Who aired what in Atlanta: Lesser-known game shows

[Ccook55]

Couch Potatoes was WXIA, I believe. Not sure about Name That Tune or Knights & Warriors (I'll research those). Anything For Money did not air in Atlanta. Beat The Clock was on WJRJ and then moved to WATL, and Match Game '98 was on WGNX (now WGCL).

 

[bpatrick2]

The Jack Narz version of "Beat The Clock" was on Ch. 36 (1969-71 incarnation of the station) weeknights at 7:30; Ch. 17 had Gene Wood's version at 12:30 PM in 1974. It was probably canceled when production ceased due to differences between Goodson-Todman and the Canadian government (the show was taped in Montreal); the Canadian government wanted a percentage of the fees for prizes donated to the show and Mark Goodson refused to give it to them. Despite the show's good ratings, Goodson chose to end production.

Another show that Gene Wood emceed, the similar-to-"BTC" "Anything You Can Do," was never carried in Atlanta. The closest markets where that show aired were Nashville and Greensboro/Winston-Salem/High Point.

 

[Ccook55]

Yep, you're right on BTC. I did recall that. Beat The Clock was not one of Mark Goodson's favorite creations (saying that it "came back to haunt me a couple of times"). Yet CBS brought it back for a four-and-a-half-month run in 1979.

 

[johnnya2k6]

And that 1979 Beat The Clock was the only version that originated in Los Angeles.

But Make Me Laugh '79 and Anything For Money were never aired in Atlanta? Oh well; they would have to wait years later for the USA Network reruns (same applied to syndie $OTC, which is now on GSN).

Every Second Counts is still unknown (2:00 am also on WSB, perhaps?), and I'm certain they also turned down Jackpot! '89.

 

[Ccook55]

Every Second Counts did not air in Atlanta. Jackpot! '89 likewise, which adds since WSB didn't clear the NBC Jackpot! back in '74.

 

[johnnya2k6]

Whatever; Every Second Counts was doomed the moment New York City -- the nation's #1 market, for crying out loud!!! -- passed on it (though it did air in Los Angeles, Chicago, and several others but not Philadelphia).

Thankfully, the U.K. version lasted a bit longer (1986-93).

 

[bpatrick2]

Yep, you're right on BTC. I did recall that. Beat The Clock was not one of Mark Goodson's favorite creations (saying that it "came back to haunt me a couple of times"). Yet CBS brought it back for a four-and-a-half-month run in 1979.

I have a tape of the 1949 radio version of "Beat The Clock" and it is nothing like the television show. For one thing, Bill Cullen, not Bud Collyer, is the host; second, contestants have to answer questions within a brief time limit and if they can answer five questions they get the prizes contained in the "time capsule." I suppose the reason "BTC" used the stunt format when it moved to television was the prevailing belief in 1950 that television had to be "visual"; that is, have lots of movement. Yet another Goodson-Todman show that debuted the same year, "What's My Line?", had very little movement (at least in its network days; the syndicated version is another story) and lasted nearly eighteen years. Nowadays, I can't so much as glance at "Minute To Win It" on GSN without thinking of "BTC," as the stunts are very similar.

 

[johnnya2k6]

CORRECTION: The Challengers did indeed air on WXIA, not WSB as I thought (thanks, Ccook55).

 

[johnnya2k6]

Knights and Warriors--WUPA (according to one of bpatrick's old listings posted here)
$1.98 Beauty Show--WAGA
$100,000 Name That Tune (the late Jim Lange)--still unknown

 

[Ccook55]

If I recall correctly, $100,000 Name That Tune was WSB. 3rd Degree was WAGA.

 

[crainbebo]

Does anyone know if any stations in Atlanta aired Wild West Showdown in 1994-95? That was sort of a game show - teams competing in competitions ala American Gladiators except it was in an old western town set in the 1800s. Back in Seattle (my old hometown) I know KOMO 4 (ABC) aired it late Saturday nights.

