Password Plus and Super Password
Encyclopedia
Password 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.
Password Plus and Super Password aired on NBC
, and were taped on Stage 3 at NBC Studios
in Burbank, California
. As with the previous editions, Password Plus was a Mark Goodson
-Bill Todman
Production, and Super Password was a Mark Goodson Production.
Password Plus ran from January 8, 1979 to March 26, 1982 for 800 shows and won a Daytime Emmy Award
for Outstanding Game Show in 1982. Super Password aired 1,151 episodes from September 24, 1984 to March 24, 1989.
from January 1979 to April 1980, when he had to take a leave of absence from the show due to health problems. Bill Cullen
substituted for Ludden during his first absence. Ludden returned in May, but he left the program in late October due to further health problems; he did not appear on television again before his 1981 death. Because Cullen had recently begun hosting Blockbusters
, Tom Kennedy took over the podium and remained host until Password Plus ended.
Kennedy was considered to host Super Password but was already busy hosting Body Language
on CBS
. Therefore, Bert Convy
was selected as the host for the program's entire run. Coincidentally, CBS had cancelled Convy's previous game show Tattletales
to make room for Body Language.
was the regular announcer on both Password Plus and Super Password. Johnny Olson
, Bob Hilton
, John Harlan
, and Rich Jeffries
filled in for Wood on a few episodes of Password Plus, including a stretch in 1981 when Wood was recovering from an accident.
Jeffries was the first announcer of Super Password and continued as a regular announcer until November 23, 1984. Wood took over for Jeffries on November 26, 1984. Jeffries and Hilton filled in for Wood on occasion on Super Password. Wood whispered the passwords to home viewers from November 3, 1986 until Super Password ended.
Like the ABC run of Password, the first clue-giver for each password on Password Plus had the option to give the first clue or pass to the other team. Originally, the team that didn't get the previous password was given the option, but this changed a few months into the run. This option was eliminated on Super Password, with the team that got the previous password given first crack at the next one.
Beginning on April 23, 1979, two rules were added to Password Plus: The first was the disallowing of direct opposites of the password (e.g., "loose" for "tight") as clues. The second rule was if the clue-giving partner failed to give a clue or decide to pass or play within the time limit control passed to the other team, who were allowed two clues to try and guess the password. On Super Password, direct opposites were allowed and no penalty was given for failure to deliver a clue other than the loss of control.
Correctly guessing the puzzle won the contestant money; any remaining clues would be revealed and new puzzles were played until one contestant had enough money to win the game.
In 1981, the switch in celebrity partners that normally took place before the start of each game was moved to after the third puzzle. On Super Password, the contestants switched partners after the Cashword game which followed the $200 puzzle.
The gameplay of the round was the same on both shows. The round featured 10 passwords beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet (A-J, B-K, etc.). The celebrity was always the clue-giver. The celebrity was shown only the current password until it was guessed or they passed and had to give one-word clues until the contestant guessed the password. The clue-giver could use multiple individual words to form sentences, but had to pause distinctly between each word. For the period on Password Plus in which opposites were forbidden, this was enforced in Alphabetics as well. The contestant won $100 per guessed word, and the entire jackpot for guessing all ten words in 60 seconds.
On Password Plus, the grand prize was originally a flat $5,000, with each illegal clue reducing its potential value by 20% of the total ($1,000). Saying the word in attempt to give clues put the word out of play and forfeited the jackpot all together. Later, during the time Tom Kennedy hosted, the bonus round was played for an accumulating jackpot which started at $5,000 and increased by that much each time it was not won, up to a limit of $50,000 (which was never reached). Illegal clues still reduced the pot by 20% (e.g., a $35,000 pot would have $7,000 deducted for each illegal clue), but this was later changed to a flat $2,500 reduction in late 1981. By the final week, the 20% reduction had returned.
Super Passwords bonus game was played for the same accumulating pot. However, illegal clues of any sort took that password out of play and the contestant lost any chance at the jackpot; if any non-guessed passwords remained, gameplay continued for $100 apiece. Also, NBC imposed no limit as to how high the pot could go. The top prize ever awarded was $55,000, which was won twice. On four other occasions, the pot reached $50,000 before it was won.
Champions could return for a maximum of seven matches on Password Plus. On Super Password, champions could return for up to five matches.
