Blockbusters - April 23, 1982 (Final Episode)

Here is the final episode of the original "Blockbusters", aired April 23, 1982. Bill Cullen hosts.
(c) Fremantle Media

[@suzannemartin413]

thank you for uploading this, haven't seen it before. I would love to see every one of these in order. I love Bill Cullen, he's great!

[@erikpridemore3174]

Bill Cullen surely did his final "Blockbusters" show on NBC, about 5 months before "Child's Play" debuted on CBS, which turned out to be his final game show he hosted on CBS, which Mark Goodson Productions Produces and ran for one year. "Blockbusters" returned to NBC in 1987 for its revival, when Bill Rafferty took over as host on the short-lived revival, but it lasted only 4 months.

[@elijahmoses5675]

This episode was also seen on GSN's Y2 Play marathon on December 31, 1999.

[@AarHan3]

And of course, Bill Cullen quickly went on to emcee what turned out to be his last Goodson-Todman game, _Child's Play_, on CBS.

[@baltimorez-wad7281]

Ahh a great game show from the golden age of them, this one just happened to be 3 days before I was born

[@wecantfightgravity]

I loved the brown/beige background on the set better. It fitted the yellow hexagons on the set.

[@snowden67]

FWIW, I think this was Bill's last high water mark. After this, he loved hosting Child's Play, but the ratings were dismal and it was quickly cancelled. Then came Hot Potato, which was OK but nothing special. Then we have a case, as they say, of great host and great game - what went wrong? Bill hosted The Joker's Wild for its last two seasons. As one who loved Bill on Blockbusters and the 70's To Tell The Truth, I am kind of sad his legacy is summarized by a lot of young 'uns as "That guy stunk compared to Jack Barry on TJW". Joker was not a personality-driven show, and Bill tried his best but the show seems to drag and Bill was ill with pancreatic-related problems in Joker season 2.

[@2011paramedic]

Who was that sub announcer for Blockbusters who was filling in for Bob Hilton was it Rich Jerffries?

[@johnnyballenatl]

I wonder if any of those unfortunate contestants were called back for the 1987 Blockbusters reboot (they probably updated their contact info to Goodson-Todman by then)...

[@pikeman80]

Yet, somehow, "Wheel Of Fortune" is still on. Yikes!

[@VahanNisanian]

Game shows on NBC, save for "Wheel of Fortune", where pretty much dormant after this episode. In the Fall of 1982, "Fantasy" premiered in the 3:00-4:00 p.m. timeslot, but was doomed from the get-go because of where it was placed in. All that would change on January 3, 1983, when daytime game shows on NBC were officially back.