This particular version lasted a year, but there was another version in the 70s that lasted for 5 years hosted by Jack Clark. As for the host, David Sparks, I heard somewhere that he had worked for a little while on "$ale of the Century".
I remember this show aired at 2:00 am on KNBC-TV Channel 4 at that time. And yes I did watch a few episodes when I felt like staying up back in elementary school.
@Puzzlefan30 Also, there was "Merv Griffin's Crossword's" that aired a couple years ago, hosted by former soap star Ty Treadway. The late Mr. Griffin unfortunately didn't live to see the first episode even air, but it was a good attempt. There was an unsold pilot in the early 60s called "Crosswords", hosted by George Fennaman, former straight man to Groucho Marx. It looked really low budget. I believe it's on RU-vid somewhere.
Andy Belling, the one who composed the music for this version of Cross-Wits, is also remembered for writing the music for the 1977 Ralph Bakshi film Wizards, the Action Max game Sonic Fury and the ever-popular Disney's Sing-Along Songs video series.
The same studio where The Carol Burnett Show and The Price is Right, among others, were produced. CBS sold the Television City lot in 2018 and is now known as Television City Studios.
Host David Sparks is often mistaken for Sale of the Century male model David Gibbs. Sparks was never on SOTC. Gibbs was killed earlier this year in a helicopter crash where he worked as a tv/movie stunt pilot for over 20 years.
