Any word on when The Name Of The Game is being released on DVD? (1 Viewer)

[Pathfiner]

I know seasons one and two pretty well having seen all when they were last shown here in the UK - in 1974 !!

I also saw the pilot TV Movie 'Fame is...' and have seen some of the third season but not all

without any recent UK reruns of the show all I have is fast fading memories - but I cut out and kept episode details from an old UK TV Guide at the time plus some photos that were included at the time (I keep 'pestering' Shout Factory and NBC Universal after a long overdue DVD release....)

'Lola in Lipstick' was set in Italy or Sicily if I remember correctly
- Ed Begley was in it, and Glenn Howard investigated following a woman's death finding a message written in lipstick, hence the title.

'One of The Girls in Research' features Brenda Vaccaro as Sandy, a girl on one of the lower floors at HP who has wild romantic daydreams about Glenn Howard - that we see acted out ! - at the start a dishevilled desperate Glenn is about to throw himself off the top of HP building as he can't have her love....she tries to save him but he falls....

....then she is woken up by a colleague - she's at her desk daydreaming again and it's another busy workday ! lol

Will Geer appears in it too, and Gene Barry has fun playing Sandy's devoted suitor 'in her dreams' ...and the formal Mr. Howard in reality..!

Susan Saint James won the award as best supporting actor probably for her overall work with all three leads plus occasional guest leads - her 'Peggy' is the chief show continuity link besides Universal's black tower building posing as 'Howard Publications'

'The King of Denmark' was her one co-lead feature and she's chief lead...but I find it a bit weak and she deserved a stronger tale - her featured roles in 'Pineapple Rose', 'The Savage Eye' and 'The Perfect Image' (where Peggy has to escape a guy out to kill her) and in 'The White Birch' are far stronger features for her

Peggy clearly has a 'thing' for Jeff Dillon - they flirt alot - and Peggy is very protective of Dillon, she's almost in tears thinking Dillon is flogging himself to death to try to clear a seemingly corrupt old friend of his in 'The Incomparable Connie Walker'

I think Peggy features in all of the Tony Franciosa episodes, tho' possibly not in 'The Enemy Before Us' where Dillon returns to his native New York, tho' she might have a brief cameo in that one too...

while Glenn Howard is like a protective young 'uncle' to her (notably in 'The White Birch' where Glenn is clearly very concerned for her as Roddy McDowall's nasty guy makes advances to her) Peggy in turn is admiring of and respectful of her boss !

Peggy has great sympathy for the widowed Dan Farrell and while she features less in the RS segments she has a bond with Dan - he's concerned for her in 'The Savage Eye' and he rewards her for all her help with a co-writer credit in CRIME magazine in 'Echo of A Nightmare' where Peggy had initiated them looking into an old case...

if Susan had any 'issues' with Robert Stack it never came across onscreen - Dan's main assistant was Ben Murphy's Joseph Sample who tended to feature most in his first and second season episodes - Peggy does appear too in all three seasons RS segment episodes but has a lower profile normally in those episodes - she does feature strongly in 'The Savage Eye' (season three) which is up on youtube almost complete bar the first couple of minutes under 'Pete Duel in 'The Name of The Game'


one thing that made me laugh was Dan Farrell seemed to have the biggest office ! lol

 

[FanCollector]

Of the ones I've seen (I think 53 plus the pilot), I'd say that The White Birch is Ms. Saint James's best work. But it was from the first season and her Emmy was for the second season. (She did get nominated that first year.) The way the awards worked, the nominee, or the studio on her behalf, had to submit a specific episode which the awards panel could watch. So there had to be one show they sent from the second season that did it.

I haven't seen The Savage Eye, so I'll check it out. Thanks for the greater detail about Stack/Saint James in it.

