How did nighttime shows differ from daytime shows back in the day?

[danderson]

Were those differences because of lesser commercial time, etc? For example Hollywood Squares had best 2 out of 3 match in daytime, but both players played entire show in syndication.

[byrd62]

Nighttime To Tell the Truth (1956-67): 3 rounds are played
Daytime + syndicated TTTT (1962-68 + 1969-78, respectively): 2 rounds are played

Daytime Tic Tac Dough (1956-59) + Dotto (1958) + Let's Make a Deal (1963-76 + synd. 1971-77) : Organist (first two shows), 3-or-4-piece house band (LMaD), or recorded musical cues (last season or two of daytime/synd. LMaD)
Nighttime Tic Tac Dough (1957-58) + Dotto (1958) + Let's Make a Deal (1969-71) : Big-band-type orchestra

[calliaume]

This is just the 1970s games.  No returning champions for any of the nighttime versions of games listed here.

Hollywood Squares
Daytime - straddled, champion was crowned by winning best two out of three games
Nighttime - did not straddle, champion was crowned by winning most cash ($250 per game, $50 for every X and O in any unfinished games) and wins a car

Match Game
Daytime - straddled, two questions played for each contestant, most matches wins, ties are broken by playing an additional round, one Audience Match and one Super Match played for up to $5,000
Nighttime - did not straddle, two (later three) questions played for each contestant, most matches wins, ties are broken by sudden death tiebreaker (similar to Super Match question), two Audience Matches and one Super Match played for up to $10,000

Let's Make a Deal - no changes other than the addition of the Super Deal for the 1975-76 syndicated nighttime version

Name That Tune, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The $10,000/$20,000/$25,000 Pyramid - no significant changes other than cash/prize amounts (Celebrity Sweepstakes awarded a bonus prize for winning the game in the syndicated version)

Jeopardy - 1974-75 syndicated winners received a prize based on the amount won in the regular game

High Rollers - partway through the syndicated season, rules were changed so that any contestant who won a game played the Big Numbers (previously, contestants had to win two out of three games as in the daytime version)

The Price Is Right - no Showcase Showdown; top two prize winners played the Showcase

Break the Bank
Daytime - the bank started at $5,000 and grew by $1,000 (later $250) for every day it wasn't won, the game winner won a bonus prize, no end game
Nighttime - slightly higher values for boxes (100/300/500 instead of 100/200/300), the bank stayed at $10,000 in prizes throughout the show, end game (pick a star, win a prize)

The Gong Show - top prize increased from $516.32 to $712.05

Sale of the Century may have had some variations between the last few months of the NBC version and the syndicated version, but I'm not familiar enough with either one to know for sure.

[JasonA1]

Were those differences because of lesser commercial time, etc? For example Hollywood Squares had best 2 out of 3 match in daytime, but both players played entire show in syndication.

To answer your question a little more succinctly, a lot of the changes in formats from daytime to nighttime were to keep each show self-contained. I don't think commercial time played into it. But now I'm curious as to why that became the preferred method. In '77, Joker's Wild proved a show could be fed to stations to play in a certain order - i.e. keeping continuity with returning champions. So it wasn't strictly a technical limitation that explained why most producers chose to have contestants play for an entire show (Match Game PM, Cullen Pyramid, et al) or eliminated champions altogether (Dawson's nighttime Feud, etc.). Not to mention the shows that had no daytime analog, but still chose to go for one-and-done (Treasure Hunt, Cross-Wits, etc.)

-Jason

[Sodboy13]

A lot of the syndicated offerings before the mid-to-late 1970s were aired once per week, so carryover champions weren't really needed. Combine that with the practice of "bicycling" - rotating episodes among affiliates to save on the expense of tape, so every market's concept of "aired in order" was different - and it was necessary to keep games self-contained.

[Clay Zambo]

In '77, Joker's Wild proved a show could be fed to stations to play in a certain order - i.e. keeping continuity with returning champions. So it wasn't strictly a technical limitation that explained why most producers chose to have contestants play for an entire show...

I'm thinking that although they proved it *could* be done, it maybe still wasn't the easiest or most convenient way to distribute syndicated episodes.

I wonder if there were prize-budget restrictions, too. Although daytime network shows capped winnings at a particular level, how would that be handled in syndication? Maybe giving players a single episode is a way of avoiding that issue entirely.

[That Don Guy]

This is just the 1970s games.  No returning champions for any of the nighttime versions of games listed here.

