Best Game Show Finales – Your Picks?

[PYLdude]

I would say for my three:

-Scrabble, for the fact that it had a satisfying ending and also served as a tribute to its six year run

-Jeopardy 1975, for the classy send off Art Fleming gave the show

-1985 ABC Feud, because you can see that even if Dawson was exhausted after giving so much time to the show over the previous nine plus years, and that he knew the writing was on the wall, it was still a significant part of his life that he wasn’t ready to let go of yet and the emotions, however genuine they may have been, were still powerful.

[Chief-O]

-Super Password
-SOTC
-Eubanks Dream House
-Kennedy Split Second

[Chelsea Thrasher]

FYI I reposted the GSN Y2Play finales marathon from December 31st, 1999.  Eight hours of final episodes, covering quite a few of the series mentioned in this

Although there were a few entries left in the medium, the end of Super Password doesn't just feel like the end of the series, it feels like a broader finale for the glory days of daytime games as a whole.  NBC daytime would never feature more than two hours of daytime games again after that day. It's an episode that revels in it's own emotion. The hilarity of turning the contestant plug into a Help Wanted ad for the staff. Reserving part of the closing remarks for Betty. Bert's clear sadness at not being paired up with Gene Wood anymore, at least here (or with all the other staff-turned-recurring characters). The joy of giving the $10K bonus away on the last attempt. It does every other gameplay and emotional beat the others does well, at the same time. And in many ways with hindsight, it feels like a swan song for daytime games in general, who outside of Price now have less than a half decade left at that point and many of the remaining series are short-lived shows largely left on the shelf historically.

CBS What's My Line is almost assuredly my silver medalist. Much like Super Password above, it's something of a swan song. The show had been on the air for basically the entire meaningful history of network broadcast television. It represented the shift away from live or as-live programming in favor of pre-taped scripted series. It was the end of panel shows in prime time, and the end of game shows as a credible vehicle for A-list celebrity appearances. The Daly Mystery Guest segment is delightful, and while Goodson was known for making appearances on shows, Bill Todman most assuredly wasn't - so Line's network exit being meaningful enough to get him out of the office?  Is a statement.  And it's just a great half hour of TV.

Somewhere in between the two is ABC Split Second. The show itself and for most of the core game is no-nonsense, only to turn on it's side near the end. Just giving the contestant the car. The sincerity in both Tom and Monty (and Jack Clark and Jay Stewart). Monty has always struck me as having a certain reluctance to ever acknowledge on-air the degree to which he's "the man behind the curtain" on his shows (there's a difference between saying a show is a "Hatos-Hall Production" and outright going "Yes, Monty is the actual boss of everything around here.") but here he does it. Here too, the world was changing.  The finale comes in the midst of a two year period of massive changes at ABC and in daytime as a whole.  It's a damn shame that this show is almost completely lost outside of a handful of home recordings (and at least one master)

Honorable mentions: Dawson Feud (ABC '85), Newlywed Game (ABC '74), Sale of the Century (NBC '89), Now You See It (CBS '89).

[Adam Nedeff]

Here's an odd candidate--Stumpers!

It lasted only 13 weeks, but Allen Ludden's farewell speech on that final episode is shockingly touching. He mentions the incoming mail from teachers saying they were using it as a learning tool in vocabulary class and how much that meant to them. This show failed, but in the final moments, Allen calls attention to the fact that they did something that had value to at least a small number of people, and for that, they were grateful. I loved Allen leading the round of applause for the closing credits, too.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

He mentions the incoming mail from teachers saying they were using it as a learning tool in vocabulary class and how much that meant to them.

From time to time on 60s Password and Password Plus (and almost assuredly the 70s run as well), often if a new contestant was a teacher or they had a school group in audience, Allen would take a moment to mention how gratified he (and show staff) were to receive letters or comments from teachers talking about using Password in classrooms, etc. 

Although you could obviously speak to it more having literally written a book on the man, I would hazard a guess watching his shows as a viewer that if pressed, Allen would cite the use of his shows in education as one of his prouder career legacies.

[aaron sica]

It lasted only 13 weeks, but Allen Ludden's farewell speech on that final episode is shockingly touching. He mentions the incoming mail from teachers saying they were using it as a learning tool in vocabulary class and how much that meant to them. This show failed, but in the final moments, Allen calls attention to the fact that they did something that had value to at least a small number of people, and for that, they were grateful. I loved Allen leading the round of applause for the closing credits, too.

Very much this. It's worth noting that the first time I saw this, it was from the "Those Wonderful TV Game Shows" special on NBC when it originally aired in 1984. I was 9 at the time - probably about 5 years into watching game shows at this point, but with no history learned aside from the fact that I remembered Chuck Woolery hosted Wheel before Pat Sajak. That speech sounded like it came from a show that had been on the air for a long time. Watching the clip of the farewell, I remember thinking that HAD been on the air for a long time.

[aaron sica]

Sticking to the OP's rule of three:

1) $20,000 Pyramid - Playing the WC "if they wanted to save the money" was great. Also enjoyed the fun jab at NBC who was having a time of it then.

2) Password 75 - from the "For the last time on ABC.......the name of your game is 'Password'!" to the very end with him sitting with Betty.....You could just tell Allen knew this wasn't the end for Password in some form.

3) Family Feud (1985) - great speech by Richard.

