Elizabeth Montgomery bio

[pyrfan]

I was thumbing through a new biography of Elizabeth Montgomery in Barnes & Noble and was surprised to see that it devoted a few pages to her "Password" appearances. It touches on something that I had suspected: that she stopped playing "Password Plus" pretty early in the run because she thought that the extra trappings took away from the purity of the game.

I wonder if other frequent celebs from the ABC version felt the same way about "Plus." Personally, I like both the puzzle and non-puzzle versions, but I can see how players of the earlier versions might find the additions to "Plus" to be a bit much. Thoughts?


Brendan

[BrandonFG]

I see where she's coming from. When it was played to 25, you had to pay attention to the clues pitched and remember what was said, then put 2+2 together.

Although P+/Super Password reduced the number of guesses, you now had to pay attention to the clues, then remember the words for the puzzle. I enjoyed both versions, but I could see how that may have confused the old-school celebrities, especially ones like Elizabeth who guest starred early in the run.

I believe Chris C. may have mentioned it, but whose idea was it to do a puzzle and what was the reasoning? Was it just the consensus that the CBS and ABC methods were considered too "boring" for 1979 TV?

[MikeK]

Two celebrities I remember seeing with some frequency on the ABC Password episode guide are Bill Bixby and Martin Milner.  As far as I know, Bixby never appeared on Password Plus while Milner appeared for one week in 1979.  Going out on a limb, I would say Milner might not have played Password Plus for the same reason as Montgomery.  The only reason I could see Bixby not doing Password Plus was due to conflicts with The Incredible Hulk.

[alfonzos]

I spoke at length to Howard Felsher once. He told me that when the ratings on the first ABC edition of Password started to flag, he would book Ms. Montgomery as often as possible for a ratings boost.

[DrBear]

I KNEW there was a reason I loved Ms. Montgomery (other than the fact that she was drop-dead gorgeous and really talented).

[geno57]

I ended up liking P-Plus and Super P, but the only change I would have made to the original, would have been to play each word a maximum of six times -- from 10 points to 5 -- and then toss it if it wasn't guessed.  The game only became boring to me, when the teams were playing on and on and on for a point or two.

[DrBear]

I ended up liking P-Plus and Super P, but the only change I would have made to the original, would have been to play each word a maximum of six times -- from 10 points to 5 -- and then toss it if it wasn't guessed.  The game only became boring to me, when the teams were playing on and on and on for a point or two.

I've thought of that too - start at 6 points, play to 15 instead of 25.

[clemon79]

I've thought of that too - start at 6 points

Fine for NFL Week, not a Nice Round Number for any other time.

[Dbacksfan12]

I've thought of that too - start at 6 points

Fine for NFL Week, not a Nice Round Number for any other time.

The $25,000 Pyramid played to seven points and it seemed to do just fine.

[clemon79]

The $25,000 Pyramid played to seven points and it seemed to do just fine.

Playing up to seven is a lot different than playing down from six.

[JasonA1]

I ended up liking P-Plus and Super P, but the only change I would have made to the original, would have been to play each word a maximum of six times -- from 10 points to 5 -- and then toss it if it wasn't guessed.  The game only became boring to me, when the teams were playing on and on and on for a point or two.

Not suggesting you don't know this yourself, Geno, but that's exactly what they did on the ABC version. Agreed with Chris that it just sounds nice to play a word form 10 to 5, even if the points are superfluous "logically" speaking.

-Jason

[DrBear]

Agreed with Chris that it just sounds nice to play a word form 10 to 5, even if the points are superfluous "logically" speaking.

"Whose Password Is It Anyway?" where the words are made up and the points don't matter...

[dmota104]

I was thumbing through a new biography of Elizabeth Montgomery in Barnes & Noble and was surprised to see that it devoted a few pages to her "Password" appearances. It touches on something that I had suspected: that she stopped playing "Password Plus" pretty early in the run because she thought that the extra trappings took away from the purity of the game.

Interesting tidbit -- although folks like Carol Burnett and Bill Cullen didn't seem to mind the addition of the puzzles.  They were frequent guests of the original "Password" and P+.

My first memories of watching "Password" came courtesy of P+.  My elders would later tell me of the original series.  So I may be a bit biased towards P+/SP.

In watching reruns on GSN, I noticed Allen occasionally talked about "a new generation of Password players" -- especially when certain celebrity guests were introduced for their first week of P+ while having never played a previous version of the game.  

Ultimately, I get the sense the puzzle element was a way to "jazz up" the game -- while attempting to stay faithful to the original series.

[jage]

Also, if you stuck to the original play to 25 format for P+, you would run into the bonus round 2-3 times per show. Given it was for much more money than before, lengthening  the main game seems logical. Of course, they could have played to 50 or 100, but that could get a bit monotonous.

[Adam Nedeff]

I believe Chris C. may have mentioned it, but whose idea was it to do a puzzle and what was the reasoning? Was it just the consensus that the CBS and ABC methods were considered too "boring" for 1979 TV?

This isn't going to be exactly the answer you want, but I just interviewed Robert Sherman for the book I'm working on. His recollection was that NBC came to G-T and said "We want to do a new version of Password, but we don't think Password will hold a viewer's attention anymore, so do something to it." As for who specifically came up with the puzzle, I'm not sure, but it reviving it and overhauling it were both NBC ideas.