The Hollywood Squares (Daytime) 

Contestants guess the correctness of celebrities' answers in order to win spaces in a tic-tac-toe game.

Creators:

Merrill Heatter, Bob Quigley

Stars:

Kenny Williams, Peter Marshall, Cliff Arquette

Nominated for 8 Primetime Emmys. Another 12 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Kenny Williams	...	Himself - Announcer 1,416 episodes, 1965-1980
Peter Marshall	...	Himself - Host 1,414 episodes, 1966-1980
Cliff Arquette	...	Charley Weaver - Panelist / ... 1,036 episodes, 1965-1974
Wally Cox	...	Himself - Panelist / ... 983 episodes, 1965-1973
Paul Lynde	...	Himself - Center Square / ... 898 episodes, 1966-1979
Rose Marie	...	Herself - Panelist 667 episodes, 1965-1980

Storyline

Nine celebrities, seated in a three-by-three tier as in a tic-tac-toe board, joined two contestants one of them a champion in a game known best for the celebrities' witty answers to questions. The object was to win an otherwise standard game of tic-tac-toe by determining whether a celebrity was giving a correct answer to a general knowledge question or bluffing ("agree" or "disagree"). Contestants selected a celebrity, for which host Marshall read a question; a correct decision to agree or disagree by the player allowed him/her to place their mark in that box, while the opponent's mark was placed there if said decision was incorrect (unless it led to tic-tac-toe, in which case the contestant had to earn the box). During the first complete game of a show, a "Secret Square" game offered the contestants a bonus prize package for a correct answer. The contestant winning the best-of-three match was champion and returned to face a new challenger. Five-time champions retired un-defeated with...

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Plot Keywords:

celebrity | tic tac toe | non fiction | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Game-Show

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

King World Studios West

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

21 April 1965 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Studio 3, Stage 1, NBC Studios - 3000 W. Alameda Avenue, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Merrill Heatter-Bob Quigley Productions, Four Star Television, Filmways Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (3536 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (1966-1980) Black and White (surviving kinescope prints from mid-1960s)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Host Peter Marshall had said that most of the episodes were destroyed by NBC. But a Cable TV station found 3,500 episodes (while looking for the TV series Dark Shadows (1966)) and were sent to Game Show Network. Episodes began airing on April 15th, 2002.

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Quotes

Peter Marshall: Arthur Hailey had a very successful movie and novel called "Hotel". He has a new best seller about another stopover point. What is it called?
Charley Weaver: Service Station.

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Connections

Referenced in Wicked Stepmother (1989)

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Soundtracks

Merrill & Bob's Theme
(We're THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES No. 2)
Performed by the William Loose Orchestra from 1969 to 1979

User Reviews

The Best Comedy Game Show of All-Time

Six years after launching their first game show Video Village, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley came up with a show that would eventually be the best comedy game show of all-time, Hollywood Squares.

The game was really simple since it was based on tic-tac-toe. But what made the show stand out was the humorous bluff answers from the many stars who sat in the nine boxes throughout the show's 15 year run. Among the many celebrities who appeared on the show were Wally Cox, Cliff Arquette (as his Charley Weaver character),Rose Marie, George Gobel and in the center square, Paul Lynde. His quips were very funny and rescued the show from a slow start into a very funny show.

Heatter-Quigley made the right choice in hiring Peter Marshall over Bert Parks as "The Master of the Hollywood Squares." Though he never hosted a game show he got better and better throughout the run and it paid off with a couple of Emmys.

I really enjoyed the show, even the nighttime syndicated version that aired once (later twice) a week. It was a true game show classic and X got the square.