High-Low (game show)
Encyclopedia
High Low was an American
game show
that aired on NBC
from July 4 to September 19, 1957. The series was a summer replacement for the popular variety show The Ford Show
. Jack Barry was the emcee and Don Pardo
was the announcer.
High Low was filmed in Studio 6A at NBC Studios
in the Rockefeller Center
in Manhattan
.
After being told the amount of the "high" bid, the contestant would be given a choice:
After making his or her choice, the contestant's booth was turned off and the corresponding panelist attempted to complete their bid. Once the panelist successfully completed their bid, the contestant's booth was turned back on. The contestant must then give as many correct answers as the panelist gave. If the contestant successfully matched the panelist, he or she won the game and the champion's winnings were multiplied accordingly. The contestant also earned the right to return on the next show to decide whether to play another game or walk away with their winnings; if at any point a contestant failed to match the panelist's bid, the contestant lost the game and departed with nothing.
Contestants could continue playing with their current winnings for up to five games. At that point, if the contestant decided to try for a sixth game, he or she started a new set of five games with another $500 stake. Contestants remain until they walk away or are defeated.
Among the celebrities who appeared as panelists on High Low were actor/singer Burl Ives
, actresses Patricia Medina
and Arlene Dahl
, actor Walter Slezak
, John Van Doren, and former Twenty One
champ Hank Bloomgarden.
due to network policies of the era.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game show
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 aired 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...
from July 4 to September 19, 1957. The series was a summer replacement for the popular variety show The Ford Show
Tennessee Ernie Ford
Ernest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country and Western, pop, and gospel musical genres...
. Jack Barry was the emcee and 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....
was the announcer.
High Low was filmed in Studio 6A at NBC Studios
NBC Studios
The NBC Studios in New York, New York is located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the historic GE Building houses the headquarters of the NBC television network, its parent General Electric, and NBC's flagship station WNBC , as well as cable news channel MSNBC.When NBC Universal relocated,...
in the Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center
Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th and 51st streets in New York City, United States. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
Game play
One contestant, stationed in an isolation booth, competed against a three-member panel of celebrities in a test of knowledge inspired by the game High-Low Poker. On his or her first appearance, the contestant was staked $500 of betting money. Barry posed a question containing multiple answers to both the contestant and the panel. Each member of the panel would secretly bid on how many correct answers he or she could give to the question. The panel, studio audience, and home audience could see the bids, but the contestant could not due to the way the booth was situated.After being told the amount of the "high" bid, the contestant would be given a choice:
- To double his/her winnings by matching the undisclosed "lowest" bid.
- To triple his/her winnings by matching the disclosed "high" bid.
After making his or her choice, the contestant's booth was turned off and the corresponding panelist attempted to complete their bid. Once the panelist successfully completed their bid, the contestant's booth was turned back on. The contestant must then give as many correct answers as the panelist gave. If the contestant successfully matched the panelist, he or she won the game and the champion's winnings were multiplied accordingly. The contestant also earned the right to return on the next show to decide whether to play another game or walk away with their winnings; if at any point a contestant failed to match the panelist's bid, the contestant lost the game and departed with nothing.
Contestants could continue playing with their current winnings for up to five games. At that point, if the contestant decided to try for a sixth game, he or she started a new set of five games with another $500 stake. Contestants remain until they walk away or are defeated.
Among the celebrities who appeared as panelists on High Low were actor/singer Burl Ives
Burl Ives
Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives was an American actor, writer and folk music singer. As an actor, Ives's work included comedies, dramas, and voice work in theater, television, and motion pictures. Music critic John Rockwell said, "Ives's voice .....
, actresses Patricia Medina
Patricia Medina
Patricia Paz Maria Medina is an English actress from Liverpool, England. Her father was a Spaniard and her mother was English. Medina began acting as a teenager in the late 1930s...
and Arlene Dahl
Arlene Dahl
Arlene Carol Dahl is an American actress and former MGM contract star, who achieved notability during the 1950s. She is the mother of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early years:...
, actor Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak
Walter Slezak was a portly Austrian character actor who appeared in numerous Hollywood films. Slezak often portrayed villains or thugs, most notably the German U-boat captain in Alfred Hitchcock's film Lifeboat , but occasionally he got to play lighter roles, as in The Wonderful World of the...
, John Van Doren, and former Twenty One
Twenty One (game show)
Twenty One is an American game show which aired in the late 1950s. While it included the most popular contestant of the quiz show era, it became notorious for being a rigged quiz show which nearly caused the demise of the entire genre in the wake of United States Senate investigations...
champ Hank Bloomgarden.
Episode Status
Only one episode is known to exist, and has been seen on the trading circuit. All other episodes are believed to have been 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 policies of the era.