Another "Password Plus" question

[b_masters9]

I have a question about a couple of "Password Plus" tickets from Nov. 1980, images of which can be found in the Photos section of the Yahoo! Password Plus group under "Screenshots1:"

http://tv.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/passwordplus/photos

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

If you can see these tickets, I'd like to know about them.

Ben

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 18 2006, 02:57 PM\']I have a question about a couple of "Password Plus" tickets from Nov. 1980, images of which can be found in the Photos section of the Yahoo! Password Plus group under "Screenshots1:"

http://tv.ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/passwordplus/photos

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

If you can see these tickets, I'd like to know about them.

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[/quote]
Fair warning: you need to be a member of the group in question to see the photos.

[b_masters9]

I am a member of that group. I have seen these photos. You're not a member, are you? I'd just like to know.

Ben

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 18 2006, 03:26 PM\']I am a member of that group. I have seen these photos.

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[/quote]
The warning was not to you, it was to others who might not want to join the group just to see those photos.

You're not a member, are you? I'd just like to know.

No, I am not.

[chris319]

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

I know I'm really going out on a limb here, but could it be that the tickets were printed before Allen took ill and nobody at NBC bothered to have a new batch printed?

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 18 2006, 07:55 PM\']

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

I know I'm really going out on a limb here, but could it be that the tickets were printed before Allen took ill and nobody at NBC bothered to have a new batch printed?

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[/quote]
"Hey, remember that Allen's gonna have a stroke over the weekend, so be sure to put Tom Kennedy's name on the tickets!"

[b_masters9]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 01:48 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 18 2006, 07:55 PM\']

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

I know I'm really going out on a limb here, but could it be that the tickets were printed before Allen took ill and nobody at NBC bothered to have a new batch printed?

[snapback]113418[/snapback]

[/quote]
"Hey, remember that Allen's gonna have a stroke over the weekend, so be sure to put Tom Kennedy's name on the tickets!"

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[/quote]

That was probably the thought process in the NBC tickets department. Allen was eventually going to have the stroke that led to his demise, so the tickets (if made out the right way) would have all the pertinent information about the show title, host (this time, Tom Kennedy), ticket distribution, taping date and time, etc.  About why Allen's name was on the tickets instead of Tom's, I think that it was a simple clerical error. Somebody must not have thought about Allen having a stroke, so the tickets continued to be printed as if Allen was in good health. Am I correct about this assessment?

Also, does anyone have photos of "P+" tickets that had TK's name on them-- say, from 1981 or '82? I'd really like to see one.

Ben

[chris319]

By coincidence, those tickets are for the last P+ taping I worked on. The following weekend I relocated to the San Francisco bay area for a gig which (thankfully, in retrospect) lasted less than a year, at which time I returned to Los Angeles. Leaving Goodson-Todman when I did turned out to be a wise career move, as I can now claim 24 years of continuous employment in an industry and a town where employment can be volatile: one year with Group W Cable, eight years with CNN and 15 years with Chris Craft -> Fox. Damn lucky.

[MikeK]

[quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 05:45 AM\'][quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 01:48 AM\']"Hey, remember that Allen's gonna have a stroke over the weekend, so be sure to put Tom Kennedy's name on the tickets!"[/quote]
That was probably the thought process in the NBC tickets department. Allen was eventually going to have the stroke that led to his demise...

Am I correct about this assessment?[/quote]
Wow.  You think you've seen everything and then someone takes it to an astoundingly new level.

Was it inevitable that Ludden would have his stroke?  I'm not a doctor but as far as I know, strokes aren't incidents which doctors can predict.  Going back to December '04, I would guess everybody here was in utter disbelief when Dick Clark suffered from his stroke.  Unless someone at NBC had Jeanne Dixon or Miss Cleo on speed-dial, then I doubt anybody, not even Allen or Betty, saw this happening.

Also, does anyone have photos of "P+" tickets that had TK's name on them-- say, from 1981 or '82? I'd really like to see one.

The smart money says the tickets would look exactly the same but with Tom Kennedy's name in place of Ludden's.

[chris319]

Unless someone at NBC had Jeanne Dixon or Miss Cleo on speed-dial, then I doubt anybody, not even Allen or Betty, saw this happening.

Not likely. NBC had a hard enough time predicting which shows would succeed or fail or that Letterman would bomb in daytime.

