Password Plus and Super Password
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Password Plus and Super Password were American game shows that were revivals of the original CBS and ABC game show Password (1961-67; 1971-1975). Both shows aired on the NBC television network. As with the previous editions, the show was a Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Production (later Mark Goodson Productions).
Password Plus ran from January 8, 1979 until March 26, 1982 for 800 shows. Super Password's run lasted for 1,175 installments, from September 24, 1984, to March 24, 1989.
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[edit] Hosts
Password Plus was hosted by original Password host Allen Ludden from January 1979 to April 1980, when he had to take a leave of absence from the show due to stomach cancer. Bill Cullen, who was hosting Chain Reaction at the time, took over as substitute host for the months of April and May while Ludden recovered. Ludden returned in May, but by October, had suffered a stroke as well as having his cancer recur, and was forced to retire; he would never appear on television again before his 1981 death. Because Cullen had recently begun hosting the Goodson-packaged Blockbusters, Tom Kennedy took over the podium and remained host until Plus ended.
Super Password was hosted by Bert Convy throughout its four-and-a-half year run.
Two celebrity-contestant teams competed against each other.
[edit] Announcers
Gene Wood was the primary announcer on both Password Plus and Super Password. Johnny Olson, Bob Hilton, John Harlan, and Rich Jeffries substituted for him on some episodes of Password Plus, including a stretch in 1980 when Wood was recovering from an accident. Rich Jeffries announced on the first several weeks of Super Password, and along with Bob Hilton, would substitute occasionally afterwards.
[edit] Game play
Password Plus and Super Password had almost identical rules.
The object, as always was the case on Password, was to try and get your opponent to guess the password through the use of one word clues. A clue limit of three per side (later two) existed on Password Plus, while a strict limit of two was used on Super Password. Illegal clues (two word clues, overexpressive hand gestures, form of the word, etc.) lost control.
Once the password was guessed, a new wrinkle came into play that hadn't been present before in Password (Allen Ludden referred to it as "the Plus" on the first episode of Password Plus). The password would then be revealed as part of the "Password Puzzle," a five word puzzle that would lead to a person, place, or thing. After the player correctly guessed the word, they would then get a chance to guess the puzzle. A correct guess netted the contestant money; if not, play continued until either one player guessed the puzzle or all four players were unable to get it, at which point the subject was revealed and the puzzle thrown out.
A player could also guess the puzzle if the opposing team's cluegiver gave away the password by either saying it or a form of the word.
The original Password play-pass option rule was in effect throughout Password Plus's run. Originally, the team that didn't get the correct password was given the option, but this changed a few months into the run. Also, after a few weeks, direct opposites were disallowed as clues. Super Password did not use either of those rules.
[edit] Payoffs
On Password Plus, the goal was originally to get to $300. The first two puzzles were worth $100 each, with each subsequent puzzle worth $200 until a winner was crowned.
Towards the end of Password Plus's run, the goal became $500, with the first three puzzles being worth $100 and the remainder being worth $200 (with a minimum of four puzzles needed to determine a winner, previously a game could be decided in three puzzles). The contestants also switched celebrity partners after the third puzzle (before the change, the champion would switch partners after playing Alphabetics).
Super Password had a set goal of $500 throughout its run, with puzzles that started at $100 and increased in value by $100 until the fourth and final puzzle, worth $400. The contestants would switch partners after the second puzzle, worth $200.
[edit] Ca$hword
Super Password instituted a bonus password to be played for an accumulating cash jackpot every game after the $200 puzzle. A more difficult password would be displayed on a prop (that host Bert Convy affectionately called the "Magic Toaster"), and the celebrity had three clues to use to try and get the contestant to guess it. If the contestant guessed the password correctly, they'd win the pot, which started at $1,000 and went up by that amount each day until claimed. There was no limit as to how high the pot could go. The highest it ever reached was $12,000.
[edit] Alphabetics/Super Password
The winning team would go on to play for a cash prize in the bonus round, called Alphabetics on Password Plus and Super Password on Super Password.
The object of the round was the same on both shows: guess 10 passwords, each beginning with consecutive letters of the alphabet (A-J, B-K, etc.). Doing so in 60 seconds won the jackpot. If they didn't get all 10, $100 was awarded for every correct password.
On Password Plus, the pot was originally a flat $5,000, with illegal clues reducing its potential value by 1/5 ($1,000 for each illegal clue). Towards the end of the show's run, the bonus round was played for an accumulating jackpot, which was augmented by $5,000 each time unclaimed until it reached a $50,000 cap. Illegal clues again reduced the pot by 1/5 of the original pot (a $20,000 pot would have $4,000 deducted from it for each illegal clue), but this was later changed to a $2,500 reduction. This had changed again by the final episode to a 1/5 reduction.
Super Password's bonus game was played for the same accumulating pot, but illegal clues took the letter out of play and forfeited the jackpot. Also, NBC imposed no limit as to how high the pot could go, and it reached $55,000 on two occasions. The second $55,000 winner, Kerry Ketchum (aka Patrick Quinn), appeared in 1988 while on the run for insurance fraud. He was never paid for his appearance on the show.
[edit] Other Trivia
- The original title of Password Plus was supposed to be Password '79, a la Match Game's annual title change upon the new year. However, during a run through, Carol Burnett was reported to say, "This is more than Password, it's Password Plus," which led to the name.[citation needed]
- Betty White (who was married to Allen Ludden) appeared on the last episode of Super Password. Her last appearance was marked by her destruction of the "Magic Toaster" after she failed to win the Ca$hword bonus for her contestant. This was the second time the prop was destroyed as Bert Convy accidentally threw the first "Toaster" in a 1986 episode.
- Password Plus won a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show in 1982, the same year its run ended.
- Super Password was canceled on the same day as another hit NBC game show, Sale of the Century.
- Super Password host Bert Convy was an occasional panelist on Password Plus, as was future host Tom Kennedy.
- Tom Kennedy was considered to host Super Password, but was hosting Body Language on CBS, therefore, Bert Convy was the new host.[citation needed]
- Jack Narz was a guest on Password Plus when it was hosted by his brother, Tom Kennedy, and in one episode even hosted while Kennedy was a panelist.
- Bert Convy gave away the solutions to many Super Password puzzles. When this happened, an interesting assortment of sound effects would be heard (in one episode, the illegal clue horns, Cashword-, Form-Of-Word-, and Word-Reveal chirps, the buzzer, the G-Note bell, and the NBC Claxon all sounded simultaneously), and/or Convy would place a piece of tape with the word "BERT" written on it over his mouth.
