As someone who already watches too much television, the last thing I needed was another reason to stay on the couch and avoid other activities. But when DISH Network added Buzzr to its channel options, I knew I was in trouble.
What is Buzzr? It’s what Game Show Network used to be when that channel was worth watching. The lineup includes the classic celebrity panel shows from the 1950s (What’s My Line, I’ve Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth) and many of the 1970s hits the played daily mornings and afternoons throughout the decade – Sale of the Century, Press Your Luck, Tattletales, Match Game, Password Plus.
For some fans these shows are the ultimate in comfort TV – bright lights, bold colors, happy hosts, chirpy music, and nice people winning stuff they need. Here’s what I learned after about two weeks of watching several hours worth of vintage game shows every day.
In Card Sharks, the worst thing you can do is pass.
I can’t even count how many times a contestant froze on a pretty decent card – like a five or a jack – and then lost control of the board and subsequently lost the game when their opponent ran the table. When you have control of the cards, you should keep it. And yes, I realize this advice is about 30 years too late to do anyone any good.
Table shuffleboard can be exciting.
The 1970s version of Beat the Clock pitted two teams of couples against each other, with a winning team decided by a table shuffleboard game, in which players alternated sliding discs toward a series of lines representing escalating sums of money. Whichever team had completed more stunts at that point received three discs while the other team received two. You wouldn’t think there would be that many variations in what could happen, but every match I watched was more exciting than anything I saw at last year’s Rio Olympics.
Jim Perry was really good at his job
In the show business hierarchy, game show hosts have never ranked very high.
But in watching these shows one does gain renewed appreciation for their talents – especially when compared to their modern-day counterparts on some of the classic game show revivals. One of the very best was Jim Perry, who spend three decades hosting games shows in the U.S. and Canada.
The tall, lanky Perry had all the qualities we associate with a good host. He could calm the nervous contestants, rein in the ones that were too excited, and seemed to actually listen after asking the standard “Tell us a little about yourself” question. He could say to a parting contestant “Good luck raising those giant vegetables” and sound like he really meant it. Perry spent four years on Card Sharks but was at his best on Sale of the Century. He was a smooth salesmen in trying to get contestants to risk the money they earned with special offers, and received able support from the radiant Summer Bartholemew, a former Miss USA back when that title actually got you real jobs.
Match Game stretched the definition of “star.”
Think Dancing With the Stars sometimes wanders too far out into the showbiz hinterlands to find its contestants? If it does, it’s just following the path forged by Match Game in the 1970s. Usually these borderline stars occupied the lower-left spot on the tier next to Richard Dawson. Many were attractive young women that Gene Rayburn could welcome with a kiss and then affectionately tease (or as some prefer in 2017, sexually harass). When the contestant’s answer was “boobs,” as it was at least three times every week, Gene could turn to these ladies and say “Show us your boobs,” or “Have you got boobs as well?”
Let’s see how many of these names are familiar to you: Ann Elder, Trish Stewart, Sarah Kennedy, Stu Gilliam, Marcia Rodd, Tudi Wiggins.
Whoever’s doing the Buzzr promos was a Nick at Nite fan.
You can tell the style. They’re clever and funny and celebrate the shows without making fun of them, a temptation that may have been tough to resist given how awash they were in ‘70s fashion.
They will make you nostalgic for things you may have forgotten.
To hear Johnny Olsen say ‘Stay tuned for Love of Life over most of these CBS stations’ is to be transported back to another time. I never watched Love of Life but I remembered that promo, and changing the channel while the opening credits played.
Double Dare deserved a better fate
I was delighted to see Double Dare on Buzzr’s weekend schedule, as the show only lasted for one year (1976-1977).
The concept had contestants trying to guess the identity of people, places or things from a series of clues that progress from cryptic to giveaway. My favorite part was the bonus round, when host Alex Trebek introduced the winning contestant to “The Spoilers,” three stern-faced PhDs, each in their own soundproof booth. When one of the Spoilers guessed the right answer, he received 100 bucks. Eight years of intensive study at major universities, just to sit in a glitzy cubicle on a game show.
All this, plus Family Feud with Richard Dawson, Blockbusters, Body Language, Child's Play, Now You See It– I may not leave the house until Labor Day.
