Mark Goodson
Encyclopedia
Mark Goodson was an American
television producer
who specialized in game show
s.
on January 14, 1915. His parents, Abraham Ellis and Fannie Goodson, emigrated from Russia in the early 1900s. As a child, Goodson acted in amateur theater with the Plaza Stock Company. The family later moved to Hayward, California
. Originally intending to become a lawyer, Goodson attended the University of California, Berkeley
. He financed his education through scholarships and by working at the Lincoln Fish Market. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1937 with a degree in Economics. That year, he began his broadcasting career in San Francisco, working as a disc jockey at station KJBS. In 1939 he joined radio station KFRC
, where he produced and hosted a radio quiz called "Pop the Question" in which contestants selected questions by throwing darts at multi-colored balloons.
In 1941, Goodson married his first wife, Bluma Neveleff, and moved to New York City
, where he teamed up with partner Bill Todman
. The pair's first radio show, Winner Take All, premiered on CBS in 1946. Outside of television production, Goodson and Todman went on to own several newspapers in New England as well as radio station KOL in Seattle, Washington. Bill Todman died in 1979, and in the early 1980s the Goodsons acquired the Todman heirs' portion of the company.
Goodson had two children, Jill and Jonathan
(1945–), by his first wife Bluma, and a daughter, Marjorie, by his second wife Virginia McDavid. In the early 1970s, he married his third wife, Suzanne Waddell, who had once been a guest on What's My Line?
. Goodson also had a brother, Marvin (November 6, 1918–July 7, 2007), who was an attorney.
, Family Feud
, Match Game
, Password, The Price Is Right
, To Tell the Truth
, I've Got a Secret
, What's My Line?
, and Card Sharks
. The shows endured through the decades, many over multiple runs, because of Goodson's sharp eye for production and presentation.
While Todman oversaw the company's lucrative businesses outside of television, Goodson handled the creative aspects of producing game shows. The people who worked for the company and created most of the Goodson-Todman shows were pivotal to the success of those shows. Goodson-Todman executives Bob Stewart
, Bob Bach, Gil Fates
, Ira Skutch, Frank Wayne
, Chester Feldman
, Paul Alter
, Howard Felsher
, Ted Cooper
, Jay Wolpert
, and others were instrumental in making the shows successful.
Many of the actual formats were created by producers working for Goodson-Todman:
Goodson-Todman was involved with the 1969 pilot of The Joker's Wild
, along with creator Jack Barry, but severed ties with Barry shortly afterward.
The company proved itself to be masterful at games, but were not as successful when they tried other fields of television programs, including the anthology dramas The Web
and The Richard Boone Show
, a talk-variety show for famed insult comic Don Rickles
– and what was possibly the company's biggest failure, a sitcom entitled One Happy Family.
Goodson-Todman Productions were also involved with three westerns: Jefferson Drum
(1958–1959), starring Jeff Richards
as a newspaper editor in the Old West; The Rebel
(1959–1961), starring Nick Adams as an ex-Confederate soldier who traveled to the West after the Civil War
(Johnny Cash
sang the theme); and Branded, starring Chuck Connors
as a soldier who had wrongly been given a dishonorable discharge from the Army.
For many years, the company was headquartered in the Seagram Building
at 375 Park Avenue, New York City
, New York
. Most of the company's production moved to Hollywood in the early seventies (as did many other production companies), starting with the ABC revival of Password in 1971. The Los Angeles offices were based first at 6430 Sunset Boulevard and later at 5750 Wilshire Boulevard. The company's last New York-based show was the 1980s version of To Tell the Truth, but the New York office remained open and was used for East Coast Child's Play
auditions.
A few years after Bill Todman's death in 1979, Goodson acquired the Todman heirs' share of the company, and in 1982 the company was renamed Mark Goodson Productions. Traditionally, shows would sign off with "This is (announcer's name) speaking for (show name). A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production/A Mark Goodson Television Production." Today, FremantleMedia
owns Mark Goodson Productions (as well as Reg Grundy Productions
).
In 1990, Goodson received the Emmy Award
"Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Television", which was presented to him by Betty White
.
Productions – Family Feud
was known in the United Kingdom
as Family Fortunes
, and Card Sharks
went under the title Play Your Cards Right
. In Germany, Match Game
was known as Schnick Schnack (loosely translated, "something, anything" and used as a counterpart for the word "blank", for which there is no direct word in German), In both the United Kingdom and Australia, it was known as Blankety Blanks
(which coincidentally, was the title of an unrelated American game show, created by former Goodson-Todman staffer, Bob Stewart
).
