Before Wayne Brady asked the audience "Who wants to make a deal?" and Steve Harvey turned the syndicated version of Family Feud into a hit, he was the first African American to host a game show.
On July 7, Adam Wade, who hosted the short-lived CBS game show Musical Chairs, passed away at the age of 87.
Musical Chairs featured four contestants who competed to complete the next line of lyrics sung by Wade or a musical guest. Among the guests who appeared on the show were a young Irene Cara, Search for Tomorrow star Mary Stuart and groups such as The Spinners, The Tokens and Sister Sledge. Also appearing was kids show host Shari Lewis. Let's not forget Derek Smith and the Musical Chairs Orchestra.
In some instances, instead of contestants trying to choose the next line, they were asked a trivia question.
The show was created and produced by Jerome Schnur and Don Kirschner. The show's announcer was then WNBC-TV sportscaster, who also worked for NBC, Pat Hernon.
Three rounds were played on each show and the contestant who had the lowest score in the third round was eliminated. Their chair was pulled back, just like the MTV game show Remote Control more than a decade later. There were two different bonus rounds and in some shows, the winning player had their earnings doubled.
Unfortunately, the show was a ratings flop and CBS canceled the show after 16 weeks. But the show's cancellation wasn't all bad news for Wade. He met his future wife Jeree on the show and in 1989, they were married.
A footnote on Wade. He made an early game show appearance in 1960 on the original version of To Tell the Truth after he had a couple of hit songs The Writing on the Wall and Take Good Care of Her. He also worked with Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio vaccine.
But for 16 weeks in 1975, Wade was a game show pioneer when he came on stage and sang the last line of the show's theme song "Let's play a game of Musical Chairs and give ourselves a round of applause."
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