 

[Pathfiner]

Peggy had an important research role in the second season Gene Barry episode; 'The Perfect Image' - where she has to escape a guy out to kill her ! - maybe it was that one ?

or the Robert Stack episode; 'Echo of A Nightmare' where Peggy starts the entire proceedings by getting Dan's o.k. to dig into an old case and a possible miscarriage of justice (Dan gives her the co-writing credit with him in 'CRIME' magazine as her reward at the end).

or Maybe it was for 'The King of Denmark' - but that's a bit of a weak episode I felt, after a promising start as Peggy looks into the sudden death of a friend of hers who is in an acting troupe the tale then centres on the odd family of Joseph Cotton and his wife and for me it all gets rather tedious, Louise Latham is wasted as the housekeeper and Peggy is not really given any assertive role and then disappears for a while too (Jeff Dillon eventually turns up looking for her) in this story re a supposedly lost Shakespeare manuscript

'The Savage Eye' was a far stronger tale as Peggy has got involved with film maker Ted Sands (Pete Duel) who is a rather controversial figure doing a film at a lumberjack firm - the story has an ecology angle with the firm and felling forestland etc....

.....and Peggy at the start has been arrested !

-at the beginning Dan Farrell arrives from HP to get Peggy out of the local jail and sort things out as HP are backing Sand's film

the only time brothers Pete and Geoff appeared together - guess whose the nice guy ?

all give fine performances...and Peggy who is under Ted Sands 'spell' seriously considers resigning her job at HP in order to be with the charismatic but single minded Sands....

the youtube posting of this episode - taken from a Pete Duel appreciation society source I think - misses the opening graphic and the first couple of minutes, beginning with the director's credit and Dan driving to the local jail to get Peggy out...but otherwise it appears to be the entire episode

note by season three the 'CRIME' magazine cover shot that concluded Robert Stack segment episodes had been dropped - 'The Garden' in season two did not feature it either, but most other second season RS episodes such as; 'Give Till it Hurts' (Dennis Weaver), 'Chains of Command' (Pernell Roberts) and 'A Hard Case of The Blues' (Sharon Farrell) did still end with the cover shot of the current edition of 'CRIME' magazine.

 

[Pathfiner]

Re some of the episodes I think are unnaired in recent times....


Tony Franciosa;

'The Black Answer' (season one) - racial tensions run high when a young black musician is accused of a murder, Jeff Dillon of 'PEOPLE' magazine investigates and his enquiries lead him towards a militant paper named; 'The Black Answer' and a key figure (Ivan Dixon guests)

'Collector's Edition' (season one) - Peter Max (John Saxon) saved Dillon's life in Vietnam when Dillon was a war correspondent - now he's in trouble when a woman dies in his hotel room....can Dillon save him and if neccessary will Dillon 'borrowing' an edition of 'CRIME' magazine prove vital ?
- this episode features Gene Barry in a cameo as Glenn Howard, and Peggy phones up Dan Farrell (unseen) to ask if Dillon can borrow CRIME for the next edition (the closest the show ever comes continuity wise re all three leads)

'Shine On Shine On Jesse Gil' (season one) - when Dillon looks into a killing in a small township he discovers Jesse Gil (Darren McGavin) appears to be all powerful...
Gene Barry cameos as Glenn Howard

'The Prisoner Within' (season two) - Jeff Dillon goes undercover at a military training facility to determine just how real the training for possible future prisoners of war is after a suspicious death and claims that more is going on at the base than should be under the base Commander (Steve Forrest)

'Jenny Wilde is Drowning' (season two) - Dillon tries to help aspiring starlet Jenny (Pamela Franklin) to achieve her dreams, but after she makes a mess of an audition she's destraught....apparently to the point of taking her own life at midnight as she repeatedly phones Dillon at a local radio station...an episode possibly inspired by the famous 'Peg Entwistle' case with a twist ending

Gene Barry;

'The Taker' (season one)- ruthless millionaire businessman Arthur Jellicoe (Burl Ives) wants Howard's publishing empire...and will use any dirty trick to destroy Glenn Howard in order to obtain it...
this was the only episode to feature Tony Franciosa in a cameo 'as Jeff Dillon' seen exchanging jokey banter with Glenn early on at a staff meeting Howard calls...