Most Grundy-produced counterparts of Goodson-Todman games had low payouts, but made up for it with almost identical sets (e.g., Blankety Blanks
) or unique sets of their own (e.g., Family Fortunes).
and/or Edd Kalehoff
. Announcers Johnny Olson
and Gene Wood
were frequently heard on Goodson-Todman shows. Other announcers over the years included Rod Roddy
, Bob Hilton
, Burton Richardson, Rich Jeffries
, John Harlan
, Jack Clark, Jack Narz
, Art James
, Don Pardo
, Bern Bennett
, Bill Wendell
, Lee Vines
, Wayne Howell
, Chet Gould, Rich Fields
, Charlie O'Donnell
, and Johnny Gilbert
. Ed McMahon
made his network announcing debut on Two for the Money
, where he succeeded Kenny Williams
, who would go on to be the primary announcer for the game shows produced by Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley
.
The Price is Right is still on the air, but has been produced by three different production companies since 1995: All-American Television (1995–1998), Pearson Television (1998–2002), and FremantleMedia (2002–present).
Family Feud is also still on the air, but has been produced by two different production companies since 1999: Pearson Television (1999–2002) and FremantleMedia (2002–present).
on December 18, 1992 in New York City
. He is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California
, where the inscription on his gravestone is designed to resemble the Goodson-Todman/Mark Goodson Productions logo.
in order to pay off an estate tax. AATV acquired 50% of the company that year, and acquired the rest a year later. AATV was bought out by rival communications company Pearson Television in 1998, which, in turn, was acquired by RTL Group
subsidiary FremantleMedia
four years later (at one time, one of the company's predecessors, Fremantle International, was the distributor of Goodson-Todman game shows internationally). FremantleMedia now owns the rights to the Goodson-Todman library of game shows. While The Price Is Right
and Family Feud
continue in production to this day, other Goodson-Todman shows have found a new life and a new audience in reruns on cable TV's Game Show Network
. The only omissions from the library are the 1973 and 1987 versions of Concentration
, which were licensed from NBC
.
Goodson's son Jonathan has continued with new game show concepts. He joined the company in 1973 as legal counsel, but began production work with the company's shows, including the original version of Card Sharks
; eventually producing the 1990 version of Match Game
. He stayed through corporate takeovers until 1998. He left to begin his own production company, Jonathan Goodson Productions, which produces both state lottery game shows and original game show concepts, with 2003's Dirty Rotten Cheater
being the newest Goodson game, having already been sold internationally. Another Goodson game, Cram
, was produced for GSN
and ran for two seasons.
Goodson-Todman shows continued the Mark Goodson Productions name, logo and announcement at the end of each episode, even though the original production company no longer existed. This practice was ended in 2002 with two of the three programs still in production at the time, To Tell the Truth and Family Feud, and ultimately ended in June 2007 when The Price Is Right stopped using the logo with the retirement of host Bob Barker
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
who specialized in game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
s.
Life and early career
Mark Goodson was born in Sacramento, CaliforniaSacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
on January 14, 1915. His parents, Abraham Ellis and Fannie Goodson, emigrated from Russia in the early 1900s. As a child, Goodson acted in amateur theater with the Plaza Stock Company. The family later moved to Hayward, California
Hayward, California
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County, California. With a population of 144,186, Hayward is the sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area and the third largest in Alameda County. Hayward was ranked as the 37th most populous municipality in California. It is included in...
. Originally intending to become a lawyer, Goodson attended the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
. He financed his education through scholarships and by working at the Lincoln Fish Market. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1937 with a degree in Economics. That year, he began his broadcasting career in San Francisco, working as a disc jockey at station KJBS. In 1939 he joined radio station KFRC
KFRC (defunct)
KFRC was a radio station in San Francisco, California in the United States, which made its first broadcast on Wednesday, September 24, 1924, from studios in the Hotel Whitcomb 1231 Market Street. KFRC originally broadcast with 50 watts on the 270 meter wavelength , then moved to 660 kHz. in...
, where he produced and hosted a radio quiz called "Pop the Question" in which contestants selected questions by throwing darts at multi-colored balloons.
In 1941, Goodson married his first wife, Bluma Neveleff, and moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, where he teamed up with partner Bill Todman
Bill Todman
William S. "Bill" Todman was an American television producer born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest running shows with business partner Mark Goodson.-Early life:...
. The pair's first radio show, Winner Take All, premiered on CBS in 1946. Outside of television production, Goodson and Todman went on to own several newspapers in New England as well as radio station KOL in Seattle, Washington. Bill Todman died in 1979, and in the early 1980s the Goodsons acquired the Todman heirs' portion of the company.
Goodson had two children, Jill and Jonathan
Jonathan Goodson
Jonathan Michael Goodson is an American television producer who specializes in game shows. He is the son of legendary game show producer Mark Goodson and began his television career in 1973 as chief counsel of Goodson-Todman Productions. He later produced several of the company's shows...
(1945–), by his first wife Bluma, and a daughter, Marjorie, by his second wife Virginia McDavid. In the early 1970s, he married his third wife, Suzanne Waddell, who had once been a guest on What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
. Goodson also had a brother, Marvin (November 6, 1918–July 7, 2007), who was an attorney.
