TV reference books often don't contain much information about when daytime series transitioned from B&W to color, so the best source for finding out this information is usually either TV Guide or local listings. I've been looking through the New York Times archives from about 1957-1966 to check when game shows started carrying a color symbol, and I've come up with the following information. There are inconsistencies, however, as sometimes they just seemingly forgot to put the little "C" next to a show or didn't always add it right when the series transitioned (for example, the daytime Password began airing in color on September 12, 1966 but NYT didn't indicate that until a week later). These should be read with "circa" in front of them, especially days other than Monday for daytime programs:
In color from their debuts:
*Tic Tac Dough (1957-58 primetime)
*The Price is Right (1957-63 NBC primetime)
*The Big Game
*Haggis Baggis (both day and night)
*Concentration (1961 primetime)
*Your First Impression
and, I believe, all new NBC daytime games from 1963 on.
Transitioned to color (date):
*Masquerade Party (1958-60 NBC shows aired in color)
*Truth or Consequences (10/27/1958 through 9/25/1959, then returned in B&W after a month-long hiatus. Color broadcasts resumed by late 1962; I haven't found the precise date)
*The Price is Right, daytime (December 14, 1959)
*Play Your Hunch (sometime in September 1960)
*Say When! (mid to late 1962; NYT listings are sketchy)
*The Match Game (April 5, 1965)
Also worth mentioning is the quasi-game "It Could Be You". Apparently, the daytime series aired in color from June 30 to September 26, 1958 and then for some reason reverted to B&W. Color returned on or about September 29, 1959.
I didn't find any indication that the 1960 primetime "Play Your Hunch" aired in color. "The Jan Murray Show" probably debuted in color although it isn't always listed as such in the NYT.
"To Tell the Truth" raises some questions. CBS temporarily removed TTTT from the primetime lineup after September 4, 1966 and placed it on Sunday afternoons through October 23. The NYT listings show these as airing in color, even though the daytime series still hadn't switched as of October 27. (Someone involved in the production of "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown"--Bill Melendez?--was the central subject on that episode and said that the special would be airing "tonight".) The Times discontinued color indications in late October 1966 but resumed them by January 16, 1967; as of the latter date the daytime TTTT had a color symbol. I don't know if it was airing in color earlier, however.
I didn't attempt to research any of the ABC games because the Times was rather inconsistent in placing color symbols by that network's daytime programming.
Any help pinning down these series' color debuts will be appreciated. I suppose you'd have to consult the NBC master logs at the Library of Congress to verify the dates with certainty, but perhaps TV Guide also has reliable information.
