ABC Game shows of the 1970s

[snowpeck]

Goodson always kept copies of all of his shows. He wasn't a visionary who could possibly have foreseen cable TV or any rerun value for his shows. Maybe he took a cue from Desi Arnaz and kept them anyway.

ABC "Password" and syndicated "Concentration" don't seem to exist, except for the few episodes floating around.

We don't know that about Concentration. Whatever does exist is owned by NBC/Universal/Comcast and so wouldn't be included in any tally of Goodson shows.

[thomas_meighan]

There are some odd inconsistencies with what survives of the G-T library. A portion of the CBS daytime TTTT episodes has survived, but apparently not the first syndicated season. IGAS ’72 was kept, but only the first (pilot) episode of IGAS ’76 has surfaced. One thread from 2008 mentions a chunk of missing Double Dare episodes.

Even short-run programs like Number Please, Missing Links, Get the Message and Call My Bluff are represented by around 1-3 episodes each, while no video whatsoever is known for Snap Judgment.

It’s not that I’m especially surprised by these gaps or losses; G-T must have used an extraordinary amount of tape during the course of a year, and it's hard to keep tabs on every single reel. Still, it would be edifying to learn why some material ended up missing, whether Goodson was aware of what was missing (or approved getting rid of some things), et al.

[snowpeck]

There are some odd inconsistencies with what survives of the G-T library. A portion of the CBS daytime TTTT episodes has survived, but apparently not the first syndicated season. IGAS ’72 was kept, but only the first (pilot) episode of IGAS ’76 has surfaced. One thread from 2008 mentions a chunk of missing Double Dare episodes.

I must have had a good reason for saying that about Double Dare, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

[MikeK]

I must have had a good reason for saying that about Double Dare, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was.

When Double Dare aired on GSN 8 years ago, they skipped roughly 30 episodes, going from around episode 60 to the last few weeks of the series.

[calliaume]

Has the possibility been considered that some of the shows still do exist, but no one particularly wants to pay to convert them to something that can be aired now?  (Do we need to have every episode of Trebek's Double Dare?  Or any of Mindreaders?)

The only show I would expect to have been made available, given its popularity, quality, and clear G-T ownership, is the ABC version of Password.  Maybe those are in the same vault that Gleason kept his pre-1955 Honeymooners tapes.

[That Don Guy]

Goodson always kept copies of all of his shows. He wasn't a visionary who could possibly have foreseen cable TV or any rerun value for his shows. Maybe he took a cue from Desi Arnaz and kept them anyway.

ABC "Password" and syndicated "Concentration" don't seem to exist, except for the few episodes floating around.

Also, while a considerable number of NBC nighttime (and one daytime) episodes of Cullen TPIR (kinescopes, right?) exist, only three or four ABC ones do, for whatever reason.

On the other hand, do any 1960s daytime CBS Passwords exist, other than the last season that had cuts made so they could be syndicated?  How about CBS daytime To Tell The Truth, other than the last episode?  Then again, both of those could have suffered a different problem; color video tapes from that era tend to degrade much more quickly than later ones.

Has the possibility been considered that some of the shows still do exist, but no one particularly wants to pay to convert them to something that can be aired now?  (Do we need to have every episode of Trebek's Double Dare?  Or any of Mindreaders?)

Given that most CBS Double Dare episodes have aired, I assume the tapes didn't need converting.

[snowpeck]

How about CBS daytime To Tell The Truth, other than the last episode?  Then again, both of those could have suffered a different problem; color video tapes from that era tend to degrade much more quickly than later ones.

A big chunk of daytime CBS TTTT exists and has aired on GSN. More black and white episodes than color ones, but some color ones aired too.

[Jimmy Owen]

ABC Dating Game had enough shows to be syndicated, and Monty Hall had as a condition for LMaD moving to ABC, ownership of the tapes, according to his book.  I wish there were more Big Showdowns and Money Mazes out there.  I'd buy a box set of those.

[jimlangefan]

ABC Dating Game had enough shows to be syndicated, and Monty Hall had as a condition for LMaD moving to ABC, ownership of the tapes, according to his book.  I wish there were more Big Showdowns and Money Mazes out there.  I'd buy a box set of those.

That is correct.  In fact, ABC had over 500 kinescopes of LMAD and were going to give them to UCLA, but Hatos-Hall got wind of it and told ABC to give them over.  Now Fremantle owns them which is also how we saw the 1969 ABC primetime premiere during Buzzr's Lost and Found Week.