Concentration (game show)

Concentration is a venerable TV game show based on the children's memory game of the same name.

Syndicated run (1973-1978)

After NBC canceled Concentration, Goodson-Todman Productions obtained the production rights to the show (although the format itself was and is still owned by NBC) and produced a five-a-week syndicated revival of the show. The show premiered in September 1973 and ran five years. Jack Narz hosted, with Johnny Olson announcing.

Related Topics:
Goodson-Todman Productions - September - 1973 - Johnny Olson

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The show ran on many of the same NBC stations (including flagship WNBC-TV in New York) that carried the network version six month earlier. G-T ran across the same phenomenon five years later, when the daytime Match Game was dropped by CBS but revived in first-run syndication. One key difference was the show's origination; after 15 years in New York, Concentration was now produced at Metromedia Square in Hollywood.

Related Topics:
WNBC-TV - Match Game - CBS

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The game was the same as before, with two new contestants competing each day. The rules basically were the same, except the joke prizes and the Forfeit One Gift cards were scrapped. A new Free Look space allowed the contestant to briefly open up two as-of-yet available numbers, which he/she thought would help him solve the rebus.

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Also, Narz announced the whereabouts of four of the prizes (to give players a "head start") at the outset of each game; and, uncovering both WILD cards in a single turn earned the player a $250 bonus, which he/she kept regardless of the game's outcome. And, the player was spotted another $250 if he/she solved the rebus and didn't have any prizes.

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The winner played a new bonus round called Double Play, with a new car as the top prize for solving two rebuses within 10 seconds. During the 1977-1978 season, players determined their Double Play prize package by choosing two squares from a 9-space board and competing for the first prize package matched.

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To this day, Concentration is the only stand-alone game show produced by Goodson-Todman's but not invented by Goodson, Todman or a producer working for or with the duo (such as Bob Stewart, Frank Wayne or NBC staff producer Bob Noah). The Hollywood Squares component of the 1983-84 NBC Daytime game The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour also fits into the category.

Related Topics:
Hollywood Squares - Match Game

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