Thursday marks the 60th anniversary of the debut of a game show that would become one of daytime television's longest running hits, Concentration.
Originally produced by the production team of Jack Barry and Dan Enright, who also produced two quiz shows that were affected by the quiz show scandals Twenty One and Tic Tac Dough, the show debuted before the pair were blacklisted from TV because they fed answers to the contestants. They eventually sold production rights to NBC, the network that aired the show.
Based on the children's card game of the same name, instead of matching cards, contestants picked two numbers on a 30 trilon game board, each containing a prize, a wild card which was an automatic match, a forfeit one gift or a take one gift. If they matched, the prize would go up on their side of the board. But there was another element to the game. Each trilon contained a portion of a rebus puzzle, comprised of words, pictures and plus signs that spelled out a person, place or phrase. The contestant who solved the puzzle got to keep all the prizes they won and earned the right to face a new challenger.
All of the rebuses designed for the show were done by the show's producer who is still alive at the age of 93, Norm Blumenthal. The former artist created more than 7,300 rebus puzzles without repeating one throughout the show's 14 1/2 year run. He also created the puzzles used for the popular home version that went through 25 editions.
The show's original host was Hugh Downs, who was also Jack Paar's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show. Barry hosted a short-lived primetime version of Concentration. There were also several substitute hosts over the years, including the show's original announcer Art James and sportscaster Bill Mazer.
Besides James, Jim Lucas replaced him as the show's announcer when he left to become the host of his first game show Say When. In 1963, Bob Clayton took over the announcing chores and frequently filled in for Downs when he was on vacation or on assignment for the Today Show when he became host in 1962.
In January 1969, when Downs left Concentration to focus on Today, Clayton was promoted to host and long time NBC staff announcer Wayne Howell took his place in the announcer's booth. But NBC had other ideas. The network wanted Johnny Carson's sidekick Ed McMahon to be the new host but he was already hosting Snap Judgement but when that show was cancelled he replaced Clayton. Viewers were unhappy with the switch and that caused a ratings drop. In September, McMahon was let go and Clayton was reinstated as host.
Among the special features on Concentration were a salute to the world's nations, a Christmas show featuring children from around the world, an anniversary show and the Challenge of the Champions. The four contestants who won the most games returned to win prizes such as a trip around the world and a trophy known as "The Connie" which was like Rodin's "The Thinker."
For most of its run, Concerntration went up against sitcom reruns on CBS. ABC wasn't much of a factor but it did attempt a talk show hosted by Dick Cavett that ran for 39 weeks. On September 4, 1972, CBS brought back morning game shows for the first time in 10 years and slotted a revival of The Price is Right opposite Concentration. The Bob Barker hosted show cut into Concentration's daytime dominance. To make matters worse, NBC hired a new daytime vice president Lin Bolen who wasn't pleased with the static sets she saw so on March 23, 1973, it was the end of Concentration. the final puzzle used was "You've been more than kind."
There were two revivals of Concentration. The first was hosted by Jack Narz and ran in syndication from 1973 to 1978. The show returned to NBC (in the same 10:30 AM ET period it ran for most of it's run) under the title Classic Concentration with Alex Trebek as host.
Why was Concentration such a success? First of all, it was a very simple game that the home audience could play along as they tried to remember which prizes were under each number and solve the rebus. It was not a big money quiz show, giving away a diverse array of prizes as well as gag prizes such as a wet noodle and a cup of coffee. It was also one of the few shows that stayed the same throughout it's run had some other elements that were used including a home viewer contest in the early 70s. A true post scandal classic, I'll close with the tag line at the end of each episode "Thank you for playing Concentration."
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