The Who What or Where Game (Part 3 or 3)

[@joeykardos7602]

This was a great game show. I wish it could have run a lot longer. RIP Art James.

[@tigermark64]

Thanks for posting, The 3 W's was one of my favorite game shows of the 70's; it was good seeing this again.

[@bd001217]

This episode appears to be from December of 1970 (Heisman trophy winner Jim Plunkett, but aired prior to New Years Bowl Games). I loved this show when I was a kid. I would have been 11 when this aired. I had the home version of this game and, although I no longer have the game box and board, I do still have two of the quiz books that came with the game. Great, great show. I loved it!

[@TimBabcock64]

I had the home version of the game. Watched this show when it was on if I wasn't in school. I remember Mike Darrow doing the hosting of the $128,000 question back in 1977-78

[@WaltGekko]

@Noveltooner That really doesn't surprise me. It needs to be remembered when that happened to "The 3W's," New York was in an overall downturn and was really beginning to be frowned upon by many (allegedly, Carson moved permanently to LA in 1972 because guests were refusing to appear in New York because the neighborhood surrounding 30 Rock at that time had severely deteriorated over several years). The shame is, no one has ever thought of doing a revival of this show.

[@epaddon]

"The Challengers" in 1990-91 was a semi-revival of this show.

[@setheriah]

and i remember the music for the pot limit wagering like yesterday

[@Noveltooner]

A Ron Greenberg-created gem from NBC at 30 Rock in New York, this game followed "Jeopardy!" in most markets Monday thru Friday at 12:30 P.M. as a one-two quiz punch. All of the original tapes of the series were erased except those in private collections and copies still stored at NBC network affiliates on the West Coast, of which this appears to be one. The announcer is the late Mike Darrow, previously host of ABC's "Dream House" and later of USA Network's "Jackpot!".

[@RRaquello]

I was really into game shows when I was a little kid. I remember another Art James show called "Pay Cards" which used to be shown here in New York on channel 5 at night (maybe 8 o'clock? It's so long ago I can't remember). I understand that show was on in 1968-69, so I would have been only 6-7 years old when I watched it. I remember watching this show at lunch time every day w. Jeopardy when I came home from school for lunch. But I haven't watched game shows in years.

[@marcpower4167]

Pay Cards did get revived in Canada in the 80s as Super Pay Cards, Art James returned as host (given a Canadian born co-host in Mary Lou Basaraba to comply with CANCON regulations), they tweaked the format to having 2 civilian contestants playing against each other with the deck reduced from 20 to 16 cards, the money was bumped up a tad and there was a new bonus game played for $5,000.

[@Noveltooner]

It was indeed George David Weiss; he composed both the original and the second themes for the series (the Pot Luck theme was retained throughout). Weiss also had a hit Broadway musical running at the time called "Maggie Flynn" that starred Shirley Jones and her then-husband, the late Jack Cassidy.

[@altfactor]

Art James was a vastly under-rated game-show host. He should stand alongside Alex Trebek, Bob Barker, and Bill Cullen as a "giant" among game-show hosts.

[@ccie12933]

Loved the home version of this, I still have mine. :) It had slips of paper that slid through the board to reflect the changing odds, a nice little touch.

[@Noveltooner]

It was "Jackpot!", which was moved to the noon slot when "Jeopardy!" was moved to 10:30 a.m. by Lin Bolen to force a ratings drop and its eventual cancellation (she hated both quiz shows and New York as "un-hip" and wanted the style of NBC daytime to reflect her "boy toys" and Hollywood instead). "Blank Check" (also hosted by Art James, this time in Burbank, CA) took over the 12:30 p.m. slot and copied "Jackpot's" "peanut gallery" weeklong contestant format. It was a seven-month dud.

[@kittyshanahan9381]

When I was in elementary school, my mom was a contestant. What I would give to see that episode. (sigh)

[@Noveltooner]

The bell sounding when the Pot Limit category is revealed should sound familiar to fans of the original version of "The Price is Right" with Bill Cullen. It was the same bell from when a player's bid was "frozen."

[@calliaume]

"Stumpers" aired on NBC in 1976; Fred Silverman didn't start at NBC until 1978 - he was programming ABC at that point.

[@luvthoseclips]

I remember him hosting "Treasure Hunt", & "Play The Percentages".

[@danalong1237]

Both the 70s Treasure Hunt and Play the Percentages aired on WAVE 3 in Louisville.

