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
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Bob Stewart Flow Chart
Hollywood Squares (1965)
Producer: Heatter/Quigley
Host: Bert Parks
Announcer: Kenny Williams
Celebrities: Robert Q. Lewis, Vera Miles, Abby Dalton, Gis�le MacKenzie, Jim Backus, Wally Cox, Rosemarie, Cliff Arquette (as Charley Weaver), Morey Amsterdam
Taping Info: early 1965, CBS Television City, Hollywood, CA
Made it to Air: Yes. It replaced Showdown on October 17, 1966 and stuck around the NBC lineup in various time slots until June 20, 1980, when it became one of the three game shows sacrificed for David Letterman's daytime show. It also had a network prime-time run in 1968, a twice-a-week syndicated run from 1971 through 1980, and five-a-week runs in the 1980-81 season, 1986-1989 and from 1998-2004.
Other Pilots: Yes, a pilot shot in 1985 that became the 1986-89 syndicated run is also on the trading circuit. There is also a rumored pilot with Sandy Baron shot after this one, but its existence is doubtful.
Availability: It is available on the trading circuit.
When you think of the host of Hollywood Squares, who do you think of? Peter Marshall? Tom Bergeron? John Davidson? Well, it could have been Sandy Baron, who played Jack Klompus, the scheming resident of Del Boca Vista Estates on Seinfeld. It also could have been Dan Rowan of Laugh-In. Or, it could have been the first choice of the producers, Miss America Pageant mainstay Bert Parks. A pilot was shot in 1965 for its potential inclusion on the CBS prime-time lineup.
Game play was identical to the regular show, so there's real no reason to go into it here. Contestants were already giving zingers, there was byplay between the contestants and the ubiquitous, mellifluous tones of Kenny Williams. The only problem here was Bert Parks. For a light, celebrity-based show, he was terrible. Every square won or lost could have been the end of the world as he definitely could not turn off the melodrama machine embedded deep in his body. Plus, he seemed either indifferent or clueless to the humor being offered by the celebrities.
By watching this, it became painfully obvious why CBS went with Bob Stewart's The Face is Familiar over this show. The pacing was too slow and Bert Parks was a difficult pill to swallow. After the year-long option on this pilot lapsed, it was shopped around to the other networks, and the daytime department at NBC bit on the condition that they get a different host. Peter Marshall was found and the rest is history.
 Wally Cox |
 Rosemarie |
 Morey Amsterdam |
 Abby Dalton |
 Jim Backus |
 Gis�le MacKenzie |
 Charley Weaver |
 Vera Miles |
 Robert Q. Lewis |
 The familiar opening |
 The master of melodrama |
|
 The contestant podium (with the X and O reversed) |
 A CBS? Production |
This pilot has been viewed 11391 times since October 6, 2008 and was last modified on Dec 12, 2009 14:46 ET
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