You Don't Say!
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You Don't Say! was an American television game show that had three separate runs on television. The first version aired on NBC daytime from April 1, 1963 to September 26, 1969 (with a nighttime run in 1963-64). In the 1970's, the show was picked up by ABC and ran from July 7, 1975 to November 28, 1975 (replacing The Money Maze). A final version appeared in syndication during the 1978-79 TV season, but didn't last the entire season.
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[edit] Hosts and Announcers
The original version and ABC version of YDS! were hosted by Tom Kennedy. Jim Peck hosted the syndicated version.
Jay Stewart and John Harlan announced for the show (Stewart the original, Harlan its two subsequent revivals).
[edit] Format, Original version
Two celebrity-contestant teams competed.
The object was to convey the name of a famous person by giving clues, leading to words that sounded like part of the person's name. The contestant then had to sound the words out to figure out the person in question.
The celebrities were not allowed to use anything that might give away the answer or to give a clue that would lead to the proper name of the person. They also could not say the clue to the contestant, with the penalty being loss of control for any violation.
Each correct guess won a point, with three points winning the game.
Bonus Board
The winning contestant played the Bonus Board for a chance at $300.
A famous name (sent in by a home viewer) was given to the celebrity, who tried to convey the name to the contestant by way of clues. Guessing the word on the first clue won $300. The second clue netted $200, and the third, $100.
If a contestant swept the front game and got the name right on the first try, they also won a new car.
Players stayed on until losing twice or winning seven times (which was NBC's win limit for quite a long time).
[edit] ABC version
When You Don't Say! returned in 1975, it also returned with a new format.
Gone were the two teams. Instead, two players competed, and a four celebrity panel was used.
The celebrities once again tried to convey the identity of a famous person or place to the contestants. One celebrity gave a clue to the controlling contestant, who had five seconds to guess who it was with a correct word guess. If it wasn't guessed, the next celebrity in line gave a clue to the next contestant. This continued until one player guessed the word, with a maximum of four clues.
A correct guess on the first clue was worth $200, and decreased in $50 increments for each clue needed afterwards. $500 won the game and a chance to win $10,000 more at the Bonus Board.
'70s Bonus Board
The Bonus Board changed as well.
A contestant was faced with the task of giving the clues to four famous names or places to the celebrities. The contestant had a maximum of six (originally five) clues to give to the stars. A celebrity guessing one right was worth $500, two $1000, three $2000, and all four stars paid $5000. If it only took four clues, the contestant won $10,000.
Again, players competed until losing twice (or hitting the $20,000 ABC winnings limit in place at the time).
[edit] Syndicated Version
Peck's version was played very similar to the ABC version, with the following exceptions:
- Two contestants would play on the first two games of the week, while two more would play the next two days. The highest scorers from those games would play each other on Friday.
- Instead of cash being awarded on a scale for each correct answer, every answer scored only one point, regardless of the number of clues necessary, with five winning the game; while correct answers were worth $100 apiece on the Monday-Thursday shows and $200 on Fridays, these payouts were not reflected in the scoring.
- If the game ended in a tie due to time running out, the player who needed fewer clues during the course of the game was declared the winner.
- The Bonus Board was played for a flat $5000 on Monday-Thursday, with the Friday game being played for $10,000 in prizes.
[edit] Notes
- Goodson-Todman Productions sued Ralph Andrews Productions (YDS! production company) during the 1960s because they thought that the format was too similar to G-T's Password. Although they did not win the case, they did win an unusual concession: Kennedy's podium on You Don't Say! had to be moved to the end of the playing table from the center where it originally was, since the original layout did indeed look very similar to that of Password.
- The original NBC version of You Don't Say! ended on September 26, 1969, the same day NBC also junked Personality, Eye Guess, and the original Match Game.
- Both the NBC and ABC versions of You Don't Say! were replaced by soap operas. On NBC, Bright Promise replaced the original, and the ABC version was replaced by the recently acquired (and defected from CBS) The Edge of Night, which turned out to be the last 4 p.m. ABC daytime show.
- You Don't Say! premiered on ABC three days after Tom Kennedy's previous show, Split Second, had been cancelled. (A similar instance occurred a little over a year later, with Kennedy's 50 Grand Slam being replaced by a short-lived NBC version of his Name That Tune.)