Both shows also held all-star weeks with various stars playing for charity. The endgame was played for $5,000 to be split between the partners' respective charities. Super Passwords Cashword was worth $1,000 throughout the entire week. When played on Password Plus, a $5,000 bonus was awarded to the player(s) with the highest single total.
In February 1986 and again in September 1986, Super Password also held a "Tournament of Losers." In it, players who had won nothing on their previous appearances returned to play in a week-long tournament. The Cashword was worth $1,000, and the end game was worth $5,000 all week. The overall winner of the tournament won an additional $10,000. Regardless of the outcome, all players in the Losers tournaments were guaranteed at least $100 so that they did not walk away empty-handed again.
in the early 1980s. Milton Bradley
made an eight-track cartridge version of the game for its Omni Entertainment System.
, the Apple II
, and the Commodore 64
in 1988. A version for the NES
was also planned around that time, but never surfaced.
In 2000, a Super Password hand-held game was released.
.
had aired before moving to Noon. Starting March 5, Password was moved one half-hour later but, less than two months later, it went up against The Price is Right on CBS. On June 20, 1980, three other NBC game shows were cancelled to make room for David Letterman
's morning talk show
. On October 4, 1981, Password Plus moved to 12:00 Noon, a historically low-rated time slot. Many stations aired local news in that hour. while on other stations, it went up against Family Feud
and The Young and The Restless on ABC and CBS respectively. The show ended its run on March 26, 1982.
The program returned in 1984 as Super Password and again aired in the 12:00 Noon time slot. NBC stations in the Central and Pacific time zones usually preempted Scrabble at 11:30 for local news and aired Super Password at 11:00. However, many stations aired the show instead of local news, which may have contributed to Super Password lasting four and one-half years at noon against CBS's The Young and The Restless. Later in the decade, though, NBC affiliates were dropping most of their other daytime game shows along with Super Password and ratings began to slide and the show's final episode aired on March 24, 1989, the same day Sale of The Century aired its series finale. Super Password was Bert Convy's last network game show hosted before his death two years later.
at various times.
Password Plus and Super Password aired on 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...
, and were taped on Stage 3 at NBC Studios
NBC Studios (Burbank)
The NBC Studios in Burbank California is located at 3000 West Alameda Avenue in the Los Angeles suburb of Burbank, just a few miles northeast of the Hollywood area...
in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....
. As with the previous editions, Password Plus was a Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson
Mark Goodson was an American television producer who specialized in game shows.-Life and early career:...
-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:...
Production, and Super Password was a Mark Goodson Production.
Password Plus ran from January 8, 1979 to March 26, 1982 for 800 shows and won a Daytime Emmy Award
Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming...
for Outstanding Game Show in 1982. Super Password aired 1,151 episodes from September 24, 1984 to March 24, 1989.
Hosts
Password Plus was hosted by Allen LuddenAllen Ludden
Allen Ludden was an American television personality, emcee and game show host, perhaps most well known for hosting various incarnations of the game show Password between 1961 and 1980.-Early years:...
from January 1979 to April 1980, when he had to take a leave of absence from the show due to health problems. Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
substituted for Ludden during his first absence. Ludden returned in May, but he left the program in late October due to further health problems; he did not appear on television again before his 1981 death. Because Cullen had recently begun hosting Blockbusters
Blockbusters (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...
, Tom Kennedy took over the podium and remained host until Password Plus ended.
Kennedy was considered to host Super Password but was already busy hosting Body Language
Body 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...
on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
. Therefore, Bert Convy
Bert Convy
Bernard Whalen "Bert" Convy was an Emmy Award winning American actor, singer, game show host and panelist known for his tenure as the host for Tattletales, Super Password, and Win, Lose or Draw.-Early life:...
was selected as the host for the program's entire run. Coincidentally, CBS had cancelled Convy's previous game show Tattletales
Tattletales
Tattletales 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...
to make room for Body Language.
Announcers
Gene WoodGene 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...
was the regular announcer on both Password Plus and Super Password. 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...
, 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....
, 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....
, and 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...
filled in for Wood on a few episodes of Password Plus, including a stretch in 1981 when Wood was recovering from an accident.
Jeffries was the first announcer of Super Password and continued as a regular announcer until November 23, 1984. Wood took over for Jeffries on November 26, 1984. Jeffries and Hilton filled in for Wood on occasion on Super Password. Wood whispered the passwords to home viewers from November 3, 1986 until Super Password ended.
