From The TV IV

Concentration was the NBC game show where players match prizes on a game board and win them by solving a picture puzzle. It was created by Bob Noah and is based on a concept by Buddy Piper from the children's card game.

Two players face a game board of thirty numbered squares, each comprising a trilon with spring-activated motor. In turn, players call two numbers, one at a time, and each square shows either a prize or an element of progress. If the items do not match, the squares revert to their original positions and the other player selects two numbers. Once a player makes a match, the items (if it is one) is put on his/her prize rack and the squares rotate again showing portions of a picture puzzle. These puzzles are comprised of letters, numbers, objects and syllables in order to spell out, as Hugh Downs noted, "the title of something, a well-known phrase or something you know." For example, a puzzle may show a shoe with the sole highlighted and a plus sign, meaning add it to the next clue, which in this case is the letter "d"; followed by a tooth, a plus sign and the letter "E"; the letter "h", a plus sign, an eye, plus sign, the syllable "est"; a drill bit, a plus sign and a door. Together, it phoenetically reads out "sole + d / tooth + e / h + eye + est / bit + door." In English, it says "Sold To The Highest Bidder."

A player's turn continues until he/she fails to make a match. The first player to solve the puzzle exactly wins the game and all prizes matched. A champion may play up to 20 games before retiring and qualifying for the show's annual Challenge of Champions, first inaugurated in 1963.

Some of the elements used on the show:

• Forfeit 1 Gift: A player matching this must give up a prize, if he/she has one, to his/her opponent. If the player has no prizes, then there is no further harm. The game resumes as usual.

• Take 1 Gift: A player matching this is allowed to take a prize from his/her opponent, if the opponent has one. If the opponent has no prizes, then the game resumes as usual.

• Wild Card: This automatically matches whatever the other selected number has. Because of this, the last two numbers on the board, should a game reach that point, will not match and will be left there until either the puzzle is solved or the game ends in a draw. If a player picks two Wild Cards on the same turn, a $500 bonus is awarded regardless of the game's outcome. That would later be upped to a new car.

• Gag prizes: These goofy-sounding items are insurance markers for a player in case a Forfeit 1 Gift card is matched sometime afterwards.

• Draw games: If a game ends in a draw, a new game is started. Each player may carry over up to three prizes from the draw game. This exemption also applies if time runs out for a show and over half the puzzle is exposed (the entire puzzle is shown at this point and the solution disclosed). The new game would begin on the next show with each player retaining three prizes from the default draw game.

Concentration was first produced by Barry-Enright Productions but after that firm was brought up on cheating charges from Twenty-One, NBC assumed production duties on the show and appointed Norm Blumenthal as producer. Two nighttime editions aired. The first, in 1958, was a quick stop-gap after Twenty-One was canceled, and the other was a color-telecast six-month run in 1961. The daytime show was the last NBC show to transition from black-and-white to color in 1966. It had aired 3,689 separate shows during its run in the span of 3,101 days (in the days before videotape, two live shows were done, once for the East Coast then two hours later for the West Coast). It was daytime's longest running game show running consecutively on the same network, a record shattered in 1987 by The Price Is Right.

After NBC canceled Concentration, they licensed Goodson-Todman productions to create a new syndicated series with Jack Narz as host. This version featured puzzles in full color (the original puzzles were painted white on a grey field) and had no returning champions. They also jettisoned the gag prizes and Forfeits while introducing new elements along the way. This version ran to 1978. NBC brought it back in 1987 under the Mark Goodson Productions banner with the new name Classic Concentration. The board, now computer-generated on a TV monitor, was now 25 squares and had three Wild Cards (with the square with where the natural match would be made shown). Alex Trebek hosted this edition (comedian Orson Bean hosted a pilot for this edition in 1985).

Contents 1 Cast 2 Broadcast history 3 In-Depth 4 DVD Releases

[edit] Cast

Person	Role	Duration
Main Cast
Hugh Downs	Host	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Bob Clayton	Host											11	12	13	14	15
Art James	Announcer	1	2	3
Bob Clayton	Announcer				4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11
Wayne Howell	Announcer											11	12	13	14	15

[edit] Broadcast history

The daytime show ran in the following time periods:

8/25/58 - 9/6/63, NBC, 11:30 AM (Tic Tac Dough follows to 10/30/59; Truth Or Consequences follows to 12/26/61; Your First Impression follows to 9/6/63)

9/9/63 - 9/24/65, NBC, 11 AM (Missing Links follows to 3/28/64; Jeopardy! follows afterwards)

9/27/65 - 3/23/73, NBC, 10:30 AM (Morning Star follows to 7/1/66; Chain Letter follows to 10/14/66; The Pat Boone Show follows to 6/30/67; Personality follows to 9/26/69; Sale of The Century follows afterwards)

[edit] In-Depth

• At a Glance: Additional information about the series

[edit] DVD Releases