Also to add - the E/I game show "Click" with Ryan Seacrest as a young adult, aired on WAGA around 1997-98.
Another E/I game show that wasn't cleared in Atlanta was Go For It! (the one that used to be on ABC Family around 2002). No one in Atlanta cleared it and I've looked at the Kidvid FCC sheets. It did clear on Chattanooga's America One station WYHB-LP 39. In my old hometown of Seattle it was cleared on my CBS station, KIRO 7 on Saturday afternoons.
Gladiators 2000 was aired by WGNX in the 1996-97 season, Saturdays at 7AM, the 2008-09 rerun comeback aired on WPCH-17 Sundays at 8:30AM.

-crainbebo

 

[johnnya2k6]

Click was already covered in Page 1 of this thread (dunno if WAGA paired it with Peer Pressure). And College Mad House (the weekly Fun House spinoff)? I'm sure it was on WGCL.

Truth Or Consequences '87 is still unknown, but what about...

Trivial Pursuit: America Plays
Bzzz!
Love Connection (1998)
Swaps
Change Of Heart
The Krypton Factor (1990)
Joker! Joker! Joker! (kids' version of The Joker's Wild)
The Love Experts (not really a game show, but hey, it had Bill Cullen as host!)
Infatuation
The Pop 'n Rocker Game

(BTW, Gladiators 2000 was also hosted by Seacrest; one of his co-hosts, Maria Sansone, is currently on KTTV's Good Day L.A.)

 

[bpatrick2]

I can tell you about two of those. "Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!" was on 11 Alive on Saturdays in the 1979-80 season, first at 7 PM, later at 12 N. Ch. 17 had "The Love Experts" at 11 PM in 1978.

 

[johnnya2k6]

If I recall correctly, $100,000 Name That Tune was WSB. 3rd Degree was WAGA.

You're right about 3rd Degree; but after (finally) looking at some Atlanta Journal-Constitution microfilms, WAGA had the Jim Lange "Name That Tune" as well (Tom Kennedy's was on WSB).

Also, the original "Love Connection" was on WAGA and later WSB (should've been saved for the "Syndicated shows that have jumped from station to station" thread). Of course, there are still lots of blanks to be filled.

 

[johnnya2k6]

To recap so far, breaking down by station...

WSB:
So You Think You Got Troubles?!
Liars' Club
Catch Phrase
Tic Tac Dough (1990)
That's Amore
Card Sharks (Bill Rafferty)
The Price Is Right (Tom Kennedy)
Triple Threat

WAGA:
3rd Degree
The Joker's Wild (1990)
$128,000 Question (Season 1 only)
Break The Bank (1985)
Trump Card
Click
Peer Pressure
It's Your Bet
Don Adams Screen Test
Strike It Rich
You Bet Your Life (Buddy Hackett)
Pictionary (1997)

WXIA:
The Challengers
Quiz Kids Challenge
Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Wipeout
Headline Chasers
You Bet Your Life (Bill Cosby)
Celebrity Sweepstakes
The Price Is Right (Doug Davidson)
Masquerade Party
Couch Potatoes
He Said! She Said!
$25,000 Pyramid (Bill Cullen)
Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!
Play The Percentages
Pyramid (Donny Osmond, part of a two-hour block from 3:00-5:00 in 2002 that also included Hollywood Squares, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, and Jeopardy!)

WGCL:
Let's Make A Deal (1980)
Face The Music
To Tell The Truth (John O'Hurley)
Match Game (1998)
Card Guppies
$50,000 Pyramid

WATL:
Remote Control
Cross-Wits (1987)
Double Dare
Pictionary (1989)
Finders Keepers

WUPA:
Split Second (1986)
Street Smarts
Knights and Warriors

STILL UNKNOWN:
Truth Or Consequences (1987)
Bzzz!
Trivial Pursuit: America Plays
Change Of Heart
Wild West Showdown
Infatuation
Break The Bank (1976)
and several others...

