Classic Game Show Television Milestone Of The Week

[AH3RD]

AUGUST 25, 1958

"The NBC Television Network Presents... (toy piano- and slide whistle-fanfare) Concentration!"

That would become the famous opening spiel the popular game show based on the children's game, created by Jack Barry, Dan Enright, Robert Noah and Buddy Piper, in which matching like cards is the key, while adding the ever-popular "rebus" puzzles to create an endlessly fascinating game of wits, which had its debut on NBC Daytime. Concentration went on to become the longest-running daytime game show in NBC history, airing for 15 years and 3,796 shows, through March 23, 1973.

Concentration was emceed by Jack Barry (1958), Hugh Downs (1958-68) and Bob Clayton (1969-74). Many guests hosts appeared between '68 and '69, including Art James, Bill Mazur, and Ed McMahon! Two NBC prime-time series of Concentration were spawned as well: a four-week run in 1958 with Barry (October 30 to November 20), and a five-month full-color run in 1961 with Downs (April 17 to September 18). In 1968, Downs won an Emmy for hosting the daytime Concentration.

Shortly after its debut, Jack Barry and Dan Enright were forced to surrender their rights to this show as a result of The Quiz Show Scandals. At the end of the NBC run, the rights to Concentration switched to Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, who oversaw both of the later versions of this show: the 1973-79 syndicated edition hosted by Jack Narz (Now You See It), and the 1987-91 NBC Daytime revival, Classic Concentration, emceed by Alex Trebek (Jeopardy!). It remains one of only 3 programs in Goodson-Todman's entire game show repertoire that was not created by the company; the other 2 being The Price Is Right and the Hollywood Squares component half of the 1983-84 NBC ratings thud of a Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour.

The videotapes of virtually every segment of the original 1958-73 NBC-produced version of Concentration were unfortunately destroyed or taped over for reuse by The Peacock Network (save for a precious few!), but all of the Goodson-Todman-produced episodes remain. NBC still retains the rights to the show, which explains the appalling dearth of repeats of Concentration on Game Show Network.

Afterword: Bob Clayton, the final host, signed a contract with Bob Stewart Productions to be the announcer of the hit game show which premiered on CBS the very Monday following Concentration's demise on NBC: The $10,000 Pyramid! Hugh Downs later became an anchor for ABC News, hosting the TV news magazine 20/20 with Barbara Walters. Ed McMahon became the aide de camp of Johnny Carson for thirty years on his Tonight Show. And, of course, Jack Barry's exile from TV due to The Scandals (aside from brief emceeing duties on Juvenile Jury and The Reel Game) would officially end with the September 4, 1972 CBS Daytime premiere of The Joker's Wild!

[rigsby]

[quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\']involuntarily taped over[/quote]
How exactly does one involuntarily tape over something else?

"Can't...control...finger......must...press...record!"

[Jimmy Owen]

Did many shows get taped in the first place?  I thought they were live for much of the run.

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\'] It remains one of only 3 programs in Goodson-Todman's entire game show repertoire that was not created by the company; the other 2 being The Price Is Right [/quote]
 Huh?

[rugrats1]

Someone here mentioned that the Cullen "Price" was based on another game show called "The Auctioneer", which was not a G-T creation.

[The Ol' Guy]

Perhaps what was meant was that Stewart's The Auctioneer may have been slightly different in it's initial version, then modified by Mark and the rest into the form we know as TPIR under G-T's roof, which would make the final product their property. Would that be a fair assumption? Probably any production company can be inspired by an outside concept, but they can claim their unique derivitive as their own. Hollywood Connection was inspired by The Match Game, but HC is still Barry and Enright's, not Goodson's.

[RMF]

[quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\'] Many guests hosts appeared between '68 and '69, including Art James, Bill Mazur, and Ed McMahon!


