"Actual" Staged Game Shows within television shows.

[Markxxx]

Golden Girls: Dorothy dreamed that she was on Jeopardy!

Was this the same episode where Dorothy tries out for Jeopardy and though she beats everyone answering the questions in the testing rounds, she isn't picked as she's not likable enough to be a contestant?

 

[borderblaster]

I assume the cartoon version of 101 Dalmations was shown on TV at least once as the Dalmations and the dognappers watch "What's My Crime?"(Line) and SCTV spoofs the show with "What's My Shoe Size?"

 

[Tim-In-Houston]

Was this the same episode where Dorothy tries out for Jeopardy and though she beats everyone answering the questions in the testing rounds, she isn't picked as she's not likable enough to be a contestant?

That's the one, yes. The producer explained they wanted someone the audience could "root" for.

Didn't Chuck Henry of KNBC Los Angeles host a bunch of failed game shows? I know he was key anchor at WMAQ in Chicago (NBC) and he left and I saw him on game shows once in awhile. Now it seems he's a pretty respected guy again in LA

He hosted the short-lived re-tread of "Now You See It" on CBS during the spring of 1989, replacing "The $25,000 Pyramid" (before being yanked and replaced with a short run of new "Pyramid" episodes that finished out the season). There's another show he hosted in the late-70s or early-80s that I've come across on youtube, but don't recall the name (and can't seem to find it on a youtube search).

 

[anotherguyTN]

And don't forget--it was later in '89 that we had one of the ultimate TV parodies: the film "UHF" starring "Weird Al" Yankovic.  And one of the "shows" included a game show parody: "Wheel of Fish, which was a combination parody of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Let's Make a Deal": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq9DG5E_wdo

And there's also Weird Al's video I Lost on Jeopardy complete with Art Fleming and Don Pardo that came out about a year or so before the start of the Alex Trebek version, and also featured cameos of Dr. Demento and Greg Kihn (who did the original song Our Love's in Jeopardy):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUZijEuNDQ&ob=av3e

 

[cd637299]

SCTV had a bunch of good ones, per the above:

What's My Shoe Size? (What's My Line?)

The $211,000 Triangle (Pyramid)

Stretch Your Arm (their own creation)

Hi-Q (like College Bowl, with Catherine O'Hara as Margaret Meehan. who buzzes early to every question, even though she gives the wrong answer)

Half-Wits (very apropos)

Dialing for Dollars, with Walter Cronkite (Dave Thomas)

...

MAD TV had a couple I know:

Vague (you weren't allowed to give specific answers!) - with the real Jamie Farr, no less

Gimmee a Clue (like Pyramid, but you had 20 seconds to convey ONE WORD, and the contestant doesn't even get the word, from the clues!)

...
This thread could go on & on, but I'm fine with it!

cd

 

[Stanislav]

This is branching off the main emphasis of the thread, but.....I always found it interesting when a "real life" game show was depicted in a filmed series, but the game segment was on videotape. (Hasn't always been done that way, but often.) I've wondered if this was a conscious choice for realism (since game shows were taped, not filmed) or, more likely, it was simply more expedient to use the production facilities available at the game show studio, rather than dragging in film equipment for a single scene.

 

[cd637299]

This is branching off the main emphasis of the thread, but.....I always found it interesting when a "real life" game show was depicted in a filmed series, but the game segment was on videotape. (Hasn't always been done that way, but often.) I've wondered if this was a conscious choice for realism (since game shows were taped, not filmed) or, more likely, it was simply more expedient to use the production facilities available at the game show studio, rather than dragging in film equipment for a single scene.

The only time that ever happened (videotape on a filmed series) that I recall, was Urkel vs Carl on "American Gladiators," if you can call AG a game show!

The only filmed game shows I know (maybe there were more) were "You Bet Your Life" w/ Groucho, & "Do You Trust Your Wife?" with Edgar Bergen....I wonder if any 50s series had a character go on one of those shows.

