Network game shows that were uncleared in major markets

[0512vwoods]

On two other threads, we brought up a slew of syndicated game shows and other programs that got no airtime in any of the nation's top 10 or 20 markets.

I have decided to start two new threads about network shows that didn't air in top markets. This thread deals with game shows, the other in the Off Topic forum will be soap operas/talk shows/cartoons/sports/specials/etc.

[Jamey Greek]

In Orlando we did not get to see, $25k Pyramid, Card Sharks, daytime Combs Feud, Goen Wheel, nor Ceasar's Challenge, Scrabble '93, nor Scattegories

In Atlanta there was no $otc or $25k Pyramid unless you watched it on WUPA TV.  Nor was there NYSI '89

[The Pyramids]

I don't think 'Classic Concentration' aired in Saint Louis.

[BrandonFG]

Norfolk has a pretty lengthy list. WTKR didn't air:
-The $25,000 Pyramid (80s version)
-Press Your Luck in the 80s, but we did get Card Sharks, which aired in PYL's old time slot (before it went to afternoons)
-Body Language, and they only aired the first half-season of Tattletales in '82.
-Now You See It (1989) or Family Feud Challenge

WAVY didn't air any of NBC's 12:00 game shows (news), although I've read WAVY did air Hot Potato on Fridays. Family Secrets and Caesar's Challenge went unaired here as well.

In looking up old newspapers of the era, I couldn't find anything for All-Star Blitz or Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak on WVEC. They did air Trivia Trap.

IIRC, Dallas did not get Scrabble or Scattergories in 1993.

I'm probably leaving off quite a few, but I do at least know of those.

[TimK2003]

I can't name specific ABC game shows off the top of my head, but WEWS (5) in Cleveland had dissed quite a few shows over the years (and they always had a Noon newscast).  The good was that the Akron Affiliate, WAKR (later WAKC / 23) usually aired what WEWS did not.  The bad was that WAKR was prone to tape-delaying shows by a day, as their station was a less technological-savvy station.

WJ(K)W, the CBS affiliate also did not clear several shows, moreso in the 80s, including the Tattletales 2nd run, Body Language, and Press Your Luck in the post-10:30 era. Like WEWS, they always had some sort of local noontime news or entertainment show.

NBC O&O'ed WKYC usually aired everything offered live on the network.  It wasn't until late in the 80s when they added a noon newscast and (IIRC) Caesar's Challenge fell victim to the uncleared list.

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Meanwhile in Toledo, at least in the late 80s, CBS affil WTOL (11) also nixed the PYL airings in the PM era, and I believe Body Language was also dissed.  Over at then-NBC affiliate WTVG, their noontime news was strong enough to deny viewers Super Password through most, if not all, it's run, and I believe Caesar's was unseen in T-Town as well.

[Long live Jeopardy]

WBTW in Florence, SC did not clear the following CBS daytime shows:

Body Language (after Sep. 1984)
Press Your Luck (from Jan-Sep 1986)
$25,000 Pyramid (from Sep 1986-Dec 1987 and the spring 1988 run)
Card Sharks (from Sep 1986-Sep 1988)
Blackout
Family Feud (from Jul-Sep 1988)

WJKA in Wilmington, NC did not clear:

All 4:00 PM shows
$25,000 Pyramid (from Apr-Dec 1987)
Card Sharks (from Apr-Dec 1987)
Family Feud Challenge (summer 1993)

WTVD (pre-1985 CBS) and WRAL (post-1985 CBS) in Raleigh, NC did not clear:

All 4:00 PM shows
$25,000 Pyramid (Sep 1982-Mar 1983)
Goen Wheel (Sep 1990-Jan 1991)

WNCT in Greenville, NC did not clear any of the 4:00 PM shows, but did have 100% clearance of the 1982-93 10:00 AM hour.

[aaron sica]

WPVI in Philadelphia did not clear MG90. Up to the time that MG90 premiered, the ABC offerings that WPVI passed on were usually aired by WKBS, and then once it signed off, WTAF/WTXF took over, airing most (if not all) of the ABC sitcom reruns.  WTXF aired "Perfect Strangers" reruns on a one-day delay and I had hoped they would offer MG90 as well, but it was not to be.