'The Third Choice' (season one) - when a friend and employee of HP is kidnapped by rebels it's up to Glenn Howard to choose between two stark alternatives, unless with help from Jackie Harding (Shirley Jones) he can come up with a possible third choice...?

'The Emissary' (season two) - when Chinese delegates storm out of a top international summit meeting in Paris it's left to Glenn Howard to try to patch things up on behalf of the USA and her allies (Charles Boyer guest stars)

'The Protector' (season one) - when a cub reporter comes to Glenn Howard with a story about a famous millionaire (Robert Young) building a private Army on his land to run the country his way (as if !) , Howard is initially dismissive telling him to go and get full facts before he bothers him ....then the young guy is found dead and Glenn starts his own investigation into the powerful figure...

'High Card' (season two) - Congressman Creston Collins (Barry Sullivan) - Howard's arch enemy and old adversary (from 'The Inquiry' in season one) returns this time determined to nail Glenn re possible culpability concerning involvment in planning the abortive 'Bay of Pigs' affair....

Robert Stack;

'The Bobby Currier Story' (season one) - when Bobby (Brandon de Wilde) and his girlfriend head off in their car and go on a random 'killing spree' - shades of Charlie Starkweather - Dan Farrell tries to help the local Police led by a determined Sheriff (Steve Forrest), but Dan ends up being kidnapped by Currier who then tells him his 'story' - but can Dan Farrell survive to tell it ? and has Currier an unlikely 'accomplice' who is also equally responsible for his current actions...?
Gene Barry cameos as Glenn Howard for a telephone conversation with Dan early on

'High On A Rainbow' (season one) - when a group of college youngsters are found to be high on drugs Dan Farrell becomes involved, and goes undercover as a truck driver to determine who is pushing the drugs at a local cafe used by both truckers and students, Van Johnson guests as 'Sullivan' an Irish/American trucker
Gene Barry cameos as Glenn Howard who visits Dan having a massage after surviving an 'accidental' lorry crash - in top hat and tails as he's off to dinner with the British Prime Minister !

'Witness' (season one) - when a key witness to syndicate corruption is shot down despite being under maximum protection - the bullet almost hitting Dan - Farrell traces one other last witness...but can he protect her from the same fate, and who is leaking the information ?
Gene Barry cameos as Glenn Howard who offers Dan a 'working breakfast' early on in his penthouse apartment atop HP building

'Brass Ring' (season two) - Dan Farrell investigates the fight game as part of a wider probe into corruption in sports and uncovers more than he first expected. Tim O'Connor guests

'The Skin Game' (season two) - Dan Farrell tries to expose a drug smuggling cartel bringing drugs into the country from African sources, Hari Rhodes guests.

 

[MarcS1]

Of the ones I've seen (I think 53 plus the pilot), I'd say that The White Birch is Ms. Saint James's best work. But it was from the first season and her Emmy was for the second season. (She did get nominated that first year.) The way the awards worked, the nominee, or the studio on her behalf, had to submit a specific episode which the awards panel could watch. So there had to be one show they sent from the second season that did it.

I haven't seen The Savage Eye, so I'll check it out. Thanks for the greater detail about Stack/Saint James in it.

I think she won her Emmy for the first year; the Emmy was in 1969 but that's for the 1968-1969 season. She was nominated the 2nd and 3rd years as well.

 

[FanCollector]

You're absolutely right, Marc! She won for the first season. I just misread the two lines next to each other. Thank you.

So maybe she did win for The White Birch?

 

[MarcS1]

You're absolutely right, Marc! She won for the first season. I just misread the two lines next to each other. Thank you.

So maybe she did win for The White Birch?

I don't know but it would partly explain why by the end of season 2 they were comfortable giving Cliff Potts and Ben Murphy the boot and making her the only constant assistant.