EDIT: I remember watching the "Odd Couple" Password ep on the night it ran...was curious that night how they could pull it off....surely a hokey "set" (after all, how would they display a chroma "word" on a filmed screen?) - but maybe *that* added to the ludicrousness of that episode. It sure is still talked about today, and rightly so.

cd

 

[Wright County Guy]

Was this the same episode where Dorothy tries out for Jeopardy and though she beats everyone answering the questions in the testing rounds, she isn't picked as she's not likable enough to be a contestant?

That's the one, yes. The producer explained they wanted someone the audience could "root" for.

Didn't Chuck Henry of KNBC Los Angeles host a bunch of failed game shows? I know he was key anchor at WMAQ in Chicago (NBC) and he left and I saw him on game shows once in awhile. Now it seems he's a pretty respected guy again in LA

He hosted the short-lived re-tread of "Now You See It" on CBS during the spring of 1989, replacing "The $25,000 Pyramid" (before being yanked and replaced with a short run of new "Pyramid" episodes that finished out the season). There's another show he hosted in the late-70s or early-80s that I've come across on youtube, but don't recall the name (and can't seem to find it on a youtube search).

Actually, "Blackout" replaced and was replaced by "Pyramid". "NYSI" replaced Card Sharks.

 

[cd637299]

^ Until a few months ago, I thought that this was the only case of a show replacing---and being replaced BY---the same show...but no....

According to Wesley Hyatt's "The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television," ABC reruns of "The Brady Bunch" were replaced by a Bill Cullen game show, "Blankety Blanks"; in turn, "Brady Bunch" replaced *it*!

The idea for "Blackout" wasn't all bad....but the bonus game had nothing related to the regular gameplay.

I know...OT....back to our thread.

cd

 

[Stanislav]

This is branching off the main emphasis of the thread, but.....I always found it interesting when a "real life" game show was depicted in a filmed series, but the game segment was on videotape. (Hasn't always been done that way, but often.) I've wondered if this was a conscious choice for realism (since game shows were taped, not filmed) or, more likely, it was simply more expedient to use the production facilities available at the game show studio, rather than dragging in film equipment for a single scene.

The only time that ever happened (videotape on a filmed series) that I recall, was Urkel vs Carl on "American Gladiators," if you can call AG a game show!

I've seen it happen in a few different filmed series over the years, but don't ask my rapidly-fading mind to recall the specifics. :'(

EDIT: I remember watching the "Odd Couple" Password ep on the night it ran...was curious that night how they could pull it off....surely a hokey "set" (after all, how would they display a chroma "word" on a filmed screen?) - but maybe *that* added to the ludicrousness of that episode.

The ersatz Let's Make a Deal set was even hokier. :

 

[cd637299]

^ You said it! 2 rows of contestants? & the sign "LET'S MAKE A DEAL" (including quotation marks!) in the backdrop...

cd

 

[Stanislav]

^ You said it! 2 rows of contestants? & the sign "LET'S MAKE A DEAL" (including quotation marks!) in the backdrop...

cd

But the scene is so gosh-darn funny, that you really don't notice or care!

"Take the squid! Take the squid!"
"Who are you -- Jacques Cousteau?"

 

[cd637299]

Take the squid?!? Oh well....

Here's another one, although (again) not a real game show, but close enough....

On "Gomer Pyle, USMC", both Sgt. Carter & Gomer appeared on "Win-a-Date", basically the Dating Game. (Carter had a girlfriend already, Bunny---again artistic license, I guess.)

cd

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

According to Wesley Hyatt's "The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television," ABC reruns of "The Brady Bunch" were replaced by a Bill Cullen game show, "Blankety Blanks"; in turn, "Brady Bunch" replaced *it*!

