Television Game Shows Quiz

TV BANTER QUIZ #20

This is a quiz about quiz shows.  Yes, game shows have been a staple of daytime television and to a much lesser extent, prime time.  TV viewers enjoy matching wits with contestants or just making the right guess.  TV Banter presents a challenge for game show fans and trivia buffs alike.   Test your knowledge of game shows, game show hosts and game show history.  So, as they say on The Price is Right, come on down and try this 15-question quiz.  Good luck!

TV GAME SHOWS QUIZ

1.  The late Allen Ludden, who hosted various versions of daytime and prime time Password beginning in 1961, was married to a well known actress.  Who is Allen Ludden's widow?

A.  Shirley Jones

B.  Florence Henderson

C.  Betty White

D.  Marjorie Lord

E.  June Lockhart



2.  Bob Barker hosted The Price is Right for 35 years, from 1972  until 2007.  What game show did Bob host prior to The Price is Right?

A.  Beat the Clock

B.  Concentration

C.  Treasure Hunt

D.  Truth or Consequences

E.  The $64,000 Question



3.  Before he rose to fame on The Tonight Show, Johnny Carson hosted a game show.  What was the name of the game show that Johnny Carson hosted?

A.  Who Do You Trust?

B.  Double Dare

C.  Win, Lose or Draw

D.  You Don't Say!

E.  Whose Line Is It Anyway?



4.  Dick Clark hosted the original Pyramid game show from 1973 to 1988.  It was called the $10,000 Pyramid when it debuted on March 26, 1973 on CBS.  Which of the following did not host a version of Pyramid?

A.  Bill Cullen

B.  John Davidson

C.  Richard Dawson

D.  Donny Osmond

E.  John Davidson



5.  For most of the original run of The Hollywood Squares (from 1966 until 1981), who was the regular "centre square?"

A.  Roddy McDowell

B.  Jonathan Winters

C.  Joan Rivers

D.  Vincent Price

E.  Paul Lynde



6.  What is the real name of Peter Marshall, the host of The Hollywood Squares from 1966 to 1981?

Peter Marshall in 1965 photo

A.  Peter MacKenzie

B.  Robert Vine

C.  Stuart Corrigan

D.  Ralph Pierre LaCock

E.  Ambrose Jones



7.  Alex Trebek began hosting Jeopardy! in 1984.  Who was the original host of Jeopardy! when it premiered on NBC on March 30, 1964?

A.  Bill Cullen

B.   Art Fleming

C.  Bert Convy

D.  Gene Rayburn

E,  Garry Moore



8.  Who composed the Jeopardy theme song?

A.  Merv Griffin

B.  Paul Anka

C.  Marvin Hamlisch

D.  Henry Mancini

E.  Burt Bacharach



9.  What U.S. game show did Pete Best, the original drummer of The Beatles appear on?

A.  What's My Line?

B.  I've Got a Secret

C.  Name That Tune

D.  The Dating Game

E..  Pete Best has never appeared on a U.S. game show.



10.  Which of the following game show hosts was not born in Canada?

A.  Alex Trebek

B.  Monty Hall

C.  Richard Dawson

D   Art Linkletter

E.  Howie Mandel



11. When What's My Line? premiered on February 2, 1950, the first mystery guest was a well-known baseball player.  Who was he?

A.  Joe DiMaggio

B.  Yogi Berra

C.  Ted Williams

D.  Willie Mays

E,  Phil Rizzuto



12.  Another major league baseball player, Joe Garagiola, became a broadcaster and television host.  Which of the following game shows was not hosted by Garagiola?

A.  Blockbusters

B.  Sale of the Century

C.  To Tell the Truth

D.  He Said, She Said

E.  Joe Garagiola's Memory Game



ANSWERS

1.  C

Allen Ludden and Betty White in June 1968

Allen Ludden married Betty White on June 19, 1963.  She was his second wife.  His first wife, Margaret McGloin, died of cancer on October 30, 1961.  He met Betty on Password and they remained together until Allen's death of stomach cancer at the age of 63 on June 9, 1981.  Prior to Password, Allen hosted the G.E. College Bowl, a quiz show competition featuring teams of students from colleges and university students and primarily sponsored by General Electric.


