Sometimes, in an attempt to increase ratings, either the producers or the network add celebrities to a game show. Most of the time...actually, all of the time, this actually results in the exact opposite happening, and the show ultimately being canceled. Now, these are game shows which had civilian contestants at first, before being switched to either an all-celebrity format, or adding celebrities as their partners. Here are some examples.
Password All-Stars
The ABC revival of the popular game show "Password" debuted on April 5, 1971, replacing the cult soap opera "Dark Shadows." The show proved to be a hit for the alphabet network, but by 1974, the ratings started to slide, so they decided to change the format to "Password All-Stars," which had six celebrities each week competing for charity, with the highest-scoring star winning a $5,000 bonus for their favorite charity. Two $25,000 "Grandmaster Tournaments" were held during the run, which ended on February 14, 1975. The civilians returned the following Monday in a revamped format, but the change came too little, too late, and the show ended on June 27.
The Magnificent Marble Machine
I mentioned this show back in my "Lin Bolen, Part II" entry. When the show came back from its hiatus in January of 1976, the show's format changed to having two teams of celebrities playing for home viewers, and a studio audience member playing the machine. Needless to say, the ratings didn't go up. The last original episode aired eight weeks later on March 12, 1976, and reruns of the show aired until June 11, due to a technical strike at NBC (technicians seemed to go on strike a lot during the 70s. Just watch the 1972 episode of "The New Price is Right" that aired after the 2000 Pillsbury Bake-Off, and you'll see what I mean).
"All-Star Beat the Clock" and "Whew!"
Because these shows aired around the same time for the same network, CBS, I decided to include them both here at once.
"Whew!", hosted by Tom Kennedy, has the distinction of being one of the most fast-paced game shows on the air. Perhaps it was too fast-paced, as it struggled in the ratings. I should also point out that "Whew!" replaced the 70s edition of "Match Game" on April 23, 1979, on CBS (I'll be getting to that one soon enough).
Meanwhile, the "All-New Beat the Clock" debuted on CBS on September 17, 1979, hosted by Monty Hall, and announced by Jack Narz (Tom Kennedy's older brother and a former host of Beat the Clock). That show struggled as well, so on November 5, 1979, both shows switched to celebrity formats.
"The All-New Beat the Clock" because "All-Star Beat the Clock," where both teams of celebrities played for their respective rooting sections (the red team played for the red section, and the green team for the green section; this format was similar to the popular 70s game show "Tattletales," where three celebrities and their mates played for their respective sections of the audience {blue, banana [yellow], and red}), and "Whew!" became "Celebrity Whew!" (which Jack had to fully pronounce in his end-of-show plugs every day), with a celebrity partner joining the civilian contestant. Clock ended on February 1, 1980, while "Whew!" lasted until May 30, 1980. Game shows wouldn't return to the 10:00 hour of CBS daytime until 1982 ("The Price is Right" was, and still is, airing at 11:00 a.m. at this time).
Bullseye
I know, this wasn't a network game show, but I just HAD to include this on the list.
"Bullseye" was produced by Jack Barry and Dan Enright, who had also created and produced the popular "The Joker's Wild" and "Tic-Tac-Dough," two of the top syndicated game shows during the late 70s and early 80s. "Bullseye," hosted by former Dating Game emcee Jim Lange, was considered by many to be a combination of the two shows, and had perhaps THE most stylish set of all game shows on the air at the time (there's even an urban legend where the set received a thumbs-up from Johnny Carson, of all people). However, midway through the show's second season, they changed the format to having celebrity playing for charity, but that was only the first change. Questions were now primarily multiple choice, and matches were now a best two-out-of-three, resulting in the Bonus Island game not being played in some episodes. Needless to say, the show wasn't renewed for a third season, but Barry and Enright (mainly the latter) would not seem to learn their lesson, as shown here...
Hot (hiss) Potato
I had to do that.
"Hot Potato", hosted by "Uncle Bill" himself, has got to be one of the most underrated and under-appreciated game shows of all time. True, it was a bit of a rip-off of "Family Feud," but what made it unique was that all three contestants on a team had something in common (Moms-to-be, teachers, waitresses, clowns, dentists, etc...). However, on April 23, 1984, exactly three months after its debut, "Hot Potato" became "Celebrity Hot Potato," with the teams now consisting of two celebrities and one civilian (who still wore whatever uniform fitted his/her occupation). Some weeks even had both teams consisting of all three celebrities, with the winnings going to charity. Adding celebrities just seemed to drag the game down more than one notch, especially since some of the celebrities were comedians who deliberately gave wrong answers in a pathetic attempt to be funny. The show as canceled on June 29, 1984. Oh, and the people that produced this show? Barry and Enright (this turned out to be Jack Barry's last show that he created/produced, as he passed away on May 2, 1984).
For those that want to produce a game show, I have this piece of advice. If you plan to have an all-celebrity format for your show, save it for sweeps periods.
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