"Today, one of these stars is sitting in the Secret Square," boomed the voice of announcer Kenny Williams as he introduced the nine celebrities on the premier episode of Hollywood Squares that debuted 50 years ago on October 17, 1966.
For the record, the first center square was former McHale's Navy star Ernest Borgnine. Also comprising the panel were regulars Morey Amsterdam, Rose Marie, Wally Cox and Cliff Arquette as Charley Weaver. There was also Abby Dalton, Agnes Moorehead of Bewitched, Nick Adams and Pamela Mason.
The "Master of the Hollywood Squares" was Peter Marshall, a former comedy straight man and musical comedy actor who was reluctant to take the job because he felt the show would last 13 weeks and instead it would turn out to be a career move since he would host every episode, daytime, nighttime and syndicated for 15 years.
Hollywood Squares was the creation of the production team of Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley. The duo produced an earlier variation titled The Celebrity Game that was hosted by Carl Reiner. The show aired for two short prime time runs in 1964 and 1965. But Heatter was set on developing another game show with many celebrities, so he came up with the idea of putting nine celebrities in a tic-tac-toe board.
Heatter and Quigley pitched the show to ABC, CBS and NBC and they were turned down. However, CBS did let them do a pilot so they cast as host Bert Parks. Unfortunately, the network rejected the show in favor of a short-lived Bob Stewart game The Face is Familiar.
But lo and behold, NBC game Hollywood Squares another shot on the condition that they find another host. So that's how Marshall came into the picture.
When Hollywood Squares debuted, it was up against reruns of The Dick Van Dyke Show on CBS and Chuck Barris' first game show hit The Dating Game on ABC. It got off to a slow start because according to Heatter, the show was too slow when he saw an episode on a business trip to New York. When he returned, he demanded to add more questions and do a lot of editing. That gave birth to what made Hollywood Squares a hit, the "zinger." It allowed the stars to give humorous bluff answers and the show would move quicker.
Heatter's mandate worked. The ratings improved and it would become one of NBC's most successful game shows. In January, 1968, a prime time version debuted that also marked the debuted of an actor/comedian who would become the permanent center square Paul Lynde. With the addition of Lynde, the daytime show's ratings would zoom even higher. The network would also add a Saturday morning version titled The Storybook Squares, that featured children as contestants. The show lasted from January 1969 to August 1969 and was revived a few times on the daytime version in the 70s.
As Hollywood Squares moved into the 70s, the show became the number one daytime game show and would hold that post for three years. It also spawned a nighttime syndicated version that debuted in 1971, started at one a week and would later expand to bi-weekly. It also survived the deaths of two of its regulars, Cox and Arquette. Charley Weaver's spot in the lower left corner was filled by comedian George Gobel. Also, Karen Valentine became a semiregular.
But by 1976, Hollywood Squares was dropping in the ratings due to CBS's expansion of The Price is Right to an hour. NBC would move the show four times over the next four years and Lynde would leave in August, 1979. On June 20, 1980, after 14 yeras, Hollywood Squares was cancelled to make room for a new daytime talk show starring David Letterman.
As for the syndicated version, it would expand to five days a week and would move its production base from NBC in Burbank to the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. But Hollywood Squares was getting old and tired and up against shows such as Family Feud, The Joker's Wild and Tic Tac Dough. After a total of 15 seasons on the air, X got the square for the last time.
There would also be three revivals since the end of the original version in 1981. The first was part of NBC's Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour with Jon (Bowzer) Bauman of Sha Na Na taking over for Marshall as host. It got killed in the ratings opposite soap operas General Hospital and Guiding Light and was cancelled after 39 weeks. In 1986, the show returned in a more free wheeling version with John Davidson as host. Announcer Shadoe Stevens (who replaced Casey Kasem on American Top 40) would later appear on camera and introduce the host as "JOHHHHHHHHHHHHN DAVIDSON!" This incarnation would also go on location for special shows in Hollywood, Florida and Radio City Music Hall in New York.
The last version would have a longer run, running from 1998 to 2004 and featured Tom Bergeron as host and Whoopi Goldberg as the center square. Also taking part in the hysteria were Caroline Rhea, writer Bruce Vilanch and Gilbert Gottfried. There was one episode where Gottfried was called on for a whole show because a contestant guessed incorrectly that would win the game and it propted him and Penn Jillette to shout "YOU FOOL!" When Goldberg left the show, Henry Winkler would become one of the executive producers along with his partner Michael Leavitt. The problem with this version was that it didn't have a consistent bonus round, using three different ones throughout the show's run.
Hollywood Squares had many celebrity guests throughout its many incarnations. But 50 years ago, it would debut and would eventually become one of the funniest game shows of all-time.
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