Television production
Goodson and long-time partner Bill Todman produced some of the longest-running game shows in US television history. Their first television show, Winner Take All, debuted on CBS television on July 1, 1948. The long list of Goodson-Todman productions includes Beat the ClockBeat the Clock
Beat the Clock is a Goodson-Todman game show which has aired on American television in several versions since 1950.The original show, hosted by Bud Collyer, ran on CBS from 1950–1958 and ABC from 1958–1961. The show was revived in syndication as The New Beat the Clock from 1969–1974, with Jack Narz...
, Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
, Password, The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
, To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth
To Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
, I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret
I've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
, What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
, and Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
. The shows endured through the decades, many over multiple runs, because of Goodson's sharp eye for production and presentation.
While Todman oversaw the company's lucrative businesses outside of television, Goodson handled the creative aspects of producing game shows. The people who worked for the company and created most of the Goodson-Todman shows were pivotal to the success of those shows. Goodson-Todman executives Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart (television)
Bob Stewart is a former American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1992....
, Bob Bach, Gil Fates
Gil Fates
Joseph Gilbert Fates was an American television producer.Nicknamed "Gil", Fates was the executive producer of What's My Line?. Fates produced the game show its entire quarter-century span of CBS and syndicated runs...
, Ira Skutch, Frank Wayne
Frank Wayne
Frank Wayne was an American game show producer and host.Wayne was the original executive producer of the 1972 revival of The Price Is Right until his death in 1988. He created the show's most popular game, Plinko, and many others...
, Chester Feldman
Chester Feldman
Chester Feldman was an American producer of game shows; most frequently for Mark Goodson Productions.-Biography:...
, Paul Alter
Paul Alter
Paul Alter was a former American television director, specializing in game shows for Mark Goodson Productions...
, Howard Felsher
Howard Felsher
Howard Felsher was an American game show producer for many years. He produced such shows as Tic Tac Dough, Password, Password Plus, Super Password, He Said, She Said, Concentration, and most notably Family Feud...
, Ted Cooper
Ted Cooper
Edward Theodore "Ted" Cooper was a long-time United States television scenic designer and creative consultant. Cooper is best known as the production designer and creative consultant for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the leading producer of American TV game shows...
, Jay Wolpert
Jay Wolpert
Jay Wolpert is an American television producer and screenwriter.His first television appearance came as a contestant on the original version of Jeopardy! in 1969. He competed in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions that year and won....
, and others were instrumental in making the shows successful.
Many of the actual formats were created by producers working for Goodson-Todman:
- Bob Bach created What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
- Allan ShermanAllan ShermanAllan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...
(and his friend Howard Merrill) created I've Got a SecretI've Got a SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?... - Frank WayneFrank WayneFrank Wayne was an American game show producer and host.Wayne was the original executive producer of the 1972 revival of The Price Is Right until his death in 1988. He created the show's most popular game, Plinko, and many others...
created Match GameMatch GameMatch Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
, Beat the Clock, and Now You See It - Chester FeldmanChester FeldmanChester Feldman was an American producer of game shows; most frequently for Mark Goodson Productions.-Biography:...
created Card SharksCard SharksCard Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
and Family FeudFamily FeudFamily Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people... - Bob Stewart created Password, The Price Is RightThe Price Is RightThe Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
, and To Tell the TruthTo Tell the TruthTo Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication... - Jay WolpertJay WolpertJay Wolpert is an American television producer and screenwriter.His first television appearance came as a contestant on the original version of Jeopardy! in 1969. He competed in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions that year and won....
created the short-lived Double DareDouble Dare (1976 game show)Double Dare is an American television game show, produced by Mark Goodson—Bill Todman Productions, that ran from 1976 to 1977 on CBS. Alex Trebek was the host, with Johnny Olson and later Gene Wood announcing...
.
Goodson-Todman was involved with the 1969 pilot of The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild
The Joker's Wild is an American television game show that aired at different times during the 1970s through the 1990s. Contestants answered questions based on categories that were determined randomly by a mechanism resembling a slot machine....
, along with creator Jack Barry, but severed ties with Barry shortly afterward.
The company proved itself to be masterful at games, but were not as successful when they tried other fields of television programs, including the anthology dramas The Web
The Web (TV series)
The Web is an American dramatic anthology series that aired live on CBS for four seasons from July 11, 1950 to September 26, 1954. The series was also revived briefly by NBC in the summer durning 1957...
and The Richard Boone Show
The Richard Boone Show
The Richard Boone Show is a short-lived, award-winning anthology television series. It aired on NBC during the 1963-64 season.-Synopsis:Richard Boone hosted the series and starred in about half of the episodes, garnering an Emmy nomination for himself and a Golden Globe award for the show...
, a talk-variety show for famed insult comic Don Rickles
Don Rickles
Donald Jay "Don" Rickles is an American stand-up comedian and actor. A frequent guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, Rickles has acted in comedic and dramatic roles, but is best known as an insult comic....
