Eye Guess
Encyclopedia
Eye Guess is an American game show
that ran from January 3, 1966 to September 26, 1969 on NBC
in which two contestants tried to answer questions by remembering the answers hidden on a board (similar to Concentration
), with the winner playing for various prizes including a new car.
This was the first game show by Bob Stewart Productions
. Stewart, a former producer for Goodson-Todman Productions, created this series and packaged it with Filmways. Bill Cullen
was the host, and he would work with Stewart on numerous shows through 1980.
Don Pardo
announced for the first year, after which Jack Clark replaced him for the rest of the run.
The show used the Al Hirt
tune "Sugar Lips" as its theme song.
A contestant could call for the "Eye Guess" space if they thought that the correct answer was not among the eight revealed choices. In such instances, the answer would be revealed only if it was correct for that question. Otherwise, a blank card would be revealed.
Questions in each round always covered a wide range of topics and were assembled in such a way that choosing an incorrect number for a question could yield some very funny results, which was the main appeal on this otherwise simple show.
Each game consisted of two rounds, with correct answers worth 10 points on the first round and 20 on the second. Although there were nine different answers per round, there were only eight questions; this meant that one of the nine answers was always incorrect (and never placed behind the "Eye Guess" space). Five consecutive correct answers won that player a bonus prize, usually a trip.
The first player to reach 100 points won the game and earned the right to play a bonus round. Later, the producers changed the rules, awarding a prize for each correct answer, with seven as the winning score.
There were no returning champions. Each game featured two new contestants.
Each correct answer awarded the player $25, and a new car was awarded if the board was cleared.
If the contestant revealed the "Stop!" card, he or she kept all prizes revealed up to that point and the game ended. However, if the "Stop!" card was revealed on the first selection, the contestant was allowed to choose another number as a consolation prize.
Revealing all seven prizes without finding the "Stop!" card won the car, which was always placed behind the "Eye Guess" space and revealed regardless of the outcome (but last if the contestant won all seven prizes).
At some point after November 8, 1967 a new prize called "Jack's Pot" (named after announcer Jack Clark
) was introduced, consisting of a cash prize that was awarded only if it was revealed on the first selection. If this did not happen, its location was revealed right away and the value was increased (as a progressive jackpot) until claimed, after which it reverted to its starting value.
Prizes of increasing value were offered after each "Go" card was found, and the contestant could stop at any point. If all five "Go" cards were revealed without finding the "Stop!" card, the contestant won the car.
due to network practices of the era, with the videotapes wiped and re-used after distribution to the affiliates who aired them.
One episode distributed for broadcast on November 8, 1967, in color, and a half-episode from the final season, in monochrome kinescope, exist in the hands of collectors. Game Show Network
has aired the 1967 color episode in the past.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
that ran from January 3, 1966 to September 26, 1969 on NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
in which two contestants tried to answer questions by remembering the answers hidden on a board (similar to Concentration
Concentration (game show)
Concentration was an American TV game show based on the children's memory game of the same name. Matching cards represented prizes that contestants could win...
), with the winner playing for various prizes including a new car.
This was the first game show by Bob Stewart Productions
Stewart Tele Enterprises
Stewart Tele Enterprises was an American major game show production company formed by Bob Stewart in 1964 originally based in New York City.-History:...
. Stewart, a former producer for Goodson-Todman Productions, created this series and packaged it with Filmways. Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
was the host, and he would work with Stewart on numerous shows through 1980.
Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
announced for the first year, after which Jack Clark replaced him for the rest of the run.
The show used the Al Hirt
Al Hirt
Al Hirt was an American trumpeter and bandleader. He is best remembered for his million selling recordings of "Java", and the accompanying album, Honey in the Horn . His nicknames included 'Jumbo' and 'The Round Mound of Sound'...
tune "Sugar Lips" as its theme song.
Gameplay
Two contestants faced a nine-space game board, divided into three rows of three boxes, on which eight answers were revealed on the outer boxes for only six to nine seconds, depending on the length and/or complexity of the group of answers, and then hidden from view (the center space, which had the "Eye Guess" logo on it, remained blank). Players had to remember the location of the answers and match them by number to the questions asked by the host. A contestant choosing the correct response earned points and a bonus question. If the bonus question was missed, that contestant's turn ended and the opponent was asked the next question.A contestant could call for the "Eye Guess" space if they thought that the correct answer was not among the eight revealed choices. In such instances, the answer would be revealed only if it was correct for that question. Otherwise, a blank card would be revealed.
Questions in each round always covered a wide range of topics and were assembled in such a way that choosing an incorrect number for a question could yield some very funny results, which was the main appeal on this otherwise simple show.
Each game consisted of two rounds, with correct answers worth 10 points on the first round and 20 on the second. Although there were nine different answers per round, there were only eight questions; this meant that one of the nine answers was always incorrect (and never placed behind the "Eye Guess" space). Five consecutive correct answers won that player a bonus prize, usually a trip.
The first player to reach 100 points won the game and earned the right to play a bonus round. Later, the producers changed the rules, awarding a prize for each correct answer, with seven as the winning score.
There were no returning champions. Each game featured two new contestants.
Format #1: Celebrity Spouses
The first bonus round was played for the first two weeks of the show's run (January 3 to 14, 1966). In it, the player was shown eight pairs of celebrities (a man and woman). Cullen would read a name, and the player would be required to locate that celebrity's spouse on the board.Each correct answer awarded the player $25, and a new car was awarded if the board was cleared.
