In 1964, Bob Stewart left Goodson-Todman Productions to become an independent packager. His first game show for his own company would debut in January, 1966 titled Eye Guess.
On January 3, 1966, NBC replaced a short-lived Art James game show Fractured Phrases with Eye Guess. The show would air for 25 minutes, due to a five minute newscast that would run before the network's long running hit Concentration. Back then, there were four news updates that NBC would air throughout the daytime schedule. They would air at 10:25 AM, 12:55 PM, 1:55 PM, and 4:25 PM> All times were Eastern time.
Eye Guess was hosted by Stewart's long-time friend Bill Cullen. Cullen was coming off the cancellation of another Stewart creation that ran for nine years and whose revival is TV's longest running game show The Price is Right.
The game was a comedic twist on the rebus game that was hosted by Hugh Downs. Two rounds were played. In each round, the contestants studied the board that contained the answers to the questions Cullen would ask. There were eight numbers and an "Eye Guess" space in the middle of the board and after several seconds, the answers would be covered.
Cullen would then ask a question to the first contestant. Instead of giving the answer, they would call the number or "Eye Guess" if they thought it wasn't on the board. Correct answers in the first round were worth 10 points, 20 in the second. If a contestant got five correct answers in a row, he/she won a bonus prize. However,an incorrect number forfeited control to their opponent and that's where the humor came in from a wrong answer.
The first player to score 100 points won the game and got to go to the "Risk Board" . Throughout the show's three year run, there were three bonus games. The first was a contestant had to match the name of a celebrity to the spouse on the board. If all the answers were correct, the contestant won a new car.
The second and longest running bonus round featured the board that had seven prizes and a "Stop" card. A contestant picked a number. If it was a prize, they won the prize. But if the "Stop" was behind the number, the game was over. If all seven prizes were picked, the grand prize would also be a car.
The third would come in show's final season that also had a format change. Instead of points, contestants won prizes for each correct answer with seven needed for a win. The bonus round was also altered to where a contestant had to find seven "Go" signs before hitting the "Stop" and if successful, a new car was won.
The show's theme song for the majority of the run was "Sugar Lips" by Al Hirt.
Eye Guess ran in the 10 AM slot from January to December 1966 until it was moved to 12:30 PM in January 1967, following NBC's hit quiz show Jeopardy. The show would get high ratings and was still going strong until a new NBC daytime head decided to revamp its game show lineup. On September 26, 1969, Eye Guess was one of four shows cancelled along with another Stewart game Personality and also You Don't Say and Match Game.
The key to Eye Guess' success was a simple format that home viewers could play along with and Cullen's ease in guiding the show and injecting humor when a contestant chose a wrong answer. It's a shame that a show like Eye Guess hasn't been revived to this day. Sony, which owns the rights to Stewart's shows, needs to find the right host and stick with the format. In 1966, Eye Guess was the show that put Stewart on the map as a game show producer.
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