– and what was possibly the company's biggest failure, a sitcom entitled One Happy Family.
Goodson-Todman Productions were also involved with three westerns: Jefferson Drum
Jefferson Drum
Jefferson Drum is an American Western television series starring Jeff Richards and Eugene Martin on the NBC network that aired from April 25 to December 11, 1958.-Overview:...
(1958–1959), starring Jeff Richards
Jeff Richards
Jeff Richards may refer to:* Jeff Richards , born Richard Mansfield Taylor, baseball player and actor* Jeff Richards , on both Saturday Night Live and MADtv...
as a newspaper editor in the Old West; The Rebel
The Rebel (TV series)
The Rebel is an American Western television series that ran originally on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961. The program was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, marking one of their few non-game show ventures...
(1959–1961), starring Nick Adams as an ex-Confederate soldier who traveled to the West after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
(Johnny Cash
Johnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
sang the theme); and Branded, starring Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors
Chuck Connors was an American actor, writer, and professional basketball and baseball player. His best known role from his forty-year film career was Lucas McCain in the 1960s ABC hit Western series The Rifleman....
as a soldier who had wrongly been given a dishonorable discharge from the Army.
For many years, the company was headquartered in the Seagram Building
Seagram Building
The Seagram Building is a skyscraper, located at 375 Park Avenue, between 52nd Street and 53rd Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, in collaboration with Philip Johnson. Severud Associates were the structural engineering consultants. The building...
at 375 Park Avenue, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
. Most of the company's production moved to Hollywood in the early seventies (as did many other production companies), starting with the ABC revival of Password in 1971. The Los Angeles offices were based first at 6430 Sunset Boulevard and later at 5750 Wilshire Boulevard. The company's last New York-based show was the 1980s version of To Tell the Truth, but the New York office remained open and was used for East Coast Child's Play
Child's Play (game show)
Child's Play is an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson-produced series debuted on CBS from September 20, 1982 at 10:30 AM Eastern/9:30 AM Central...
auditions.
A few years after Bill Todman's death in 1979, Goodson acquired the Todman heirs' share of the company, and in 1982 the company was renamed Mark Goodson Productions. Traditionally, shows would sign off with "This is (announcer's name) speaking for (show name). A Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production/A Mark Goodson Television Production." Today, FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
owns Mark Goodson Productions (as well as Reg Grundy Productions
Reg Grundy Productions
Reg Grundy Productions was the American wing of the worldwide television production company Grundy Worldwide, which was founded by Australian television producer Reg Grundy. Reg Grundy Productions was responsible for the production of two highly-successful daytime game shows on NBC during the...
).
In 1990, Goodson received the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
"Lifetime Achievement Award for Daytime Television", which was presented to him by Betty White
Betty White
Betty White Ludden , better known as Betty White, is an American actress, comedienne, singer, author, and former game show personality. With a career spanning seven decades since 1939, she is best known to modern audiences for her television roles as Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and...
.
Foreign versions
Many Goodson-Todman games were produced internationally, some under different titles, and were distributed by Reg GrundyReg Grundy
Reginald Roy "Reg" Grundy, AC, OBE is one of the most successful Australian entrepreneurs, and media and television moguls of his generation.He was the only child born to Roy Grundy and Lillian Lees...
Productions – Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
was known in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
as Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...
, and Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
went under the title Play Your Cards Right
Play Your Cards Right
Play Your Cards Right is a British television game show based on the American show known as Card Sharks. The gameplay was basically the same as in the American version.-Broadcast History:...
. In Germany, Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
was known as Schnick Schnack (loosely translated, "something, anything" and used as a counterpart for the word "blank", for which there is no direct word in German), In both the United Kingdom and Australia, it was known as Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks was a popular Australian game show based on the American game show Match Game. It was hosted by Graham Kennedy on Network Ten. It ran from 1977-1978.Regular panelists were Ugly Dave Gray, Noeline Brown, Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff...
(which coincidentally, was the title of an unrelated American game show, created by former Goodson-Todman staffer, Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart may refer to:*Bob Stewart , television producer*Bob Stewart , tuba player*Bob Stewart , ice hockey player...
).
Most Grundy-produced counterparts of Goodson-Todman games had low payouts, but made up for it with almost identical sets (e.g., Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks
Blankety Blanks was a popular Australian game show based on the American game show Match Game. It was hosted by Graham Kennedy on Network Ten. It ran from 1977-1978.Regular panelists were Ugly Dave Gray, Noeline Brown, Carol Raye and Stuart Wagstaff...
) or unique sets of their own (e.g., Family Fortunes).
Music and announcers
The music for several Goodson-Todman shows was composed by Bob Cobert. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the bulk of the music for Goodson-Todman shows was created by Bob Israel's Score ProductionsScore Productions
Score Productions is an American musical production company specializing in background music and themes for television programs. Started in 1963 by music producer Robert A...
and/or Edd Kalehoff
Edd Kalehoff
Edward Woodley "Edd" Kalehoff is a music composer who specializes in compositions for television.-Notable pieces:Composer of about 1,000 pieces, mainly for television, his credits include the majority of cues used on The Price is Right as well as the Nickelodeon game show Double Dare, a music...
