JUNE 20, 1980
The Hollywood Squares, Heatter-Quigley's tic-tac-toe game of the stars, took the big leap on NBC, following a sensational 14-season, 3,536-telecast run, making it the second longest-running game show in NBC Daytime history (right after 1958-73's Concentration!). Host Peter Marshall tried to assure viewers that "we're going to have some fun!" on the finale, but several jokes and comments (funny or not) seemed directed at The Peacock Network and Fred Silverman, at the time its head of programming.
Celebrities on the last NBC Daytime grid were Rose Marie, Tom Poston, Michelle Lee, Charlie Callas, Vincent Price, Leslie Uggams, George Gobel, Marty Allen, and Wayland Flowers & Madame (center square, since Paul Lynde had left the show by this point in a dispute, and, surprisingly enough, no direct mention of him was made on the final show!). George Gobel was the last daytime Secret Square but no one picked him during that game.
Wayland and Madame were heavily criticized for taking up too much precious time on The Hollywood Squares' final show, at times even getting host Marshall's goat as he desperately attempted to hasten the show's pace for its duration since a new car was at stake; sadly, time ran out before the contestants got a chance, but Marshall made up for it by giving them a shot at the bonus prize. The finale's fading minutes found Peter Marshall bringing the stars and the production staff on camera to introduce them (including producers Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley), and made special references in his departing speech:
"I want to thank all of the stars of the past, and people like Wally Cox and Charley Weaver, and folks like that that we miss terribly, but thank God for The George Gobels and...all the people who do our show. So, on behalf of the staff of Heatter-Quigley, and of all these people who work here at NBC---and they are the best!---we may be #3, but if we get another show like ours, they we can be #1 again!
"So, on behalf of everybody, and on behalf of my wife Sally, and my 6 children and my 2 grandchildren, thank you! You have made us the hit that we have been! Thank you out there! You are the ones who have been responsible!"
The Hollywood Squares was one of 3 game shows plucked from the NBC Daytime schedule to make room for David Letterman's ill-fated 90-minute daytime show (ironically, Letterman had earlier on appeared as one of The Squares!): the others were The New High Rollers, another Heatter-Quigley staple (its final program featured Alex Trebek appearing a mite tipsy!), and Chain Reaction. Its syndicated primetime version continued for one more year, with Paul Lynde returning to his old center square, expanding to five nights a week, and switching operations from NBC Studio 3 in Burbank to The Riveria Hotel in Las Vegas. Lynde would leave the show again, but return for a walk-on in the syndication finale. And George Gobel was once again the last ever center square.