Hollywood Squares
Daytime - straddled, champion was crowned by winning best two out of three games
Nighttime - did not straddle, champion was crowned by winning most cash ($250 per game, $50 for every X and O in any unfinished games) and wins a car

The winner chose a celebrity and won a prize worth at least $5000; the most expensive prize was usually a car.
Also, I think the amount won per game went up from $250 to $300 at some point.

Name That Tune, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The $10,000/$20,000/$25,000 Pyramid - no significant changes other than cash/prize amounts (Celebrity Sweepstakes awarded a bonus prize for winning the game in the syndicated version)

Special rule for nighttime (Cullen-hosted) Pyramid: if they didn't have enough time to finish the second game (they had not introduced the "fastest time wins" tiebreakers yet), whoever was ahead got $2500, which was split if they were tied.

Name That Tune went through a number of changes in its weekly format.
At first, it was pretty much just like the daytime (NBC Dennis James) format, except that in the daytime version, the Golden Medley was 6 tunes for $2000, while in the nighttime version, it was 7 tunes for $15,000 in cash and prizes, although a lot of times, that included an $11,000 52-day Mediterranean cruise that the producers figured very few contestants would actually take (one did, and he missed a tournament because of it).
Later, each Golden Medley winner came back the following week and tried to answer a "mystery tune" (usually a song you have heard before, but didn't know had a title) for $100,000 ($10,000 a year for ten years). This lasted for two seasons, and in each season, the contestants who tried and failed to answer the mystery tune came back for a tournament to win $100,000 in cash and prizes.
In (I think) the fall of 1977, they changed the format again; the two contestants played the entire show, with the Golden Medley being a buzz-in round, and after six weeks, the winners came back for a tournament with a $100,000 prize.

Jeopardy - 1974-75 syndicated winners received a prize based on the amount won in the regular game

Early in the run, there was a bonus round; there was a board with 30 slips, and each one had a prize - most had cars or trips (usually to Rome), but two had halves of $25,000. Also, most of the contestants were winners from the daytime version, at least at first (I am not sure when, or even if, this changed), and the player who was first to run a category in a game won a prize (at first, a car, but when they changed what the winner won, it became a trip to London).

The Gong Show - top prize increased from $516.32 to $712.05

In the Gary Owens-hosted shows, it was $712.05, but when Chuck Barris took over, it because $716.32, presumably to make it easier for him to remember. Also, a lot of the contestants were from the daytime show; in fact, at least one daytime winner got gonged on the nighttime one.

Sale of the Century may have had some variations between the last few months of the NBC version and the syndicated version, but I'm not familiar enough with either one to know for sure.

On the nighttime version, the winners played a bonus round, where they selected a difficulty level ($50, $100, or $200) and were asked three questions; if they got all three correct, they won a trip, a fur coat, or a car, respectively.

Also:

Family Feud - Fast Money was played for $10,000; also, while the daytime games were still played to 200 at the time, the nighttime ones went from 200 to 300, and then to 400.

[Bryce L.]

Also, I think the amount won per game went up from $250 to $300 at some point.

I believe the $300 per game was only on the 1968 NBC primetime run.

[danderson]

This is just the 1970s games.  No returning champions for any of the nighttime versions of games listed here.

Hollywood Squares
Daytime - straddled, champion was crowned by winning best two out of three games
Nighttime - did not straddle, champion was crowned by winning most cash ($250 per game, $50 for every X and O in any unfinished games) and wins a car

The winner chose a celebrity and won a prize worth at least $5000; the most expensive prize was usually a car.
Also, I think the amount won per game went up from $250 to $300 at some point.

Name That Tune, Celebrity Sweepstakes, The $10,000/$20,000/$25,000 Pyramid - no significant changes other than cash/prize amounts (Celebrity Sweepstakes awarded a bonus prize for winning the game in the syndicated version)

Special rule for nighttime (Cullen-hosted) Pyramid: if they didn't have enough time to finish the second game (they had not introduced the "fastest time wins" tiebreakers yet), whoever was ahead got $2500, which was split if they were tied.