 

[Pathfiner]

Don't forget Mark Miller as 'Ross Craig' was a semi regular supporting cast character too

Craig had been in it earlier but remained in season three appearing in both Gene Barry segment episodes ("All The Old Familiar Faces' - up on youtube in full) and Robert Stack episodes ('So Long Baby and Amen' - also up in full on youtube)

Cliff Potts character Andy Hill was only in the first season, while Ben Murphy's Joseph Sample was in seasons one and two...tho' by season three Ben was probably then doing or signed up to commence filming 'Alias Smith and Jones' for Universal - where Susan was a guest star in the pilot TV Movie as the Porterville bank manager's daughter

while Peggy Maxwell featured in all the Tony Franciosa episodes - and with Robert Culp in his two 'subbing' ones, plus with Darren McGavin in 'Goodbye Harry' she was only a semi regular support in the Gene Barry and Robert Stack episodes, often she was not in their episodes

 

[MarcS1]

Don't forget Mark Miller as 'Ross Craig' was a semi regular supporting cast character too

Craig had been in it earlier but remained in season three appearing in both Gene Barry segment episodes ("All The Old Familiar Faces' - up on youtube in full) and Robert Stack episodes ('So Long Baby and Amen' - also up in full on youtube)

Cliff Potts character Andy Hill was only in the first season, while Ben Murphy's Joseph Sample was in seasons one and two...tho' by season three Ben was probably then doing or signed up to commence filming 'Alias Smith and Jones' for Universal - where Susan was a guest star in the pilot TV Movie as the Porterville bank manager's daughter

while Peggy Maxwell featured in all the Tony Franciosa episodes - and with Robert Culp in his two 'subbing' ones, plus with Darren McGavin in 'Goodbye Harry' she was only a semi regular support in the Gene Barry and Robert Stack episodes, often she was not in their episodes

It

Don't forget Mark Miller as 'Ross Craig' was a semi regular supporting cast character too

Craig had been in it earlier but remained in season three appearing in both Gene Barry segment episodes ("All The Old Familiar Faces' - up on youtube in full) and Robert Stack episodes ('So Long Baby and Amen' - also up in full on youtube)

Cliff Potts character Andy Hill was only in the first season, while Ben Murphy's Joseph Sample was in seasons one and two...tho' by season three Ben was probably then doing or signed up to commence filming 'Alias Smith and Jones' for Universal - where Susan was a guest star in the pilot TV Movie as the Porterville bank manager's daughter

while Peggy Maxwell featured in all the Tony Franciosa episodes - and with Robert Culp in his two 'subbing' ones, plus with Darren McGavin in 'Goodbye Harry' she was only a semi regular support in the Gene Barry and Robert Stack episodes, often she was not in their episodes

Potts was in one Season 2 episode High Card which I think was a sequel of sorts to the Inquiry.

 

[Pathfiner]

Yes 'High Card' saw Guest Star Barry Sullivan return as Creston Collins first seen in 'The Inquiry'

Collins is Glenn Howard's arch enemy in Washington who in 'High Card' tries to implicate Glenn in being involved in the abortive bay of pigs affair...

 

[Sadsack]

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned the retail-quality clips from episode "LA 2017" that were included in a bonus feature about Spielberg on the DUEL release. If we're not getting the series, how about including his episode as a bonus feature with a movie, or part of a "Spielberg At Universal" collection? Maybe it's too late for that since there's already a "Director's Collection" blu-ray, but if getting that episode released could be brought to his attention, perhaps he might help with the entire series. This happened once before when he was looking for clips from the movie "Lonely are the Brave" for a tribute to Kirk Douglas. When he found out there was only a rare VHS release, he snapped his fingers and the Dvd was released. He might have an interest in the series release beyond his one contribution.

 

[Bob Cashill]

Behind the scenes, a gossipy account. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/features/name-game-50th-anniversary-history-a-lost-classic-1138641

 

[Blimpoy06]

Behind the scenes, a gossipy account.

Now I want to see this show more than ever. Really hope it can get released on DVD in some fashion.

 

[Jeff Flugel]

Now I want to see this show more than ever. Really hope it can get released on DVD in some fashion.

Yes, that was a great read. Man, Hollywood was - and is - one crazy town. Pity the rumored season 1 release of Name never saw the light of day...sounds like an interesting show!