 [/quote]
 McMahon was the regular host for (I believe) six months in 1968.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\']AUGUST 25, 1958

"The NBC Television Network Presents... (toy piano- and slide whistle-fanfare) Concentration!"[/quote]
That opening didn't come along until the mid-60s and the "maze" logo.  The original opening had a similar spiel, but, IIRC, was a series of cards on a board revealing each letter of the title, with Paul Taubman, Milt Kaye or whoever else was organist hitting a series of celeste notes as each letter was revealed, in the style of most B&E openings of the time (in that they were art card effects shot "in limbo").

By "celeste" I mean the keyboard instrument that sounds similar to a music box, not the Leslie speaker setting on organs.  That instrument was heard on the original "Concentration" every day under the fee plug and for several years under every prize plug, with the organist hitting a fanfare on the Hammond between every prize while the stagehand pulled the art card on the easel and the director took a close-up of the winning contestant.  On the rare instances where a contestant won nothing but gag prizes, the organist had a tendency to really overdo the fanfares.

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'RMF\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 10:28 AM\'] [quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\'] Many guests hosts appeared between '68 and '69, including Art James, Bill Mazur, and Ed McMahon!


 [/quote]
McMahon was the regular host for (I believe) six months in 1968. [/quote]
 Indeed he was. According to the book On Camera, authored by Hugh Downs, Hugh was promised that Bob Clayton would get the hosting job permanently upon Hugh's departure because Bob did such a stellar job as guest host. However, after a month or so [perhaps a wee bit longer], NBC gave Bob the boot and placed Ed McMahon into the emcee's position, keeping Wayne Howell in the announcer's booth and leaving poor Bob completely out of the Concentration loop. BUT! The ratings took such a drop upon Ed's succession that Bob Clayton was returned to the MC station where he remained for the balance of the program's run.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 03:28 PM\'] [quote name=\'RMF\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 10:28 AM\'] [quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\'] Many guests hosts appeared between '68 and '69, including Art James, Bill Mazur, and Ed McMahon!


 [/quote]
McMahon was the regular host for (I believe) six months in 1968. [/quote]
Indeed he was. According to the book On Camera, authored by Hugh Downs, Hugh was promised that Bob Clayton would get the hosting job permanently upon Hugh's departure because Bob did such a stellar job as guest host. However, after a month or so [perhaps a wee bit longer], NBC gave Bob the boot and placed Ed McMahon into the emcee's position, keeping Wayne Howell in the announcer's booth and leaving poor Bob completely out of the Concentration loop. BUT! The ratings took such a drop upon Ed's succession that Bob Clayton was returned to the MC station where he remained for the balance of the program's run. [/quote]
 Are you sure?  I thought it might be a contractual thing where Ed needed a game show to host following "Snap Judgment"

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 03:39 PM\'] [quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 03:28 PM\'] [quote name=\'RMF\' date=\'Aug 24 2004, 10:28 AM\'] [quote name=\'AH3RD\' date=\'Aug 23 2004, 04:55 PM\'] Many guests hosts appeared between '68 and '69, including Art James, Bill Mazur, and Ed McMahon!


 [/quote]
McMahon was the regular host for (I believe) six months in 1968. [/quote]
Indeed he was. According to the book On Camera, authored by Hugh Downs, Hugh was promised that Bob Clayton would get the hosting job permanently upon Hugh's departure because Bob did such a stellar job as guest host. However, after a month or so [perhaps a wee bit longer], NBC gave Bob the boot and placed Ed McMahon into the emcee's position, keeping Wayne Howell in the announcer's booth and leaving poor Bob completely out of the Concentration loop. BUT! The ratings took such a drop upon Ed's succession that Bob Clayton was returned to the MC station where he remained for the balance of the program's run. [/quote]
Are you sure?  I thought it might be a contractual thing where Ed needed a game show to host following "Snap Judgment" [/quote]
 That's the tale as told by Hugh Downs in his book.

[Jimmy Owen]

Ed's last show was on 9/26/69.  NBC's ratings must have been down across the board because on that same day Bill Cullen, Bill Leyden, Tom Kennedy and Gene Rayburn lost their NBC hosting gigs and Larry Blyden moved from one show to another.  This did create new jobs for Bob Clayton, Jack Kelly, Gary Owens, Al Lohman and Roger Barkley.