2.  D

Bob Barker's first day hosting Truth or Consequences in Decenber 1956

Prior to The Price is Right, Bob Barker hosted Truth or Consequences. from  1956 until 1975.  He began hosting The Price is Right on September 4, 1975, while still hosting Truth or Consequences.


3.  A.

From 1957 until 1962, Johnny Carson hosted the grammatically incorrect Who Do You Trust? (It should be Whom Do You Trust?).  In 1958, Ed McMahon, (Carson's future Tonight Show sidekick), joined the show as the announcer.  The premise of Who Do You Trust was that three couples competed on each show.  The couples were introduced one at a time and Carson interviewed them.  In the quiz portion, Carson informed the male contestant of the category of the question.  The man would then have to choose whether to answer the question himself or "trust" the woman to do it for him.

When Jack Parr left The Tonight Show in 1962, Johnny Carson stepped down as host of Who Do You Trust in order to replace Parr on light night television.  Johnny hosted The Tonight Show for thirty seasons, from the autumn of 1962 until the spring of 1992.  By the way, comedian Woody Woodbury replaced Carson as host of Who Do You Trust? and the show ended its run in 1963.


4.  C

Richard Dawson never hosted a version of Pyramid.

From 1974 to 1979, Bill Cullen hosted a syndicated version called the $25,000 Pyramid. In 1991, John David hosted the $100,000 Pyramid.  Donny Osmond hosted Pyramid from 2002 until 2004.  In 2012, a version of Pyramid showed up on The Game Show Network  (GSN).  It was hosted by Mike Richards and cancelled after only one season due to low ratings.


5.  E

For most of the original run of The Hollywood Squares, comedian Paul Lynde was the "centre square." Lynde, who died of a heart attack on January 10, 1982 at the age of 55, was the subject of a 2005 biography titled Center Square: The Paul Lynde Story, by Steve Wilson and Joe Florenski.  Since The Hollywood Squares is a tic-tac-toe game, the centre square is the most important square for tactical reasons.  By the way, the very first "cenre square" was Ernest Borgnine.


6.  D

Peter Marshall was born Ralph Pierre LaCock on March 30, 1926 in Huntington, West Virginia, U.S.A.



7.  B

Art Fleming hosting Jeopardy!

Actor and television personality Art Fleming was the original host of Jeopardy!.  Fleming passed away on April 25, 1995 at the age of 70.  (Note the prize money amounts in the photo above).


8.  A

Merv Griffin, the creator of Jeopardy!, also composed its theme song, "Think."  Griffin originally composed the song as a lullaby for his son, Tony.


9.  B

Drummer Pete Best left The Beatles in 1962 and was replaced by Ringo Starr.  Best appeared on I've Got A Secret in 1964.  When host Garry Moore asked him why he left the band, he replied, "I thought I'd like to start of group of my own and I thought at that time they weren't going to go as big as they are now."


10.  C

Richard Dawson, the original host of Family Feud,  was born in Gosport, England, U.K..  Dawson passed away on June 2, 2012 at the age of 79 from esophageal cancer.

The others were all born in Canada.  Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek was born in Subury, Ontario.   Monty Hall, who hosted Let's Make A Deal, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  Art Linkletter, who died on May 26, 2010, was born in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (Art lived until the ripe old age of 97).  Howie Mandel, the host of Deal or No Deal, was born in Toronto, Ontario.


11.  E

Phil Rizzuto in 1950 picture

The first mystery guest on What's My Line? was renowned New York Yankee shortstop Phil Rizzuto. Nicknamed "The Scooter," Rizzzuto was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown in 1994.  He died on August 13, 2007 at the age of 89.  (Above is a photo of Phil (left) with host John Daly on What's My Line? in 1950).


12.  A

Joe Garagiola in 1951

Joe Garagiola

Joe Garagiola did not host Blockbusters.  Bill Cullen hosted the 1980-1982 version of Blockbusters and comedian Bill Rafferty hosted the 1987 version.  Both versions were aired on NBC.

Garagiola, a native of St. Louis Missouri, was a catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1946-1951), the Pittsburgh Pirates (1951-1953), the Chicago Cubs (1953-1954) and the New York Giants (1954).  He hosted He Said, She Said from 1969 to 1970, Joe Garagiola's Memory Game from February to July of 1971, Sale of the Century from 1971 to 1974 and To Tell the Truth from 1977 to 1978.


- Joanne