Memory Game

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Memory Game (sometimes referred to as Joe Garagiola's Memory Game) was a short-lived American television game show that aired on NBC. The show – hosted by former baseball star and then-current Today personality Joe Garagiola – ran from February through July 1971.

The show's creator was Merv Griffin, and its announcer was legendary game show announcer Johnny Olson, who created the famous catchphrase "Come On Down!" a year later, on CBS' Price is Right.

[edit] Gameplay

"Memory Game" was a quiz show that used elements of the game show Concentration and Jeopardy! in its gameplay.

Five contestants, one of them a returning champion, competed and were spotted $50 before the game. Before each round, they were each given a booklet containing the questions and answers to be used in that round. The time they had to study the material varied per round.

Once the study time period elapsed, the show's assistants collected the booklets, and Garagiola began randomly asking questions from the booklet.

The champion – who was seated in the number 1 position – could elect to answer or call out an opponent's number (2 through 5). That player could answer or call any of his/her opponents to answer, and so on until a time's up buzzer sounded. At that time, that player had to answer. A correct answer was worth $5, a wrong answer lost that amount.

Play continued in similar fashion until all the questions were exhausted.

Subsequent rounds were played, with increased stakes ($10 in Round 2, $20 in Round 3 and all future rounds).

The winner at the end of the show won a $1,000 bonus and returned the next day to meet new challengers. A three-day champion retired undefeated with a new car.

[edit] Other Info

This program was one of several NBC attempted to program in the 1:30 Eastern/12:30 Central time slot between 1968 and 1975; like most of the others, CBS' As the World Turns and ABC's Let's Make a Deal (formerly seen on NBC) soundly defeated it in the ratings. After this show's cancellation, NBC moved Garagiola to another daytime game, Sale of the Century, which he hosted for the rest of its original run. Three on a Match, hosted by Bill Cullen, replaced this show on the NBC schedule.

According to The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television by Wesley Hyatt (Watson-Guptill Publications, 1997), Griffin did not identify his production company on the end credits of the program. The talk-show host and entertainment mogul never gave any explanation for his decision.