Blockbusters - Bill Cullen's Premiere

[@christopherangel6690]

Blockbusters needs a revival!

[@wecantfightgravity]

If Blockbusters gets revived, it should adopt the UK theme, logo, font and colors but this set with more modern elements & techniques. Bill Cullen and Bob Holness are the best hosts of this franchise. Both are missed.

[@dagdogg]

Tom Hendricks(one of this episode's family pair) was previously a contestant on episode 90 of Match Game PM. Blockbusters host Bill Cullen was a panelist on that episode.

[@RoseBouquet3]

Much better than the 1987 version to be honest.

[@tdmoses73]

one of my faves. bill was always the greatest host.

[@erichowry7197]

I always liked Bill Cullen as a host!! I liked this episode!!

[@warrenewell5841]

Happy 34th Birthday, Blockbusters, and rip to both Bills.

[@KCGeno]

One of my favorite games, hosted by the greatest.

[@whatdidoursurveysay]

Tried watching the British version of this... it's not much different in terms of quality, but I found myself missing Bill's hosting. Always fun to watch.

[@bossradio930]

+supremetaco Bill could take a bad game show offered to him and make it good, which he did!

[@DissociatedWomenIncorporated]

To someone who grew up with the UK version, this one is just bizarre. It looks like a regular jovial quiz show rather than having the atmospheric aesthetic, and if I may purposely be pretentious because I think it's funny... the gravitas!... of the British version.

[@bentheswitchsportsfan06]

THERES A BRITISH VERSION?

[@whatdidoursurveysay]

@@bentheswitchsportsfan06 Lol

[@artytoons]

@@DissociatedWomenIncorporated US game shows are more famous for flashing lights on the game boards and sets and loud sound effects for correct and incorrect answers.

[@paullarue2010]

Bill Cullen hosted many game shows, including "Blockbusters", "Hot Potato", and "The Joker's Wild".

[@BenJabituya]

Uncle Bill also hosted “Name That Tune”, “The $25,000 Pyramid”, “Chain Reaction” and “Pass The Buck”.

[@erikbunty2016]

Child's Play, too.

[@paullarue2010]

@@erikbunty2016 Yep. "Childs Play" was on CBS.

[@erikbunty2016]

Winning Streak comes to mind, too.

[@TheVarietyArchive1115]

Happy 40th Anniversary to the game show that premiered on NBC! Blockbusters! #Blockbusters40

[@alextorres9832]

RIP 🙏 bill Cullen

[@tommartin4089]

NBC Daytime Line-Up Premiere October 27th 1980 9:00 Las Vegas Gambit 9:30 Blockbusters 10:00 Wheel Of Forune 10:30 Password Plus 11:00 Card Sharks 11:30 The Doctors 12:00 Days Of Our Lives 1:00 Another World 2:00 Texas

[@DucNguyen0131]

Blockbusters was meant to replace The David Letterman Show AND Bill's other show Chain Reaction.

[@georgemaster9271]

@charles allan I liked LVG,and it looked as though it prepared Wink for his High Rollers gig,although short.Or,it could've had Gambit and High Rollers in one 30 minute show.

[@ChrisHansonCanada]

That lady made a dumb move at the start and should have taken "K" as her second letter to block the men.

[@boykorda]

I think Bill's podium inspired Transformers.

[@Mrtv1017]

this show is currently aired weekdays at 10am & 3pm on Buzzr

[@AaronBruceLadner]

Mrtv1017 It's Now on Saturday Night at 8/7 Central and 11/10 Central.

[@fredmckinney8933]

Mrtv1017: In which time zone?

[@ThomasDickensheets]

Bill Cullen will be missed!

[@michaelphilbert7288]

They need to reboot this game show! Had it my way, though, the _Gold Rush_ board 8:25 would be flipped at a 90-degree, so you'd have to work from bottom to top.

[@40bpaula]

Is there a way to work it from corner to corner, like slanting it on the diagnol?

[@chuckers40]

After watching the the pilot episode, I wish kept the original look of the board and the contestants podium. "the shortcut" board could have been used as the "tie breaker" game.

[@RobertoLopez-xb1mj]

At16:20, the initials read TB--Tom Brokaw who, coincidentally, co-hosted with John Chancellor on NBC News all-night coverage of the 1980 Presidential Election the following week on Tuesday, Nov. 4th, where Ronald Reagan cruised to victory early that same evening. Soon after, Tom Brokaw became the sole anchorman for NBC Nightly News and the rest is TV history.

[@cricketsmith368]

First time I have seen this show & enjoyed it to the max! Thank you!

[@JasonRourhier]

Blockbusters original version with Bill Cullen never gave away cars!! The 1987 revival(which I didn,t watch) with Bill Rafferty didn,t give away cars either.TO ME A GAME SHOW IS NOT A GAME SHOW IF YOU DON,T HAVE THE CLASSIC IDEAL PRIZE--A NEW 🚗 CAR!!

[@fredmckinney8933]

Always loved this show. If they wanted to bring it back with a $1M top prize, what they could do is have multiple bonus rounds, provided the player feels comfortable playing on, for progressively larger cash prizes...but with fewer rows to work with, until, at the $1M level, there are only 5 hexagons on the board, forcing the player to answer all 5 correctly in order to win the $1M.

[@bentheswitchsportsfan06]

This version was sooo underrated... I mean, the UK one was awesome but it was way too popular in the 80's (no offence to Bob Holness). This version, despite not having a long timespan, and despite having a failed reboot in 1987, 100% deserved more recognition from people worldwide (and don't forget that this was most likely why they decided to air their own version in the UK).