And don't forget--it was later in '89 that we had one of the ultimate TV parodies: the film "UHF" starring "Weird Al" Yankovic. And one of the "shows" included a game show parody: "Wheel of Fish, which was a combination parody of "Wheel of Fortune" and "Let's Make a Deal": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jq9DG5E_wdo

And there's also Weird Al's video I Lost on Jeopardy complete with Art Fleming and Don Pardo that came out about a year or so before the start of the Alex Trebek version, and also featured cameos of Dr. Demento and Greg Kihn (who did the original song Our Love's in Jeopardy):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvUZijEuNDQ&ob=av3e

And don't forget that TPIR was mentioned at the end of "I Lost on Jeopardy." I wonder how well Weird Al would have done in Contestants' Row with Bob, Johnny and Co.--I sometimes wish there would have been a sequel video/song to "I Lost on Jeopardy" that showed how well (or even poorly) he may have done on TPIR.

Weird Al did eventually make it to Jeopardy in real life: "Rock and Roll Jeopardy" on VH1, that is (Part 1 linked below on YouTube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dQFHMGCSb8&feature=related

Weird Al did appear on another Merv Griffin game show: "Wheel of Fortune" during Music Stars Week in May 1994 (the first part of his appearance linked below on YouTube):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFSTXGJRuaY&feature=related

And to combine "I Lost on Jeopardy" and "The Brady Bunch" together as they were mentioned in this thread--the same Weird Al album that contained "I Lost on Jeopardy" (1984's "Weird Al in 3D") also contained his "Safety Dance" parody called simply: "The Brady Bunch." His premise in the song is to state what else he would rather watch on TV EXCEPT FOR the Bradys (e.g. Mister Rogers, Captain Kangaroo, Donahue, Barney Miller, etc.), then he sings the Brady Bunch theme. One of the other shows that he said he'd rather watch was "Newlywed Game." I haven't found an official Weird Al video for "Brady Bunch," but someone on YouTube put together his own video with clips of some of the mentioned shows, linked below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW65Ontdcis

And I apologize in advance for taking the thread off topic, but something else I was wondering about while watching "I Lost on Jeopardy": was Art Fleming ever originally approached to host the 1984 "Jeopardy" revival that would later be hosted by Alex Trebek?

Also the Jeopardy home game shown in the video--would that have been based on the original 1964-75 version of the show or would it have been based on the 1978-79 short-lived NBC revival (with only 2 of 3 players going on to Double Jeopardy, and one player playing Final Jeopardy)? I remember seeing circa 1981 JCPenney Christmas catalogs in my youth that still showed that Milton Bradley version of the Jeopardy home game.

 

[cd637299]

^ I understand that Merv Griffin did not want Fleming anymore, because he envisioned the show running a long time (which it did), and they wanted someone younger. Now Trebek is 69, right? Anyway, after a few shows, I am sure everybody forgot about Fleming.

One thing Trebek can do that Fleming didn't, was to "clear the board" often. Fleming did a lotta ad-libbing in between "correct questions," like ribbing Don Pardo, singing a little bit if a musical clue, etc....and there was still clues remaining when the round was over.

I think that it's quite a tribute that Trebek can do this, especially since commercial time has increased! (not to mention the long taped time of "Clue Crew" clues)

cd

 

[Tim from Springfield IL]

SCTV had a bunch of good ones, per the above:

What's My Shoe Size? (What's My Line?)

The $211,000 Triangle (Pyramid)

Stretch Your Arm (their own creation)

Hi-Q (like College Bowl, with Catherine O'Hara as Margaret Meehan. who buzzes early to every question, even though she gives the wrong answer)

Half-Wits (very apropos)

Dialing for Dollars, with Walter Cronkite (Dave Thomas)

...

MAD TV had a couple I know:

Vague (you weren't allowed to give specific answers!) - with the real Jamie Farr, no less

Gimmee a Clue (like Pyramid, but you had 20 seconds to convey ONE WORD, and the contestant doesn't even get the word, from the clues!)

