Your Holy Grail of game show episodes or footage

[mmb5]

Well, as long as we're free to fantasize...

Episodes of the original "Match Game" on NBC. I seem to recall a week of shows with Liza Minnelli and Milton Berle. (On that version, when people finished scrawling their answers on cards, they were supposed to raise their hand; I remember Berle raising both hands, prompting my 6-year-old self to exclaim, "What a silly man!") And then there was the time writer Dick DeBartolo skipped out to mug for the camera.

Minelli had a week with Dustin Hoffman in 1968, which I consider pretty up there as far as holy grail is concerned.  I don't think Uncle Miltie ever appeared on Match Game.

My holy grail: Cash on the Line.  I've had it described to me by several people, which of course as per fuzzy 40 year recollections contradict each other.  I would like to just see it.

[WarioBarker]

Still, when I think "Holy Grail", I think of a series for which absolutely no video is known to exist, especially a successful series. And I think the general consensus of the board tends to be that the 70s Sale of the Century is the biggest current Grail.

UCLA holds nine episodes of the original Sale, albeit "noncirculating", and I think that was your point. If we're talking about "successful game with no video known to exist", I think Snap Judgment would be a very high candidate.

I'd also like to see the special daytime Community Chest episode of What's My Line? that was discovered some years ago.

Saywha? Never heard of this one. Could someone explain this, please?

If we can go international, I'd love to see how Reg Grundy tackled the original Price Is Right and Second Chance for Australia, as well as a full episode of the 1970s Price that shows up in retrospectives from time to time. I'd also love to see an episode of the 1950s Wheel of Fortune that aired in America (different game to Merv's, albeit with some general similarities from what I could dig up...and apparently Mike Wallace hosted it later on).

[Clay Zambo]

My friend Sandy Mumbach was a $20K Pyramid winner--that hardly describes it; she won sixteen consecutive front games before getting to the top of the pyramid.  I'd love to be able to show her that appearance.

Sixteen?  How many days does that equal?

You're kidding, right?  Eight days.  Over three different weeks--I forget whether her first episode was a Thursday or Friday, but that's one pair; then five shows the following week; and she finished up (and finally won) with the third different pair of teammates on the third week.  Remember, too, that this is back in the one-loss-and-you're-out format.

[SRIV94]

The one GONG episode I'm still after--featured a tap-dancer named (and no, I'm not kidding) Flash Beaver.

[jjman920]

I'd also like to see the special daytime Community Chest episode of What's My Line? that was discovered some years ago.

Saywha? Never heard of this one. Could someone explain this, please?

So the story goes, President Eisenhower declared September 27, 1953 as the start of the Community Chest drive. To commemorate the event, What's My Line? held a special daytime episode that was aired on all four networks at the time. The strange thing about it was that no reference to the episode was made on the primetime show that night, and the only hint to it was a small note in Gil Fates log book. Apparently, it showed up in an Ebay auction in 2009. I have no idea who it was sold to or where it currently resides, but I'd love to see it.

Source

[Don Howard]

Mine is the Australian episode of $ale of the Century where the champion won the lot plus the record-setting [color="#0000FF"]$508,000[/color] cash jackpot.

My friend Sandy Mumbach was a $20K Pyramid winner--that hardly describes it; she won sixteen consecutive front games before getting to the top of the pyramid.  I'd love to be able to show her that appearance.

My goodness! How close was she to the $20000 limit when she finally swept the Winner's Circle and increased her winnings to that amount?

[carlisle96]

I forgot one: along with "Showdown" and the debut of "I've Got a Secret," my holy grail would be "Jackpot" when the $50,000 riddle was missed.

[Bertie Bott]

Any episode of Australia's Family Double Dare or any Nickelodeon game show pilot

[Ian Wallis]

Others have already said pretty well everything I was going to say...just about anything from the '60s or '70s with none (or very little) in existence - shows like Wizard of Odds, Sale of the Century, Baffle, Gambit, Money Maze, etc.

I guess to pick just one - it's one I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned more often:  Celebrity Sweepstakes.  I'm so glad that the last NBC episode surfaced a few years ago, but I'd really like to see more of this.  It was a favorite growing up.

[PYLdude]

My friend Sandy Mumbach was a $20K Pyramid winner--that hardly describes it; she won sixteen consecutive front games before getting to the top of the pyramid.  I'd love to be able to show her that appearance.

Sixteen?  How many days does that equal?

You're kidding, right?  Eight days.  Over three different weeks--I forget whether her first episode was a Thursday or Friday, but that's one pair; then five shows the following week; and she finished up (and finally won) with the third different pair of teammates on the third week.  Remember, too, that this is back in the one-loss-and-you're-out format.

It was a legitimate question, Clay. Come on.

Part of the reason why I asked was because of the format those Pyramids employed- one loss and out, win the Pyramid once and retire- and how the eps would straddle, so I thought there might've been an ep or two where they could conceivably get three games into one episode.

[TLEberle]

It was a legitimate question, Clay. Come on.

Part of the reason why I asked was because of the format those Pyramids employed- one loss and out, win the Pyramid once and retire- and how the eps would straddle, so I thought there might've been an ep or two where they could conceivably get three games into one episode.

There really wasn't. You weren't going to get more than that in the way of content. There's a reason that the pattern became two games daily. The three winner's circles was a total rarity.

[Jay Temple]

There were two other things that could complicate it:

1) If her first game were the second game of the day, her 16th game would be the first game of her ninth show. And that's assuming that ...
2) She didn't have a tie game in game 2 on Friday, because the celebs would have played for the contestants in the Winner's Circle, and the contestants would start a new game on Monday.

[Jamey Greek]

-1987 Secrets amd Rumors pilot
-pyramid episode with Reagan's daughter
-1987 "I Predict" pilot
-Home Shopping Game pilot with Dean Goss as host
-Tattletles episode with Mchael J. Fox
-Any game show episodes with Allan Kayser (who played Bubba on Mama's Family)
-Combs Feud episodes with Rod Roddy sub-announcing

[MrBuddwing]

One obvious one I forgot: The very first episode of the very first "To Tell the Truth," said to be missing.

[PYLdude]

-1987 Secrets amd Rumors pilot
-pyramid episode with Reagan's daughter
-1987 "I Predict" pilot
-Home Shopping Game pilot with Dean Goss as host
-Tattletles episode with Mchael J. Fox
-Any game show episodes with Allan Kayser (who played Bubba on Mama's Family)
-Combs Feud episodes with Rod Roddy sub-announcing

Where the hell did you buy your holy grail, Dollar Tree?