[@Noveltooner]

@40onTheBlue It was changed in conjunction with a rule change to speed up the game with 18 months left in its run. The original theme during the Pot Limit wager remained. The game change eliminated the "declare" during the regular game play; contestants would simply lock in their questions and wagers and they would pop up immediately (umseen by the contestants; Art would then apprise them who got the particular questions). The hidden wager and "declare" remained on Pot Limit.

[@paullarue2010]

Amen to that category.

[@TheRecordSaver]

@Noveltooner Darrow also hosted "The $128,000 Question" in Canada back in the mid-late 70s as well.. I remember watching that show.

[@danalong1237]

I remember watching the show too, having aired on WLKY in the Louisville area for two seasons at 7:30pm (Tuesday nights during the first season and Wednesday nights during the second season) right after the Jack Narz-hosted Concentration.

[@juan833blue]

RIP Art James.

[@RRaquello]

I also had the "Pay Cards" play-at-home game. I wonder if you can find that in the collector's market. The Garry Moore version of To Tell The Truth would be on channel 5 around the same time, then it was time to go to sleep. Oh the memories.

[@bobthetvfan]

Mike Darrow actually hosted "The $128,000 Question" when it was taped in New York in the 1976-77 season; the next year, when production moved to Toronto, Alex Trebek took over as host. Darrow was from Toronto, however. And I don't remember Geoff Edwards hosting this show; he did host "Jackpot!", which replaced "Jeopardy!" at noon on NBC in January 1974. Dick Clark hosted the semi-revival of "The 3Ws", "Challengers," in the 1990-91 season.

[@danalong1237]

The $128,000 Question aired on WLKY-TV in Louisville at 7:30pm on Tuesday nights during the first season and on Wednesday nights at the same timeslot during the second season both right after Concentration, the short-lived 1974-75 syndicated Jeopardy aired every week on WLEX-TV in Lexington as opposed to the current syndicated version, which from 1984 to 1990 aired on WTVQ-TV and on WKYT-TV since 1990, and The Challengers aired every weekday at 5:30pm on both WLKY-TV and WTVQ-TV.

[@paullarue2010]

Amen to this category.

[@PTH4Fun]

Thanks.

[@QBCNetwork]

Love that think music. Sounds like Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass would do.

[@setheriah]

when this show went off the air.. what show came on at 1230 to replace this show... was it jackpot which got moved back to 12 in the east coast or was it blank check but i think blank check started in 1975...

[@Noveltooner]

@40onTheBlue My ubderstanding was that it was actually game creator and producer Ron Greenberg himself who came up with the later speed alterations, not NBC itself. However, there's little doubt that it was indeed in response to the success of "Split Second," and the new changes worked really well. (The Quick Round concept was later adapted to the Ron Greenberg/Dick Clark game "The Challengers.") As for Lin Bolen, she started her own production company; its shows pretty much tanked.

[@pynchonfan]

Does anyone know who composed the upbeat little tune that runs from 0:20-0:40? I had heard it was George David Weiss (of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" fame), but I find that hard to believe.

[@paullarue2010]

Amen to that!

[@WaltGekko]

@40onTheBlue Yes, but that was a completely different time and place. LA was the "hip" city then, and many people were really frowning upon New York as a whole (New York would almost go bankrupt a couple of years later). The trend overall was to move out of New York and do everything from LA, especially since the neighborhoods in many cases in Manhattan were rapidly deteriorating then, which didn't help matters at that time.

[@Noveltooner]

@40onTheBlue The short-lived game show "Stumpers," hosted by Allen Ludden, was one of her productions, and is considered by many to be Lin Bolen's best among a number of flops. In fairness, Fred Silverman never gave it a chance (he hated game shows), and, just as he did with Ludden's "Password" on CBS, he cancelled it. Ms. Bolen later married successful film and TV director Paul Wendkos; she was widowed when he passed away in 2009. In spite of her problems at NBC, she broke the glass ceiling.

[@kurttoy5035]

Fred Silverman was at ABC in 1976. He didn't move to NBC until '78.

[@cartoongameshowman]

If you like to be come a contestant on "The Who What or Where Game, you're 39 years/1 month too late.

[@setheriah]

so then when did magnifcent marble machine occur... for some reason i thought MMM was at 12 and then after that around 75-76 was Fun Factory with Bobby Van... I cant remember for some reason when J was in the 12 time slot I thought that was followed by MMM and then the fun factory ..

[@setheriah]

in the 12pm time slot in the east...