[Mr. Mattι]

I don't have a specific ranking, but I do like the finales where not only is the staff acknowledged, a lot of them are brought on camera to have the emcee publicly thank them. A lot of shows that did that are already here (Split Second, Password '75 & Super, $20K Pyramid, Dream House, Squares 1980, NYSI 1989) and it helped that most of these also happened to have the final end game prize given away, either by pure coincidence or by making the last round super easy.

Although there were a few entries left in the medium, the end of Super Password doesn't just feel like the end of the series, it feels like a broader finale for the glory days of daytime games as a whole.

Spinning off this, one of the worst finales (excluding those shows where they didn't know it would be their last) IMHO is Concentration 1973 because of how rushed off the air it got despite the length of time it was on NBC. But it also felt like the ending of this show was the end of the early style of game shows from the 40s through 70s with the cramped New York studio, bare bones set, on-the-spot decisions (e.g. Norm coming on and saying the last two contestants split $700), and live organ music.

[Eric Paddon]

I give low marks to final episodes with interrupted games that aren't even resolved with a split the money deal or whoever is in the lead wins.   That happened on "Pass The Buck" (video is not out but there is an audio only recording out there) and also I think on the "Battlestars" revival.

I also was not impressed with the NBC HSQ finale.   Not only did you have Wayland and Madame constantly waste time, you also had a very pathetic attempt to try and give away the five wins in a row jackpot by bringing back a recently defeated champ who had won three games I think, then they automatically awarded her the money for a fourth game and hoped she could win a final game (she didn't but they let her make a bonus pick anyway after the winning contestant got a lame prize with his bonus pick and she ended up winning the $5000 prize!)    Peter's closing remarks were rushed and while he mentioned Wally Cox and Charley Weaver, not mentioned was Paul Lynde (was he not supposed to?).    All in all not a good final episode for a show that when it went off was just one year short of the daytime game show record.

[Blanquepage]

I give low marks to final episodes with interrupted games that aren't even resolved with a split the money deal or whoever is in the lead wins.   That happened on "Pass The Buck" (video is not out but there is an audio only recording out there)

Wouldn't be surprised if the video did pop up sooner or later, given all of the rarities flooding onto Winc's channel.

What's My Line '67, $20K Pyramid, and ABC Password would be my top 3. Another that I also enjoyed and haven't seen mentioned was CBS Joker's Wild. Part of it is sentimental, as it was the first game show finale I'd ever watched thanks to video swapping. I thought Jack's heartfelt farewell was classy, and the gradual darkening of the set at the end of the credits was a nice little touch.

[clemon79]

Peter's closing remarks were rushed and while he mentioned Wally Cox and Charley Weaver, not mentioned was Paul Lynde (was he not supposed to?).

Wally and Charley had shuffled off this mortal coil, whereas Paul was still alive and his leaving the show (at the time - he didn't return until they moved the syndicated show to Vegas, right?) was somewhat acrimonious, so it wouldn't surprise me if Paul was "edited" out of the remarks.

[carlisle96]

I give low marks to final episodes with interrupted games that aren't even resolved with a split the money deal or whoever is in the lead wins.   That happened on "Pass The Buck" (video is not out but there is an audio only recording out there) and also I think on the "Battlestars" revival.

I also was not impressed with the NBC HSQ finale.   Not only did you have Wayland and Madame constantly waste time, you also had a very pathetic attempt to try and give away the five wins in a row jackpot by bringing back a recently defeated champ who had won three games I think, then they automatically awarded her the money for a fourth game and hoped she could win a final game (she didn't but they let her make a bonus pick anyway after the winning contestant got a lame prize with his bonus pick and she ended up winning the $5000 prize!)    Peter's closing remarks were rushed and while he mentioned Wally Cox and Charley Weaver, not mentioned was Paul Lynde (was he not supposed to?).    All in all not a good final episode for a show that when it went off was just one year short of the daytime game show record.

She looked genuinely pissed by Wayland Flowers' screwing around when time ran out. I think Rose Marie once said the stars could joke around all they want, but don't dare do it during a Secret Square or when something else big was at stake 

[wdm1219inpenna]

Hit-Man if only due to Rod Roddy's ticket plug:


Classic!


Bob Barker's final Price is Right episode to be sure.

[SRIV94]

I think Rose Marie once said the stars could joke around all they want, but don't dare do it during a Secret Square or when something else big was at stake

Save Jonathan Winters--he ate up camera time (even during the SS) like it was cake.  Even Paul Lynde (on the rare occasion when he was a SS) knew to play it straight.

[calliaume]

I think Rose Marie once said the stars could joke around all they want, but don't dare do it during a Secret Square or when something else big was at stake

Save Jonathan Winters--he ate up camera time (even during the SS) like it was cake.  Even Paul Lynde (on the rare occasion when he was a SS) knew to play it straight.

Which may have been why Winters was only booked on the daytime version once. Someone else with more experience can determine whether he was made the Secret Square frequently (or not) on the syndicated run.

Dawson told Maxine Fabe "Some of the worst celebrities on game shows are the stand-up comics. They're getting big bucks with an ad lib and the contestant's ten thousand bucks is going down the drain. All someone has to do on Match Game is to try that once and they're never invited back."

From memory, Art James on the finale of The Who, What or Where Game: "Since this is our last show, and today's is Ron Greenberg's birthday, here is your $10,000 stake in the game."