BAFFLE (NBC 1973-74) Dick Enberg started his 26 years with NBC (1973-99) hosting this game show. It replaced the original Concentration.
Two celebrity/civilian teams competed to guess phrases in the quickest possible time.
One posted the letters while the other guess from a sound-proof booth. The team that guessed the fastest won the round & 2/3 won the game! The bonus round had the contestant guessing 9 words in 30 seconds from 3-letter clues to win a car, trip & $5,000.
The series later had the celebrities play the front game & the team that won would draw a name & that studio audience member would play the bonus round. That all-star format was later used on Magnificent Marble Machine.
MEMORIES: Dick Enberg also did another NBC game (Three For The Money/1975). That year, Dick left game shows & became NBC Sports top sportscaster doing such events as Wimbledon Tennis & had done 8 Super Bowls (1981/83/86/89/93/94/96/98). OH MY!
PRO-FAN (1977 Syndicated) This sports game show was where male contestants got away from those screaming females (The Game Show Witch would hate it!). Former NBC Sportscaster/Colorado Rockies Boradcaster Charlie Jones hosted.
Two teams (sports star/male player) played three 4:00 rounds. Contestants had to answer sports trivia questions. If correct, the sports star would have 24 seconds to complete a sports stunt (IE; shoot a basket, sink a putt, bowl a strike, etc).
Round 1 paid 10 points for questions & stunts. Round 2; 20 & Round 3; 40 (with an 80 point option to let the contestant do the sports stunt himself, once per team).
The winning team played The $15,000 Grand Slam. Both members each had a turn to do the stunt. If either one was successful, the contestant won $15,000 in prizes. The Good Witch of The North of Game Shows!
MEMORIES: The show's set had a putting green, pool table, bowling alley, horseshoes, basketball court, tennis net, etc.
SPIN-OFF (CBS 1975) Jim Lange's 1st real game after doing The Dating Game for 9 years. This game show was the first Yahtzee-type game.
Two married couples competed. After answering a toss-up question, the board would set in motion a set of five spinners numbered 1-6. The object was to try to get a better hand to win money. Each couple had up to three tries. If they liked what they had, the other couple would try to beat their hand. The best hand won with payoffs ranging from $25 (one pair) to $200 (five of a kind). $250 won the game & a chance to play Super Spin-Off. Super Spin-off's played for larger stakes with $10,000 paid off for a BIG STRAIGHT in Exact Order (1-2-3-4-5/2-3-4-5-6/6-5-4-3-2/5-4-3-2-1).
The show only lasted 10 weeks, but would've been a hit if it had been re-named YAHTZEE!
MEMORIES: I remember seeing this show while vacationing in New Orleans. But when I returned to Houston, the local CBS affiliate passed on it.
THE $1.98 BEAUTY SHOW (Synd. 1978-79) Rip Taylor hosted this beauty pageant spoof created by Chuck Barris. 6 ladies competed in beauty, talent & swimsuit competitions. The winner got a tacky crown, a bouquet of rotten vegetables & $1.98!
MEMORIES: They had a celebrity panel. However, the producers chose the winner.
Contestants ranged from lovely to ugly, slim to fat. Yes, even a man competed dressed as a woman!
The show used 3 old songs; OH YOU BEAUTIFUL DOLL (Opening Theme) AIN'T SHE SWEET (Consolation prizes plug) HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN (Rip's entrance & winner being crowned)
TATTLE TALES (CBS 1974-78/1982-84/Synd. 1977-78)
This game's based on an earlier Goodson-Todman game, He Said, She Said.
Three celebrity married couples played for their audience rooting section. There's a red, blue & the BANANA (yellow) section.
Originally, the game was played with host Bert Convy reading a situation & the celebrity that buzzed in would tell the story. Then the celebrity has to give a one or two word clue relating to that story. Then the spouses (off-stage wearing headphones) would come on the monitor, Bert would read the question & clue. The spouse buzzes in & it the story matches, they got $100 for their rooting section.
That format was dropped & the game was played this way. Bert read a question to the off-stage spouses before they disappeared. Their spouse would try to guess how they would answer the question. If correct, they won money for their rooting section. Four questions (sometimes 5, 80's version) were played per episode. The spouses would switch places after the 2nd question.
The first 3 (or 4) questions were worth $150. If all three couples won, $50 for each section. Two couples; $75. One couple; The WHOLE $150 Pot!
If no couple was right, the money was carried over to the next question (ala The Skins Game).
The final question was valued @ $300!
The winning couple would earn an extra $1,000 for the rooting section. $500 if 2 couples tie/$334 for a 3-way tie. The rooting sections consisted of 100 members of the studio audience. The winnings were divided by those 100 people. (IE; The Banana Section wins $1,400; $14 per person).
It wasn't always married couples. In the 80's, they had Sisters Week (all ladies panel) & Best Friends Week (all gentlemen panel).
Both theme songs (70's/80's) were cool!