Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

[Mike Stroud]

Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

A legend in the world of TV game shows departs this life due to natural causes. This occurred two weeks after the man who was probably his most famous employee, Dick Clark, host of the early versions of Pyramid, died.

Info: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/bob-stewart-legendary-tv-game-320439.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Dick Clark may have been his most famous employee, but Bill Cullen
was his most frequent, going back to the original "Price Is Right" in 1956,
and in later years "Eye Guess," "Three On A Match," the nighttime syndicated
"$25,000 Pyramid" in the '70s, "Pass The Buck," "The Love Experts," "Chain Reaction,"
and "Blankety Blanks" (I've probably left one or two out).

BTW, it was Stewart's idea on "Password" to put up the word (so the audience would
be in on the joke when the clues were many amusing miles off) on screen but also for
Jack Clark to whisper, "The password is...". He did that because his (Stewart's) mother
did not have a firm grasp of the English language. IIRC, the practice continued until the
'80s but Gene Wood eventually revived the practice of saying the word.

 

[Mike Stroud]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Actually, bp, from my memory and YouTube clips, the password was mentioned through about the time of the "All-Stars" format change on the ABC version in 1974 (John Harlan was announcer by then). By that time, Goodson-Todman likely viewed it as hokey and outmoded, especially given the fact that Password was at the time in a fight for its life against CBS' Young and the Restless and NBC's Jackpot! (coincidentally another Stewart game) at Noon/11 Central. And I know for certain the mention never took place on the NBC Plus revival from 1979 to 1982, with Gene Wood and Johnny Olson at the helm. As you said, though, Wood resumed doing it on the Super-Bert Convy version on NBC in the mid-80s, probably as a nostalgic touch (remember that old games were back in vogue during this period, most notably, of course, Jeopardy!).

I could be wrong about the ABC version, but I would suspect that was one of the drastic changes implemented in late '74 in order to prop up ratings.

BTW, it was years before I learned that Stewart had ever worked for G-T. I had always thought he was something like a Jack Barry or Monty Hall, two packagers that did not have an extensive prior background before going into business for themselves. Stewart mostly deserves note for the fact that he was the last major game packager to leave his beloved New York for the West Coast, staying in the Big Apple through the ill-fated syndie $50,000 Pyramid in 1981. It would be 18 long years before Regis picked up the mantle with Millionaire before NYC would play host to a TV game again--AFAIK.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Actually, bp, from my memory and YouTube clips, the password was mentioned through about the time of the "All-Stars" format change on the ABC version in 1974 (John Harlan was announcer by then). By that time, Goodson-Todman likely viewed it as hokey and outmoded, especially given the fact that Password was at the time in a fight for its life against CBS' Young and the Restless and NBC's Jackpot! (coincidentally another Stewart game) at Noon/11 Central. And I know for certain the mention never took place on the NBC Plus revival from 1979 to 1982, with Gene Wood and Johnny Olson at the helm. As you said, though, Wood resumed doing it on the Super-Bert Convy version on NBC in the mid-80s, probably as a nostalgic touch (remember that old games were back in vogue during this period, most notably, of course, Jeopardy!).

I could be wrong about the ABC version, but I would suspect that was one of the drastic changes implemented in late '74 in order to prop up ratings.

BTW, it was years before I learned that Stewart had ever worked for G-T. I had always thought he was something like a Jack Barry or Monty Hall, two packagers that did not have an extensive prior background before going into business for themselves. Stewart mostly deserves note for the fact that he was the last major game packager to leave his beloved New York for the West Coast, staying in the Big Apple through the ill-fated syndie $50,000 Pyramid in 1981. It would be 18 long years before Regis picked up the mantle with Millionaire before NYC would play host to a TV game again--AFAIK.

You're right that John Harlan whispered the password during the ABC years, possibly even after the "All-Stars" format tanked and they went back to the traditional way of playing ("Password" was pre-empted in Atlanta at that time so I can't say for certain). You're also right that they didn't carry on the practice during the "Password Plus" years; I've seen enough reruns on GSN to vouch for that.

And someone mentioned "To Tell The Truth." Mark Goodson once called "TTTT" "a textbook definition of a game show," and it's of some note that it has aired at some point in every decade from the 1950s to the 2000s (not yet in the 2010s), which has not been the case with sister shows "What's My Line?" and "I've Got A Secret."

