It's time to Face the Music!

[ChuckNet]

We're looking for a famous person...here are your clues:

\"When I'm 64\"
\"Big Man\"
\"Da Do Ron Ron\"
Theme to FtM

The answer? It's none other than Ron Ely...the actor-turned-GS host-turned-author was 65 on Sat. My belated good wishes!

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious \"Chuckie Baby\")

[GS Warehouse]

Ron Ely actually was the solution to such a puzzle on FtM.  IIRC, for one of the clues, they actually found a song called \"I Got It\", because by then, that's what contestants yell as they hit the buzzer!

[Casey]

At various points, all of the cast members of Face the Music were solutions to puzzles.

Lisa Donovan's puzzle:
What Have They Done To My Song, Ma?
Red Headed Stranger
C'est Moi (It is I)
Face The Music Theme

Ron Ely was the mystery person in the bonus round with:
When You're Smiling
Long Tall Texan
Nature Boy
Games People Play
Miss America Theme (won at $2,000)

Tommy Oliver and Ron Ely were both used as faces in the first round.  Ron was used at least 3 times.

For Tommy Oliver, they played Strike Up The Band, to which Ron replied to a correct guess: \"By getting that correct we deduct 20 points from you.\"

A fun, cheesy show, but it was always fun to hear Ron make fun of the band's playing.

[ChuckNet]

Tommy Oliver and Ron Ely were both used as faces in the first round. Ron was used at least 3 times.

Yep...one time, they played Glen Campbell's \"Hard to Be Humble\" as a clue leading to Ron...however, for the latter, they didn't specify on Ron's answer card which face it pertained to, which led Ron to remark how the producers deserved the \"Dirty Trick of the Year Award\". :-)

Ron was also used as a game 2/3 subject...typical clues included \"Big Man,\" \"Near You,\" \"Da Do Ron Ron\", and of course, the FtM theme.

Tommy was also used in the same capacity...the clues were \"Look What They've Done to My Song, Ma\", \"Leader of the Pack\", the FtM theme, and another song I'm forgetting (at one point, Ron told the contestant who had control that they were looking for a \"very strange\" famous TV personality, which led  the player to guess \"You!\").

And people wonder why FtM's one of my GS guilty pleasures, w/over 20 eps in my holdings... :-)

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious \"Chuckie Baby\")

[Casey]

I have a number of tapes of Face the Music.  I tried to catch it when FAM reran them recently.  Unfortunately, some of those episodes have been accidentally recorded over, and FAM skipped quite a few episodes when it reran them.  

It was a fun show that never took itself seriously.  The band going on strike after a jab from Ron Ely was a memorable moment.  The very early episodes of the run were a bit painful to watch as Ely wasn't quite ready for the role of host, but once he hit his stride, he really was pretty decent.  

I'd like to get my hands on the entire run.  I tried contacting Sandy Frank Productions (which has still shots from the pilot episode on its web site), but they weren't able to help.  I wonder if Ron, Tommy, or Lisa have them.  Lisa's site has a montage of clips of her singing on Face the Music.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Jun 24 2003, 09:01 PM\']Yep...one time, they played Glen Campbell's \"Hard to Be Humble\" as a clue leading to Ron...however, for the latter, they didn't specify on Ron's answer card which face it pertained to, which led Ron to remark how the producers deserved the \"Dirty Trick of the Year Award\". :-)
[/quote]
Actually, it was Mac Davis who wrote and originally performed \"It's Hard To Be Humble.\"  But otherwise, your point is well-taken.

Doug

[happyattacks]

I loved this show as well... It would be so great to see it pop up again. I think it was a terrific Idea and actually played out pretty well... I think a decent remake could be done, but I'm sure it would involve too much money and such...

Is it just me, or was this one of the most awful, ulgy and cheesy sets to ever hit the airwaves? All those chasing lights (There must have been thousands of them), and ugly brown colors everywhere...  The Show play was great. It was always great fun to watch lisa get a case of the giggles and not be able to finish the song..

Whatever became of Tommy Oliver?  GSN really needs to get this along with NMT....

[ChuckNet]

Whatever became of Tommy Oliver? GSN really needs to get this along with NMT....

I expect there's music clearance issues...else, I wouldn't ming seeing it pop up on GSN, myself.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious \"Chuckie  Baby\")

[uncamark]

But considering that a \"Face the Music\" champion was one Rich Cronin, as long as he's running GSN, there's always hope...

[Casey]

What killed me most about Face the Music:  The chasing lights almost never worked right.  Especially those behind the door that Ron walked out during his intro.    

Another weird thing I always wondered about.  Behind the band, the light panels were configured in such a way that only half of them chased (every other light).  The remaining lights all remained fully bright.  Even when they dimmed the lights and left them steady, these stayed the same.  Suddenly, midway through the second season, they changed them to be just like the lights behind the contestants.  I figured it was lighting for the band for when the studio lights were turned down, but that's just a theory.

Thirdly, early in the second season, the band recorded the theme music, and the music used after game 1 and game 2 on tape.  But at the end of the show, the band was shown playing, while the recorded theme music was heard on the air... What was up with that?