This subject has a bit of currency, and its something I’ve been able to gather bits and pieces of data on. Any further insight from the board on how the 1967 AFTRA strike (Wednesday, 3/29 through Monday, 4/10) affected game shows would be welcome.
First, a list of network game shows in production at the time. (IGAS is omitted because it wrapped production on 2/27. I suspect “Reach for the Stars” would’ve concluded taping before 3/29 but can’t prove one way or another.)
Daytime strips:
NBC—Concentration, The Match Game, You Don’t Say!, Let’s Make a Deal, Jeopardy!, Eye Guess, The Hollywood Squares, Reach for the Stars, Snap Judgment
CBS—Password, To Tell the Truth
ABC—Supermarket Sweep, The Dating Game, The Newlywed Game, Dream Girl of ’67, Everybody’s Talking, One in a Million
Weekly shows (primetime or weekends):
What’s My Line? (CBS), To Tell the Truth (CBS), College Bowl (NBC), Password (CBS), The Dating Game (ABC), The Newlywed Game (ABC)
Specific cases that I’ve found information about:
What’s My Line?—Preempted 4/2 for a repeat of “Death of a Salesman.” A pre-recorded episode aired 4/9.
To Tell the Truth—The weekly show was preempted 4/3 by a repeat of “Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music.” (see
www.ttttontheweb.com/ttttnighttimeguide.html)
Password—The daytime show aired continuously without preemptions or repeats. It’s possible that the first four episodes of the Francis-Blyden week (4/10-13) were taped before the strike, and the Friday episode (4/14) was taped after. Allen explains “The contestants who played the game with us yesterday were not able to return today, so we have two brand new contestants.”
You Don’t Say! &
The Hollywood Squares—Based on celebrity listings, it appears both aired continuously without preemptions or repeats. (see
http://ctva.biz/US/GameShow/YouDontSay.htm. In
Backstage with the Original Hollywood Squares, there’s a slate for the 5-1-67 episode indicating that it was show #139. That would allow for a couple of holiday preemptions but not for an extended number of preemptions/repeats.)
The Dating Game—“Dark Shadows” was preempted on the afternoon of 4/10 for a showing of
The Man Who Never Was, so I presume that at least DG would’ve been preempted as well. Incidentally, Dating, Newlywed and Dream Girl were all set to start airing in color on Monday, 4/3, the first ABC weekday shows in color after “Arlene Dahl’s Beauty Spot” had a 13-week run the prior year. Whether the strike would’ve delayed those episodes, I don’t know. (see
https://worldradiohistory.com/hd2/IDX-Business/Magazines/Archive-BC-IDX/67-OCR/1967-02-27-BC-OCR-Page-0010.pdf)
Snap Judgment &
One in a Million—Both debuts were delayed until the strike was over.
