ABC Carnival '74
Across the Board
Baloney
Bamboozle
Be What You Want
Beat The Genius
Beat The Odds (1962)
Beat The Odds (1975)
Bedtime Stories
The Better Sex
The Big Money
The Big Payoff
Big Spenders
Blank Check
Body Language
Body Talk
The Buck Stops Here
Bullseye
Call My Bluff
Card Sharks (1996)
Casino
Caught in the Act
Celebrity Billiards
Celebrity Doubletalk
Celebrity Secrets
Celebrity Sweepstakes
Chain Letter (1964)
The Challengers (1974)
Change Partners
Child's Play
The Choice Is Yours
Combination Lock (1996)
Comedy Club
Concentration (1985)
The Confidence Game
Cop Out
Countdown (1974)
Countdown (1990)
The Couples Race
Crossword
Decisions, Decisions
Dollar a Second
Duel in the Daytime
The Fashion Show
Fast Friends
$50,000 a Minute
Finish Line (1975)
Finish Line (1990)
Get Rich Quick
Going, Going, Gone!
Head of the Class
High Rollers
Hollywood Squares (1965)
Hollywood Squares (1985)
The Honeymoon Game
Hot Numbers
Hot Potato
House to House
How Do You Like Your Eggs?
Jackpot (1984)
Jeopardy (1977)
Jokers Wild
Jumble
Key Witness
Keynotes (1986)
King of the Hill
Let's Make a Deal (1963)
Let's Make a Deal (1990)
The Love Experts
M'ama Non M'ama
Match Game (1962)
Match Game (1973)
Match Game (1990)
Match Game (1996)
MatchGame (2008)
Mindreaders
Missing Links
Monday Night QB
Money Words
Money in the Blank
Moneymaze
Monopoly (1987)
Nothing But the Truth
Now You See It (1986)
Oddball
100%
PDQ
Party Line
People On TV
Play For Keeps
Play Your Hunch
The Plot Thickens
Pot O' Gold
Pressure Point
The Price Is Right (1972)
Pyramid (1996)
Pyramid (1997)
A Question of Scruples
Quick as a Flash
Razzle Dazzle
Riddlers
Run For The Money
Says Who?
Scrabble (1990)
Second Guessers
Second Honeymoon
Sharaize
Shoot for the Stars
Shoot the Works
Shopping Spree
Show Me
Showoffs
Simon Says
$64,000 Question (2000)
Smart Alecks
Smart Money
Spellbinders
Spin-Off
Split Decision
Star Cluster
Star Play
Strictly Confidential
TKO
Talking Pictures (1968)
Talking Pictures (1976)
Tell It to Groucho
Temptation (1981)
$10,000 Sweep
Three of a Kind
Tic Tac Dough
Tie-Up
Top Secret
Twenty One (1982)
Twenty Questions
Twisters
Up and Over
The Waiting Game
We've Got Your Number
What Do You Want?
What's On Your Mind
Wheel of Fortune
Whew!
Whodunit
Whose Baby
Wipeout
Word Grabbers
Write Your Own Ticket
You Bet Your Life (1988)
You Bet Your Life (1991)
You're Putting Me On
Show a Random Pilot
Show Unreviewed Pilots
Bob Stewart Flow Chart
Head of the Class
Producer: Unknown
Host: Gene Rayburn
Musicians: Marilyn Lovell, The Noteworthies, Elliot Lawrence and His Orchestra
Announcer: Dick Dudley
Taping Info: 1960 presumably in New York, NY
Made it to Air: It was scheduled to appear on June 24, 1960 on NBC and appears in TV listings for that date. However, it was pulled in favor of reruns of Cimarron and Wichita Town
Availability: It is available at the UCLA archive.
There's a big problem with this pilot. Mainly, it's missing the ending. So we have no idea who the producer of this show was, thwarting our ability to figure out if this is Goodson-Todman trying to think of a new direction for the panel show or if this was a creation of another company. Like I've Got a Secret, this one was played strictly for laughs. Gene Rayburn was the host and featured contributions from Marilyn Lovell (still on the cabaret circuit), The Noteworthies (disappeared off the face of the earth) and Elliot Lawrence and His Orchestra.
Four contestants would watch a skit and try to remember elements of it, since it would be the basis of later questions. After the skit, one player is designated "head of the class" and would be given a question. After the player gave their answer, another player either agreed with the answer or challenged it. If the first answer given was correct, the "head of the class" got $50 and the agreer $10. If the first answer was wrong and the challenge answer was correct, that player got $10 and became "head of the class". Each skit had six questions, and a player got a bonus prize if they got all six questions in a round.
The first skit involved Gene and the Noteworthies reminiscing about his hometown of Chicago. The second one was a murder mystery involving Marilyn Lovell and Gene, while the third one was questions based off a clip of the 1924 Will Rogers movie Underdog (although there is no reference of this movie anywhere). The fourth skit, however, was the best. A parody of the panel show called What's So Special?, it featured "Jim Weekly" who had the habit of long-winded explanations on the ruling of a yes or no question. This wouldn't have been a problem, if the secret wasn't Gene holding his breath.
The show was pretty silly, which was probably one of the reasons it didn't make it to air. The other was probably the incredibly confusing way the question round was played, a simple straight quiz probably would have been better. It was scheduled to be a summer series for 1960 on NBC Friday Nights, paired with Play Your Hunch and was even listed for a June 24 premiere. However, the week before, NBC changed course and announced that the Friday night lineup would consist of reruns of Cimarron and Wichita Town.
 A listing from the June 18-24, 1960 Eastern Washington edition of TV Guide stating the premiere of Head of the Class. It never happened. |
This pilot has been viewed 12527 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET
Feedback? Contact me at usgs-pilot at the usgameshows dot net domain