Card Sharks CBS/Syndie ‘86 set

[SuperMatch93]

Password is the only game show I can think of off the top of my head where the bonus round is played at home base. Every other game show I can think of involves moving to a different part of the set.

The only other ones that come to mind are High Rollers and You Bet Your Life (though the latter doesn't have much of a set to begin with).

[Casey]

Password is the only game show I can think of off the top of my head where the bonus round is played at home base. Every other game show I can think of involves moving to a different part of the set.

The only other ones that come to mind are High Rollers and You Bet Your Life (though the latter doesn't have much of a set to begin with).

There were several others that come to mind.  The first several bonus rounds of The Joker’s Wild on CBS were played with the player sitting at their podium to spin the prize reels and the joker/devil reels.  Face the Music’s Championship game was played in the same area as the 3 prior games.  The jackpot clock on the 50s Beat the Clock was played right behind the home base.

[BrandonFG]

Final Jeopardy!

[MSTieScott]

why was the decision made to change the Alphabetics board from the hanging sign to the wall after the first week or two of shows? Was it always planned that way and the wall just wasn't ready in time?

I can only speculate, but it seems like it would be a lot more efficient to have the Alphabetics board behind the wall, where it could be changed out of sight while the front game was being played. In the early days when the board flew in and out, I would imagine that there had to be a somewhat significant stop during each commercial after a bonus round was played in order to load the next set of words. Plus, either some kind of barrier would have to be brought in or the celebrities and contestant would have to be taken offstage somewhere to prevent them from seeing what was being changed.

[TimK2003]

For some reason they decided to get away from words popping up out of the desk. For one thing, Alphabetics involved 10 words instead of the five of the old lightning round.

Password is the only game show I can think of off the top of my head where the bonus round is played at home base. Every other game show I can think of involves moving to a different part of the set.

The earliest episodes of The Joker's Wild on CBS had the champs remain in their area while they were still trying to find their Bonus Game.

[tpirfan28]

Password is the only game show I can think of off the top of my head where the bonus round is played at home base. Every other game show I can think of involves moving to a different part of the set.

The Moneymaze?

[Chuck Sutton]

The "Big Deal" if you consider it a bonus round.

[Nick]

There was no "stigma" associated with the old show. For some reason they decided to get away from words popping up out of the desk.

On the subject of the old show, a question that came to mind as I have been perusing the earliest episodes of Password Plus lately: One Password staple of yore that was gone by this point was an intellect of the likes of Dr. Reason A. Goodwin or Robert Stockwell as the "authority".  Why was role of judge downgraded, if you will, to the producer?

/Though I have wondered how G-T or any of these packagers ever got such intellectuals on staff.  Seems a bit out of their league for linguist with a doctorate or a tenured university professor to be a judge on a "bread and circus" affair such as a game show, no?

[chris319]

it could be changed out of sight while the front game was being played. In the early days when the board flew in and out, I would imagine that there had to be a somewhat significant stop during each commercial after a bonus round was played in order to load the next set of words.

Wow, that's a lot of water under the bridge.

We didn't stop tape. A barrier was flown in and the board was changed during the main game with everyone at the desk.

[Neumms]

Password is the only game show I can think of off the top of my head where the bonus round is played at home base. Every other game show I can think of involves moving to a different part of the set.

Some from the 60s, Password’s era: The original Match Game, You Don’t Say!, Get the Message, The Face Is Familiar. I think Pyramid was the first to move to a special area.

[BrandonFG]

I think Pyramid was the first to move to a special area.

Split Second and its set, well...splitting, predates Pyramid by a year.

[RMF]

/Though I have wondered how G-T or any of these packagers ever got such intellectuals on staff.  Seems a bit out of their league for linguist with a doctorate or a tenured university professor to be a judge on a "bread and circus" affair such as a game show, no?

Different social mores involving work in this field- note that Mason Gross was the provost at Rutgers parallel with his work on Two For The Money, where in certain regards he was more the quizmaster than Herb Shriner was.

In terms of the shift, I have to wonder how much of it parallels similar shifts (newscasters no longer working as hosts, changes in the nature of the celebrities on game shows) that we've noticed before being present during the 1960s and 1970s- it does that changes in the image of the genre mattered a lot.

[SRIV94]

TBH, I always liked the CBS set better, but the NBC set has the better logo.

It was a good set, but I hated having the money amount for the Money Cards superimposed.  Should've had a podium a la the NBC version.

[TimK2003]

TBH, I always liked the CBS set better, but the NBC set has the better logo.

It was a good set, but I hated having the money amount for the Money Cards superimposed.  Should've had a podium a la the NBC version.

That ,and going from Automatic to Manual Freeze Bars just screamed "CHEAP".

[Neumms]

...I hated having the money amount for the Money Cards superimposed.  Should've had a podium a la the NBC version.

That ,and going from Automatic to Manual Freeze Bars just screamed "CHEAP".

I heartily agree.