The Red Buttons Show premiered on the CBS television network in 1952, and ran for two years on that network, then moved to NBC for the final 1954-55 season. Red's catch phrase from the show, "Strange things are happening!" entered the national vocabulary briefly in the mid-1950s.
Dough Re Mi was an American game show that aired on NBC from February 24, 1958 to December 30, 1960. The series was hosted by Gene Rayburn and was somewhat of an answer to CBS' Name That Tune, which began in 1953. Among those who substituted for Rayburn during the run were Jack Barry, announcer Roger Tuttle, Dayton Allen, Keefe Brasselle, and Fred Robbins.
Games People Play is an NBC television show that ran from 1980 to 1981, hosted by Bryant Gumbel and Mike Adamle. The format centers on unusual sports competitions, including a belly flop contest and a taxicab demolition derby. Sylvester Stallone discovered Mr. T, whom he subsequently cast as Clubber Lang, when Mr. T won a "World's Toughest Bouncer" competition on the show. The title of the show is a play on the title of Games People Play, a popular psychology book from the 1960s about mind games and interactions within relationships.
The Secret Lives of Waldo Kitty was a children's television show alternating animation and live footage segments. It took the concept of James Thurber's popular short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and parodied it with anthropomorphised dogs and cats. The show did not last long; it ran into trouble with the estate of James Thurber as it was not authorized by them. It did reappear on the Groovie Goolies show under the title The New Adventures of Waldo Kitty
Chain Letter is an American game show produced by Stefan Hatos-Monty Hall Productions that aired on NBC during the summer and early-fall of 1966. Comedian Jan Murray hosted this game show, while Wendell Niles did the announcing.
Jokebook was an adult-oriented Hanna-Barbera animated series for NBC. It ran from April 23rd, 1982 to May 7th, 1982,[1] only airing 3 out of 7 episodes.
Sale of the Century is a television game show format that has been screened in several countries in various incarnations since 1969. The show found its biggest success in Australia, where it aired weeknights from 1980 to 2001. A new version had aired in Australia from May 2005 to January 2009 and in the United States during the 2007-2008 television season in syndication under the title of Temptation. The format is a general knowledge quiz, where a set of contestants earn money for correct answers, and occasionally have the chance to "buy" heavily-discounted prizes with their score money via "Instant Bargains". Long-running champions would compete to win enough money to buy larger prizes, such as trips or cars, at show's end; more successful ones could end up buying all the prizes on offer and/or a large cash jackpot. In 1973 the three contestant format was dropped and two married couples were used as contestants. This two couple format was also used during the 1973-1974 night time syndicated version as well. After its original run in the USA and during its successful run in the UK, the format was purchased by Australian TV mogul Reg Grundy, whose Grundy Television had produced a similarly formatted program called Temptation between 1971 and 1976. The Grundy version of Sale premiered on Nine Network on July 14, 1980 and became a massive success, spawning versions all across the world. At its close in 2001 it was Australia's longest-running game show.
Eye Guess is an American game show created by Bob Stewart and hosted by Bill Cullen, which aired on NBC from January 3, 1966 to September 26, 1969. In the game, two contestants attempted to answer questions by remembering the answers' location hidden on a gameboard. The winning contestant then played a bonus game for various prizes, including a new car. This was the first game show by Bob Stewart Productions. Stewart, a former producer for Goodson-Todman Productions, created this series and packaged it with Filmways. Don Pardo announced for the first year, after which Jack Clark replaced him for the rest of the run. The show used the Al Hirt tune "Sugar Lips" as its theme song.
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search is a reality TV show produced by NBC that debuted in January 2005, prior to the launch of that year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. The purpose of the show was to document twelve previously unknown fashion models as they competed against one another for a grand prize. In this case, it was a pictorial in the 2005 edition of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and a modeling contract with NEXT Model Management worth one million US dollars. The twelve contestants were chosen after NBC and Sports Illustrated launched a nation-wide search, processing around 3,000 potential women. The three-judge panel consisted of Roshumba Williams, Joel Wilkenfeld and Jule Campbell. Competitions would include how well the contestants did on their photo shoots and their rigorous fitness tests. Based on these, the aforementioned judges would choose who "made the cut" and who would be let go from the competition, until there were two finalists. The show's tagline was "The business of being beautiful is about to get ugly."
The Big Payoff was a daytime and primetime game show that premiered on NBC in 1951, and ended its network run on CBS in 1959. It had a brief syndication revival in 1962. NBC used The Big Payoff to replace the 15-minute show Miss Susan starring Susan Peters, which had gone off the air in December 1951. Contestants were selected from men who mailed in letters explaining why the women in their lives deserved prizes. The men were asked four questions in order to win prizes like a mink coat or a vacation. Late in the network run, the format changed to three competing couples. For the 1962 revival, there were only two couples. On Tuesdays, the format changed to the "Little Big Payoff" in which children sent in a letter in which they voiced the reason that they should appear. Four questions were asked, and prizes awarded for each correct answer. It was called the "Big Payoff" because when a contestant won they had the opportunity to answer one final question. Getting this question correct, the individual was awarded a "Mink Coat" and/or a trip to Europe. Bess Meyerson modeled the mink coat and escorted the contestants on stage. After all - this was live TV The theme song was "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" by Irving Berlin, and the sponsor was Revlon.