. Announcers Johnny Olson
Johnny Olson
John Leonard "Johnny" Olson was an American radio personality and television announcer. His work spanned 32 game shows produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman from the late 1950s through the mid 1980s...
and Gene Wood
Gene Wood
Eugene Edward "Gene" Wood was an American television personality, known primarily for his work as an announcer on various game shows. From the 1960s to the 1990s, he announced many game shows, primarily Mark Goodson–Bill Todman productions such as Family Feud, Card Sharks, Password, and Beat the...
were frequently heard on Goodson-Todman shows. Other announcers over the years included Rod Roddy
Rod Roddy
Robert Ray "Rod" Roddy was an American radio and television announcer. He is primarily known for his role as an offstage announcer on game shows. Among the shows that he announced are the CBS game shows Whew!, Press Your Luck and The Price Is Right. On the latter two, Roddy appeared on camera on...
, Bob Hilton
Bob Hilton
Robert "Bob" Wesley Hilton is an American television game show personality. He hosted The Guinness Game, a revival of Truth or Consequences and the 1990 revival of Let's Make a Deal, and announced on several other shows....
, Burton Richardson, Rich Jeffries
Rich Jeffries
Rich Jeffries is a former American television announcer, who announced on the revival of Blockbusters in 1987.Jeffries also was the first announcer of Super Password until November 23, 1984, and would substitute sporadically afterwards, while regularly assisting main announcer Gene Wood in warming...
, John Harlan
John Harlan (announcer)
John Harlan is an American television announcer who has worked on numerous television projects for over 40 years, particularly game and variety shows....
, Jack Clark, Jack Narz
Jack Narz
Jack Narz was an American television announcer and game show host. Narz was the elder brother of Tom Kennedy and the former brother-in-law of Bill Cullen...
, Art James
Art James
Art James was an American game show host, best known for shows such as The Who, What, or Where Game and Pay Cards!. He was also the announcer on the game show Concentration....
, Don Pardo
Don Pardo
Dominick George "Don" Pardo is an American radio and television announcer. He is best known as the voice of the long-running late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live....
, Bern Bennett
Bern Bennett
Bern Bennett is an American radio and television announcer. For nearly sixty years, beginning in 1944, he was a staff announcer at CBS. In the 1940s and 1950s he was closely associated with Bud Collyer, as announcer on three Collyer-hosted game shows: "Winner Take All", "Beat the Clock", and "To...
, Bill Wendell
Bill Wendell
Bill Wendell was an NBC television staff announcer for almost his entire professional career.-Biography:...
, Lee Vines
Lee Vines
Lee Vines was a Canadian-born American television announcer and actor. He was best known to television audiences in the 1950s as the announcer on the What's My Line? game show. However, he also appeared as the announcer for numerous other television shows including The Name's the Same, Password...
, Wayne Howell
Wayne Howell
Wayne Clay Howell Chappelle , known professionally as Wayne Howell, was a voice-over announcer for the NBC television and radio networks from 1947 through 1986...
, Chet Gould, Rich Fields
Rich Fields
Richard Wayne "Rich" Fields is an American broadcaster, spokesman, announcer and meteorologist, best known for being the announcer of the American version of The Price Is Right from 2004–2010....
, Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...
, and Johnny Gilbert
Johnny Gilbert
John L. "Johnny" Gilbert III is an American show business personality who has worked mainly on television game shows. Originally a nightclub singer and entertainer, he has hosted and announced a number of game shows from various eras, dating as far back as the 1950s...
. Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
made his network announcing debut on Two for the Money
Two for the Money (game show)
Two for the Money is an American game show television program which ran from 1952 to 1957. The show ran for one season on NBC, and four seasons on CBS. It was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, and was initially sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes...
, where he succeeded Kenny Williams
Kenny Williams
Kenny Williams may refer to:*Kenny Williams American television announcer*Kenny Williams , American basketball player, for the Indiana Pacers*Kenny Williams , American racing cyclist...
, who would go on to be the primary announcer for the game shows produced by Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley
Heatter-Quigley Productions
Heatter-Quigley Productions was an American television production company that was launched in 1960 by two former television writers, Merrill Heatter and Bob Quigley....
.
Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions (1946–1982)
- Beat the ClockBeat the ClockBeat the Clock is a Goodson-Todman game show which has aired on American television in several versions since 1950.The original show, hosted by Bud Collyer, ran on CBS from 1950–1958 and ABC from 1958–1961. The show was revived in syndication as The New Beat the Clock from 1969–1974, with Jack Narz...
(1949, 1950–1961, 1969–1974, 1979–1980) - The Better SexThe Better SexThe Better Sex was a television game show in the United States where men competed against women in a "battle of the sexes" format. The Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production ran on ABC from July 18, 1977 to January 13, 1978. The show had two hosts, one male and one female; each one acted as a leader...
