Black & White Shows on Buzzr

[Gregg.]

Since it debuted, Buzzr, the Classic Game Shows digital subchannel, has always showed three black and white game shows back to back: What's My Line?, I've Got A Secret and To Tell The Truth. Buzzr took only a couple of years of each of those shows and showed them over and over. It seems a two year block of these shows were seen, on the Buzzr schedule five days a week. I suppose it takes a bit of work to get them ready for presentation, writing the subtitles for closed captioning, editing them so that three shows, including some of their classic commercials, can be presented over a two-hour block, fixing any gliches that occur from the kinescopes that have been preserved.

I notice Buzzr now sometimes shows a different three-show line up, Password, The Name's The Same and Beat The Clock. It seems this block is seen Tuesdays and Thursdays, while the original three-show line-up is seen Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Each gets a repeat over the weekend.

I really wondered why Password wasn't seen originally, except for later color shows, some of which were not hosted by Allen Ludden. Buzzr said Password would be on its schedule when the initial publicity was written, before the network's premiere. Now, a few years later, we can see those original shows, with the nighttime version on the schedule. Buzzr only seems to use the nighttime versions of the other black & white shows, I guess feeling the daytime shows are not as good.

 

[Ccook55]

Actually it’s because the earlier daytime shows don’t exist anymore. CBS either didn’t keep the tapes or reused them for other shows (Password’s nighttime shows were on videotape while other games of the time were preserved on kinescope).

 

[Gregg.]

It is a shame how much has been lost, either due to lack of warehouse space for preservation, or just as a cost matter. As you said, some of the videotapes of the daytime Password were simply reused for other shows. According to Wikipedia, the 1967-1969 Ed McMahon daytime game show, Snap Judgement, has no known kinescopes or tapes preserved to this day. Same for many early versions of the Tonight Show, be it Steve Allen, Jack Paar or early Johnny Carson.

It is great that someone did keep the kinescopes of What's My Line?, To Tell The Truth and I've Got A Secret. All these shows aired live but Goodson-Todman luckily recorded kinescopes, I guess for internal use, and someone kept the kinescopes, never foreseeing that they might be used to broadcast the shows again, decades later. Same for other early TV shows. For instance, we discussed that some early Dinah Show Shows were preserved on kinescope. She did them originally in color but all that's left are black and white kinescope versions.

 

[Ccook55]

Bill Cullen’s version of “The Price Is Right” has a worse fate for their daytime shows. There are at least seven kinescope daytime shows making the rounds (three from 1957 and four from 1965). GSN previously ran 67 nighttime shows (all kinescope) and some four more are on YouTube.

 

[anotherguyTN]

I've read that even tapes of the early 70's ABC version of Password were recorded over for early episodes of Family Feud. There are a few episodes on You Tube.

 

[Ccook55]

Concentration was another known casualty. Out of 3,689 telecasts, only about 13 of the original series exists on kinescope, even the 3/23/73 finale (in color). The UCLA Museum of Radio and Television reportedly has some 1971 telecasts (paired up with those dates’ airings of Sale Of The Century) in their holdings.