Concentration (1958–1979)

Two contestants revealed pieces of a rebus-like puzzle by matching 15 pairs of cash amounts and prizes, then tried to solve it before the other.

Stars:

Bob Clayton, Hugh Downs, Wayne Howell

Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Bob Clayton	...	Himself - Host (4 episodes, 1966-1973)
Hugh Downs	...	Himself - Host (3 episodes, 1966-1969)
Wayne Howell	...	Himself - Announcer (2 episodes, 1969-1973)

Storyline

Two contestants, one a returning champion, competed to solve a rebus concealed behind a 30-space board. Each contestant called out a pair of numbers on the board which contained the names of prizes, humorous joke prizes and WILD and action cards (the latter three explained later). No match passed control to the opponent, but a match gave whatever prize was printed on the card or allowed him to perform an action, revealed two pieces of the rebus (identifying a person, phrase, place, thing, etc.) and allowed him/her a chance to solve the rebus. WILD cards provided an automatic match, while TAKE cards allowed the contestant at that moment to snatch a prize his/her opponent might have in their possession. A FORFEIT card meant the player immediately had to give up one of the prizes he/she had in his possession. The joke prizes (things such as a banana peel, a button, etc.) actually served as insurance markers against opponents TAKE cards and the FORFEIT cards he/she might stumble upon. ...

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Plot Keywords:

quiz | partially lost tv series | non fiction

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Genres:

Game-Show

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Certificate:

TV-G

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 August 1958 (USA)

Filming Locations:

KTTV/Fox Television Center - 5746 W. Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Jack Barry-Dan Enright Productions, Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, National Broadcasting Company (NBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min 30 min (3796 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White (1958-1966) Color (1966-1991)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

This was the last of NBC's black and white shows to convert to color, on 7 November 1966. It made NBC-TV the first all-color television network.

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Connections

Referenced in Beer League (2006)

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Soundtracks

"Concentration"
Written by Lee Adams & Charles Strouse
Performed by The Paul Taubman Trio
(1958-1973)

User Reviews

Childhood favorite

"Concentration" was must-see TV to me when I was very, very young. It taught me how to count, how to identify objects and enhanced my recall and vocabulary. It was tons of fun to watch as well; Norm Blumenthal's puzzles were absolutely brilliant and oft times hilarious. It devastated me when NBC announced they were canceling it in 1973, but it was a sign of the times. It was getting beat by CBS' "The New Price Is Right" (conversely, the original "Price" was "Concentration's" lead-in from 1958 to 1963, and when "Price" moved to ABC, it would then run opposite "Concentration") and all the game shows were going comparatively high tech in visuals.

The original version of "the game of puzzles and prizes" is a true original and a true classic.