shows that have been destroyed (1 Viewer)

[JMFabianoRPL]

I plead guilty to coming up with "Dark Period" back in the day, and yes, how little we knew that we still had it good back then. (Though they added trends that would continue into later "good" periods, like the repeat of the AM block into the afternoon) Either way, it was the point you knew things wouldn't be the same again.

In the years thereafter, it seems like there were more peaks and valleys. 1998 was good cause we got the G-T shows back, but then came a valley when they started shoving originals like Extreme Gong and Throut and Neck down our throats. You also only got to see the "popular" versions of certain classics, meaning no Eubanks Card Sharks, Combs Family Feud, or Super Password (the latter two were only seen in the wee hours of the weekend for awhile, then dropped). This is also when the split screens and cutting of fee plugs started. 2000 had the discovery of CBS Joker's Wild, but more mediocre originals and no more TPIR. All the while, we must also consider the overpushing of Newlywed Game (though it's NOTHING like that of any version of Family Feud from 2002 on). When Rich Cronin took over in late 2000 or 2001, things got better for a while and we saw the aforementioned alternate versions of certain shows, and later Press Your Luck, Let's Make A Deal, and Squares. But that is also when the speedups started, and again, while some of the better originals came from his reign, more mediocre ones would soon come. I also think Cronin was when they had to lease Sony properties a season at a time (which would spread later to, well, everything).

And so forth and so on, with a name change in between (which had a really good period in 2003 when they brought back the Bill Rafferty shows, Tom Kennedy-hosted Password Plus, and more...), and here we are now. There are some bright spots, like the lease of 1983 Press Your Lucks and of Sale of the Century, but that pretty much is kept in a token corner for classics (kind of like game rooms keeping a Ms. Pac-Man and a Galaga). Too much seeing what sticks to the wall with originals (and yet, The Pyramid is the one that gets buried?!!?) and too much new Family Feud...heck, not even Dawson's is on anymore! Guess they don't want to remind people that FF can be funny without being smutty, eh? (nor how Steve Harvey, despite being good, is overrated compared to the real masters of the board, Richard Dawson and Ray Combs)?

Sony and Fremantle need to get episodes of their game shows on some kind of on demand or online service ASAP. Thank goodness we have YouTube, though.

 

[Jack P]

True, there were rough spots as well during 98-01 and there's no question that *all* original GSN programming in that era was beyond execrable. And the one really bad side-effect of the "Dark Period" was that it meant the worst of all the Chuck Barris shows, "Three's A Crowd" got "rediscovered" again and GSN continued to be in love with that one after the end of the "Dark Period" shoving that down our throats (and even giving us a new version of it no less!) instead of keeping one of the better DP programs.

When B/W Overnight returned in late 2001 and then came HSQ in 02, that was the final great moment of what GSN used to be all about.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Back to the subject on TPIR:

There is another reason why they have not reaired classic episodes. Talent (female models) has something to do with it. Bob Barker hated just about all of the models he worked with, but the one he hated the most was Holly Hallstrom (who worked on the show from 1977 to 1995). After he fired her, he made sure footage of her was not shown in any anniversary special showcasing classic clips.

Even after he left in 2007, he still had a say. When the DVD came out from the defunct BCI, he made sure no episodes featuring her were on the collection. That's why only several episodes from 1972-1975, and the last five episodes from season 35 are on there. It was even confirmed years ago, that the "banned models" claim was not a rumor.

Yet that didn't stop one of the 2005 Game Show Moments Gone Bananas specials from showing her completely unblurred.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

There is another reason why they have not reaired classic episodes. Talent (female models) has something to do with it.

I did refer to this in post #251...

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Yeah, sorry Andy. I forgot.

 

[Lord Dalek]

And of course you have that perpetual grey area that the first couple years worth of Sajak Wheel are in. Were they wiped? Were they not? Is the reason why we don't see them because of clearance issues with "Big Wheels"? Nobody knows....

 

[Jack P]

GSN never aired *any* daytime WOF other than the one time special when they aired a Woolery 1976 show, Vanna's first "permanent" show from 82 and Sajak's last NBC show in 89. It was always just syndicated shows.

 

[Lord Dalek]

GSN never aired *any* daytime WOF other than the one time special when they aired a Woolery 1976 show, Vanna's first "permanent" show from 82 and Sajak's last NBC show in 89. It was always just syndicated shows.

Yeah hence the mystery. Most of (if not nearly all) Woolery is known to be gone but 1981-1983 is unknown (perpetuated of course by GSN airing little to none of the daytime version).