Format #2: Big Board
The second bonus round was the longest-lasting, being used from January 17, 1966 to August 30, 1968 plus all four editions of the show's home game. In it, the player called out numbers on a new board which concealed seven prizes and a "Stop!" card.If the contestant revealed the "Stop!" card, he or she kept all prizes revealed up to that point and the game ended. However, if the "Stop!" card was revealed on the first selection, the contestant was allowed to choose another number as a consolation prize.
Revealing all seven prizes without finding the "Stop!" card won the car, which was always placed behind the "Eye Guess" space and revealed regardless of the outcome (but last if the contestant won all seven prizes).
Changes
Initially, prizes consisted of cash up to $100 or merchandise. By November 8, 1967 all prizes became merchandise.At some point after November 8, 1967 a new prize called "Jack's Pot" (named after announcer Jack Clark
Jack Clark (television)
Jack Clark was an American television game show host and announcer. He is best known for hosting The Cross-Wits, and as an offstage announcer for Wheel of Fortune...
) was introduced, consisting of a cash prize that was awarded only if it was revealed on the first selection. If this did not happen, its location was revealed right away and the value was increased (as a progressive jackpot) until claimed, after which it reverted to its starting value.
Format #3: Risk Board
The third bonus round was used for the entire final year of the show's run (September 2, 1968 to September 26, 1969) and used only six of the nine spaces - the top and bottom rows concealed five "Go" cards and the "Stop!" card. The three spaces in the middle row were labeled "The", "Risk", and "Board" (the center space holding the car as it had since the beginning of the run).Prizes of increasing value were offered after each "Go" card was found, and the contestant could stop at any point. If all five "Go" cards were revealed without finding the "Stop!" card, the contestant won the car.
Main game
- As mentioned above, picking a wrong answer to a question in the main game tended to give a hilarious result. One episode had host Cullen asking "Why did the people elect President Johnson in 1964?" The contestant in control picked a number, behind which was the answer of "To take away the garbage". After the audience erupted into hysterical laughter, Cullen quipped "Yeah, that sounds like LBJ".
Big Board
- Cullen would occasionally let the contestant who lost the main game pick a prize off the Bonus Board if the winner hit the "Stop!" card with two or more prizes left unrevealed. On one occasion, he also told announcer Jack Clark to take a number, although jokingly.
- On another occasion, the car's prize card was mistakenly placed in the slot marked "7" (directly below the "Eye Guess" space); unaware of this, the contestant called out number 7 and was as surprised as everyone else when the car was revealed. Rather than restarting the Bonus Round and editing the tape (which may have preserved the episode for posterity), the episode aired with this mistake and Cullen awarded the contestant every prize on the Board, including the car.
Risk Board
- On the show's finale (September 29, 1969), Cullen encouraged the final winner to keep picking numbers off the Risk Board. After the car was won, Cullen showed that the Risk Board held nothing but "Go" cards — he himself had been holding the "Stop!" card.
Others
- The week of October 17–21, 1966 was a special "celebrity week" where two celebrities played for the duration of the show.
- Monday: Joan FontaineJoan FontaineJoan de Beauvoir de Havilland , known professionally as Joan Fontaine, is a British American actress. She and her elder sister Olivia de Havilland are two of the last surviving leading ladies from Hollywood of the 1930s....
and Darren McGavinDarren McGavinDarren McGavin was an American actor best known for playing the title role in the television horror series Kolchak: The Night Stalker and his portrayal in the film A Christmas Story of the grumpy father given to bursts of profanity that he never realizes his son overhears... - Tuesday: Betsy PalmerBetsy PalmerBetsy Palmer is an American actress, best known as a regular panelist on the game show I've Got a Secret, and later for playing Pamela Voorhees in the notorious slasher film Friday the 13th.-Life and career:...
and Barry NelsonBarry NelsonBarry Nelson was an American actor, noted as the first actor to portray Ian Fleming's secret agent James Bond.-Early life:... - Wednesday: Julia Meade and Mel BrooksMel BrooksMel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
- Thursday: Marty Allen and Steve RossiSteve RossiSteve Rossi is an American stand-up comedian and actor.-Biography:Rossi gained a Bachelor of Arts degree in communication, arts and theater, Greek and Latin at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles and served as an officer in the United States Air Force. The comedian was discovered by Mae West...
- Friday: BillBill CullenWilliam Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
and Ann Cullen; Jack Clark hosted
- Monday: Joan Fontaine
- All contestants who played on Eye Guess received the show's home game, which Cullen plugged by showing the audience a Password home game.
- Toward the end of the show's run, contestants who both missed four consecutive questions in the main game each received a series of at-home memory-improvement books.
Episode status
Virtually all of the series is believed to be destroyedWiping
Wiping or junking is a colloquial term for action taken by radio and television production and broadcasting companies, in which old audiotapes, videotapes, and telerecordings , are erased, reused, or destroyed after several uses...
due to network practices of the era, with the videotapes wiped and re-used after distribution to the affiliates who aired them.
One episode distributed for broadcast on November 8, 1967, in color, and a half-episode from the final season, in monochrome kinescope, exist in the hands of collectors. Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
has aired the 1967 color episode in the past.