WGAL in Lancaster, starting in 1983, did not air the 10am-11am hour, opting for talk shows instead. It also, once it moved "Noonday on 8" from 12:30 to noon on 8/4/80 (I would imagine to accomodate "The Doctors" on its new time slot), never aired any of NBC's noon offerings ever again.

[SRIV94]

Chicago never got the full hour of FFC--we only got the second half-hour.

[Long live Jeopardy]

WWAY in Wilmington, NC was the only one of the four ABC stations I checked on that cleared Match Game 90, as the other three (WTVD in Raleigh, NC, WCTI in Greenville, NC, and WPDE in Florence, SC) all had the noon news at that time.

[johnnya2k3]

There were many network game shows that never saw the light of day here in Atlanta, such as:

Body Language
Press Your Luck (and its predecessor Second Chance)
Hot Potato
Hot Seat
Magnificent Marble Machine
Chain Reaction
Mindreaders
The Money Maze
Pass The Buck
Musical Chairs
Let's Play Post Office
Hollywood's Talking
I'm Telling!
Bargain Hunters

In small-market Fairbanks (my former home):
Caesar's Challenge
Now You See It (1989)
Family Secrets
The aforementioned Bargain Hunters (I think)

The Anchorage stations (KTUU (NBC), KTVA (CBS), and KYUR (ABC)) on the other hand, cleared everything (including many 13-weekers like Time Machine and Blackout; both of them also cleared Fairbanks), as they were the only full-time network affiliates in Alaska while KATN and KTVF were still dual-network stations until 1996.

[chrisholland03]

Where I grew up, we had access to two not major markets -- Huntsville, AL and Birmingham, AL.  Between the two markets, we got all the games.  Huntsville never aired Whew! or ANBtC (affilliate aired Donahue instead), but Birmingham did.  There was an even smaller market, Florence, AL with an NBC affiliate that aired soaps in the morning (tape delayed from the prior day) and games in the afternoon through the early 90s.  So I usually taped the CBS shows in the morning, the NBC shows in the afternoon while watching the CBN/USA reruns on the BUD.

I also watched tons of syndicated games via wild feed on the BUD.  Everyone thought I was a Jeopardy genius, but in reality I had already seen that week's shows via feed. 

[johnnya2k3]

I also watched tons of syndicated games via wild feed on the BUD.  Everyone thought I was a Jeopardy genius, but in reality I had already seen that week's shows via feed.

That was the case in Fairbanks, as the BUD was also the only way to see nighttime Win, Lose, or Draw, The Challengers, Trump Card, TJW and TTD '90, and many others...even if they were fed in the middle of the night (though I think Anchorage saw those shows I mentioned)!!

[Jamey Greek]

Norfolk has a pretty lengthy list. WTKR didn't air:
-The $25,000 Pyramid (80s version)
-Press Your Luck in the 80s, but we did get Card Sharks, which aired in PYL's old time slot (before it went to afternoons)
-Body Language, and they only aired the first half-season of Tattletales in '82.
-Now You See It (1989) or Family Feud Challenge

WAVY didn't air any of NBC's 12:00 game shows (news), although I've read WAVY did air Hot Potato on Fridays. Family Secrets and Caesar's Challenge went unaired here as well.

In looking up old newspapers of the era, I couldn't find anything for All-Star Blitz or Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak on WVEC. They did air Trivia Trap.

IIRC, Dallas did not get Scrabble or Scattergories in 1993.

I'm probably leaving off quite a few, but I do at least know of those.

I may be wrong but I don't think WAGA got PYL but I think they aired Card Sharks.

[Sodboy13]

Did PYL air in Chicago? I was a youngun when it was on, but I don't remember watching it at home at all.

[Jimmy Owen]

Did PYL air in Chicago? I was a youngun when it was on, but I don't remember watching it at home at all.

Yeah, on Channel 2.