Powerhouse shows before Wheel and Jeopardy!

[14gameshows]

Were Tic Tac Dough and The Joker's Wild the two dominate game shows in syndication back in the 70s and 80s before Wheel and Jeopardy became the monster hits that they have become?

Also were they scheduled at the 7-8pm access slots, or did these shows have multiple time slots that they were on throughout the country?

Where does Family Feud fit into all of this? Wasn't the syndie version a ratings winner as well?

[snowpeck]

IIRC, Family Feud was the top rated syndicated game show until it was dethroned by Wheel and Jeopardy.

[BrandonFG]

It was, and TTD was #2 for a few years. Name That Tune ranked pretty highly as well.

[Ian Wallis]

Also were they scheduled at the 7-8pm access slots, or did these shows have multiple time slots that they were on throughout the country?

The nighttime Feud was almost always seen between 7-8 PM.  Tic Tac Dough and Joker's Wild were carried in those time slots in some cities, but many others carried them at different times, ranging from 9 AM to 5:30 PM.  (It pays to have all those TVGuide back issues!)

[trainman]

The nighttime Feud was almost always seen between 7-8 PM.

And the NBC O&O's had a group deal for Feud, in the same way that the ABC O&O's have a group deal for WoF and J!.  (In the early '80s, the "standard" NBC O&O weeknight schedule was Feud at 7:00 and a syndicated first-run sitcom at 7:30.)

[PYLdude]

And the NBC O&O's had a group deal for Feud, in the same way that the ABC O&O's have a group deal for WoF and J!.  (In the early '80s, the "standard" NBC O&O weeknight schedule was Feud at 7:00 and a syndicated first-run sitcom at 7:30.)

Are you sure about that? I seem to remember Feud airing at 7:30 for the entire time it was on our NBC O&O (which also aired the first two seasons of the Combs syndie series (I think- The Challengers was the game show that replaced it) before dumping it off on our now-MyNetwork affiliate.

And now that I think about it...are all ABC O&O's airing the Merv Griffin power duo? And if so, when did they start airing together (I don't remember)? I know Wheel was sold to a lot of CBS' stations and I think all the O&O's had it until 1989 or 1990.

[RMF]

My understanding is that Let's Make A Deal and Hollywood Squares were in neck-and-neck competition for ratings in the early and mid-1970s, but I've never seen the ratings data to prove it.

[BrandonFG]

My understanding is that Let's Make A Deal and Hollywood Squares were in neck-and-neck competition for ratings in the early and mid-1970s, but I've never seen the ratings data to prove it.

I've seen that as well. I used to check out the World Almanacs; each issue has a list of the previous season's top syndicated shows.

[PYLdude]

My understanding is that Let's Make A Deal and Hollywood Squares were in neck-and-neck competition for ratings in the early and mid-1970s, but I've never seen the ratings data to prove it.

I've seen that as well. I used to check out the World Almanacs; each issue has a list of previous season's the top syndicated shows

Another reason why I always use the World Almanac as a primary reference source...you can find so many different things out, including things you didn't even know would be in there.

[14gameshows]

Questions about Wheel and Jeopardy:  What network O & O got the rights to those shows when they premiered? Was it CBS since they didn't have anything considering that NBC had the syndie Family Feud and a sitcom thus, NBC didn't have any room on their schedule?

I know our local CBS affiliate carried Wheel and Jeopardy and then when both shows (left their previous network O & O and went to ABC), our ABC affiliate picked them up and then it went back to our local CBS affiliate about 5 years ago.  



So how well did B&E's Bullseye game show do and how was that sold since that was the third game of the trio including TTD and TJW?

[Jimmy Owen]

Questions about Wheel and Jeopardy:  What network O & O got the rights to those shows when they premiered? Was it CBS since they didn't have anything considering that NBC had the syndie Family Feud and a sitcom thus, NBC didn't have any room on their schedule?

I know our local CBS affiliate carried Wheel and Jeopardy and then when both shows (left their previous network O & O and went to ABC), our ABC affiliate picked them up and then it went back to our local CBS affiliate about 5 years ago.  



So how well did B&E's Bullseye game show do and how was that sold since that was the third game of the trio including TTD and TJW?

Strange though it may seem now, WOF didn't have a clearance in New York until mid-season on Channel 2.  Channel 13 had it in LA.  J! started out in NYC on Channel 4 as an overnight throwaway.  In LA J! started out on Channel 2 in an afternoon block that was quickly cancelled.

As far as Bullseye!  Channel 9 had it in NYC and LA as an early evening offering within an existing game show block.

[Jeremy Nelson]

And the NBC O&O's had a group deal for Feud, in the same way that the ABC O&O's have a group deal for WoF and J!.  (In the early '80s, the "standard" NBC O&O weeknight schedule was Feud at 7:00 and a syndicated first-run sitcom at 7:30.)

Are you sure about that? I seem to remember Feud airing at 7:30 for the entire time it was on our NBC O&O (which also aired the first two seasons of the Combs syndie series (I think- The Challengers was the game show that replaced it) before dumping it off on our now-MyNetwork affiliate.

And now that I think about it...are all ABC O&O's airing the Merv Griffin power duo? And if so, when did they start airing together (I don't remember)? I know Wheel was sold to a lot of CBS' stations and I think all the O&O's had it until 1989 or 1990.

I know in Chicago, they don't air together- as far back as I can remember, Jeopardy was on at 3:30 and Wheel came on at 6:30.

[Jimmy Owen]

Chicago has always been an anomaly because they are in the central time zone and can't really do "double access" on the O&O's.

[trainman]

Are you sure about that? I seem to remember Feud airing at 7:30 for the entire time it was on our NBC O&O...

Sorry, you might be right -- might have been sitcoms at 7:00 and "Feud" at 7:30.  (Which doesn't make quite as much sense to me as having the sitcoms at 7:30 to lead into NBC prime time, but then, I wasn't a programming director for an NBC O&O in the early '80s.)

And now that I think about it...are all ABC O&O's airing the Merv Griffin power duo? And if so, when did they start airing together (I don't remember)? I know Wheel was sold to a lot of CBS' stations and I think all the O&O's had it until 1989 or 1990.

Appears to be on all ABC O&Os but KTRK in Houston (where they air on CBS affiliate KHOU, which is owned by Belo, which appears to also have a group deal for Wheel and J!).

[Jimmy Owen]

NBC's O&Os did try a sitcom checkerboard in 87-88, a couple of years after Dawson Feud and a year before Combs Feud.  In LA, 7:30 went Dawson Feud until 85, Kennedy Price in 85-86, Rafferty CS from 86-87, the checkerboard in 87-88 and Combs Feud starting in fall 88.  The checkerboard consisted of "Marblehead Manor," "She's the Sheriff," "You Can't Take it With You," "Out of this World" and a revival of "We Got it Made."