 

[rnigma1]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Stewart mentioned in an interview that when he wanted to leave GT and start his own company, Mark Goodson was aghast and said "Bob, why are you doing this? I made you a prince in this company." Bob replied: "Mark, I want to be king." Goodson was notoriously egotistical, claiming credit for the ideas of others, and taking Bill Todman's name off the company after Todman died.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

And as Jefferson Graham pointed out in his history of game shows,
"Come On Down!" Stewart created the original "Price Is Right," "To
Tell The Truth," and "Password"; Frank Wayne, "Match Game"; Allan
Sherman and Howard Merrill, "I've Got A Secret." "What's My Line?"
evolved out of an idea from G-T staff member Bob Bach called "Stop
The Camera." A variation on "Stop The Music," it would put six people
on stage and ask a home viewer to "stop the camera" when he or she
could match a person with his or her occupation (the emcee would say,
for instance, "one of these six people works in a zoo," and the home viewer
would have to try to guess which one), an idea that, with some changes,
was the "Who's Who" game on syndicated "What's My Line?". Eventually,
through trial and error, the show evolved into four panelists trying to guess
the occupation of one contestant through yes-or-no questions before it
went on the air. (Bach had, supposedly, been playing a game on trains and
in bars where he would spot a person and he and whoever he was with would
lay bets as to what that person did.)

Bob Bach and Frank Wayne can conceivably take the credit for "Beat The Clock";
at least they came up with the stunts which, for a time, a young James Dean tested
but he was so coordinated there was no way to tell if the stunts would work with average people.

Goodson does get credit for "Family Feud," since it's been said it was his idea
to take "Match Game"'s end game of guessing the answer most frequently given
by 100 people and basing an entire game on that premise.

Stewart once said about Goodson, "Mark Goodson claimed credit for the earth.
Todman was the money and a little alcohol or maybe a lot of alcohol. He'd be
sauced by ten-thirty in the morning. Mark was a superb editor, but he could not
begin with a blank piece of paper and give you a show. You could bring him your
idea, and he would say, "You've got a problem here," and then you had to go and
fix it."

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Right on both counts, although "Winning Streak" aired at 10:30 AM,
and "Three On A Match" at 1:30 PM.

Although the official story of why Joe Garagiola and not Bill Cullen
replaced Garry Moore as host of "To Tell The Truth" was that the
chemistry Cullen had with Kitty Carlisle and Peggy Cass would have
been disrupted, the real story may be that Stewart wouldn't let Cullen
host a second syndicated show while he was still hosting "$25,000 Pyramid"
in access time. Bill certainly deserved the job; when I've seen him filling
in for Garry, he's as good as always. But Stewart was his boss, too, so...

 

[Mike Stroud]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Right on both counts, although "Winning Streak" aired at 10:30 AM,
and "Three On A Match" at 1:30 PM.

Although the official story of why Joe Garagiola and not Bill Cullen
replaced Garry Moore as host of "To Tell The Truth" was that the
chemistry Cullen had with Kitty Carlisle and Peggy Cass would have
been disrupted, the real story may be that Stewart wouldn't let Cullen
host a second syndicated show while he was still hosting "$25,000 Pyramid"
in access time. Bill certainly deserved the job; when I've seen him filling
in for Garry, he's as good as always. But Stewart was his boss, too, so...

True, bp. If Cullen had opted to take over on Truth, Stewart would have almost certainly had to go with Dick Clark on $25KP; I can't imagine anyone else who would have been suitable then (surely not the likes of Art James or Art Fleming, two of the few NYC-based hosts by that point). This, in turn, would have necessitated the syndie episodes being recorded in tandem with the ABC version, since Clark had an entirely other life in L.A., helming American Bandstand and his own company. Either that, or an additional five or so days a year would have had to be added to Clark's already bulging schedule, in order to get the 26 or so episodes per season; I seriously doubt that Clark would have had time for that. But toward the end, Stewart had Cullen go out on the West Coast to do the short-lived Love Experts in addition to what would be the last season of $25KP back at ABC TV-15 (Truth had ended its long run by then), so I think we can chalk up that one to the perpetual animosity between Stewart and former boss Goodson more than anything.

Think about this, too: Cullen and Stewart had become such close friends that Cullen wasn't going to do anything to disrupt that. Also, from a purely career standpoint, Cullen didn't have anything going on network daytime at the time of Moore's health problems, and he didn't want to bite either of the hands that had fed him so long, either Stewart or Goodson. So things worked out as they should have.

Meanwhile, in regard to the two NBC early-70s daytime games mentioned above, don't get me started me on that. There is absolutely no comparison between the two. 3OAM was repetitive, to be sure, but it was a perfect showcase for Cullen's mannerisms and humor-punctuated approach to hosting. In fact, the repetition probably helped things out. Unfortunately, that game was plagued by massive affiliate pre-emptions, particularly in the Central Time Zone, where stations had scheduled alternate programming, even hour-long newscasts beginning at Noon, ever since the departure of Let's Make A Deal for ABC in December 1968. Much of the country never got to see it, so it's a great thing that some episodes (toward the last few months of the run) were preserved. It's an overlooked gem, an embodiment of the NBC style of the time.