The smart money says the tickets would look exactly the same but with Tom Kennedy's name in place of Ludden's.

Brilliant!

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 05:45 AM\'][quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 01:48 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Mar 18 2006, 07:55 PM\']

The question is: since these tickets have taping dates in Nov. 1980 (and of course, Tom Kennedy became the permanent host in Oct. 1980) why do these tickets still indicate that Allen Ludden is the host of "Password Plus"?

I know I'm really going out on a limb here, but could it be that the tickets were printed before Allen took ill and nobody at NBC bothered to have a new batch printed?

[snapback]113418[/snapback]

[/quote]
"Hey, remember that Allen's gonna have a stroke over the weekend, so be sure to put Tom Kennedy's name on the tickets!"

[snapback]113442[/snapback]

[/quote]
That was probably the thought process in the NBC tickets department. Allen was eventually going to have the stroke that led to his demise, so the tickets (if made out the right way) would have all the pertinent information about the show title, host (this time, Tom Kennedy), ticket distribution, taping date and time, etc.  About why Allen's name was on the tickets instead of Tom's, I think that it was a simple clerical error. Somebody must not have thought about Allen having a stroke, so the tickets continued to be printed as if Allen was in good health. Am I correct about this assessment?

[snapback]113451[/snapback]

[/quote]
God in heaven, you've got to be kidding me.
My boy, you win the prize. Brandon Brooks, what has he won?
By the way, if Tom Kennedy hadn't been available so quickly, Fred Silverman was considering plugging in reruns of Supertrain.

[WorldClassRob]

[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 10:54 AM\'][quote name=\'b_masters9\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 05:45 AM\'][quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 01:48 AM\']"Hey, remember that Allen's gonna have a stroke over the weekend, so be sure to put Tom Kennedy's name on the tickets!"[/quote]
That was probably the thought process in the NBC tickets department. Allen was eventually going to have the stroke that led to his demise...

Am I correct about this assessment?[/quote]
Wow.  You think you've seen everything and then someone takes it to an astoundingly new level.

Was it inevitable that Ludden would have his stroke?  I'm not a doctor but as far as I know, strokes aren't incidents which doctors can predict.  Going back to December '04, I would guess everybody here was in utter disbelief when Dick Clark suffered from his stroke.  Unless someone at NBC had Jeanne Dixon or Miss Cleo on speed-dial, then I doubt anybody, not even Allen or Betty, saw this happening.

Also, does anyone have photos of "P+" tickets that had TK's name on them-- say, from 1981 or '82? I'd really like to see one.

The smart money says the tickets would look exactly the same but with Tom Kennedy's name in place of Ludden's.

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[/quote]

I am with HM on this too...who knew when Allen was going to suffer his stroke?  Nobody saw that happening; of course Allen was being treated for stomach cancer, which he died from in '81.  In fact, Allen made very good progress in recovering from the stroke, and I've heard many stories back then that he may possibly come back.  

Therefore, it would be impossible for NBC to say, "get all of the Password Plus tickets with Allen Ludden's name and throw them all away".  Game shows were not taped every day; and Chris319 will tell you that better than anybody since he was in the game show industry himself.  When it was determined that Allen was not going to be able to continue hosting P+, the network needed to find a new host.  Anybody could've hosted it (Martindale, Perry, Cullen, Dawson, perhaps a fresh face like Peter Tomarken...wishful thinking of course), and the first choice was really Bill Cullen.  But Bill was already signed to host "Blockbusters", so the next logical choice was Tom Kennedy.

As it turned out, Password survived another year and a half with Kennedy at the helm.  He indeed took care of Password in Allen's absence, as Betty White once said.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'hmtriplecrown\' date=\'Mar 19 2006, 10:54 AM\']Wow.  You think you've seen everything and then someone takes it to an astoundingly new level.

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[/quote]

Naw. I'm still astonished from his post asking why Bert Convy phrased something the way he did. I wait in anticipation for his next post, perhaps wondering exactly how many feet off the ground the "MG '7X" sign was.

[b_masters9]

Don't worry, Aaron. You'll hear nothing of the sort-- although I am very much interested in the technical aspects of game shows (cameras, tickets, openings, etc.) I am not interested in how far off the ground the MG7x title sign is, so you will hear nothing from me about that.

Ben

[Robert Hutchinson]

I'm torn between wanting to try to post the actual answer in clear, simple language, and marveling at the acceptance of the answers actually given.