(1977–1978) - Blade Rider
- BlockbustersBlockbusters (US game show)Blockbusters is an American game show which had two separate runs in the 1980s. Created by Steve Ryan for Mark Goodson Productions, the first series debuted on NBC on October 27, 1980 and aired until April 23, 1982. In the first series, a team of two family members competed against a solo contestant...
(1980–1982, 1987) - Body LanguageBody Language (game show)Body Language is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. The show aired on CBS from June 4, 1984 until January 3, 1986, and was hosted by Tom Kennedy...
(1984–1986) - Branded (1965–1967)
- Broken Sabre
- By Popular Demand (1950)
- Call My BluffCall My Bluff (US game show)Call My Bluff was a short-lived American game show from Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions that aired on NBC daytime from March 29 to September 24, 1965. Bill Leyden was emcee, with Johnny Olson and Wayne Howell as announcers....
(1965) - Card SharksCard SharksCard Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
(1978–1981, 1986–1989) - Choose Up SidesChoose Up SidesChoose Up Sides was a children's television game show that aired on NBC Saturday mornings from January 7 to March 31, 1956. It was hosted by Gene Rayburn and announced by Don Pardo and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions-NBC version:...
(1956) - ConcentrationConcentration (game show)Concentration was an American TV game show based on the children's memory game of the same name. Matching cards represented prizes that contestants could win...
(1973–1978, 1987–1991) - The Don Rickles Show (1968–1969)
- Double DareDouble Dare (1976 game show)Double Dare is an American television game show, produced by Mark Goodson—Bill Todman Productions, that ran from 1976 to 1977 on CBS. Alex Trebek was the host, with Johnny Olson and later Gene Wood announcing...
(1976–1977) - Family FeudFamily FeudFamily Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
(1976–1985, 1988–1993, 1988–1995) - Get the MessageGet the Message (game show)Get the Message was a television game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. It aired on ABC's daytime schedule for nine months in 1964, with its last airing on Christmas Day....
(1964) - Goodyear Theater (1957–1960)
- He Said, She SaidHe Said, She Said (game show)He Said, She Said was an American game show hosted by Joe Garagiola, with Bill Cullen occasionally filling in when Garagiola was covering baseball games...
(1969–1970) - Hit the Jackpot
- It's News to MeIt's News to MeIt's News to Me is a weekly panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS Television. It was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?. Originally aired as a one-time special on May 11, 1951; It debuted as a series July 2, 1951 and ran until September 12,...
(1951–1953, 1954) - I've Got a SecretI've Got a SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
(1952–1967, 1972–1973, 1976) - Jefferson DrumJefferson DrumJefferson Drum is an American Western television series starring Jeff Richards and Eugene Martin on the NBC network that aired from April 25 to December 11, 1958.-Overview:...
(1958–1959) - Judge for Yourself (1953–1954)
- Las Vegas Beat
- Make the ConnectionMake the ConnectionMake the Connection is an American game show, sponsored by Borden, that ran on Thursday nights from July 7 to September 29, 1955 on NBC. Originally hosted by Jim McKay , he was replaced after the first four episodes by future Match Game host Gene...
(1955) - Match GameMatch GameMatch Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
(1962–1969, 1973–1979, 1975–1982, 1990–1991) - MindreadersMindreadersMindreaders is a game show produced by Goodson-Todman Productions which aired on NBC from August 13, 1979 through January 11, 1980. Although NBC originally agreed to a 26-week run, the network canceled Mindreaders after 22 weeks...
(1979–1980) - Missing LinksMissing Links (game show)Missing Links is a Goodson-Todman game show hosted by Ed McMahon which originally ran on NBC from September 9, 1963 to March 27, 1964.Nipsey Russell was a panelist on this series, and whenever he appeared the host asked him to give a poem...
(1963–1964) - The Name's the SameThe Name's the SameThe Name's the Same is an American game show that was produced by Goodson-Todman for the ABC television network from December 5, 1951 to August 31, 1954, followed by a run from October 25, 1954 to October 7, 1955....
(1951–1954, 1954–1955) - Now You See It (1974–1975, 1989)
- Number PleaseNumber PleaseNumber Please is a Goodson-Todman Productions game show hosted by Bud Collyer which aired from January 30 to December 29, 1961. It replaced Collyer's Beat the Clock when its ABC run completed, and was an early predecessor of Wheel of Fortune and other word-puzzle game shows.-Gameplay:Two...
(1961) - One Happy Family (1961)
- Password (1961–1967, 1971–1975)
- Password Plus and Super PasswordPassword Plus and Super PasswordPassword Plus and Super Password are American game shows that are revivals of the game show Password. Both Password Plus and Super Password had the same format other than some subtle changes....