[@dakotareeves3939]

On this premiere episode of "Blockbusters", solo player JoAnne plays against the family pair Tom & Joe. And later on, it's Nancy vs Tom & Joe.

[@trevorpanno516]

When they have a one-word U.S. city as an answer to a question, Bill Cullen will plug in the station they’d be watching them on.

[@richardsimmonsdreammaker]

Hey u know what I think this show is just wonderful!!

[@aaronbruceladner1983]

3:21

[@morgan8757]

I think larae dillman stopped the Hendricks brothers run of matches

[@aaronbruceladner1983]

Not Long After this Premiere, The Game was Changed to a 2 Out of 3 Match. $500 was Won for Each Game, and The Side that Won the Match Played the Gold Run for $5,000.

[@BenJabituya]

This game show reminds me of the Crossword Clues categories on "Jeopardy!". Based on the letter you choose on the board, your response must be with that same letter.

[@dakotareeves3939]

As a tribute to late host Bill Cullen, this is the series premiere episode of the American game show "Blockbusters" & this episode's orginal airdate is October 27, 1980 on NBC. 🇺🇲 🇺🇲

[@aaronbruceladner1983]

2:28, Let's Go to the Board

[@kurtkauffman4326]

I do remember watching this during throughout my 2nd half of High School in Escanaba,Michigan.

[@40bpaula]

Hi fellow Michigander. I've heard of Escanaba but don't really have an idea of where it is. I'm in Lansing.

[@kurtkauffman4326]

Correction: It was my 1st half at the time.

[@kurtkauffman4326]

@@40bpaula It's in the upper part of the state.

[@40bpaula]

@@kurtkauffman4326 Ah, the UP. Well, that explains why I have no idea where it is. Thank you for the info.

[@Student____2025__1]

I liked JoAnne, not the twins.

[@ryanstrnad1852]

Only a 3 day turnaround. Fast

[@port566]

If it were me, I wouldn't feel very comfortable waiting until 3 days before air day to record the show. What if a misjudging error happens? What if an important light or camera quits working? What if Bob Hamilton gets stuck in traffic? :-)

[@RjBenjamin353]

One weird episode.

[@jasonbeard4713]

I love watching the series, but what killed it was the fact that several contestants stayed for so long.

[@GETENT]

4:20 weird zoomout....

[@paullarue2010]

Halloween is what I'm avoiding

[@paullarue2010]

Cracking knuckles hurts.

[@bluebear1985]

This was a pretty good show. Too bad it didn't last longer than it did. Here's what was on in primetime the day it premiered: ABC- That's Incredible!, ABC NFL Monday Night Football (Dolphins at Jets) CBS- Flo, Ladies' Man, M*A*S*H, House Calls, Lou Grant NBC- Little House on the Prairie, NBC Monday Night at the Movies

[@morgan8757]

that's when primetime programs were worth watching

[@alfonsogreen2722]

morgan8757 exactly

[@PREGO1966]

It lasted longer than its 1987 revival

[@janeiwasduncan8463]

I would have watched the Dolphins tromp the Jets!!🎈🎈

[@lakebay972]

@@janeiwasduncan8463 Actually, the Jets defeated the Dolphins that day by the score of 17-14

[@paullarue2010]

Super Gold Rush?

[@michaelphilbert7288]

2:37 *Ka-kRaK!*

[@samanthavongradw1756]

Sadd

[@Starlord80s]

Not as good as the UK version with Bob Holness.

[@tjhornikel]

Bob Hamilton?

[@paullarue2010]

Thomas Hornikel Bill Cullen got confused?

[@8202057]

Paul LaRue I like game show

[@kurtkauffman4326]

You mean Bob Hilton,Your Announcer for the Show,Get it?

[@port566]

I just watched an episode where Bill invited us back next time "here on Bustblockers". I'm not sure what kind of show that would be....

[@zachhoran]

Happy 33rd birthday US Blockbuster

[@VahanNisanian]

And it is devoid of all of the dramatically, dire, terrible, speed-ups and credit crunchers.

[@johnhoppin7928]

I feel like the solo player needs some kind of mechanic to help - perhaps a single color swap per game, or a "selection steal"

[@MrMatteNWk]

Or only needing four vs. five to win because there is only one of him/her.

[@paullarue2010]

Biblical question! Praise God!

[@kathycollins8016]

Oh yeah, there were lots of Bible questions throughout the run of the show. It does disappoint me, though, when the contestants don't know the answer :(

[@mttiles27]

Maybe because I'm more used to it, but I prefer the English version than the American. I'm not saying that the American version isn't good I'm just saying that I prefer the English version.

[@JasonRourhier]

BLOCKBUSTERS DOES NEED A REVIVAL!! & I THINK IT SHOULD BE CALLED 'BLOCKBUSTERS DELUXE'.I loved the original show with the late Bill Cullen. The game should be played exact the same way with 1 solo player against a family pair.However the GOLD RUSH BONUS ROUND should be much bigger & better then much before.Whichever contestant wins the game goes to the Gold Rush Bonus game.However it should be that if you do connect GOLD TO GOLD in the gold rush YOU WIN $50,000!! Then whoever wins the 2nd main game then goes back to the Gold Rush Bonus game--again if you're able to connect Gold to Gold--the next time you win $100,000!! The final part of the Bonus game-- should be that then you pick one letter from the 20 hexagons that make up the board--you answer the final question correctly--to add to what you already won--You win $1,000,000 & A NEW CAR 🚗!! IF you get the final question wrong--$100,000 gets added to the million dollar jackpot until it,s won.YOU WIN THE JACKPOT--YOU ALSO WIN THE 🚗 CAR!!