Password played its 1,099th and final daytime telecast on ABC, with Sam Melville and Kate Jackson of The Rookies as the final celebrities. In the final seven minutes, after a regular game was played, producer Howard Felsher and Frank Wayne and several other Goodson-Todman staffers came out to play one last game, even though there was little time to declare a real winner. Show creator Mark Goodson made a special appearance to present host Allen Ludden with a gold watch (which he juxtaposed with railroad companies giving their retiring employees watches) and declared him "Mr. Password." Goodson even humorously thanked Betty White Ludden for "keeping Allen straight."
With Betty joining Allen on a stool at stage center in the final segment, Allen Ludden, after 4 years, signed off with the classic line: "Sometime, somewhere, someday, there will be another game show, but never one with the class of this one." Surprisingly, unlike the color episodes of the 1961-67 CBS daytime version that preceded it, no syndicated reruns were planned; Password was never even produced in a first-run, once-a-week nighttime syndicated version, either! Happily, shortly thereafter, Allen Ludden was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host for Password (his only one!), just as Password itself won an Emmy for Best Game/Audience Participation Show.
And Blankety Blanks, a short-lived Bob Stewart-devised word game starring Bill Cullen, and Split Second, a Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall-created/produced venture emceed by Tom Kennedy, staples on ABC Daytime both (and also happened to sandwich Password at the time), also received the fatal blow by The Alphabet Network’s hatchet as well. Split Second ‘s series finale featured future ABC News (and later CNN) anchor Judd Rose as a contestant. Reruns of The Brady Bunch (which Blankety Blanks replaced in the first place!), the Bobby Van-hosted gameshow Showoffs (another Goodson-Todman vehicle), and All My Children all replaced Blankety Blanks, Password and Split Second in their former time slots the following Monday.
With Betty joining Allen on a stool at stage center in the final segment, Allen Ludden, after 4 years, signed off with the classic line: "Sometime, somewhere, someday, there will be another game show, but never one with the class of this one." Surprisingly, unlike the color episodes of the 1961-67 CBS daytime version that preceded it, no syndicated reruns were planned; Password was never even produced in a first-run, once-a-week nighttime syndicated version, either! Happily, shortly thereafter, Allen Ludden was awarded an Emmy for Outstanding Game Show Host for Password (his only one!), just as Password itself won an Emmy for Best Game/Audience Participation Show.
And Blankety Blanks, a short-lived Bob Stewart-devised word game starring Bill Cullen, and Split Second, a Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall-created/produced venture emceed by Tom Kennedy, staples on ABC Daytime both (and also happened to sandwich Password at the time), also received the fatal blow by The Alphabet Network’s hatchet as well. Split Second ‘s series finale featured future ABC News (and later CNN) anchor Judd Rose as a contestant. Reruns of The Brady Bunch (which Blankety Blanks replaced in the first place!), the Bobby Van-hosted gameshow Showoffs (another Goodson-Todman vehicle), and All My Children all replaced Blankety Blanks, Password and Split Second in their former time slots the following Monday.