 

[Flashgear]

Thanks Bob for the link to that very interesting article. Nice that The Hollywood Reporter doesn't force a bunch of pop ups into your face before you have a chance to read it. Kudos to them for that. The details about long time Universal producer and Hitchcock collaborator Norman Lloyd's insufferable interlude with the mercurial but talented Tony Franciosa was very interesting!

I watched Name of the Game first run as a 12 to 15 year old. I remember it having a number of very good segments overall, but also felt that far too many of the episodes really dragged it out to fill a 90 minute time slot. But that was my impression as a kid, and I wonder if I'd have the same impression now. It was certainly topical for the times, being inspired in it's story telling by current newsworthy events...one that I vividly remember was the episode with a bunch of war protesters and animal rights activist Hippies occupying a target on a military test range before a scheduled nerve gas test...and of course, only Gene Barry knows they are doing this, not the military brass and the crew of a B 47 carrying the nerve gas bombs to the target...This episode aired within months of the inadvertent killing of rancher's sheep and cattle off range of the Dugway Proving Grounds in Utah, in the aftermath of a botched nerve gas experiment with shifting winds...

We've heard that Shout was frustrated with the poor quality film elements and old transfers that only represented part of the series run anyway, before giving up on their already announced season one DVD release that they hoped to do. Shame on Universal, predictably and always...it's really tiresome to assume the worst about them and continually have your prejudices confirmed...but when do the likes of Hollywood heavyweights like billionaire Steven Spielberg get around to throwing their considerable weight behind getting this show remastered for DVD and streaming? And that goes for other Universal shows (Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Outsider etc.) that they claim to love from their youth and attribute their own artistic influences and development to?...same thing with billion dollar author and screen factory favorite Stephen King, who's gone on about how much he loved the mythic episode I Kiss Your Shadow, from the astoundingly good 20th Century Fox 1961-62 series Bus Stop...

 

[MarcS1]

We've heard that Shout was frustrated with the poor quality film elements and old transfers that only represented part of the series run anyway, before giving up on their already announced season one DVD release that they hoped to do. Shame on Universal, predictably and always...it's really tiresome to assume the worst about them and continually have your prejudices confirmed...but when do the likes of Hollywood heavyweights like billionaire Steven Spielberg get around to throwing their considerable weight behind getting this show remastered for DVD and streaming? And that goes for other Universal shows (Alfred Hitchcock Hour, The Outsider etc.) that they claim to love from their youth and attribute their own artistic influences and development to?...same thing with billion dollar author and screen factory favorite Stephen King, who's gone on about how much he loved the mythic episode I Kiss Your Shadow, from the astoundingly good 20th Century Fox 1961-62 series Bus Stop...[/QUOTE]

That's too bad if its true; Cosi aired less than half the episodes a couple of years ago; Shout has sold bad transfers before; some episodes of Room 222 look really beat up and, as some of these episodes haven't been repeated since the 1980's their scarcity alone would warrant some type of release.

 

[Blimpoy06]

We've heard that Shout was frustrated with the poor quality film elements and old transfers that only represented part of the series run anyway, before giving up on their already announced season one DVD release that they hoped to do.

Sounds like a job for VEI or Mill Creek. For myself, if the transfers are as bad as Shout is reporting, at least they would be more economical to purchase as a blind buy. Even a partial set of surviving episodes would be nice to have instead of nothing to enjoy.

 

[Wvtvguy]

Hadn’t visited this thread since 2017. I’d hoped there would be a change. I was curious to see this show!

 

[GlennC]

I eagerly rushed to this thread hoping there was more news.

I suppose at this point the only hope might be the NBC Universal streaming service but realistically I wouldn’t expect there to be much more than the more recent series.

 

[Neil Brock]

The only way you are going to see this show is either if you recorded the episodes in the 80s when they ran first on the CBS O&Os or later in the decade when it ran in syndication, on channel 22 in Seattle for instance, and then again when around half the run aired on Encore, although with music substitutions. Otherwise, finding people to trade with who recorded the episodes. Because it ain't coming out on DVD.