Welcome To Nostalgia Central

Technically this probably doesn't qualify as nostalgia yet. But it is in keeping with the retro theme from yesterday.

Recently I was watching the Game Show Network and saw a clip of Bill Cullen, the most prolific game show host in history. I think I read where he had hosted more hours of game shows than anyone. It was not unusual for him to have more than one show on at a time. On different networks no less. The reason was obviously because people liked him.


You rarely saw him moving around onstage, as he was usually shown already seated on the set. This was due to problems walking resulting from polio as a child. Remember, kids, to get your immunizations.

As I was watching the clip of Bill Cullen, I started thinking of all the game shows I saw him host. And he not only hosted a lot, he appeared as a celebrity panelist on many others. Here are the ones I remember:
- The Price Is Right
- Three On A Match
- $10,000 Pyramid (guest)
- To Tell The Truth (guest and later host)
- Match Game (guest)
- Hot Potato
- Block Busters
- The Joker's Wild

And while on the subject of game shows, how about some obscure ones. Who else remembers...
- Celebrity Sweepstakes (Contestants bet on whether different celebrities would answer a question correctly, based on odds voted on by the audience)
- Cross Wits (Crossword gameshow, one of my very favorites)
- High Rollers (With a hippie dude Alex Trebek)

Alex: "Hey, baby!"

- Sale of the Century (With Joe Garagiola)
- Rhyme and Reason (I think celebrities made up rhyming words)
- Scrabble (Basically the board game with a few TV variations)
- Concentration (A memory game at which I used to excel and now stumble over)
- Split Second (Contestants answered questions with the winner given the chance to win a car at the end. This was the most exciting part of the show, as the winner would choose one of five cars at the end of the show and be given the keys to start it. If it started, they won).
- The New Treasure Hunt (Kind of like Let's Make A Deal, only the prizes were in boxes wrapped as gifts)
- Gambit (Just basically TV blackjack with married couples)
- Money Maze (A spectacularly stupid game show that sounded cool when I was a kid. One spouse would stand above a life size maze and direct the other spouse through the maze to find money towers hidden within the maze. But the greatest thing about it was that it was hosted by an incredibly goofy guy named Nick Clooney, brother of Rosemary and father of George. If you like George, you'll get over it by viewing this nerd).

Now that, my friends, is a lineup to make Game Show Network and TVLand proud.

Check out this website for hours of cool reading.

The only other question I have is this- does anyone have a copy of the $10,000 Pyramid episode where William Shatner plays the bonus round BY HIMSELF?!!! One of the funniest things I've ever seen, he would give a clue or two to an empty chair, and then jump over to the other side and give the answer. He became more and more frantic as time wound down, in typical over the top Shatner acting. And can remember him at one point jumping to the answer seat and causing it to fall over as he screamed "It's...it's...Parts Of An Eye!"

The truly funny thing was that, even though the answers were right in front of him, time ran out and HE DIDN'T EVEN WIN!