Gameplay
The rules for Password Plus and Super Password were almost identical. Two teams, each composed of a contestant and a celebrity, competed. The object, as on the original Password, was for the clue-giving partner to get the receiving partner to guess a given word (the "password"). The giving partner on the first team offered a one-word clue, to which the receiving partner was allowed one guess; there were brief time limits for both the clue and the guess. Teams alternated giving one-word clues until the password was guessed, or until each side had given two clues (three in the early days of Password Plus until June 15, 1979). Giving an illegal clue (multiple or hyphenated words, going over one word, using over-expressive gestures, forms of the password, made-up words, etc.) forfeited the receiver's turn to guess, as did having clue-giving time expire without giving a clue. If the word itself was given away by any of the players, or a clue was ruled illegal after the word had been correctly guessed, the opposing team was given the right to guess the puzzle. If the word was revealed prematurely by anyone other than the players, the word was put on the board and neither team guessed.Like the ABC run of Password, the first clue-giver for each password on Password Plus had the option to give the first clue or pass to the other team. Originally, the team that didn't get the previous password was given the option, but this changed a few months into the run. This option was eliminated on Super Password, with the team that got the previous password given first crack at the next one.
Beginning on April 23, 1979, two rules were added to Password Plus: The first was the disallowing of direct opposites of the password (e.g., "loose" for "tight") as clues. The second rule was if the clue-giving partner failed to give a clue or decide to pass or play within the time limit control passed to the other team, who were allowed two clues to try and guess the password. On Super Password, direct opposites were allowed and no penalty was given for failure to deliver a clue other than the loss of control.
Password Puzzle
The new element of the revivals was the "Password Puzzle." Each password, once revealed, became one of five clues referring to a person, place or thing. The passwords themselves were not worth any money; only the puzzle affected the scores. A guesser who correctly guessed a password was given a guess at the answer to the puzzle. A password that was not guessed by either player was added to the board without a guess at the puzzle. For the final password in a puzzle, if the guesser was incorrect, their partner was given a guess as well. On Password Plus, the puzzle would be thrown out if the partner failed to guess. On Super Password, the opposing team members would each be given a guess as well. If the final password in a puzzle was not guessed or was revealed prematurely by anyone other than the player whose turn it was to guess, the answer to the puzzle was revealed and a new puzzle was played.Correctly guessing the puzzle won the contestant money; any remaining clues would be revealed and new puzzles were played until one contestant had enough money to win the game.
| From | To | Goal | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1981 | $300 | $100 | $200 | ||
| 1981 | 1982 | $500 | $100 | $200 | ||
| 1984 | 1989 | $100 | $200 | $300 | $400 | |
In 1981, the switch in celebrity partners that normally took place before the start of each game was moved to after the third puzzle. On Super Password, the contestants switched partners after the Cashword game which followed the $200 puzzle.
Cashword
Super Password instituted "Cashword," an additional bonus during the main game, played between the second and third puzzles for an accumulating cash jackpot. The celebrity acted as the clue-giver and was given a more difficult password. If the contestant guessed the password within three clues they won the jackpot which started at $1,000 and increased by that much each time it was not won, without limit. If at any time an illegal clue was given, the Cashword round immediately ended, and the contestant forfeited their chance at the jackpot.Alphabetics/Super Password
The winning team played for a cash prize in the bonus round, called "Alphabetics" on Password Plus and, initially, "Super Password" (later simply referred to as "the End Game") on Super Password.The gameplay of the round was the same on both shows. The round featured 10 passwords beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet (A-J, B-K, etc.). The celebrity was always the clue-giver. The celebrity was shown only the current password until it was guessed or they passed and had to give one-word clues until the contestant guessed the password. The clue-giver could use multiple individual words to form sentences, but had to pause distinctly between each word. For the period on Password Plus in which opposites were forbidden, this was enforced in Alphabetics as well. The contestant won $100 per guessed word, and the entire jackpot for guessing all ten words in 60 seconds.
On Password Plus, the grand prize was originally a flat $5,000, with each illegal clue reducing its potential value by 20% of the total ($1,000). Saying the word in attempt to give clues put the word out of play and forfeited the jackpot all together. Later, during the time Tom Kennedy hosted, the bonus round was played for an accumulating jackpot which started at $5,000 and increased by that much each time it was not won, up to a limit of $50,000 (which was never reached). Illegal clues still reduced the pot by 20% (e.g., a $35,000 pot would have $7,000 deducted for each illegal clue), but this was later changed to a flat $2,500 reduction in late 1981. By the final week, the 20% reduction had returned.
