Pinch-hitters

[pyrfan]

Mod Chris' recent comments about Bill Cullen and Dick Martin filling in for other celebs on "Password Plus" got me wondering: Did most celebrity-based game shows have a pool of people that they could call when one of the booked celebrity guests had to back out? I know that Peter Marshall mentions Jo Anne Worley, Dick Patterson, and Robert Fuller for "Hollywood Squares" (mostly because of their proximity to NBC Studios). I would imagine that Betty White could be called upon if need be for a last-minute "Password" or "Password Plus" booking. And it seems that Gary Burghoff did a couple of less-than-scheduled substitute gigs for Charles Nelson Reilly on "Match Game." Any others come to mind?

This also brings up another question: How far in advance were celebs typically booked?


Brendan

[whewfan]

I am pretty sure WML and IGAS had their own pools of celebs to fill in, such as Steve Allen for IGAS. I know sometimes an IGAS regular would be called onto WML and vice versa. There was that one occasion where Gil made the mistake of having Henry Morgan on WML with Bennett Cerf. Also, Bill Cullen's wife made a one time appearance as a IGAS panelist (obviously she was a last minute fill in)... unfortunately she was totally lost and needed a lot of help with questions.