...
This thread could go on & on, but I'm fine with it!

cd

SCTV also parodied "Tattletales" with "Celebrity Tattletales" with Burt Conby. The link to the SCTV Series 1 episode guide mentions a promo for Celebrity Tattletales during a "Dialing for Dollars" parody in Episode 1-26 (week of Dec. 12, 1977), with Prince Phillip, Queen Elizabeth, and Roy Rogers. I remember seeing that clip when NBC rebroadcast SCTV reruns on weeknights in early 2001, but can't find it on Youtube, which is unfortunate because it was hysterical.

http://sctvguide.ca/episodes/sctv_s1.htm

 

[cd637299]

^ Ah yes! Went something like this----

Bert (played by Eugene Levy): Roy Rogers (who was not onscreen)! I can't believe you said that about Dale! OK now, Prince Philip---what's the most annoying thing your wife does at night?

Philip (played by Joe Flaherty): She picks her nose in bed.

Bert: Whoa! Queen Elizabeth, really!?! OK let's get the Queen...(Queen E is on small TV screen) Queen Elizabeth, what's the most annoying thing you do at night?

Queen E (Played by Catherine O'Hara, nodding her head): I pick...my nose...in bed.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

cd

 

[radioman148]

^ Ah yes! Went something like this----

Bert (played by Eugene Levy): Roy Rogers (who was not onscreen)! I can't believe you said that about Dale! OK now, Prince Philip---what's the most annoying thing your wife does at night?

Philip (played by Joe Flaherty): She picks her nose in bed.

Bert: Whoa! Queen Elizabeth, really!?! OK let's get the Queen...(Queen E is on small TV screen) Queen Elizabeth, what's the most annoying thing you do at night?

Queen E (Played by Catherine O'Hara, nodding her head): I pick...my nose...in bed.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

cd

I had forgotten how hysterical that was ;D

 

[borderblaster]

Ok Ill throw in Herb and Mrs. Tarlek on Real Families (Real People) on WKRP. If Im not mistaken Peter Marshall was the "host"

 

[bpatrick]

^ I understand that Merv Griffin did not want Fleming anymore, because he envisioned the show running a long time (which it did), and they wanted someone younger. Now Trebek is 69, right? Anyway, after a few shows, I am sure everybody forgot about Fleming.

One thing Trebek can do that Fleming didn't, was to "clear the board" often. Fleming did a lotta ad-libbing in between "correct questions," like ribbing Don Pardo, singing a little bit if a musical clue, etc....and there was still clues remaining when the round was over.

I think that it's quite a tribute that Trebek can do this, especially since commercial time has increased! (not to mention the long taped time of "Clue Crew" clues)

cd

Trebek is 71 now, and as it is, Fleming would not have survived the new version for many years; I think he died in 1995.
I'm sure there's a whole generation who thinks Trebek has been the only host of "Jeopardy!" and that's understandable, although at first he took some negative comparisons to Fleming...until people got used to him. Actually, although I personally liked Fleming better, I think Trebek is better hosting "Jeopardy!" simply because he moves the game along without all the ad-libbing, giving the contestants more opportunities to add to their scores. (He would be perfect for "GE College Bowl" if somebody revived it, since he hosted the high-school quiz bowl "Reach For The Top" in Canada.)

Merrill Heatter, when Trebek was hosting "High Rollers" and Wink Martindale was doing "Gambit," wasn't quite so complimentary of Trebek. "Wink gives it a 'Music Man' approach," Heatter said, meaning in essence that if the contestants and audience are having a good time, then so is the Winker. "Alex simply moves the game along...he doesn't put his arm around nervous contestants...he doesn't care if they're having a good time."

But Art Fleming wasn't too unhappy about being overlooked for the new "Jeopardy!". As he told one interviewer, "In my day, everybody kept their winnings; now, only the winner keeps the cash" (this was before the change that gave $2000 to the second-place player and $1000 to the third-place one).