Bob Stewart created a lot of game shows that should have run longer because they were so good and engaging. Eye Guess, Three on a Match, Jackpot, Pass the Buck and Go. But his all-time classic Pyramid rewarded him very handsomely.
This was a fun game show to watch! Bill Cullen was so witty --- and a wee bit naughty! The rules are so easy, you can play Pass The Buck at home on game nights. What a fun way to eliminate your fellow players!
I think this is the last show that Bill Cullen emceed from New York. By this time, I believe "The $25,000 Pyramid" in syndication had gone off the air. His next show that made it to air was "Chain Reaction" in 1980, which taped at NBC in Burbank, CA.
"Pyramid" was still rolling until 1979 in prime-access syndication. Bill may have finished production on the show in 1978, but still after, "Pass the Buck" ended its run.
oh, I was about to say that Steve said the twist for "kinds of dances" in the firstcategory in the bonus round, BUT he had said it after the buzzer started so obviously because of that they couldn't give him credit for it. (besides, Bill might not have heard him anyway,.since the fact that he said it after the buzzer started was not even mentioned.) (I assume that if he, or ANYONE else on staff had heard Steve say it then they would've had Bill tell him that he had said it after the buzzer had started.)
Bill Cullen's Wardrobe Furnished By Rubin Brothers International The same wardrobe worn by the likes of Gene Rayburn, Tom Kennedy, Alex Trebek, Peter Marshall and Dick Clark
I love how the audience is way ahead of Bill when he reveals the list categories in the bonus round. Name 2 famous JOHNS. - KOHLER - AMERICAN STANDARD Name 4 FRUITS. (you can use your imagination here)
What they should've done is, had they been renewed another season, moved it to CBS Television City instead, and then, this would be the ideal tech staff instead: Art Director ED FLESH Associate Director RAY BALL Production Supervisor ALMA L. RAMIREZ Lighting Director TONY CESTARE Technical Director BOB SCHULZ Audio TERRY HENSEY Video AL KAWA Videotape Editor PETER ABRAHAM Set Decorator JOHN HEUNERS Stage Managers BOB CHIC, WILLIE DAHL
Except the first three weeks, when this show was on CBS daytime, most American viewers preferred NBC daytime's "Card Sharks" and other programs in how to help make them popular instead of "Pass The Buck".
Bill Cullen was one of the greatest game show hosts of all time and perhaps the most genial and easy to watch, but he should not have kept interrupting the contestants in the bonus round with "Keep going." That distracted them from the list they were making. They went back and repeated themselves to remember what they had already said and refocus on the category, wasting time, instead of plunging ahead. That reaction was completely predictable. Trying saying a phone number you don't have written down, let someone interrupt you with "keep going" and you will go back to the beginning and repeat the numbers you already gave. I hope the producers noticed and told him not to do this in future episodes. If not, one wonders if they were hoping that he would indeed distract the contestant, making it more difficult to win the $5,000. I doubt this, having appeared on a Bob Stewart show myself in the 70's. If you could beat the obstacles in the game itself, starting with your opponents, they wanted you to win. It's not easy to make a game in which every bright contestant wins the big prize or virtually no one wins it. The first situation is boring to the viewers, while the second gives rise to accusations, probably unfounded, that the producers are cheap. Generally speaking, the hidden answers for the bonus round in each category were a good mix. Kind of the same skills needed as in Pyramid.
This is on WJHL-TV CBS U.S. CHANNEL 11 (CBS NEWS CHANNEL 11) IN JOHNSON CITY-KINGSPORT-BRISTOL, TN-VA AND REPLACES TATTLETALES AT 10:00-10:30 AM EASTERN/9:00-9:30 AM CENTRAL ON CBS-TV.