(1979–1982, 1984-1989) - Philip MarlowePhilip Marlowe (TV series)Philip Marlowe is a 1959-1960 half-hour ABC crime series, featuring Philip Carey as Marlowe.The private detective Marlowe of Carey, departed very much the original character....
(1959–1960) - Play Your HunchPlay Your HunchPlay Your Hunch was an American game show first hosted by Merv Griffin from 1958 to 1962, and was then hosted by Robert Q. Lewis until 1963. The announcers for the show were, respectively, Johnny Olson, Wayne Howell and Roger Tuttle...
(1958–1963) - The Price Is RightThe Price Is Right (U.S. game show)The Price Is Right is an American game show which was created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Contestants compete to identify the pricing of merchandise to win cash and prizes. The show is well-known for its signature line of "Come on down!" when the announcer directs newly selected contestants to...
(1956–1965, 1972–present) - Rate Your Mate
- The RebelThe Rebel (TV series)The Rebel is an American Western television series that ran originally on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961. The program was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, marking one of their few non-game show ventures...
(1959–1961) - The Richard Boone ShowThe Richard Boone ShowThe Richard Boone Show is a short-lived, award-winning anthology television series. It aired on NBC during the 1963-64 season.-Synopsis:Richard Boone hosted the series and starred in about half of the episodes, garnering an Emmy nomination for himself and a Golden Globe award for the show...
(1963–1964) - Rider Beyond Vengeance
- Say When!! (1961–1965)
- ShowoffsShowoffsShowoffs is an American game show which ran on ABC from June 30 to December 26, 1975. Bobby Van was host, with Gene Wood as announcer. The Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production involved two teams competing in a game of charades.-Gameplay:...
(1975) - Snap Judgment (1967–1969)
- Spin to Win (1946 radio)
- Split Personality (1959–1960)
- Stop the Music (1948)
- TattletalesTattletalesTattletales is a game show which first aired on the CBS daytime schedule on February 18, 1974. It was hosted by Bert Convy, with several announcers, including Jack Clark, Gene Wood, Johnny Olson and John Harlan, providing the voiceover at various times...
(1974–1978, 1982–1984) - That's My LineThat's My LineThat's My Line was a summer CBS reality show developed by Mark Goodson, one of the creators of What's My Line? The show highlighted the unusual occupations of ordinary people, but unlike What's My Line? it had no panel or game components; the show was rather along the same lines as NBC's Real...
(1980–1981) - Time's a Wastin (1948–1950)
- To Tell the TruthTo Tell the TruthTo Tell the Truth is an American television panel game show created by Bob Stewart and produced by Goodson-Todman Productions that has aired in various forms since 1956 both on networks and in syndication...
(1956–1968, 1969–1978, 1980–1981, 1990–1991) - Two for the MoneyTwo for the Money (game show)Two for the Money is an American game show television program which ran from 1952 to 1957. The show ran for one season on NBC, and four seasons on CBS. It was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production, and was initially sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes...
(1952–1956, 1957) - What's Going On?What's Going On?What's Going On? was a short-lived television game show that aired for five weeks beginning on November 28, 1954. The show aired on ABC and was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman production. It was sponsored by Revlon, and originated live from New York City....
(1954) - What's My Line?What's My Line?What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
(1950–1967, 1968–1975, 1975) - The WebThe Web (TV series)The Web is an American dramatic anthology series that aired live on CBS for four seasons from July 11, 1950 to September 26, 1954. The series was also revived briefly by NBC in the summer durning 1957...
(1950–1954) - Winner Take All (1946–1952, 1948–1950, 1951, 1952)
Mark Goodson Television Productions (1982–1995)
- Child's PlayChild's Play (game show)Child's Play is an American television game show in which adult contestants tried to guess words based on definitions given by children. The Mark Goodson-produced series debuted on CBS from September 20, 1982 at 10:30 AM Eastern/9:30 AM Central...
(1982–1983) - Match Game-Hollywood Squares HourMatch Game-Hollywood Squares HourThe Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour is an American television game show that combined two long-running game shows of the 1960s and 1970s – Match Game and Hollywood Squares – into an hour-long format....
(1983–1984) - TV's Funniest Game Show Moments (1984)
- Body LanguageBody Language (game show)Body Language is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. The show aired on CBS from June 4, 1984 until January 3, 1986, and was hosted by Tom Kennedy...
(1984–1986) - Trivia TrapTrivia TrapTrivia Trap is an American game show produced by Mark Goodson Productions. It was created by producer Goodson and originally ran from October 8, 1984 to April 5, 1985 on ABC. The game featured two teams of three contestants each who competed against each other to answer trivia questions in various...
(1984–1985)
The Price is Right is still on the air, but has been produced by three different production companies since 1995: All-American Television (1995–1998), Pearson Television (1998–2002), and FremantleMedia (2002–present).
Family Feud is also still on the air, but has been produced by two different production companies since 1999: Pearson Television (1999–2002) and FremantleMedia (2002–present).