Not so with Winning Streak, the glitzy replacement cooked up (probably hurriedly) by Stewart and NBC daytime head Lin Bolen in Summer '74. The simultaneously complicated and bone-headed rules hampered Cullen's ability to have fun, and it showed miserably in the one episode that survived wiping, from the day that President Nixon resigned (the episode was actually never shown on-air because of pre-emption for news coverage and thus got put aside somehow from the stack of daytime tapes NBC re-used). I'm not going to say any more about it; go to YouTube (if it's still up there) and judge for yourselves. Not everything Stewart did turned to gold, and I think Streak was his worst, hands down. And we should be glad Streak failed, because, in its wake arose a legendary game: the original Wheel of Fortune replaced it on January 6, 1975.

But, on balance, Stewart hit more than he missed, even if nothing quite touched Pyramid in terms of impact upon TV.

 

[azumanga]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

If Cullen had opted to take over on Truth, Stewart would have almost certainly had to go with Dick Clark on $25KP...

But then again, it would be wearing Dick Clark thin, as it would not only mean hosting $20K and $25K Pyramid from New York, but he also hosted American Bandstand from Los Angeles, in addition to his other duties as producer and host, such as the upcoming "Dick Clark's Live Wednesday". Bill Cullen was more available, as his only other duties was paneling TTTT, as well as hosting various short-lived game shows, all from New York.

 

[Mike Stroud]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

If Cullen had opted to take over on Truth, Stewart would have almost certainly had to go with Dick Clark on $25KP...

But then again, it would be wearing Dick Clark thin, as it would not only mean hosting $20K and $25K Pyramid from New York, but he also hosted American Bandstand from Los Angeles, in addition to his other duties as producer and host, such as the upcoming "Dick Clark's Live Wednesday". Bill Cullen was more available, as his only other duties was paneling TTTT, as well as hosting various short-lived game shows, all from New York.

Exactly. Clark didn't have time, it's simple as that. Come to think of it, I imagine the only other possibility for $25KP would have been Geoff Edwards. While it may be hard envisioning him presiding over the Winner's Circle, he did host a similar show for Stewart titled Shoot for the Stars, which had a nine-month run on NBC daytime in 1977. The dynamics on that show were almost exactly the same as Pyramid: celebrity/civilian configuration, special bonuses in the midst of the game, word association and so forth. Edwards, who never got the career on TV he deserved thanks to the impatience of network daytime heads of that day for instant hits, was the second-most favorite of Stewart as a host then. But like Clark, Edwards was L.A.-based, with radio work tying him down, so that might not have worked either. In any case, Stewart was fortunate that Cullen got passed over on To Tell the Truth for Joe Garagiola.

 

[bpatrick]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Edwards commuted to New York to do "Jackpot!" in 1974 and '75,
and at the same time did "Treasure Hunt" in LA. He taped "Jackpot!"
on weekends and there's no reason why he couldn't have done the
same with "Pyramid": since the syndicated version (Cullen's) was a
weekly, not a daily, show, he could have taped several shows in one
trip and not have to go back every week.

Steve Allen did something similar in the years he hosted "I've Got A
Secret" on CBS (1964-67, coincidentally he replaced Garry Moore).
He lived in LA and went back to New York every other Monday to do
two shows: one live, one taped for airing the following week. And if
you want to go 'way back, Hal March commuted from LA to New York
each week to do "The $64,000 Question," and George DeWitt came up
from Miami to the Big Apple to do "Name That Tune." So it's not impossible
that Edwards could have worked nighttime "Pyramid" into his schedule.

 

[ixnay]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

[H]is (Stewart's) motherdid not have a firm grasp of the English language.

Neither did my paternal grandparents (my grandpop especially). They were from Ukraine. Where was Stewart's mother from originally?

ixnay

 

[Mike Stroud]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

[H]is (Stewart's) motherdid not have a firm grasp of the English language.

Neither did my paternal grandparents (my grandpop especially). They were from Ukraine. Where was Stewart's mother from originally?

ixnay

According to Wikipedia, the Steinberg (Stewart's original surname) family were Jews from Russia. So you can imagine the difficulties Mrs. Steinberg had.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Re: Obit: Bob Stewart ("Pyramid," "Price Is Right," "Eye Guess"), 91

Maybe the most creative game-show producer who ever lived.