It was no April Fools joke. April 1, 1963 was the date a new game show debuted on NBC titled You Don't Say. This year is the 60th anniversary of the show that was Tom Kennedy's first hit game show.
You Don't Say actually began as a local game show in Los Angeles on independent station KTLA in 1962. The station aired local game shows that were hosted by notable names such as Dennis James and Mike Stokey. You Don't Say, produced by Ralph Andrews and Bill Yageman was hosted by Jack Barry, in exile due to the quiz show scandals of the late 1950s. The show's high ratings attracted NBC to pick up the show as a replacement for it's fading soap opera Young Doctor Malone. However, NBC felt that Barry was still damaged goods so they told Andrews and Yageman to find a new host. So the duo hired Kennedy, who hosted another KTLA show titled Temptation.
You Don't Say, like Password, was a game that featured two celebrity/contestant teams. But the main difference was that instead of one member of the team giving one word clues to their partner so they can guess the password, they gave clues in sentence form that led to a famous name or place. The word had to sound like the name but be spelled differently. No proper names were allowed as clues. As Kennedy said in his conclusion of describing the rules "And that's the word you don't say." The first team to identify three names won the game and went to The Bonus Board for a chance to win up to $300 (game shows were played for low stakes back then) by identifying a famous name sent by a home viewer. Win or lose, the view received Top Valu Trading Stamps.
As You Don't Say became a hit, Mark Goodson, whose company produced Password felt You Don't Say was too close to Password, so he sued Andrews and Yageman but lost the case. But the producers had to move Kennedy's podium from between the two teams to further downstage right.
Many celebrities appeared on You Don't Say throughout the show's six year run. The first week's celebrities were Betty White and Barry Sullivan. Other celebrities who made multiple appearance included Mel Torme, Pat Carroll and the comedy team of Dan Rowan and Dick Martin. Even Kennedy got a chance to play the game a few times with his brother Jack Narz filling in as host. Narz must have impressed Andrews and Yageman because in March 1965, he was hired to host the game show I'll Bet, a very funny game show that lasted only six months due to NBC overhauling their daytime lineup that resulted in the show's cancellation. But I'll Bet was revived in 1969 with a new title It's Your Bet and was hosted by Hal March, who died of lung cancer in 1970. Kennedy would host the show from 1971 to 1972.
You Don't Say also featured special weeks of shows with children as contestants and each receiving a new US Savings Bond. In 1968, You Don't Say produced a week of show in Cypress Gardens, Florida. It was one of the first NBC game shows to be produced on location since Truth or Consequences in 1956 from the then new Southdale Center in Edina.
Though You Don't Say's ratings remained high in 1969, NBC canceled the show in September 1969, along with the original version of Match Game and two Bob Stewart games Eye Guess and Personality. It should also be mentioned that both You Don't Say and Match Game were popular with kids coming home from school. Early in its run, the show ran against CBS' soap opera The Edge of Night and ABC's American Bandstand before it was moved to Saturdays in August 1963 for the remainder of its long run.
It wouldn't be the last of You Don't Say. Several stations aired reruns after the show was canceled. But in July 1975, You Don't Say returned to daytime TV as ABC picked up the show, following a test run on KTLA. Kennedy would be back as host and the game was revamped like CBS' hit revival of Match Game. Instead of two teams of celebrities and civilians, there would be two contestants and a panel of four celebrities. The scoring system changed. Instead of three points to win the game, a goal of $500 would be achieved. Four clues would be the maximum for each names, with the first clue beginning at $200 and down $50 until it was identified. The bonus round also changed. A contestant could win $10,000 four names were guessed correctly on one clue apiece or $5000 if it took six clues. Winners returned until they reached the network minimum of $20,000 or lost two games.
Unfortunately, this incarnation of You Don't Say had a much shorter run than the original. ABC aired the show at 4 PM ET which resulted in affiliates not carrying the show or airing it the next morning due to local or syndicated programming obligations. KMSP, the ABC affiliate at that time, ran the show at !0 AM the next day. Also, the network need a place for The Edge of Night, which was dropped by CBS so they had to cancel You Don't Say to make room for it. There was also a syndicated version hosted by Jim Peck in the fall of 1978 that was not shown in the Twin Cities but low ratings and clearances led to its demise after 26 weeks.
I'll wrap up this post with Kennedy's closing line "It's not what you say it counts, it's what you don't say."