[@Noveltooner]

@40onTheBlue The 3 W'swas a particular target for Lin Bolen, who had planned to cancel it and use its cancellation as an excuse for moving "Jeopardy!" out of its noon slot; in other words, it was a planned failure for the two shows. In addition, since both shows were produced in New York, Ms. Bolen was using their cancellation to help kill production of live audience shows in New York and move them to Los Angeles.

[@TheTVsnob]

I don't think that is the case. Bolen green-lighted Bob Stewart's, "Jackpot". Stewart was still New York based, with "The $10,000 Pyramid" originating from the Ed Sullivan Theater, and "Jackpot" from Studio 8H at NBC New York. In addition, Bolen brought, "Winning Streak" to NBC, another Bob Stewart show which taped in Studio 6A at 30 Rock. So, "Jackpot" and "Winning Streak" were both added to the schedule under Bolen's tenure, AND were NY based.

[@crosswordswrw]

Do you have any other episodes?

[@PTH4Fun]

Hey, JustinInAtlanta. Where are your other game shows?

[@zacheryalderton5737]

Who is the announcer

[@danalong1237]

Mike Darrow.

[@RachelDavisMatthews]

I remember the last show of this series and Art James got all choked up. So do the 2nd and 3rd place finishers get to keep their earnings - can't remember

[@TheTVsnob]

Yep, everyone keeps what they won.

[@PTH4Fun]

Greg. But, should you post other game shows soon?

[@zq9m3xh8]

Didn't Geoff Edwards host this during the 70's at some point? I seem to associate this with him.

[@PTH4Fun]

Ah, All right. I will, Now.

[@PTH4Fun]

Should you post more Game shows please, JustinInAtlanta?

[@uselessjoe]

You probably won't get selected; this show has not been on for years.

[@kstarpictures]

Ah, game show hosts should have sideburns again.

[@PTH4Fun]

Okay, Geuss who won?

[@BlackwoodCompany]

No spoiling please.

[@johnissoevil]

@TotallyShifty *raises hand* Ooh, ooh! May I whine about certain shows not being posted to KZbin? Hey, at least I'm asking permission. LOL, just kidding. :-)

[@LudoRex]

If this show is so smart, why is there an apostrophe in "The 3Ws"? At least the runners-up get to keep the money they have won.

[@ronson232]

Because an apostrophe is acceptable in that case. Look it up.

[@LudoRex]

Okay, I did look it up. It's not a hard and fast rule. www.grammarbook.com/punctuation/apostro.asp I stand corrected.

[@ronson232]

Alfonzo Smith I do it with abbreviations as per New York Times style. But it remains controversial. afterdeadline.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/faqs-on-style/

[@louistenore3876]

hum cheap pay outs for a 70s game show dont you think

[@TheTVsnob]

The total winnings for all three players was over $1,700, which is more than $12,000 today. So, that is $60,000 for a week's worth of shows in CASH payouts (assuming the scores are comparable). The champ won $800 or more than $6,400 today. His 5-day total was the equivalent of better than $31,000. For a daytime show, that wasn't/isn't bad. When the show premiered in 1969, networks were still gun shy about big prizes. "Jeopardy!" didn't pay out much more during a show. "Password" (on ABC), in 1970 only paid out about $1,000 for a show with two big wins. "Concentration" may have delivered $3,000 or so per show, but that was in merchandise, which the show bought at bargain-basement prices. When, "The Price is Right" debuted in 1972 (about two years later), the show had three one-bid games offering PRIZES, each at $200-300, pricing games with a $2,200 car, a $1,200 trip, and $1,300 in appliances or furniture-- then showcases valued at less than $3,000--more often $2,500 or less. So, the show probably paid 50% of retail (or less) for the big prizes (cars), nothing for trips, probably 30% for the furniture and appliances, and nothing for those one-bid prizes. Assuming all players won their pricing games, the show paid out about $2,200 for all of those "fabulous" prizes--and that would be for a "perfect" show. About that same time, "Split Second" started running on ABC, and was likely budgeted to give away a $2500-$5000 car each WEEK, with about $800-$900 in cash awards per show. The stakes didn't go up until, "The $10,000 Pyramid" hit CBS in 1973, with a prize budget of about $23,000 a week, or more than $150,000 in 2023 dollars. That was HUGE, and changed the landscape of daytime shows. Watching someone win $10,000 in 60 seconds was electrifying. Big money was back in the game show biz. However in 1973, you are right, those cash prizes were comparatively small. Neither "The 3 W's" nor "Jeopardy!" upped the ante, and looked fairly cheap in comparison to shows offering $5,000 or $10,000 jackpots in '73-'75.