Name That Tune went through a number of changes in its weekly format.
At first, it was pretty much just like the daytime (NBC Dennis James) format, except that in the daytime version, the Golden Medley was 6 tunes for $2000, while in the nighttime version, it was 7 tunes for $15,000 in cash and prizes, although a lot of times, that included an $11,000 52-day Mediterranean cruise that the producers figured very few contestants would actually take (one did, and he missed a tournament because of it).
Later, each Golden Medley winner came back the following week and tried to answer a "mystery tune" (usually a song you have heard before, but didn't know had a title) for $100,000 ($10,000 a year for ten years). This lasted for two seasons, and in each season, the contestants who tried and failed to answer the mystery tune came back for a tournament to win $100,000 in cash and prizes.
In (I think) the fall of 1977, they changed the format again; the two contestants played the entire show, with the Golden Medley being a buzz-in round, and after six weeks, the winners came back for a tournament with a $100,000 prize.

Jeopardy - 1974-75 syndicated winners received a prize based on the amount won in the regular game

Early in the run, there was a bonus round; there was a board with 30 slips, and each one had a prize - most had cars or trips (usually to Rome), but two had halves of $25,000. Also, most of the contestants were winners from the daytime version, at least at first (I am not sure when, or even if, this changed), and the player who was first to run a category in a game won a prize (at first, a car, but when they changed what the winner won, it became a trip to London).

The Gong Show - top prize increased from $516.32 to $712.05

In the Gary Owens-hosted shows, it was $712.05, but when Chuck Barris took over, it because $716.32, presumably to make it easier for him to remember. Also, a lot of the contestants were from the daytime show; in fact, at least one daytime winner got gonged on the nighttime one.

Sale of the Century may have had some variations between the last few months of the NBC version and the syndicated version, but I'm not familiar enough with either one to know for sure.

On the nighttime version, the winners played a bonus round, where they selected a difficulty level ($50, $100, or $200) and were asked three questions; if they got all three correct, they won a trip, a fur coat, or a car, respectively.

Also:

Family Feud - Fast Money was played for $10,000; also, while the daytime games were still played to 200 at the time, the nighttime ones went from 200 to 300, and then to 400.

With Hollywood Squares, Peter Marshall often gives the winner the keys to a car. I assume that was the grand prize, Kenny Williams would do the plug, and then Peter would do the sign off.

[TimK2003]

Break the Bank
Daytime - the bank started at $5,000 and grew by $1,000 (later $250) for every day it wasn't won, the game winner won a bonus prize, no end game
Nighttime - slightly higher values for boxes (100/300/500 instead of 100/200/300), the bank stayed at $10,000 in prizes throughout the show, end game (pick a star, win a prize)

Actually, on the syndicated Barry version, the bonus round was pretty much a carbon copy of the traditional B&E bonus rounds: Try to reach/exceed $x,xxx while avoiding the automatic loss and you win -- in this case, the celebrity with the BUST card.

[That Don Guy]

Special rule for nighttime (Cullen-hosted) Pyramid: if they didn't have enough time to finish the second game (they had not introduced the "fastest time wins" tiebreakers yet), whoever was ahead got $2500, which was split if they were tied.

Clarification: this was done in the first season. The second season did have the "fastest 7-out-of-7 in the tiebreaker wins" rule.

Also, the Big 7 was worth $1000 (instead of the daytime's $500) in the first season, and a varying amount from show to show (I think 1000, 2000, or 3000, but I'm not sure) in the second season.

[Dbacksfan12]

Syndicated Card Sharks added prize cards to the decks while eliminating the $100 for winning the game.  The daytime run did not have such extras.

[calliaume]

Break the Bank
Daytime - the bank started at $5,000 and grew by $1,000 (later $250) for every day it wasn't won, the game winner won a bonus prize, no end game
Nighttime - slightly higher values for boxes (100/300/500 instead of 100/200/300), the bank stayed at $10,000 in prizes throughout the show, end game (pick a star, win a prize)

Actually, on the syndicated Barry version, the bonus round was pretty much a carbon copy of the traditional B&E bonus rounds: Try to reach/exceed $x,xxx while avoiding the automatic loss and you win -- in this case, the celebrity with the BUST card.

You're right; faulty memory.

[Neumms]

This is just the 1970s games.  No returning champions for any of the nighttime versions of games

Sale of the Century may have had some variations between the last few months of the NBC version and the syndicated version, but I'm not familiar enough with either one to know for sure.

On the nighttime version, the winners played a bonus round, where they selected a difficulty level ($50, $100, or $200) and were asked three questions; if they got all three correct, they won a trip, a fur coat, or a car, respectively.

Is that 70s Sale or Perry’s? Was the money shopping dollars or walking-away money?

[BrandonFG]

Sounds like 70s. I don’t remember any significant differences in Perry’s versions.