Get the Message (game show)
| Get The Message | |
|---|---|
| Created by |
Mark Goodson Bill Todman |
| Developed by | Jack Farren |
| Presented by |
Frank Buxton (March–September) Robert Q. Lewis (September–December) |
| Narrated by |
Chet Gould Johnny Olson |
| Country of origin |
 United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Robert Noah |
| Location(s) | Elysee Theater, New York |
| Running time | 30 Minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ABC |
| Original release | March 30 – December 25, 1964 |
Get the Message was a television game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. It aired on ABC's daytime schedule for nine months in 1964, with its last airing on Christmas Day.
The show was first hosted by Frank Buxton, who was replaced by Robert Q. Lewis on September 28. The announcers were Chet Gould and Johnny Olson.
Main game
There are two teams of three people, including one contestant and two celebrity guests. One team is all female and one all male. On each turn, the celebrities are shown a message (persons, places, things, common phrases, etc.) on the screens before them. All four celebrities write down a one-word clue on index cards without any discussion, raising their hand when they have completed their clue. Both celebrities on the team playing first show and read their clues to their team-mate, who must then guess the message. If incorrect, play then passes to the opposing team who do the same. If the opposing contestant fails to guess the message, one more round of clue-writing and -reading is performed, and then the message is discarded if not guessed. A correct answer is worth one point. The first team to reach three points wins the game, and a $100 prize.
The game was similar in principle to Password, except that the answers are messages rather than single words. One of the main differences in the game play, as sometimes explained by the host, was that the celebrities had to anticipate what their teammates and opponents would give as clues and hope not to give the same clue as their partner.
Bonus round
The winning team in each game played the "Turnabout game" bonus round. The bonus round was similar to the main game: The contestant was shown a message and orally gave one-word clues to each celebrity in turn. The celebrity responded by guessing the message. Each word provided decreased the value of the message from $100 to $50, $25, and finally $10. The contestant got three messages in the bonus round, for a top prize of $300 more.
A different bonus game was played later in the run known as the "Open game". The celebrities would again be shown a message and would give their clues verbally, then the contestant had one guess. each message guessed won the contestant another $50. Three messages were played for a maximum of payoff of $150.
At first, the contestants from both teams play only one game and do not return. Later, all players competed for the entire half-hour.
Episode status
Get the Message is believed to be destroyed as per network practices. GSN has aired the finale in the past, along with a Buxton episode on March 26, 2007 as part of their rare 3:30 AM programming block. The celebrity guests were Peggy Cass, Phyllis Newman, Orson Bean, and Howard Keel. There is also an episode with Robert Q Lewis as host, and Johnny Olson as the announcer that still exists. An episode from May 1, 1964 with celebrity guests Ann Sothern, Nancy Dussault, Abe Burrows, Darryl Hickman is held by the UCLA Film and Television Archive as a 16mm kinescope recording.[1]
Notes
The final episode featured celebrities playing for charity. each celebrity played one game along with either Arlene Francis & Barbara Cook or Douglas Fairbanks Jr. & Marty Ingels (depending on their gender) some of the celebrities who appeared included Joan Fontaine, Mitch Miller, Julia Meade, and Orson Bean. Celebrities who lost their game received a $50 consolation prize for their charity.
References
- ↑ http://cinema.library.ucla.edu/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?v1=41&ti=1,41&Search%5FArg=Get%20the%20Message&SL=None&Search%5FCode=GKEY%5E&CNT=50&PID=lA_8nrxZTn6hW1xbBO44D-Foln3g&SEQ=20120818211126&SID=1