Death
Goodson died of pancreatic cancerPancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
on December 18, 1992 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. He is buried at Hillside Memorial Park in Culver City, California
Culver City, California
Culver City is a city in western Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 38,883, up from 38,816 at the 2000 census. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares a border with unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County. Culver...
, where the inscription on his gravestone is designed to resemble the Goodson-Todman/Mark Goodson Productions logo.
Aftermath of Mark Goodson Productions
Three years after Goodson's death, his family sold the rights to the library of shows to All American TelevisionAll American Television
All American Television was a television syndication company active from 1981 to 1998. It was founded by Anthony J. Scotti, Ben Scotti, and Joseph E. Kovacs...
in order to pay off an estate tax. AATV acquired 50% of the company that year, and acquired the rest a year later. AATV was bought out by rival communications company Pearson Television in 1998, which, in turn, was acquired by RTL Group
RTL Group
RTL Group is Europe's largest TV, radio and production company, and is majority-owned by German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. It has 45 television and 32 radio stations in 11 countries...
subsidiary FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
four years later (at one time, one of the company's predecessors, Fremantle International, was the distributor of Goodson-Todman game shows internationally). FremantleMedia now owns the rights to the Goodson-Todman library of game shows. While The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right
The Price Is Right is a television game show franchise originally produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, and created by Bob Stewart, and is currently produced and owned by FremantleMedia. The franchise centers on television game shows, but also includes merchandise such as video games, printed...
and Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
continue in production to this day, other Goodson-Todman shows have found a new life and a new audience in reruns on cable TV's Game Show Network
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
. The only omissions from the library are the 1973 and 1987 versions of Concentration
Concentration (game show)
Concentration was an American TV game show based on the children's memory game of the same name. Matching cards represented prizes that contestants could win...
, which were licensed from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
.
Goodson's son Jonathan has continued with new game show concepts. He joined the company in 1973 as legal counsel, but began production work with the company's shows, including the original version of Card Sharks
Card Sharks
Card Sharks is an American television game show created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Two contestants compete for control of a row of oversized playing cards by answering questions posed by the host and then guessing if the next card is higher or lower in value than...
; eventually producing the 1990 version of Match Game
Match Game
Match Game is an American television game show in which contestants attempted to match celebrities' answers to fill-in-the-blank questions...
. He stayed through corporate takeovers until 1998. He left to begin his own production company, Jonathan Goodson Productions, which produces both state lottery game shows and original game show concepts, with 2003's Dirty Rotten Cheater
Dirty Rotten Cheater
Dirty Rotten Cheater is a game show that aired on PAX from January 6 to April 14, 2003, hosted by Bil Dwyer and produced by Jonathan Goodson. Thirteen episodes were produced....
being the newest Goodson game, having already been sold internationally. Another Goodson game, Cram
Cram (game show)
Cram is a game show that aired as an original series for GSN in 2003. The show featured two teams, each composed of two contestants. For 24 hours before taping, the contestants were sequestered in a warehouse, with the intent of staying awake and "cramming" various material such as trivia...
, was produced for GSN
Game Show Network
The Game Show Network is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite channel dedicated to game shows and casino game shows. The channel was launched on December 1, 1994. Its current slogan is "The World Needs More Winners"...
and ran for two seasons.
Goodson-Todman shows continued the Mark Goodson Productions name, logo and announcement at the end of each episode, even though the original production company no longer existed. This practice was ended in 2002 with two of the three programs still in production at the time, To Tell the Truth and Family Feud, and ultimately ended in June 2007 when The Price Is Right stopped using the logo with the retirement of host Bob Barker
Bob Barker
Robert William "Bob" Barker is a former American television game show host. He is best known for hosting CBS's The Price Is Right from 1972 to 2007, making it the longest-running daytime game show in North American television history, and for hosting Truth or Consequences from 1956 to 1975.Born...
.
- The Price Is Right was the last surviving show that used the Mark Goodson Production name, logo, and announcement until Bob Barker retired in 2007. The first episode of the 2007–2008 season (15 Oct 2007) featured the FremantleMedia name, logo, and announcement. All CBS press releases for the show currently refer to the show as "a Mark Goodson Production, in association with FremantleMedia".
- The 1998 Match Game revival used the Mark Goodson Productions name and logo, but used an alternate announcement: "This has been a Mark Goodson Television Production for...", followed by the Pearson logo.
- On the first three seasons (1999–2002) of the current production of Family Feud, along with the 2000–2002 version of To Tell the Truth, the logo and name were used, but not the announcement.
- The 2001–2002 Card Sharks revival used the Mark Goodson Productions name, logo and announcement.
- Newer versions of other Goodson-Todman properties such as Beat the Clock (2002) and Password (2008, as Million Dollar Password), however, did not incorporate elements of the logo, name or announcement.
External links
- Museum of Broadcast Communications: Mark Goodson and Bill Todman
- Goodson's Emmy acceptance speech on the Emmy YouTube channel