Reach for the Stars was an American game show which briefly aired on NBC weekday mornings at 10:00 beginning January 2, 1967 for a total of 65 episodes. The show was produced by Merv Griffin Productions at NBC's New York studios and was hosted by longtime broadcaster Bill Mazer.
NBC Children's Theatre is an American television anthology series airing from 1963 to 1973. Its stories were primarily drawn from classical and contemporary children's literature.
The Wanted is an American television series that aired on NBC in 2009. It was promoted as a groundbreaking television event that sets forth on an international hunt for an accused terrorist.
The Runaway Barge is the pilot for an unsold TV series. Bo Hopkins, Tim Matheson and Jim Davis star as three owners of a Mississippi river tugboat who find themselves neck deep in a kidnapping and hijacking plot.
After barely escaping a tragic fire, once promising college athlete Mike Brink is transformed by a traumatic brain injury that gives him the unique ability to see the world in an unexpected way and helps him solve crimes with local police. Mike makes his living by betting on sports and is uniquely equipped to do this because he developed Acquired Savant Syndrome as a result of a traumatic brain injury. This rare phenomenon gives him exceptional skills in puzzle-solving, higher math functions and pattern recognition.
Fame is a television series that ran on NBC in the summer of 2003. The show was essentially NBC's attempt to duplicate the success of mega-hit American Idol, right down to their selection of judges. Former pop star Carnie Wilson was similar in her judgements to American Idol's Paula Abdul, Johnny Wright, the veteran music producer, was the show's analogue of Randy Jackson, and JoJo Wright was, like Simon Cowell, the judge who says things to stir people up. The show retained the original Fame theme music, as well as producer Debbie Allen. Former boy band member Joey Fatone was the official host of the show, but Allen also made frequent appearances. The show was based on the Italian show Saranno Famosi, where young talented dancers, singers and actors attended a school to became real superstars. The main goal of the show was to make all the challengers able to dance, sing and act and so to be complete. It still airs in Italy.
Gambit is an American television game show based on the card game blackjack, created by Wayne Cruseturner and produced by Heatter-Quigley Productions. The show originally ran on CBS from September 4, 1972 to December 10, 1976. A slightly retooled version, Las Vegas Gambit, aired on NBC from October 27, 1980 to November 27, 1981, originating from the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas. The 1972–1976 version changed taping locations at CBS Television City, taping episodes in Studios 31, 33, 41 and 43 at various times. Both versions were hosted by Wink Martindale and announced by Kenny Williams. Elaine Stewart was the card dealer for the CBS version, while Beverly Malden filled this role for the first half of Las Vegas Gambit, and was later replaced by Lee Menning. The program was retooled as Catch 21, which began airing on GSN in 2008.
Ready for Love was an American reality matchmaking competition television series on NBC. The series was scheduled to air Tuesdays from 9:00 pm to 11:00 pm Eastern and Pacific time, and premiered in that slot on Tuesday, April 9, 2013. The series was hosted by Giuliana and Bill Rancic. The show featured three bachelors and includes three matchmakers and a field of 36 bachelorettes. On April 19, 2013, after two low-rated episodes, NBC pulled the Eva Longoria produced Ready for Love from its schedule. The last episode to air on NBC was the April 23 segment. The remaining six episodes were placed online on Tuesdays via the network's website, Hulu, the network's cable video on demand service, and iTunes and Amazon Video for purchase, until the June 4 finale.
The Chopping Block is an American reality television series, based on the Australian reality television series of the same name. The series aired on the NBC network and followed participants in an attempt to open a restaurant. It is hosted by British celebrity chef Marco Pierre White. The first episode premiered on March 11, 2009 to low ratings. Two more episodes aired, each with worse ratings than the last. On March 26, 2009, NBC canceled the series, choosing to run repeats of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in the timeslot. The series completing "airing" on NBC.com and Hulu, releasing one a week. On April 24, 2009, NBC announced the series would return to television in Friday, June 19, despite airing on the internet already. After the fourth episode aired on the 19th, it was pre-empted on June 26 by television coverage surrounding the deaths of Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson the day before. The show returned Friday, July 3. It then proceeded to air until Friday, July 24, the day the final episode aired on NBC. On April 27, 2009, British TV began showing the series on ITV2, immediately following the finale of Hell's Kitchen, also hosted by Marco Pierre White, on ITV1 of which 6 of the episodes being aired, although episode 7 was not shown on Monday at 8 o clock as would be expected, and there has been no explanation as to what has happened to the series in the UK or why the episode was not shown.
