This year marks the 70th anniversary of the premiere of two of TV's all time favorite game shows.
In the fall of 1956, Goodson-Todman Productions hired Bob Stewart as a new producer.
Bob came with some new game show ideas, the first being a pricing game called The Price is Right, which premiered on NBC daytime in November 1956. The show became an instant hit, added a nighttime version and ran on TV until 1965 (moving to ABC in 1963 for its final years). Seven years later, CBS revived the show with Bob Barker hosting a daytime version and Dennis James hosting a weekly syndicated version. Price has been part of the CBS lineup since then, the first game show to air continuously for over 50 years.
A month later, another Bob Stewart creation, To Tell the Truth, premiered on CBS prime time with Bud Collyer as host. A pilot for the show was taped in November under the title Nothing But the Truth with Mike Wallace as host. When the show was picked up, Wallace had to pass on hosting the show, and the show had to change the title since the title of the pilot was registered for another show.
In 1961, another Bob Stewart creation Password premiered on CBS daytime with Allen Ludden as host. The show, another immediate hit, spawned a prime time version just three months later and sold millions of home games.
Password also introduced several new features to game shows. One was the introduction of a bonus game, with a player could win additional money after winning the main game. The other feature was the teaming of a contestant with a celebrity partner. Kitty Carlise and Tom Poston were the first of hundreds of celebrities who have played Password since then.
For more information on the many celebrities who have appeared on Password and who made up the celebrity panel on To Tell the Truth, pick up copies of the three volume "Celebrities on TV Game Shows 1950-1999), published by Bear Manor Media.
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