| The Who, What, or Where Game | |
|---|---|
| Format | Game Show |
| Created by | Ron Greenberg |
| Directed by | Dick Schneider |
| Presented by | Art James |
| Narrated by | Mike Darrow |
| Composer(s) | George David Weiss |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Ron Greenberg |
| Producer(s) | John Rhinehart |
| Location(s) | NBC Studios New York, New York |
| Running time | 25 Minutes |
| Production company(s) | Ron Greenberg Productions NBC Productions |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | December 29, 1969 – January 4, 1974 |
The Who, What, or Where Game was an American television game show that was broadcast weekdays on NBC from December 29, 1969 to January 4, 1974. The host was Art James, and the announcer was Mike Darrow; Ron Greenberg packaged the show, which was recorded at the NBC studios 6A and 8H in Rockefeller Plaza in New York City.
Contents |
Three contestants, one usually a returning champion, competed.
Each player was spotted $125 at the start of the game and used that money to wager on his/her knowledge of the questions presented. Each category (which dealt in various subjects, with one category per game usually "Pot Luck," with random questions) had three question choices: a who question (dealing with people), a what question (dealing with things), and a where question (dealing with places). Each question had odds attached to it depending on the difficulty of the question. Easy questions paid off at even (1:1) odds, noted by an E under the question. Depending on the difficulty, other questions could be given odds of 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, or 5:1. Each question was read only once.
Originally players could bet up to $25 for first round questions and $50 for second round questions, but this was later changed to $50 for the entire game. The contestant who made the highest wager for any given question was given the right to answer it. If two or more contestants picked the same category and wagered the same amount, James put the question up for auction with the tied contestants now being able to wager up to their entire score if they desired. Bidding continued until one player elected to let the opposing player answer. In the rare case that the auction failed to break the deadlock, both contestants would write their answers down. Answering correctly won the amount of the wager multiplied by the odds while only the amount of the wager was taken away for a wrong answer. If a player's score dropped to zero during any point in the game, that player was automatically eliminated from further play.
Later in the show's run, a "lightning round" category was played (known as the "3 W's Quick Round"), in which players buzzed in on rapid-fire questions for 60 seconds. This was the only time when any buzz-in technique was used in the game.
After all rounds had been played, the three players played the "Pot Limit" round with one final category. Once again, the category and question odds would be displayed for the contestants. This time, however, players could bet any or all of their scores. Whoever was ahead at the end of the game was declared champion and returned the next day, with each player leaving with the money he had earned. A champion could return for a maximum of five days.
Later in its run, The Who, What, or Where Game instituted a monthly car giveaway contest for its players, in which the champion with the highest winnings took home a new automobile.
The show was part of a block of daytime games on NBC during the early 1970s, which began with Concentration at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time and continued to Three on a Match at 1:30 p.m. Most of these games were known for emphasizing game play over prizes, which were intentionally small due to memories of the quiz show scandals of the 1950s. 3 W's ran at 12:30 p.m./11:30 a.m. Central, opposite Search for Tomorrow on CBS, and sitcom reruns, soap operas, and the games Password and Split Second on ABC. Because NBC ran a five-minute newscast anchored by either Floyd Kalber or Edwin Newman at 12:55 p.m. (before a 30-minute affiliate break), 3 W's only ran 25 minutes each day, instead of the customary 30. Similar to Jeopardy!, which preceded it at 12 Noon/11 a.m. Central, 3 W's proved to be an effective stablemate to its lead-in.
3 W's succeeded a short-lived show called Name Droppers, hosted by Los Angeles-area disc jockeys Al Lohman and Roger Barkley; it was succeeded in turn by Jackpot!. Coincidentally, 3 W's announcer Darrow would later host a Canadian-produced revival of Jackpot! that aired between 1985 and 1988 on the USA Network.
After unsuccessfully attempting to revive the series in 1988 with a failed pilot called The New Who, What or Where Game, Ron Greenberg later debuted a 1990 follow-up, The Challengers. Hosted by Dick Clark, the series incorporated elements from 3 W's' alongside a mix of topical questions in categories dealing with current events.
The music for 3 W's was written by George David Weiss, co-writer of the classic song What a Wonderful World.
Although this series is believed to be mostly destroyed, a few episodes have turned up in the trading circuit. As with all other daytime shows of that era, NBC reused the 3 W's tapes as much as possible, erasing previous recordings in the process. At least one episode, from December 1970, has turned up on YouTube where it may be viewed.
Milton Bradley produced two home editions of The Who, What or Where Game. The home game format was almost identical to that of the show. On the cover art, the contestants' names are Amy, Dan, and Janet, the names of Ron Greenberg's children. [1]
In 1973, a short-lived British version aired on BBC1 hosted by David Jacobs.