BUPKIS (zero):
Jackpot! (1989)
Anything For Money
Pitfall
Make Me Laugh
$ale of the Century
Jeopardy (Art Fleming nighttime)
Every Second Counts
Guilty or Innocent
Anything You Can Do
Go For It! TV
and a few others...

It seems that WXIA has aired more syndicated game shows than any other station in Atlanta over the years, followed by WAGA and WSB.

 

[bpatrick]

Since the '70s I have always associated 11 Alive first and foremost with game shows, since they've probably aired more syndicated game shows than 2 or 5 (and that includes some of the better-known ones like "Wheel Of Fortune," "Jeopardy!," "Joker's Wild," "Tic Tac Dough," "What's My Line?," and "To Tell The Truth"). It's been basically a matter of economics; the station signed on in 1951 but never turned a profit until the late 1970s. I remember an article in Variety back around 1978 that explained the economics of "stripping" vs. "checkerboarding" at 7:30: WPXI Pittsburgh was airing "Concentration" five nights a week and paying a total of about $2000 a week ($400 a broadcast), while WTAE was airing five different shows and paying an average of $2000 a week per show. (BTW, "Concentration" was a staple on WXIA in the mid-'70s.) Given 11 Alive's money problems for so many years, game-show strips seemed to be the answer; John Tyler, gm from 1972-74, did exactly that; Jack Clifford (1974-76) tried five different shows at 7:30; Jeff Davidson (1976-84) went back to stripping and hit it particularly big with "Tic Tac Dough," a consistent number one at 7:30 from 1978-81.

In the 1979-80 season WSB aired "Three's A Crowd" at 7:30; you may recall that was the show that asked the burning question, "Who knows a man better, his wife or his secretary?". It was also attacked by women's groups from the time it debuted. It was one of the rare occasions when Channel 2 ever ran third in a timeslot; "Tic Tac Dough" was first, followed by "PM Magazine" on WAGA.

 

[johnnya2k6]

In the 1979-80 season WSB aired "Three's A Crowd" at 7:30; you may recall that was the show that asked the burning question, "Who knows a man better, his wife or his secretary?". It was also attacked by women's groups from the time it debuted. It was one of the rare occasions when Channel 2 ever ran third in a timeslot; "Tic Tac Dough" was first, followed by "PM Magazine" on WAGA.

That became moot the second they picked up "Entertainment Tonight" and scheduled it at 7:30, where it remains to this day.

I think #2 in that timeslot (among total viewers) belongs to Jeopardy! followed by TMZ.

But I've been starting to look at old TV listings through AJC microfilms and noted that WSB, despite being the top dog, has been notorious for carrying some pretty bad syndie shows and movie packages while all the good ones have been snapped up by the other stations; I'll save that for the other thread.

 

[bpatrick]

WSB carried the syndicated version of "Family Feud" in the 1980-81 season (a purchase the station had made before switching to ABC and picking up the daytime version as well); "ET" debuted in the fall of 1981 and, as you noted, is still on Channel 2 at 7:30. In fact, in 33 years, Channel 2 has never changed its Monday-Friday 7-8 PM block of ABC News at 7 and "ET" at 7:30. (It is also, I believe, the only ABC affiliate in the Eastern time zone which still carries its network news at 7; to my knowledge, Montgomery, AL, is the only market that sees it at 6 (CT).)

 

[johnnya2k6]

Speaking of To Tell The Truth...did WXIA air or pass on the 1980 version?

And what if some of the game shows that got zero clearance did get aired after all? Here's what it would look like:

$ale of the Century--WSB
Anything For Money--WXIA
Pitfall--WGCL
Every Second Counts--WATL
Make Me Laugh--WXIA
Jackpot! '89--WUPA

 

[bpatrick]

Channel 46 carried the 1980 "To Tell The Truth," also "Bullseye," the latter a rarity in that it was a Barry and Enright show not carried on WXIA (which had "Joker's Wild" and its spinoff "Joker! Joker!! Joker!!!," "Tic Tac Dough," and "Play The Percentages").