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

A King World Representative claimed that almost every daytime episode prior to 1984 no longer exists. But is he right?

 

[Lord Dalek]

A King World Representative claimed that almost every daytime episode prior to 1984 no longer exists. But is he right?

I saw that quote on wiki too, probably bunk since it's from an unverified source.There really needs to be some sort of archival team (ala the UK) that goes looking for stuff and confirms or denies its existence. Remember for years we thought nothing existed at all of the ABC password outside of some black and white off airs in the UCLA archives and then suddenly in 2006, two episodes popped up.

 

[Jack P]

There have always been a small handful of ABC Password episodes in the Goodson library, just s they have a small handful of episodes of other wiped shows like "The Better Sex" and "Showoffs". Don't take that as a sign thatmore exists. I had copies of those ABC Passwords since the late 90s.

 

[Lord Dalek]

NOBODY had those ones from 1972 in the late 90s.

 

[Jack P]

I had the MacRae-Milner episode and the Klugman-Somers one as early as 2000-2001 give or take. Might not have been late 90s, but it was long before 2006 and in the case of MacRae-Milner I freely admit I knew someone who knew someone on the inside at GSN.

 

[Vahan_Nisanain]

Post removed.

 

[Lord Dalek]

This is all we know they have:

December 7, 1971 (Jack Klugman, Brett Summers aired in September 2006 on GSN late night)
February 14, 1972 (Sheila McCrae, Martin Milner only the intro for this episode is viewable at the present time)
June 27, 1975 (Kate Jackson, Sam Melvile, also exists as an off-air on the trading circuit)

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

A King World Representative claimed that almost every daytime episode prior to 1984 no longer exists. But is he right?

Either he is or has been put in the Sony Brainwash Machine that says that no version of Wheel existed until 1983. (not 1984, but that year is appropriate, when you think of it...)

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

This is all we know they have:

December 7, 1971 (Jack Klugman, Brett Summers aired in September 2006 on GSN late night)
February 14, 1972 (Sheila McCrae, Martin Milner only the intro for this episode is viewable at the present time)
June 27, 1975 (Kate Jackson, Sam Melvile, also exists as an off-air on the trading circuit)

Do we count the "arrow" set version (meaning All-Stars and beyond)? 2-3 episodes have always existed of that (think All-Stars finale, a generic ep. with Betty & Vicki, and the finale) as far as I can remember from the trading circuit.

Another rarity that has had a little bit more popping up was the $10,000 Pyramid. GSN had a handful of eps, and footage from the first week can be seen on YouTube. And for the longest time in the '90s, we thought no one would ever see a Bill Cullen-hosted Pyramid again, but by the start of the 2000s, several eps. from WLIG in Riverhead (now TV-55, WLNY) turned up. And more seem to have surfaced on YouTube after that. Including the studio master of the first episode!

Speaking of Pyramid, in general, don't expect much from pre-1978. Nor the $50,000 version nor John Davidson's$100K (GSN never had the rights to either of those, nor the Cullen Pyramids).

 

[AndyMcKinney]

A King World Representative claimed that almost every daytime episode prior to 1984 no longer exists. But is he right?

I wonder if it's a "half-truth"? Maybe the only episodes that exist on modern tape formats are the syndicated version, 'late '80s-90s Daytme and the handful of episodes GSN aired?

It wouldn't surprise me if pre-1984 daytime "not existing" means "not transferred from 2-inch quads". Probably no US TV stations, apart from maybe the "big 3" flagship stations, would still possess 2" machines, certainly not GSN. Sony may not even have a 2" playback unit.

 

[Jack P]

This is all we know they have:

December 7, 1971 (Jack Klugman, Brett Summers aired in September 2006 on GSN late night)
February 14, 1972 (Sheila McCrae, Martin Milner only the intro for this episode is viewable at the present time)
June 27, 1975 (Kate Jackson, Sam Melvile, also exists as an off-air on the trading circuit)

The last "All-Stars" episode exists as a low-quality off-air recording on the trade circuit as does an archival copy (no ads) of a Betty White-Vicki Lawrence episode from March 1975 in which Mark Goodson appears at the end to plug the fact that Betty will host an upcoming week with Allen playing.

I also have an off-air audio only recording of a 1975 episode with Juliet Mills-Jack Klugman which doesn't make for good listening since by this point the announcer's voiceover "The Password is...." had been eliminated.

 

[JMFabianoRPL]

...and as I noted, the finale of the ABC series is also from the trading circuit. I could have sworn there was another civilian '75 episode out there, video and all.