Joanna Gleason, Melissa Gilbert, Patty Duke-Astin and Lucy that I don't know where they would have found room for her.

The only celebrity besides George Peppard who wasn't welcome back was the one who didn't show up for a taping, forcing us to call in Bill Cullen or Dick Martin, I forget which.

Eric Paddon · « **Reply #7 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:39:53 PM »

I have to ask then if it could perhaps be Charles Nelson Reilly, because at the end of episode #45, Allen says the guests next week would be Mary Tyler Moore and CNR but it was Bill who ended up doing the week instead (and CNR never did Password Plus).

chris319 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 11, 2011, 07:54:22 PM »

Something was up between Allen and CNR. Charles' booking had already been cancelled so he wasn't in the studio at the time, but Allen once referred to him as a "creep" during rehearsal. Nobody, not even Imie Lane, would spill the details. ISTR this was around the week Karen Morrow appeared?

Back to the original question, Charles was not the celebrity who missed his call.

Eric Paddon · « **Reply #9 on:** January 11, 2011, 08:10:29 PM »

Yes, close to it. Karen Morrow-Martin Milner was two weeks after the MTM-Cullen week that CNR was announced for (one taping session I guess).

That Morrow-Milner week had a couple of distinctions in that it was the first one John Harlan subbed for announcing wise and it's also the only time I've ever seen a week where the male celeb sat on the left side of the podium and the female on the right.

chris319 · « **Reply #10 on:** January 11, 2011, 09:26:15 PM »

Two weeks on air could have been the very next weekend of taping.

chrisholland03 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 12, 2011, 01:04:22 PM »

I've always heard that EM and RF were bearding for each other...

DoorNumberFour · « **Reply #12 on:** January 12, 2011, 01:26:20 PM »

[quote name=\'chrisholland03\' post=\'254500\' date=\'Jan 12 2011, 01:04 PM\']I've always heard that EM and RF were bearding for each other...[/quote]
Who?

Steve Gavazzi · « **Reply #13 on:** January 12, 2011, 02:05:39 PM »

[quote name=\'DoorNumberFour\' post=\'254502\' date=\'Jan 12 2011, 01:26 PM\'][quote name=\'chrisholland03\' post=\'254500\' date=\'Jan 12 2011, 01:04 PM\']I've always heard that EM and RF were bearding for each other...[/quote]Who?[/quote]
Elizabeth Montgomery and Robert Foxworth?

dale_grass · « **Reply #14 on:** January 12, 2011, 03:23:59 PM »

[quote name=\'chrisholland03\' post=\'254500\' date=\'Jan 12 2011, 02:04 PM\']I've always heard that EM and RF were bearding for each other...[/quote]
So that's where she learned to wiggle her nose...