Taping schedules of daytime game shows in the 1950's and 1960's

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by Vahan, Feb 12, 2018.

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  1. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    Get a load of this excerpt from the September 9, 1974 issue of Broadcasting Magazine.

    At the bottom of this page, there's a quote from Giraud Chester, the executive vice president of Goodson-Todman productions. He said that before the mid-1960's, they would typically tape one show each day. So does this mean that the likes of Password and The Match Game (1961-1967 and 1962-1969 versions respectively) taped one episode a day from Monday-Friday for their respective Networks (CBS and NBC)?

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    All week taped in one day.
     
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  3. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    Well, that really happened once things went syndie, in the late 60s. Prior to that, while it was still on the network, shows like TTTT (for example) would tape 3 days a week, generally the first two days doing two shows each, and the last one on the third day.

    And generally, about two weeks in advance of airing.

    - Kevin
     
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  4. marka

    marka Forum Resident

    I could never watch "The Match Game" again after spending much of a day in a taping.
     
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  5. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    We used to sneak in all the time at NBC, the studio was never full. We would watch 5 Hollywood Squares tapings (we were in high school and didn't have girlfriends) and by the fifth show the entire cast was tipsy from the slugs of booze between shows. We ventured back to the dressing rooms and there was Wally Cox, Rose Marie and Paul Lynde toasting and chugging. Don't know how they kept their wits.
     
  6. Dan C

    Dan C Forum Fotographer

    Location:
    The West
    Yeah but according to the article that practice didn’t start until the mid-60s, they were done one-per-day originally. I assume game shows in the 50s were live and they kept the same workflow for a while after tape was available.

    We toured the Paramount lot last month during our LA visit and saw “The Doctors” stage, right next door to “Dr Phil”. Sucky shows but that’s what was built and ready to see. Anyway one show tapes multiple episodes over two or three days, then the same crew and equipment move next door and do the same for the other show. These aren’t “live to tape”, far from it. They’re assembled into the slick and nauseating daytime shows that make me feel unemployed when I catch them...

    It was still cool to see though, and Dr Phil shoots in a stage used for The Godfather movies. “New York City” is on the same street. :)

    dan c
     
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  7. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    Yike, I cannot imagine being ON Hollywood Squares to tape 5 shows in a row, shudder. That would be a long long day.
     
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  8. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    It took around 8 hours to get it all done. Not bad for a day's work, I guess. We also watched other "day long" show tapings of five. We were fascinated by the cameras, lights, etc. Still am, I guess.

    Some of the game shows had NO AUDIENCE, they had all gone home so they dubbed in what they needed. That killed me. We were the only two in the entire audience, lots of times!
     
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  9. marka

    marka Forum Resident

    My wife recalls going to see TTTT in around 1962 or so, and thinks that she would see three shows in a day. She could be mistaken, though. She was only about 8 ( this was before age limits in tapings). She said that her and friend would do it to escape the heat, since they had no air conditioning.
     
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  10. Joel Cairo

    Joel Cairo Video Gort / Paiute Warrior Staff

    Location:
    Portland, Oregon
    That's certainly **possible**, but the TTTT shows that I've seen with slates (a couple of hundred, from 1965 through 1968) all pretty much keep to the schedule that I've outlined above.

    I know a few of the G-T shows also had run-throughs (sort of like dress-rehearsal shows) prior to the actual tapings (the panel celebs had stand-ins for those)... your wife may have seen some of those.

    - Kevin
     
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  11. marka

    marka Forum Resident

    She's probably just old and confused....just kidding dear! ow!
     
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  12. Vidiot

    Vidiot Now in 4K HDR!

    Location:
    Hollywood, USA
    Yeah, I think on Wheel of Fortune over on the Sony lot, they tape 20 shows in 4 days -- one month's worth of shows in less than a week. It's not that bad to do 5 half-hours in a 10-hour day. The soap opera actors and crews have a much, much tougher schedule. (Technically, there is no more "tape" per se, but they shoot it with digital cameras and capture it onto digital HD files.)
     
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  13. bmasters9

    bmasters9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fountain Inn, SC
    I suppose it's a lot different now than back in the days of, say, Y&R when that CBS daily serial was under Columbia Pictures Television in the days of CPT's Coke ownership, when they shot it with regular video cameras.
     
  14. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    Paul Lynde's comic answers were the best. A little buzz helped, I'm sure!
     
  15. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    TTTT?
     
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  16. bmasters9

    bmasters9 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Fountain Inn, SC
    To Tell The Truth
     
  17. PhilBorder

    PhilBorder Senior Member

    Location:
    Sheboygan, WI
    His timing was perfect.
     
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  18. So did the cue cards.
     
  19. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    True, but his work is more about the delivery than the actual words.
     
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  20. Steve Hoffman

    Steve Hoffman Your host Your Host

    Can't let this pass.

    When we were there watching HOLLYWOOD SQUARES tapings (I guess we saw maybe 30 over the course of a year) we never saw a cue card. Not one, not once. And we were right in front.
     
  21. It's nice to know that at least some of the game shows didn't use cue cards.
     
  22. There was a small scandal in the '70's when someone revealed that the stars were given those snappy answers ahead of time. How they got them, I do not know. Maybe they were given a script or maybe that didn't happen until after you were there.
     
  23. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    In 1968, my high school in the Philadelphia suburbs had a group of students including myself, take a bus tour to New York city. It included a stop at NBC where we saw one, and only one, episode of SNAP JUDGEMENT, a game show hosted by Ed McMahon. The studio was empty when we arrived, and there was no sense that another show would be taped after we all left. That's my only experience with a daytime game show.

    [​IMG]
     
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  24. Vahan

    Vahan Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Glendale, CA, USA
    Image is broken.
     
  25. HGN2001

    HGN2001 Mystery picture member

    Looks OK on my computer and phone.
     
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