Super Passwords bonus game was played for the same accumulating pot. However, illegal clues of any sort took that password out of play and the contestant lost any chance at the jackpot; if any non-guessed passwords remained, gameplay continued for $100 apiece. Also, NBC imposed no limit as to how high the pot could go. The top prize ever awarded was $55,000, which was won twice. On four other occasions, the pot reached $50,000 before it was won.
Champions could return for a maximum of seven matches on Password Plus. On Super Password, champions could return for up to five matches.
Tournaments
Super Password held its only Tournament of Champions in 1985. In it, eight of the top winners competed. Front-game rules were identical to the regular season with no Cashword played throughout the tournament. First-round matches consisted of only one game, with the winners playing Super Password for $2,500. The semi-final and final matches were best-of-three game matches. In the semi-finals, the first win by a player gave the contestant a chance at $2,500 in Super Password, and winning the match sent that player to the finals and gave the player a chance at $5,000 in Super Password. The winner of the tournament won $25,000 and a chance to double it in Super Password. The overall champion, Natalie Steele, became Passwords all-time big winner (only due to this tournament), earning $106,000.Both shows also held all-star weeks with various stars playing for charity. The endgame was played for $5,000 to be split between the partners' respective charities. Super Passwords Cashword was worth $1,000 throughout the entire week. When played on Password Plus, a $5,000 bonus was awarded to the player(s) with the highest single total.
In February 1986 and again in September 1986, Super Password also held a "Tournament of Losers." In it, players who had won nothing on their previous appearances returned to play in a week-long tournament. The Cashword was worth $1,000, and the end game was worth $5,000 all week. The overall winner of the tournament won an additional $10,000. Regardless of the outcome, all players in the Losers tournaments were guaranteed at least $100 so that they did not walk away empty-handed again.
Password Plus
Three editions of the Password Plus board game were made by Milton BradleyMilton Bradley
Milton Bradley , an American game pioneer, was credited by many with launching the board game industry in North America with Milton Bradley Company....
in the early 1980s. Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley
Milton Bradley , an American game pioneer, was credited by many with launching the board game industry in North America with Milton Bradley Company....
made an eight-track cartridge version of the game for its Omni Entertainment System.
Super Password
A Super Password video game was released for DOSDOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
, the Apple II
Apple II series
The Apple II series is a set of 8-bit home computers, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977 with the original Apple II...
, and the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
in 1988. A version for the NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
was also planned around that time, but never surfaced.
In 2000, a Super Password hand-held game was released.
Theme music
The theme music for both Password Plus and Super Password were composed by Score Productions. The theme song for Password Plus is called "Not Enough Disco Inferno". The opening theme for Super Password is called "Stardust" while the closing is a longer version of the theme. The show's opening used an alternate version of "Stardust", which has not been released until August 2009 through YouTubeYouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
Broadcast history
Password Plus was first shown at 10:30 A.M. where a recent revival of Jeopardy!Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
had aired before moving to Noon. Starting March 5, Password was moved one half-hour later but, less than two months later, it went up against The Price is Right on CBS. On June 20, 1980, three other NBC game shows were cancelled to make room for David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
's morning talk show
The David Letterman Show
The David Letterman Show was a live morning NBC talk show hosted by David Letterman from June 23 to October 24, 1980. The show originally ran for 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward.-Background:...
. On October 4, 1981, Password Plus moved to 12:00 Noon, a historically low-rated time slot. Many stations aired local news in that hour. while on other stations, it went up against 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...
and The Young and The Restless on ABC and CBS respectively. The show ended its run on March 26, 1982.
The program returned in 1984 as Super Password and again aired in the 12:00 Noon time slot. NBC stations in the Central and Pacific time zones usually preempted Scrabble at 11:30 for local news and aired Super Password at 11:00. However, many stations aired the show instead of local news, which may have contributed to Super Password lasting four and one-half years at noon against CBS's The Young and The Restless. Later in the decade, though, NBC affiliates were dropping most of their other daytime game shows along with Super Password and ratings began to slide and the show's final episode aired on March 24, 1989, the same day Sale of The Century aired its series finale. Super Password was Bert Convy's last network game show hosted before his death two years later.
Episode status
All episodes of Password Plus and Super Password exist, and both have been seen on GSNGame 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"...
at various times.