September 4, 1972. A date that will be remembered for many game show fans since it was the day CBS debuted three new morning game shows that would bolster the network's daytime success.
Prior to that date, CBS aired reruns of its prime time sitcoms opposite NBC's daytime lineup that feature a talk show hosted by Dinah Shore, the long running game show Concentration and the original version of Sale of the Century. The network had not aired a morning game show since it cancelled the first Heatter-Quigley game show Video Village in 1962. Ten years later, reruns of The Lucy Show, The Beverly Hillbillies and Family Affair were part of the daytime lineup.
But in the summer of 1972, CBS hired away B. Donald (Bud) Grant from NBC as vice president of daytime programming. He decided to return the network to game shows in order to compete with his old network, NBC.
At 9 AM, central time, after Captain Kangaroo shut down The Treasure House for the day, the first of the three new game shows would debut. It was the game "where knowledge is king and lady luck is queen", The Joker's Wild. Created, produced and hosted by Jack Barry, it was his first daytime game show since he was in exile due to the quiz show scandals. It would take Barry three years to get The Joker's Wild on the air. A pilot in 1969, hosted by Allen Ludden didn't sell. Two years later, the show got a three month test on KTLA in Los Angeles.
However, CBS felt that Barry was still damaged goods due to the scandal and felt that Tom Kennedy or Wink Martindale should be considered to host the show. But Kennedy was hosting Split Second on ABC and Martindale was already hired to host Gambit so it was Barry who would be host. The slot machine themed game was the first to use a synthesizer theme song, "The Savers" by Perrey and Kingsley and would turn out to be Barry's comeback on TV. It would run for three years and following a season of reruns, The Joker's Wild would be revived in syndication in 1977. Paired with Tic Tac Dough in many markets, The Joker's Wild would survived Barry's passing in May 1984 and run for nine years. The last two seasons were hosted by Bill Cullen.
Following The Joker's Wild would be the most successful and sole survivor of the three. The Price is Right would return after a seven year hiatus. It was a show Grant wanted to return to TV, but producer Mark Goodson felt the old show was outdated and no longer worked. So Grant gave Goodson the green light to revamp The Price is Right. Replacing original host Cullen would be Bob Barker and contestants would be chosen from the audience. Announcer Johnny Olson told the chosen hopefuls to "Stand up!" It was later replaced by on of the most famous game show catch phrases in TV history "Come on down!" After bidding on a prize, the highest bidder without going over the actual retail price without going over would play a pricing game. for all you game show trivia buffs, the first game played was "Any Number", which is still being played to this day.
The Price is Right would become the first show to put a dent in Concentration's dominance. On March 23, 1973, after 15 seasons, the show was cancelled. The Price is Right would then move to an afternoon time period where the show would evolve with the addition of more pricing games. By 1975, the show would return to a morning time slot and after a test of one hour shows in September, it would become permanent two months later. The show was even more successful in an hour long format that it would become television's longest running game show that's still drawing high ratings today under the leadership of Drew Carey, who replaced the retired Barker in 2007.
Now the last of three shows to premiere, Merilll Heatter and Bob Quigley's new game based on the card game blackjack titled Gambit. With Martindale as host and Heatter's wife, actress Elaine Stewart serving as dealer, the simple game featured two married couples who answered questions to earn cards that would get them closer to 21 without going bust. If they got exactly 21, they would win the jackpot that started at $500 and would increase by the same amount each match until it was won. The first couple to win two games won the match and would earn a trip to the Gambit Board. The board consisted of 21 numbers and featured prices and special cards that earned them cash bonuses. If they hit 21, they not only won the jackpot, they won a new car.
The original Gambit would run until December 1976 and would return under the title Las Vegas Gambit in October 1980, also with Martindale hosting. In 2008, Heatter would revive Gambit under the title Catch 21 with Alfonso Ribiero as host and Mikki Padilla as the dealer. The show would run for four seasons and Ribiero proved to be an outstanding host who was always on the contestant's side. He would later go on to replace Tom Bergeron on ABC's America's Funniest Videos.
The Joker's Wild, The Price is Right and Gambit. Three shows that debuted on the same day and were all hits. It also led to the debut of Bob Stewart's most successful creation The $10,000 Pyramid and a show that would become even a bigger success than the original version from the 60s, Match Game with Gene Rayburn. It would become the number one show in daytime until the debut of Family Feud in 1976. CBS would become a big player in daytime, thanks to the three aforementioned shows that debuted in 1972.
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