Vintage game show books on archive.org

[SuperSweeper]

NBC game shows (or maybe just H-Q game shows on NBC?) generally had some hefty consolation prize packages in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. $1000+ packages were not uncommon on Hollywood Squares or High Rollers, and I figure that extended over to Battlestars, as well.

Those packages were generally large (I’d say 8-10 prizes was the norm) and also had some items that were worth a few hundred dollars apiece (I remember seeing cameras and recliners on many of the episodes on YouTube).

[TimK2003]

NBC game shows (or maybe just H-Q game shows on NBC?) generally had some hefty consolation prize packages in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. $1000+ packages were not uncommon on Hollywood Squares or High Rollers, and I figure that extended over to Battlestars, as well.

I think it was H-Q in general.  ISTR Gambit (the CBS version) also seemed to have a larger-than average amount of parting gifts, and prizes in general.

In the later incarnations of High Rollers, if a winning contestant could clear the board both times in their match, they could theoretically win up to 21 prizes in the front game alone (Winning the max 15 prizes in game 1, lose game 2, then win up to 6 more prizes in game 3).  I'm curious to know how close anybody got to that maximum.

[BrandonFG]

One other thing I loved about Susan and Cheryl's book is something I feel is missing from most of today's shows: each chapter opened with the announcer's spiel leading up to the name of the show. In today's society, with several fewer minutes per hour, it feels like most intros are simply "It's time for ___!"

/At least most shows have announcers again
//"THIS......IS.....Jeopardy!" still sends chills tho

[Casey Buck]

Amusingly, there's a chapter on Pitfall, where it says that:

The highest amount won by a contestant in the first twenty-six weeks of taping was $17,000, and the show gave away more than $300,000 in the first season.

Alex's interview with the Archive of American Television said that he got paid for the first 13 weeks, but not the last 13. So, I wonder how much of that actually got awarded.

It also notes that Pitfall was an alternative to Hollywood-based shows if you lived in the Northwest, since it is located closer by, and that there is less competition to get on.

There's also a chapter on Super Pay Cards (which the book pitches as an option for East Coast-based residents), so it's pretty cool that Canadian game shows got mentioned as well as American shows.

[calliaume]

NBC game shows (or maybe just H-Q game shows on NBC?) generally had some hefty consolation prize packages in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. $1000+ packages were not uncommon on Hollywood Squares or High Rollers, and I figure that extended over to Battlestars, as well.

I think it was H-Q in general.  ISTR Gambit (the CBS version) also seemed to have a larger-than-average amount of parting gifts, and prizes in general.

That seems right. Based on the prize structure for the first 10 years or so of Squares (and, to a lesser extent, for Gambit and High Rollers, whoever the prize coordinator was probably got great deals for physical prizes, so those were emphasized and cash winnings were de-emphasized (even if you won all five matches you played on Squares, you only got $2,000 in cash).

[TimK2003]

One other thing I loved about Susan and Cheryl's book is something I feel is missing from most of today's shows: each chapter opened with the announcer's spiel leading up to the name of the show. In today's society, with several fewer minutes per hour, it feels like most intros are simply "It's time for ___!"

/At least most shows have announcers again
//"THIS......IS.....Jeopardy!" still sends chills tho

Never liked in the earlier days of Harvey Feud, when the first words of the OPENING spiel were, "This is Joey Fatone..."

[jlgarfield]

Amusingly, there's a chapter on Pitfall, where it says that:

The highest amount won by a contestant in the first twenty-six weeks of taping was $17,000, and the show gave away more than $300,000 in the first season.

Alex's interview with the Archive of American Television said that he got paid for the first 13 weeks, but not the last 13. So, I wonder how much of that actually got awarded.

It also notes that Pitfall was an alternative to Hollywood-based shows if you lived in the Northwest, since it is located closer by, and that there is less competition to get on.

There's also a chapter on Super Pay Cards (which the book pitches as an option for East Coast-based residents), so it's pretty cool that Canadian game shows got mentioned as well as American shows.

https://www.considerable.com/entertainment/celebrities/alex-trebek-bounced-check/ - It was for $49,000. This means he was agreed to have been paid $98K for his duties.

[Neumms]

Never liked in the earlier days of Harvey Feud, when the first words of the OPENING spiel were, "This is Joey Fatone..."

That was ludicrous. At the time, Walter Cronkite had done the introduction for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric. He did not start with "This is Walter Cronkite."

[clemon79]

He did not start with "This is Walter Cronkite."

Yeah, he didn't HAVE to.

[Casey Buck]

Another one: Emcee Monty Hall by the big dealer himself (along with Bill Libby) from 1973.

[calliaume]

Amusingly, there's a chapter on Pitfall, where it says that:

The highest amount won by a contestant in the first twenty-six weeks of taping was $17,000, and the show gave away more than $300,000 in the first season.

Alex's interview with the Archive of American Television said that he got paid for the first 13 weeks, but not the last 13. So, I wonder how much of that actually got awarded.

https://www.considerable.com/entertainment/celebrities/alex-trebek-bounced-check/ - It was for $49,000. This means he was agreed to have been paid $98K for his duties.

Assuming the payment was in Canadian dollars and not US dollars, that would have been about $112,900 USD in today's funds. Yeah, I can see why he'd still be ticked off. And Pitfall reran for years after that.

[Jamey Greek]

Another one: Emcee Monty Hall by the big dealer himself (along with Bill Libby) from 1973.

There is going to be a revised version of that book written by Adam Nedeff.

[PYLdude]

Another one: Emcee Monty Hall by the big dealer himself (along with Bill Libby) from 1973.

There is going to be a revised version of that book written by Adam Nedeff.

I don't think "revised" is the word you're looking for.

[BrandonFG]

Not exclusively game show-related, but Wesley Hyatt's Encyclopedia of Daytime Television is now part of the archive. It features a comprehensive history of shows and schedules.

[Kniwt]

Kicking this to note that publishers have taken notice and are Very Not Amused. If you were thinking of, er, checking out any of the titles listed here, you might want to do it sooner rather than later.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/06/publishers-sue-internet-archive-over-massive-digital-lending-program

Before this change, publishers largely looked the other way as IA and a few other libraries experimented with the digital lending concept. Some publishers' groups condemned the practice, but no one filed a lawsuit over it. Perhaps the publishers feared setting an adverse precedent if the courts ruled that CDL was legal.

But the IA's emergency lending program was harder for publishers to ignore. So this week, as a number of states have been lifting quarantine restrictions, the publishers sued the Internet Archive.

... If they win the lawsuit, they might force the group to shut down its book scanning operation and promise to not start it up again, then allow it to continue its other, less controversial offerings.